Tuesday 29 May 2012

I can feel several 'moments' coming on ...

pic.twitter.com/nO7XvRTy
Well I'm very pleased to say I have been paired up with the lovely Hannah, writer of:



for Mary Poppins 'Handmade Heart Swap' so my thoughts are filled with what delights I can make her.
 I feel nervous about choosing what to make, if it's good enough, if she'll like it, if it's her taste, etc
 (as my friend likes to call my taste 'granny chic' I'm slightly dubious of my choice already ~
 no doily's will be used Hannah ~ I promise) ;)

Anyways, my plans will be kept under wraps until the posting deadline so as not to spoil the surprise but wish me luck, I can feel several 'moments' coming on between now and then!!!

Thursday 24 May 2012

Tea for two? ...

Tea for two? 




Our dickey birds love'a'bitta' fine bone china.

Wednesday 23 May 2012

A country girl through and through ...


I am a country girl through and through.  
We moved from a town to a small village when I was six and from that day on the countryside has been in my heart and is my home.  I have grown up knowing it to be completely normal not to have a village shop, to have to drive everywhere for everything, having a ‘handful’ of daily busses as our public transport or not being able to leave the village when snow arrives as it cut’s us off from the world … 
to me that’s the whole point of village living.
Growing up playing in woods, fields, meadows, riversides and being surrounded by open fields and country side for most of my life has embedded itself in my soul, head, heart and my feet are always roaming through vast expanse of rural beauty wondering what is over the next style or bridge, or what is on the other side of a meadow, forest or river.  
My day's start with a walk along one of the many routes I take the dogs and I thought I’d share with you snippets of this mornings walk and just why I’m most happiest when surrounded by rural freedom.


Hedgerow.

Gate leading to a pine forest.

Walking over the railway bridge.

Pretty meadow by summer, fab hill to sledge down in the winter snow.

The meandering river Windrush.

The source of all types of berries which we pick and use to make Sloe Gin, Blackberry Rum and other delish winter toddies.

Gateway to more summer meadows.

It was on this very bridge my best friend Jane and I as kids would sit sucking away on Butterscotch wondering who we would marry when we grew up, how many children we would have and what we would name them ♥

 Stop for a rest along the river bank.

Garden gate leading to a cottage along the riverbank.

Bluebell wood.

Blossom.

Working the land.

Commuting through the valley to London Paddington.


This little part of England is where memories have been made and memories are still to be made ~ nuff said!



Sunday 20 May 2012

Stolen hour on a dull Sunday …


Somehow along the way today I managed to grab an hour that had nothing ‘planned/squashed’ into – yay.  An hour is better than nothing but it’s not really long enough to get the sewing 
machine out or my teeth stuck into a ‘project’. I used the 
time wisely and below is what I got up to during 
a stolen hour on a dull, grey Sunday …
I collected up my old magazines, 
each page has been read within an inch of it's life, 
and passed them on to new homes. Not before I wrapped them in twine and tied a sprig of Lilac ~ ahhh what a delish scent.
I have plenty of needs for a 'oh so beautiful' jar so these lovely lil niknaks were glued to lids, out came the sticky backed paper ~ a cut, peel and glue later = Ta Dah.
One is for the kids chalk, one for guitar plectrums (those things are found everywhere around our house) and two will be filled with sweets, small toys and hair slides and given as presents.
A Sunday isn't a Sunday without dog walking and 
hedge raiding for it's spring bounty.
Lil and large ♥

The next time I have spare, me and the sewing machine 
have a date ...

Tuesday 15 May 2012

Take me shopping and I'm yours …



A lovely friend treated me to a whole day of shopping today, she picked me up and the pair of us drove off in her lil Vauxhall Corsa to shopping heaven.  First stop, the very exclusive Bicester Village, then on to Bicester Avenue (aka a posh retail park) and then back in the magical mystery bus type corsa and on to a cluster of charity shops.

Well, what can I say ~ I feel me again.  
I even have photos to show you of something beautiful …
 This lil Wedgwood vase cost a whole 99p and the tapestry 
(which was framed) cost the dizzy heights of £1.95. 

I’m going to sew the tapestry on to a cushion cover, very Cath Kidston.
Cheap vase, some hedge & verge = A happy me :D

Monday 14 May 2012

This being sensible doesn't seam to suit me - at all


Well, I have failed in the ‘take a look at this blog post’ during the last week or so, I have been busy being way too sensible. I can tell you that being sensible is boring!  What’s more being sensible means I don’t even have one single photo to show you of bits or even stuff.  I have been to a general auction and didn’t buy a thing, yep that’s right not a single thing.  I have been a frequent visitor to my local charity shop but I’ve been carrying in bags bursting with lovely things and not the usual leaving with bags bursting with lovely things.

What I can type about though is how much more organised my many previous purchases and stashes of plenty are.  They are looking very orderly in a:
           
Charity shop donation pile
Local village Garage Sale pile
Things I know friends might like pile
Things I have no space for but I’m NOT getting rid of pile

There isn’t even a ‘hum, not sure pile’ … what discipline!

So yep, I’ve been very disciplined, organised and productive meaning our garage and sheds are looking much more spacious and I now know what I had lurking in boxes, bags, nooks and crannies but ….. man, has it been sooooo dull. The temptation of old, pre-loved, pretty, retro, one off things has been all around me and I’ve said “Um, no thank you very much ~ I’m trying to de-clutter”.  Urgh! 

Anyways, I feel I have been very successful in my quest to show willing and ‘sort out all that stuff that’s cluttering up everywhere *said in my husbands I'm losing patience voice*.  I’m hoping to make a small fortune (well Ok, like £50.00) at the garage sale next month.  One thing I do know though … Eeek I’m so gonna burst, this being sensible doesn't seam to suit me - at all.

Watch this space and hopefully photos will start to re-appear 
very soon of non-sensible, space filling lovely things 
 ;)
 x

Saturday 5 May 2012

Beautiful decay ...

I have a passion for tulips. They give me that 'happy' feeling and my spirits are always lifted when there's a beautiful bouquet brightening up our kitchen window, especially when the backdrop is a thunderous, rainy sky.

I think they take on an altogether different kind of beauty when they start to wither ~ there is something delicate yet rich in the change of colours each flower turns, especially purples.

The photo above is 'natural' and is as it was taken by the camera, the photo below I've changed the contrast to highlight the
 colours ~ both I think demonstrate 
there is beauty in decay.


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