Autumn Scape

We went for a walk around nearby Bradgate Park this morning, D, Bertie and I.  We walked for as long as it took the sun to burn away the pockets of heavy low-lying mist and to paint the scape with honeyed hues.

I could quite easily have stayed cocooned in the warmth of my duvet like most Sundays but I'm so glad I didn't.  I'm pretty sure we witnessed the season's last, loveliest smile.

xxx

Favourite Bits

When my children were much younger and used to share a bath, I'd sit on the hard tiled floor with my back against the radiator and, either before or after 'Cafes', we'd play the 'Ask Me About My Day" game.  It always consisted of the same questions,

"What was your favourite bit today?"

"What was the worst thing about today?"

"What made you laugh today?"

I mentioned it to my daughter and she laughed and then reminded me of the fourth question which I'd forgotten about.

"Who was your best friend today?"

A favourite bit could just be a fleeting snapshot that's away before you know it or, if you're lucky, it could be a lingering and downright delicious stretch of something wonderful.  But, as I always used to tell them, even stinky-horrid days can have favourite bits.

Now that they're 16 and 14, we don't play it any more.  I miss it.  Squeezing any information out of my children now is not unlike getting blood from a stone!

It's half term this week and one of my favourite bits of each day, without fail, is taking my first cup of tea back up to bed and sitting, crocheting.  I always open the window to let the day in and have the radio on quietly.  I absolutely love that precious hour or so.

Another of my favourite bits can be cooking supper.  I say 'can be' because it's not always.  It very much depends on what I'm making or whether we're eating in shifts.  Sometimes though, I really enjoy pouring myself a glass of wine and taking my time peeling, chopping, grating, stirring, seasoning.  I love the challenge of a new recipe and I love the familiarity of a favourite.  I love the windows getting steamed up, the kitchen getting cosy and the delicious smells wafting up through the house drawing the children downstairs like a magnet.

If I am sitting at the kitchen table with my laptop, Bertie will nearly always come and lie in the shaft of sunlight (if there is one) near my feet.  Turning his face up to the sun and soaking up its warmth, he looks as near to 'blissed out' as a spaniel could ever get.  Bless him.

Prompted by my spotting a small silvery moth strolling around in one of my baskets of wool, I had a mammoth yarn sort out and tidy on Saturday.  I bought some cheap plastic drawers from a DIY store and neatly stashed away my precious booty.  My favourite bit of the whole exercise was making pretty labels for the drawers.  Oh how I enjoyed that.  I do so love a bit of whimsy.  

As for today.  My favourite bit might just be what we had for supper.  A warm salad made up of Sunday's refried roast potatoes, crispy pancetta, spring onions, tomatoes and parsley tumbled over spinach, rocket and watercress.  Or it might just be the heavily rose-scented bath I'm running.  I'm feeling chilly tonight, really chilly.  Is there anything nicer than climbing into a hot heady bath when even your bones feel cold?

xxx

Less Is More

Helloooo!!!

Where on earth have you been?

I've been waiting for you.

Hahaha! :-)

In all seriousness, I put my little blog on hiatus there for a few weeks.  I've been quite open about the fact that I have had some life issues to address.  Well, I'm pleased to report that I'm almost back on track, feeling more in control and plans are afoot.  All sounds very mysterious doesn't it, but it's really not.  I've come to realise that life can be peppered with ruts and, rather than sit and moan about them, I've had to get off my bottom, take a deep breath and be proactive.  So I have.  Yay me!

I have been continuing to post on Facebook and Instagram simply because it's easy.  Less wordy.  So if I ever go missing again and you wonder what I'm up to, feel free to come and poke me there (short cut buttons over on right hand column).

I've got so many bits and pieces to tell you that I'm struggling to put it in any sort of order.  Instead, I think I shall spread it over a few posts.  Yes, that's far better.

I really do want to talk to you about the green cushion in my first photograph and the sneaky glimpse of the neopolitan crochet beneath it though, so I'm tempted to say that will probably come next.

Back very soon.

xxx

I'd Rather Have Flowers On My Table ...

I was lucky enough to win the most fabulous book in a recent giveaway hosted by Debbie on her blog, Serendipity Patch, called The Cut Flower Patch by Louise Curley.  I don't own many garden-related books and don't profess to be very green-fingered at all but I do love flowers.  I love them in the garden and love them just as much in my home.  I feel slightly bereft if I don't have a pretty posy on my kitchen table, mantelpiece or bedside table.  (Debbie reviews the book on her blog here.  While you're there, do take a few minutes to check out her crochet, it's just gorgeous.  Her spring flower blanket is in my top ten favourite blankets of all time!)

Well, this book has completely inspired me.

Did you know that approximately 80 per cent of the flowers available to buy in the UK are imported and may have travelled up to 25,000 kilometres by the time they reach our homes?  I might be being naive but that strikes me as crazy given that we live in such a green and pleasant land.

I only have a smallish south-facing town garden but I have resolved to grow as many cut flowers as I can this year.  I've made the most of the recent glorious weather and cleared a bed and several pots in readiness.  (Any tips on how to deter next door's cat from pooping in the freshly dug soil will be extremely welcome!  Bertie is more interested in sunbathing than patrolling his territory.)

I hadn't also realised how many of my existing plants can be cut and brought inside, starting very soon with my viburnum and crab apple blossom.  (Look at the colour of that sky.)

Of course, I have been trimming my lilac and using the branches for my Easter Tree, for a few years now.  Last year's.  The year before.  This year's are now in situ, all ready for decorating.

Meanwhile in the garden, I couldn't resist a bit of instant colour so I bought an armful of inexpensive polyanthus plants.

Gosh I love spring.

xxx

Photo Scavenger Hunt - February 2012

Better a little late than never, I have finally completed my Scavenger Hunt photos for February.  I must admit I did struggle a bit this month so one or two maybe a little tenuous!

5 inches!

(Couldn't resist including this photo - Bertie is SO not supposed to be on the sofa!)

The Champs Elysees.

TENUOUS ALERT ... Bellini's Madonna And Child featuring three cherubs.  The very nearest to Cupid I could get I'm afraid!!  I took this photo at The Louvre in December.

Our local park last Wednesday ... TENUOUS ALERT ... which also happened to be 29th February of this Leap Year!

The 'leaping' part of Leap Year!!  My son looking like Billy Elliot!

Fried egg on toast - yum!

Corfe Castle in Dorset.

Another view from our lounge window.  The sun was sinking in the sky and it's glow was catching the edges of the heavy clouds - stunning!

Gorgeous card!

My son's keyboard.

One of the treasured trains my son inherited from my late Father In Law, his grandfather.

Roll on March ...

Hx