The unexpected.

This is a rare sighting in the South West. 

It will go quite quickly, but it's pretty while it lasts.

So pretty.

 

Each year I wonder if this lovely cactus will flower, and each year she suddenly bursts forth with a swathe of pinkness.

She sits in this window all year round, never being moved as she would probably object.

She is pampered with a feed every now and then, and a quick wipe down of her leaves.

Hopefully she will continue to flower for many weeks now.

So pretty.

 Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in the USA.

We don't have Thanksgiving in UK, but it would be lovely to have a Thankful day of gratitude for all the wonderful things we have around us.

I discovered that, should you be in London, there are various restaurants serving Thanksgiving menus.

This meal will be available at The Shard......

......................and will cost you £97.00. Per person.

I think it's more fun dining at home, don't you?

A day for making soup

 I like making soup, and this is the time of year when the days are colder and a pan of soup bubbling away makes everything feel warmer. I think if I had an Aga I would have a constant soup pan cooking gently all day.

This week it has been Leek and potato soup. My vegetables come from a local farm where everything is produced within a couple of miles, and is so fresh.

Just over a litre of this lovely greeny liquid will go into small boxes in the freezer. Just enough for my lunch, accompanied by a slice of fresh bread. or a cheese scone. Yum.

Auguste Escoffier, a renowned chef, said;

Soup puts the heart at ease, calms down the violence of hunger, eliminates the tensions of the day, and awakens and refines the appetite.

A steaming bowl of soup certainly puts my heart at ease....not sure about the 'violence' of hunger!

Rainy day.

It's becoming 'Ark building' weather here. The rain has never stopped and this morning was so heavy that cars pulled in along the road to wait till it had calmed down a little. I would not normally have driven on a day like this, but had an appointment that I didn't want to cancel.

I'm looking forward to opening the Edwardian calendar in December,  the room looks cosy and warm and I would rather like to be there now!

It's a bit too early to think about Christmas trees and decorations, but I have got most of the little family gifts bought.

 I have been making an 'Operation Christmas Child Shoebox' for the Samaritans purse collection arranged by our Church. Apparently there have been 209 million boxes packed in the last twenty years. So far it contains little gifts which I hope will bring joy to a child who might otherwise have nothing.....a furry toy, a notebook and pen, a box of felt pens, some stickers, socks and so on.

I always enjoy hunting out things to put in the box.

 Now, time for a cup of tea. It's 4pm and so dark you would think it was night!

The last rose.

I think this really has to be the last rose of the year. The flowers are only half the size of Summer flowering, but there is still a beautiful scent from them.

I picked the last few buds to save them from the terrible winds and rain we have been having here.

Her name is Dr Jo. She is named for Dr Jo Taylor, head of the renal unit at Dorchester hospital.

And here's a photo of the damage caused by Storm Ciaron, (no one was in the car, thankfully)

And another.

Today there have been brief patches of pale sun amongst cloudbursts. It gave me time to run down to Trelissick gardens for a quick look at the lovely shop.
 

I'm disappointed. (WITH UPDATE)

 This is the time of year when many of our large supermarkets produce Christmas advertisements, full of photos of food, parties, food, presents, shopping and more food. They are very commercial and there is rarely any mention of what many of us believe is the true meaning of Christmas.

Some years ago John Lewis, an old and very reputable store , produced their Christmas offering, 'The Hare and the Bear'. It was a truly lovely production, full of wild animals being kind to each other, snow, tiny presents, Christmas tree etc. 

This year the theme of their film is 'Dementia' and is very sad.

The advertisement which has made me both angry and disappointed is by one of our favourite stores, who advocate family values. I'm not going to give the name in case I'm accused of libel/slander whatever. It is a truly appalling, cynical and unpleasant offering and has already caused lots of negative comments.

The theme seems to be 'I'm going to be as nasty as possible this 'Thismas'. It focuses on 'celebrities' (no, don't know any of them)

We have a woman browning the marshmallows, who with a glint in her eye turns the torch on the unwritten Christmas cards and burns the lot. We have a bored man who can hardly bear to put his child's decoration on the tree, (shrug, well if I really have to..') And worst of all we have a woman standing on a roof (why?) belting the poor much loved Christmas elf into the stratosphere. She then trips down and dumps the decorations into a wood chipper, always so handy to have around. Finally she picks up the rather battered Elf and with a steely smile looks towards the woodchipper. Children will cry.

There are so many beautiful images of Christmas, even if purely commercial. Why this?

Obviously this is all my personal opinion, others may disagree. That's fine.

UPDATE, THIS MORNING!

M&S apologises and pulls Christmas ad after it's branded 'disgusting'©Provided by Metro

Marks & Spencer has apologised for an advert in which Christmas party hats in the colour of the Palestine flag were thrown into the fire. The company’s Christmas Clothing and Home advert, starring Hannah Waddingham of Ted Lasso fame, urged people to do away with Christmas traditions they no longer love (Picture