William Morris (1834-1896) designer, poet, craftsman, radical socialist, environmental activist. The first eco warrior of design, without a doubt!
He once said ‘Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful ‘.
Another interesting take, said by Isabel Allende-1942- ‘ You spend the first part of your life collecting things and the second half getting rid of them’………A bit of a generalisation, but you get the drift.
Personally I’m not that comfortable being possessed by possessions.
There will sadly be no monetary legacy I can leave behind…but if I could be remembered, just fleetingly even, for being kind and compassionate…for giving a damn about the planet and the innocent folk and animals who try to live peacefully upon it, then I will have left behind something.
Good morning WordPress… A simple question you are asking us today. So why am I struggling to gather my thoughts, put them into some sort of order and onto the page?
I’m British, we are masters at chatting about the weather. Being islanders we can have four seasons in one day, so there’s always something to say. And yet here I am….with nada!
Is it because there are so many angles to come from that it makes it not so simple, not so straightforward?
I do have a memory about the cold I could share though….Many moons ago I was in an indoor market. An elderly stopped me and asked if I knew where she could ‘ get one of those scrapers, to take the ice off the inside of my bedroom window?’…. That made quite an impression on several levels and has stayed with me ever since….
There is a quote by an American visual artist Andrew Wyeth ( 1917-2009)
‘ I prefer winter and fall, when you can feel the bone structure in the landscape – the loneliness of it- the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it- the whole story doesn’t show. ‘
I sometimes find the word ‘ sacrifice’ smacks of martyrdom in today’s world….and I’m not sure what to replace it with….forfeit? forego?
‘ Gave up’. Maybe that works a bit better? It’s still not perfect!
Once upon a time I had a well paid job overseas, a comfortable lifestyle and savings….and then I didn’t, because a Street Dog came into my life and changed everything. My Tony and the foster puppy Joe (who stayed forever) became my focus. My world.
It cost me everything, but I wouldn’t change a thing. That’s not totally true. I do not regret for one second bringing them back to the UK…but I wish I had done things differently.
In the end the young pup stayed by my side for 15 years, with unconditional love and a continuity in my life I knew neither before or since.
I’ll start with watermelon, without a shadow of doubt, is my all time favourite fruit. Cool, crisp, sweet and succulent. Ticks all boxes
Do you remember as a kid at Christmas time dates appearing amongst the fayre? Those white, slim, long boxes with a thick see-through wrapper. Inside were dark, dried.. the strangest of fruit. Grown ups did not encourage us to try and we feared to tread. And there that weird fruit stayed for years. Now I buy them regularly. £5 for a box from the supermarket. Better to dip in and have a couple a day instead of chocolate or biscuits or other snacks that call out our name from the cupboard. Delicious! By far the leader of the pack are Jordanian ones. Yes I am somewhat biased…but they are not all born equal. Jordanian ones are superior, hands down. Soft, succulent and sweet. At the moment the ones in my kitchen are from South Africa and they are doing a grand job of coming second, by choice….
…….. ( Last night my dog was playing with something. Trying to chew it, spitting it out and then throwing it around … I tried to get close to see what he had, but if you know my dog, you will know it’s probably best not to do that!….When he barked momentarily at the Amazon delivery guy at the door, and dropped his fascinating new find, I got to see what it was. A date stone. We are clearly getting value for money here
I’ve not had a custard apple/cherimoya in twenty years, but the memories linger on. Soft, sweet, pulpy …custardy. Lush.
Bananas. Interestingly the one food stuff the price of which never seems to rise. Tasty and filling and containing approximately 9% of our daily potassium requirement. Good to have daily.
It is so hard not to pick one straight from the bunch when you buy some..but washing grapes before consumption is crucial. Bacteria and pesticides ( unless guaranteed organic) lurk in every crevice. Removing the waxy coating and debris will also preserve their shelf life. Black or green they are nutrition dense; vitamins, antioxidants and fibre The only thing to be mindful of is the sugar content.
There is a mango in my fruit bowl….breakfast is served
IN THE BOOMER PIGEON HOLE? 
You must be logged in to post a comment.