Clover Yard

Local heroes & strawberry delights

How exciting to have discovered a new shop that sells hand crafted items within a 15 mile radius of home.  I love where I live, however I have become frustrated with most of the local gift shops which sell the same old tartan tat (gosh that sounds harsh).  So I was most impressed when I stepped in to the Starfish Studio recently opened in Johnshaven - a little fishing village nearby.  Here, the lovely owner is celebrating all the great talent available on our doorstep, but being choosy about it to create the kind of shopping experience I know anyone reading this will appreciate!

After the owner settled my little boy with a jigsaw and a pile of books (nice touch) at a very smart yellow bistro table (she bought from Marks and Spencer), I got down to the business of doing about 8 laps of the shop - a little shopping quirk I have perfected that frustrates my husband but is completely necessary so as not to miss anything, you understand.

I finally settled on this sweet little strawberry keyring as a treat for myself and it is now swinging merrily from the back door.  I have squirreled away a few other bits which I won't reveal as they are pressies.  The keyring is by The Apple Cottage Company and I was delighted to hear they are based in Johnshaven itself.  They have featured in Country Living magazine and have some beautiful things for sale on their website.

Around the corner from the studio I wished I was dangling the keys for this...

 

On one hand it is sad to see so many holiday homes going up for sale in these small communities but it's also an opportunity to attract more permanent residents - maybe young families that will keep the schools going.  Up until now these types of properties were like gold dust with prices to match.

Back home, I noticed that there is a bit of a strawberry theme going on in the Clover Yard House. 

 

Good old British Home Stores has a lovely vintage inspired range at the moment, including these sweet plastic tumblers, perfect for little hands.  I suppose I should confess to the picnic hamper bought at BHS too - a complete bargain I thought at £25 and soooo Cath.  My one is a 2 person set but I've just gone on to their website and you can get the 4 person hamper for £35!!!  AND, you also get it with a strawberry patterened liner!

A tin sign picked up at Matalan earlier this week.  Perhaps I will get round to growing some of my own next year.

 

I snapped this tea cosy at St Andrews at the Alanhill Fruit Farm  who also do fabby jam with Cath Kidston covers on. 

 

The cosy wasn't for sale but I have found one on Folksy along with a few other juicy strawberry goodies. 

 
 

Bon apetit! x

An afternoon's pottering

I love afternoons like this.  Dark, rainy but not too cold, the weekend stretching before us and no particular urge to go anywhere.  The lights are on in the house and little boy is twittering away in his bedroom with Freddie, Velma and Scooby, appearing at the door now and then to chase away the cat who is determined to snuggle down on the blanket at the bottom of his bed.

Me, I am catching up with all your lovely blogs, smug in the knowledge that the washing machine is whirring away and the dishes are done and the only thing to do is contemplate cup of tea no. 6.

I've also been pottering around with a little arrangement on my dressing table which is getting girlier by the minute!

A little charity shop china posy of roses...

 

A faded, long forgotten photo of yours truly taken in a garden in the early 70's around the corner and up the hill from Clover Yard...

 

A simply beautiful card that I picked up recently - I'm loving these Morrocan tea glasses and faded anenomes.

 

Vintage inspired jewellery...

And the real thing - a pair of salmon pink clip-ons, lovely to look at but agony to wear!

 

The frilliest of pink tulips - a friend thought I'd gone round them with a pair of scissors!

 

Have a good weekend x

Mummy love

Yawwwn...is it Spring yet?  I am slowly awakening from a lengthy Winter slumber, spurred on by a week of warm sunshine.  Time to get blogging again.  I hope you all had a lovely Mother's Day yesterday.  A big thank you to my little boy who wobbled up the stairs with a cup of tea for me while I had a well-earned long lie after a few exhausting days in the flower shop.  Although a day late I want to share this poem with you - a dedication which appears at the front of Robert Louis Stevenson's - A Child's Garden of Verses for his childhood nurse:

To Alison Cunningham, from Her Boy:
For the long nights you lay awake
   And watched for my unworthy sake:
For your most comfortable hand
   That led me through the uneven land:
For all the story-books you read:
   For all the pains you comforted:
For all you pitied, all you bore,
   In sad and happy days of yore: -
My second Mother, my first Wife,
   The angel of my infant life -
From the sick child, now well and old,
   Take, nurse, the little book you hold!
And grant it, Heaven, that all who read
   May find as dear a nurse at need,
And every child who lists my rhyme,
   In the bright, fireside, nursery clime,
May hear it in as kind a voice
   As made my childish days rejoice!

R.L.S

To mummies, grannies, aunties, nannies and nurses, with love x

 

Blankets of snow and wool

 

All this wintryness is giving the landscape that "just stepped out of the back of a wardrobe" feel to it, if you know what I mean.

   

 

Time to put my collection of blankets to use.  Stay cosy x

A fresh start

I'm having an early blog spring clean.  Back soon!  Meanwhile, I'll leave you with some pastel prettiness ... 

     

 

Chaise long pin cushion, Rowan magazine and bloom canvas from John Lewis.  Flowers from David Austin Roses and pastel child's teaset from Ikea.  Interior shot from Jolie Home.

