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A soft, plump pillow to rest a weary head...
My blur of a son, having a spin on mummy's 'twirly' chair...
Colourful ribbon from a local shop for only 25p per metre....
Patterns in the sand...
Candy coloured walls...
Beautiful pastel pavilions that look like giant wedding cakes...
Taking a stroll along the beach front and learning that the selfless act of an ordinary man who scoured the beach for unexploded mines more than 50 years ago meant that I could walk safely there today.
“The fairies really own this house
or so the children say,
In fact, they all of them moved in
upon the self same day.”
Inspired by the House. Mrs Malcolm Mason. 1923.
I am captivated by this image of a house that I saw on the back of a supplement in Country Living this month and just had to find out more about it. At first I thought it was a trick of photoshop but it is in fact real! It is aptly named The House in the Clouds and is in Thorpeness, Suffolk. It was built for the above mentioned Mrs Mason who was a writer of children's books. What a lucky lady - it reminds me of the poem of the old lady who lived in a shoe. I hope Mrs Mason had a laundry chute.
I would love to hear from anyone who has seen it or better still had the fortune of staying there. Meanwhile, you can find out more at the website.
Photos and caption courtesy of http://www.houseintheclouds.co.uk/
Wishing for....
Those felt cakes are so cute! And as I'm not a fantastic knitter I may just have a go at these. There isn't much info on Amazon as to what other projects are inside but I may have to buy it just for the cakes. *(see update at bottom of post)
I read about The Creative Family over at Soule Mama - a lovely, inspirational blog. I so admire people with broods of children who have the patience and energy to be creative with them all day and who can suffer the mess that goes with it! Soule Mama's obviously got the knack though and I look forward to reading her book which comes out in April I believe.
One night last week I read, cover to cover, As Always, Jack by Emma Sweeney. To be honest, I liked the look of it by it's cover and the prospect of reading someone elses love letters was just too good to pass up! Little did I know that I'd be completely hooked and still reading at 2am (with a rude awakening at 7am by child bouncing on bed - so inconsiderate!). It follows the early relationship of two wartime sweethearts who's long distance relationship unfolds through 40 or so actual love letters sent by Jack to his sweetheart Beebe. What makes it all the more poignant is that the author of the book is the daughter of the pair in question, who published the letters after finding them amongst her late mother's belongings. Tragically her father had died when her mother was pregnant with her and she has grown up knowing little of him. These letters, often humerous and written with such respect towards her mother, are a fascinating insight into relationships of that time and the historical context behind them. There are lots of references to what music they were listening to and what movies they were watching. I particularly like the little doodles Jack makes in some of his letters. If he were alive today he'd be a great blogger! Some of the references to American radio programmes etc. were lost on me but it's definitely worth a read.
I picked this up in my local library which isn't the biggest of libraries but I've borrowed some great books there lately so despite my Amazon link I would always recommend trying them first!
* I was about to order the Warm Fuzzies book and noticed that the author had a very similar book called "Felt so Good" which is in fact the same book with a different cover produced for the UK. (Ok, I much prefer the title warm fuzzies!). But, it's cheaper - more money for buying old woolly jumpers from charity shops. Just don't be caught out by Amazon suggesting you buy both books together. Oh, and Betz White has a great blog here.
Sunday. Mmmmm...my favourite day of the week. Magazines, bacon rolls, pyjamas and endless cups of tea are the order of the day. I am doing my best to relax having endured a mini "adventure" yesterday evening when my car broke down in the middle of a retail park and I had to wait til near 8pm until I was rescued! I had no mobile phone, the shops were all closing and I had very little cash on me. Note to self to toughen up and be more prepared for such events in the future. Anyway, made it back and spent the remainder of the evening thawing out and watching Monster-in-law - chewing gum for the brain but enjoyable all the same. (Loved that courtyard garden of Jennifer Lopez's character). Of course Jane Fonda was nothing like my real mother-in-law.
