Snowdrops and other winter delights

I am feeling better and have been enjoying July, it's so unpredictable weather wise...heavy frosts, sunny warmish days, like today, rain, sleet, hail, winds....a total scramble of weather..it makes life exciting.

 

spectacular sunrises...

 

..mellowing out to 'soft days'.

Perfect for doing a little knitting...

 

...or a little stitching...

 

 We have had some crisp starts to some days...

 

the grass staying crunchy underfoot all day..

 

...slivers of ice adorning the pond...but it amazes me every year in the midst of the worst winter days the little snow drops push their tiny green spires through the frozen ground, they emerge so perfect and delicate looking..they pull me outside rugged up to watch their progress, that breathtaking feeling that has never left me after reading The Secret Garden....

 

 

a few wee primroses just peeping out too.

The White Magic Hellebore I planted in the autumn is flowering and looking lovely in some little vases around the house.

 

 

Established plants in the woodland garden.

Skeletal trees have a stark beauty, catkins , cones and pods become an otherwise unseen beauty .

 

 

Alder cones

 

 

Tulip tree pods.

Pussy Willow is starting to emerge.... I have big jugs of it all over the house!! ..I adore it!!  

 

 

I have a birthday this month and was spoilt.

 

beeswax candles and

 

and hearts lovingly crafted by the Thrifty Fox...

 

 

delicate old lace and button magnets.

 

victorian scraps and delicately scented soap...

 

and this dear wee spode vase, blue spots and flowers!!! 

It's so lovely feeling my strength returning and doing some crafting, enjoying what the garden is offering up and feeling more like 'me'!

Have a happy week.xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the road again...

...to Dunedin Hospital for another surgery,  will be away for another couple of weeks probably. 
But this week I have had a wonderful week feeling really well....I finished hemming the big quilt.

 

...lots of stitches..it's great having it all done.

 

this is a double bed and it touches the floor right round....it's not for this bed but it did look cosy here.

|The man of the house rewallpapered the kitchen last week and we have had bare walls since then.  This weekend he was great hanging up plates etc....so it looks more 'me' now!...I'm no minimalist!!!

 

one of my favourite china patterns is The Asiatic Pheasants this big ashette has a crack,  but chips, cracks and wear don't bother me...I love china, well anything old really and if it has signs of wear or use I don't mind at all...I love to imagine what the woman was like who had it before me...was it her 'best' china? did she use it every day? .....

 

I have had this plate for ages and couldn't find anywhere it suited.....its hanging over the horrible white plastic switch for the range now and I am thrilled!!!

 

 

these are to go on the living room wall but we ran out of hooks!

As I am such a blue and white china addict...no other words for it!  I decided to put up 2 very pretty plates in the living room that only have a smidgen of blue in them.....

 

....another kitchen corner..

 

 The garden is almost down to its bare bones for winter....the elm has dropped her leaves and has a golden carpet at her feet....

 

and even if there are few flowers to be seen there are some other treasures...

 

..this eye catching white fungi and at a friends some dainty little toadstools...

 

 

 ....in keeping with the mystical feel we have had some delightful misty mornings...

 

the mist swirled around making eerie shadows and shapes....

 

..I am fascinated by the ever changing light ...we live on such a beautiful planet..

 

another beautiful morning...

 

 ...it is these simple things I miss when in hospital.

I found some bright flowers by my little hut ..very bright and sweetly perfumed....

 

...no roses though....card from our daughter this week is very cute and very true...

 

 Have a happy week.

xxxx

 

 

...on the road again...

Snow and floods

Winter is here!
We have had floods..the path a friend and I walk to the river is deep under water...the river has broken it's banks and spread out all over the paddocks, we have had some hail and some snow too. There is magic in every season.....I love the fire on, cosy blankets, winter food, woolly clothes and boots, reading books and crafting when the rain is drumming on the roof and the wind wuthers round the house....mmmmmmmmm ...and drinking tea and sipping soup....bliss!

 

 

...the hail on the Irish Moss looks like beads ....

..

...then came the snow.....

we didn't get much here but the hills were very thickly coated.....hope we get some more this winter.

It always amazes me that no matter how the weather is behaving there are always a few brave wee flowers  to brighten up small corners of the garden.

 

Lavender Lassie 

 

endearing Heartsease pansies.....

that pop up all over the garden their little bewhiskered faces always make me smile.

 

Still lots of leaves to walk through... a few leaves still clinging to the trees ...these birds huddled up looking very chilly out the kitchen window.

 

We have had sunny days too, time to go out and visit with Archie, he is such a boy! loves rolling in the mud....needs his knees washed! He is very well rugged up against any chill with his very fluffy coat on.

 

..NB the knees!

 

I have been hemming the 3 quilts I bound before going into hosp and watching DVD's which I don't normally do, today watched The Good Life...after all these years it's still so funny.  

Haven't been feeling so well and have had another hospital stay so simple hand stitching has been soothing.

"A garden is the mirror of a mind. It is a place of life, a mystery of green moving to the pulse of the year, and pressing on and pausing the while to its own rhythms.  In making a garden there is a sense of the lovely and assured, of garden permanence and order, of human association and human meaning: to be found is beauty and that unfolding content and occupation which is one of the lamps of peace."

(Henry Beston)

 Have a happy week.

x

back home

After 3 weeks in hospital (getting amazing care) it's lovely to be back home....

just to see the sky, the clouds and breathe deeply the fresh air! the aromatic woodsmoke, walk through fallen autumn leaves and delight in being close to nature again.

 

...to enjoy the changing light in the garden...

..

to hear the little fountain bubbling away....

...to see the leaves changing colour....

 

...admire the dew drops on the Tulip trees fallen leaves...

 

...to think about getting back into my card making little hut....

 

....rejoice in the fact that finally I have some calendulas that have seeded and popped up!

The deliciousness of being in my own comfy bed...pale blue and white spotted flannelette sheets with a hot water bottle tucked in by my feet...such simple bliss!

Our girls came home to be with the man of the house and me for my surgery, they are angels! and  due to some complications I didn't get to come home as soon as I could have so our time at home together was short...they did however leave me some beautiful Mothers Day gifts.

 

...these beautiful china flowers from Thrifty Fox, 

 

this can't wait to wear it Laura Ashley dress from Melbourne daughter!!

 

After I got home from hospital my lovely friends from the shop I work at delivered a gorgeous bouquet...the colours and perfume are beautiful.

 

 

Whilst in hospital I was overwhelmed by the beautiful flowers, fruit, and gifts friends and family gave me..

Thankyou....it made all the difference....

 

 

....this is the view from the kitchen window , a glowing tree.

Today there is an ethereal mist trailing her fingers through the trees and giving the garden a magical touch ...it is elusive  and I have been unable to capture it on my camera, little flurries of falling leaves every now and then ....don't you just love Autumn....

"Live in the moment, discover and delight in the simplest things.

Right now

a moment of time is fleeting by.

Capture its reality...

become the moment." 

(Paul Cezanne)

Have a happy week 

x