'Twas the night before Christmas...

when all through the Clover Yard house, not a creature was stirring...

 

not even a moose!

 

the Russian dolls were pretty quiet too for that matter...

 

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas would soon be there. 

The children were nestled all snug in their beds...

Ha ha. Not on your nelly says my 4 year old.

Sending out across the wires, the warmest Christmas wishes to you from the Clover Yard house.  Have fun. xx

A trip to Edinburgh and a snowy Sunday

Last weekend we took an overnight trip to Edinburgh, staying in the Edinburgh Residence in one of the grand Georgian terraces in the New Town.  A lovely treat it was - just hubby and me, wandering around the city enjoying the shops and cafes.  Bliss!

George Street was looking particularly festive.  It has established itself as probably the best shopping street in the city with great little boutiques along with some of the better High Street names - White Company, Laura Ashley, Penhaligons and of course the Cath Kidston shop!!!  My first time in one of her shops and boy was it worth it.

Couldn't resist a sneaky photo of the changing room...

 

And loved this montage pinned up by the fabric counter...

The skyline of Edinburgh has a wonderful picture book quality about it with all its spires and chimneys.

 

Even the Gardener's cottage at the east end of Princes Street Gardens looked like a little gingerbread house, straight out of Hansel & Gretel.

Beautifully illustrated in this book by Emma Chichester Clark.

   

Overnight, to our surprise, winter officially arrived in Scotland and little boy made the most of the rare snow.  Indoors, the radiators have been lined with dripping gloves and socks and the kettle has been on a constant vigil.

Hope he doesn't become too attached to his snowman friend.  We all know how that story ends...

Still leaves a lump in the throat.

Have a cosy, snowy Sunday evening x

Wise words

 

Amen

Sunset Sunday

 

Do not be deceived by the blue sky, it certainly wasn't a day for ice cream.  With coats firmly buttoned up we braved the arctic temperatures and headed for Montrose beach to let off some steam.  Luckily for us there weren't many others around so we were able to make full use of the amenities! 

     

 

The sky was putting on a good show.  Big sweeping Turner-esque wisps of cloud, turning pinker by the minute.

 

The setting sun beginning to cast golden shafts of light over the dunes.

 

 

We chased the sunset home, stopping at Montrose railway station to take a photo from the footbridge.  It must be one of the most stunning views from any train station - a tidal basin home to almost 200 species of migratory and resident birds.  My picture doesn't quite capture it, but it was incredibly beautiful and still.

 

Safely back home and with military execution, a fire was lit, steak pie put in the oven and tatties on to boil.

And on a little footstool set before the hearth, the glossy front cover of a Christmassy magazine waited patiently to be peeled back to reveal the delicious festive glory inside. 

A scene that would be much repeated in the Clover Yard household over the cold dark weeks to come.

Have a happy, cosy Sunday. x

 

Getting back in the flow

I think it's true that the longer you're away from a blog, the harder it is to return.  Each thing you think of posting about seems somehow quite trivial - too thought out and self-conscious.  So here I am, shaking out the wrists and letting it flow like the river above - a picture taken on a break this week to our old favourite - Dunkeld & Birnam.  There's nothing like a wee holiday to awaken the blogging mojo!

 

Perthshire is known as Big Tree Country and we certainly timed this trip well as the trees were every shade of copper and gold imaginable.  Mingled with the evergreen pines it was a stunning sight.  I love the native oaks of the Perthshire countryside - so perfectly formed and there are so many of them clustered together, they give the landscape such a rich texture.

 

Relaxation was the order of the day and with a large brandy sat by a roaring fire at our hotel, the sweet scent of burning peat filling the room while the rain pattered relentlesly on the window panes, it really felt like Scotland at its finest.

 

And of course I had to drop by for tea with some old friends at the Birnam Arts Centre. 

     
     

This is my second visit (and post) to this wonderful exhibit and this time I was absorbed in the detail.  The dressing up wardrobe with beautifully sewn costumes of all the favourite characters, including Mrs Tiggywinkle's frilly bonnet complete with hedgehog spikes (twigs).  Adorable!  And the book slings and puppet show curtains made from stunning Vanessa Arbuthnott fabrics.

 

I do hope Miss Potter would have approved.  If only she could see the excited little faces of the local kids coming in after school, eager to escape to a bit of dressing up, sewing or flopping down onto bean bags, shoes abandoned, to watch Peter and Benjamin come to life on the big screen.   Or to see the intense concentration on the face of my little boy as he dressed a plush Peter Rabbit in an oversized knitted cardigan, gently lay him in a painted wooden crib and tucked him in for the night with a hand sewn vintage quilt.  I'd never seen him so content and mesmerised.  For a moment, Dr Who, Spiderman and the "Darleks" were dust and a more innocent, magical childhood reigned.  

 

Like Beatrix, this part of the country restores and inspires me and I'm already looking forward to our next trip.  I'm now off to see what you've all been getting up to.  Before I go, here's a tidy up mantra for your little darlings...