Warning, may contain pictures, poems, quotes, rants, blessings, wishes , books and more…………………….


The pictures are by Trudi Finch (link at side). She has a studio in Pembrokeshire.


Dear Diary,

We can never obtain peace in the world if we neglect the inner world and don't make peace with ourselves. World peace must develop out of inner peace. Without inner peace it is impossible to achieve world peace, external peace. Weapons themselves do not act. They have not come out of the blue. Man has made them. But even given those weapons, those terrible weapons, they cannot act by themselves. As long as they are left alone in storage they cannot do any harm. A human being must use them. Someone must push the button. Satan, the evil powers, cannot push that button. Human beings must do it.
The Dalai Lama: A Policy of Kindness, edited by Sidney Piburn
from Everyday Mind, edited by Jean Smith, a Tricycle book



The skies are blue, the sun is creeping round the edge of the window. All is right with the world (I wish).

I have discovered from comments by fellow bloggers that Daniel Day Lewis and I are not alone in our revelations that looking out of windows is one of our favourite pastimes.

Outside is alive with life.

The woodpeckers are scaling the telegraph pole.

The little baby squirrel is under the bird table tucking into some nuts. I have named him ‘Diddy’ as he is so tiny. He visit’s the table alone and is scared of the birds (!) . I think his mum and dad are having a lie-in.

A pair of bullfinches are around a lot pecking in the gravel garden and by the riverside. I hope they’re not eating any flower seedlings. Something is attracting them. I must get the Bird Bible out and bone up on their eating habits. I love the old faithful Readers Digest Guide to British Birds, you can’t beat it.

My French lavender is doing really well in the gravel garden and my oriental poppy plant has at least fourteen blooms, one is already in flower, delicate, papery and a cheerful red, such a welcome sight to come home to.

*


As soon as Finn and Katy know I am awake they squeeze round to my side of the bed which is nearly up against the window and we have a little cuddle.

My first thoughts on waking are always to check my internal memory as to what day of the week it is. Working every other day does that to me and I would hate to get it wrong! M is retired you see and so I can’t tell the time by him, he has no routine. So each morning I have to banish my always-vivid dreams, collect my thoughts and plan my day.

But today I start daydreaming instead and as soon as I am a little bit with-it I reach for my pen and start scribbling.
All is helped of course by dear M who brings me a giant white china mug of honey-laced tea, (lashings of honey don’t you know!). Honey is a true energy-giver. I can vouch for that as I am definitely NOT a morning person. I could stay awake all night and sleep all day given half a chance.

Today is a work day. I am feeling tired but it’s my own damned fault as I was up till 1.15 last night! I was involved with another addiction of mine which is geneaology (I always find this word hard to spell) also known as chasing dead people. I have nicked this lovely phrase from a fellow blogger.

And then just before I went to bed last night I caught up with the day’s blogs. I am trying to read more of them. Everyone else seems to find the time to do so much commenting, even mothers with children who live much busier lives than me; they put me to shame. I’m glad I read them. Each one has its own point of interest for me. Aren’t we lucky that we can reach into each other’s lives? To be amongst like-minded people is such a joy. Thank you CL for bringing us together We owe them that much at least don’t you think?

They have a nerve printing stuff from a couple of the blogs though don’t they and twisting it all about? (see CCW comments - I have just realised that CCW also stands for the Countryside Council for Wales!). I see they are wrapping their mag in a plastic sleeve. I hate that; not being able to flick through before deciding whether to purchase. Not that I would buy CL again anyway. They are winners of Lifestyle Magazine of the Year. I wonder whose lifestyle? Certainly not real people who live in the real country.

But the good thing is that reading your blogs is a thousand times more interesting than reading their magazine which, apart from everything else, had become overgrown with glossy advertisements. That reminds me of another pet hate of mine which is fashion pages filled with clothes that cost hundreds of pounds per item, even the sunglasses! What sort of people can feel comfortable spending that amount of money on clothes? The price tags are obscene to me in a world where so many people are starving.

Talking of rants.
As I write this I am hearing on the Today programme that there is an ‘undeclared war’ going on with Iran. God save us from George Bush.

Did anyone see the Panorama programme about Wifi masts and their radiation effects? That’s another worry.

Now I am hearing of talking CCTV’s which have been installed somewhere as a pilot. There are voices which will tell people off now. They are planned for everywhere! We are the most watched country in the world.

The UK gets more Orwellian by the day.

Wishes this morning? Fairy Godmother where are you?
I have only two.
Peace in the world.
Freedom from Big Brother.

*

Just for your information our book group choice for June is The Expected One by Kathleen McGowan, an Irish American lady. It’s another one on the Mary Magdalene was married to Jesus theory and should make for a lively discussion. We always have really stimulating evenings in our group. I’m so glad I got one going.

Blesssings today?

Evening phone calls and emails from family.

The joy of giving.

The joy of receiving.

New friends, new family, new discoveries.

Bees without which we’d have no flowers or gardens.

I must sign off now even though I won’t be able to type it up till tonight and by the time you read it, it will be old news and who knows what will have occurred since I put pen to paper.

Time now to shower, do my yoga, dress, eat my porridge, then drive to work through traffic-free roads whose banks are lined with bluebells and cow parsley and with the views of the mountains all around.

Not a bad life really,

Thanks for listening,

Caitx


Before I go here is a poem.

Love


Love means to learn to look at yourself
The way one looks at distant things
For you are only one thing among many.
And whoever sees that way heals his heart,
Without knowing it, from various ills
A bird and a tree say to him: Friend.
Then he wants to use himself and things
So that they stand in the glow of ripeness.
It doesn’t matter whether he knows what he serves:
Who serves best doesn’t always understand.

Czeslaw Milosz