It was lovely reading all the valentine's inspired blogs during the week. In particular the post over at Keeper of the Chocolates really struck a chord. I couldn't get the Oriah Mountain Dreamer poem out of my head and could completely relate to the writer about the desire to connect with people on a deeper level, really scratch the surface and not feel compelled to turn away or run from the raw emotions. The whole post was quite moving and the little movie is just so, so beautiful.
On a creative note, I spent an enjoyable hour or so re-dressing some paper white doves I'd picked up in a charity shop. They were covered in Christmas tinsel and all sorts but I thought they'd look much nicer simply decorated with some paper flowers. I think they look quite pretty...
Have a lovely Sunday evening, I'm off to put the kettle on. x
Wishing you all a very happy Valentine's day from the bottom of my button tin!
It's a day to treat yourself with all things nice...
It's been beautiful weather here over the past few days. I am going through life right now in a sort of dream-like state. It's not necessarily a positive thing as I'm also feeling like I'm not achieving very much (or at least not what I think I should be achieving). Does that make sense? It could be a seasonal thing. I've always felt pretty connected with nature, daylight and darkness and I do feel a sense of emerging from a slumber now that we've been having some better weather and the crocuses are poking through the ground. I just need to be better equipped for those darker days. Anyway, I had a quiet moment of reflection whilst out and about yesterday and stopped to marvel at the way that it's just so uncomplicated for nature. It just gets on with it. And I respect that. Enjoy this special day. x
I promised myself I wasn't going to blog tonight as I feel I'm getting a bit addicted. Instead, I had planned a cosy night in front of the telly watching Casablanca which I picked up at a thrift shop today. Can you believe I've never seen it before?! I think maybe I'm destined not to as my wee one is going through a bit of an insecure phase and insists that I stay upstairs until he's asleep. "You go on the puter mummy" Of course, I oblige! (Hence the frequent posts). He thinks I spend all my time on the laptop looking for a new bed for him, bless.
While I'm here I want to thank those of you who have left comments for me - it has been such a thrill for me to read these and you have been so kind with your words. I have passed on the comments about the doggie to my sister-in-law. We were looking after her lab for the weekend and I am really missing her this week. My SIL is such a model dog owner, very responsible and caring about her pet. This week her dog is being treated by a Reiki practitioner who specialises in animals. I had no idea they existed! I will let you know how that goes.
Something I wanted to share with you - a pic of my most recent offering from my son. He knows his mummy SO well. No idea what it is (of course I didn't let him know that) but it's glittery with pink and blue feathers - that'll do for me!! I think he is going to be my crafting buddy although my husband might have something to say about that.
Finally, a little posy of flowers to cheer your evening. It was a beautiful sunny day here today and I just had to buy some more flowers. That's my dad and grandad in the photo frame, many a moon ago, launching the boat he made. He's such a clever person. He is currently making a rocking horse which my son is expressing quite an interest in!
Off to bed now, speak soon x
Aren't these beautiful? I love the turquoise and pink combination. Think I will have to treat myself. You can find these along with other beautiful things for the home at Aubergine Home Interiors. The website alone is worthy of a look for its gorgeous photography.
I frankly couldn't have too many mugs and cups and I really love this fresh birdy pattern and ergonomics of the stackable design. These are from Dutch by Design.
You don't mind if I go on ahead do you? It's just that I have an overwhelming desire to run madly through all those acres of heather.
Now where did I leave that stick....
almost there, just a few steps further...
Today I feel blessed for living in this stunning part of the country and to have the company of such a beautiful and sweet natured labrador. If it weren't for her I would never have taken this journey today.
Come on in and have a nosey at the little corners of my home that brighten my day. I like to think of each room as a still-life that I can re-arrange according to mood, season and whatever bargains or goodies I've picked up along the way. My husband's usual reaction is "You've moved things. Again." I think you understand perfectly...
Apologies for the Christmassy reflection in the mirror. I will upload some more pics soon!
