The Waltz of the Flowers

has been cancelled...they all blew away!!

It all began with such promise when our wonderful
 old plum tree flowered a few weeks ago

 and as we peered through the portal of winter we caught a

 tantalizing glimpse of spring beyond...a hint of beauty & 

warmth soon to come

but we might have known then when faced with

 the splendour of such power-filled skies

even with blossom in the distance at the end of 

the silvered stream

and rainbows around every corner

the spring equinox winds were still yet to come

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_William_Waterhouse

and come they did!

One morning when it was blowing a gale and raining,

about last Wednesday,

and it all looked so dismal & bleak out the window

 Charlie ( who actually belongs to Margaret next door)

sauntered in & told me "Mum's not home & it's

 soo chilly outside I'm just going to hop up here 

& have a little bit of a sleep"

It was at this point that I figured it was
 going to be an inside day so maybe I should
gather my oranges & grapefruit &
lemons & the very stylely old enamel
mincer that I found at Connections not so
 long ago & give them a mince up for
a bit of marmalade...

 inspired by Matt's marvelous post

here on our Angel in the Kitchen blog

mmm so what to do with all the wrinkly old left over grapefruit?

instead of water I added more juice

& in the morning the mixture had gone all wonderfully thick & yummy

I did add a couple of cups of water when I cooked it & it has made the most delicious brew

In my lovely vintage cake tin is a very simple apple

 cinnamon cake pop in here  for the recipe if you like.

I am delighted with my old castor that I found at 

"White Traders" quite recently. 

I have filled it with sweet, fragrant, organic cinnamon

and just here is the cleverest quickest way to clean

silverware that you can imagine.

Today I resorted to painting flowers..actually it was just a 

wee job that needed doing. This lovely shabby chic screen

 is so pretty in the Parlour but all it's roses have

 faded to, well, nothing really

so I found a little
 paintbrush 

& my box of paints
 &
 revitalized the
 floral display

 Much better!

At last, this evening it is still..almost feels weird.

These wee chaps have stuck their heads up in glee.

There is something so endearing about their little faces 

don't you think?

"Hearts ease" what a sweet name

 also known as "Johnny-jump-ups"

"Kiss me behind the garden gate" or even 

"Kiss me quick"!

This one looks almost like a butterfly.

Hearts ease are not just pretty little faces.
They can be eaten too..sprinkled through salads,
used to decorate cakes, popped in to ice blocks
 or even used for medicinal purposes.
An infusion of the plant was once said to mend
a broken heart.

They contain rutin that helps to prevent bruising
..much like arnica & are especially useful

for skin complaints. They also contain violanthin..don't 
know what it does, but what a wonderful word! 
There is even a song & a dance inspired by this

delightful wee treasure I figured you may not be enchanted
 by the song as it has a certain Morris Dance aura but I did
 find this sweet little piano piece also entitled Hearts ease. 

Sometimes music can be most annoying on a blog
 so if by chance my music ever bothers you

just click the pause button on the ipod at the top of the
page or else, the quick way.. simply turn
 down your sound ;  )   

Isn't this primrose so lovely.. very antiquey I just adore it!

So nice to know that you've been by. 

I do so appreciate your lovely comments...thank you!!!!

Have a wonderful week..see you soon

MUCH

XX

A Vintage Romance

It's actually quite easy to fall in love...almost anyone can do it... but to stay fallen in love, now that's another matter entirely. Not a lot of people manage that very well. Yet, a great romance might indeed last a life time...

MANY people said that it wouldn't last,

 that it would all end in tears.

... they declared our relationship doomed to failure

but they just did not understand the gift

... how could they, it didn't belong to them

so many letters were written....hearts longing just to be together

journeys undertaken by train

the Silver Fern...went from Auckland to Wellington
 & back.. one way took 14 hours!
... & sometimes by plane, on standby

the cemetery was the prettiest place we could find 

& there were wild flowers there! 

....and then, finally we were married & could be together...always

 Our love of vintage was with us even then, right from the beginning...hunting for old bottles in wild gardens, exploring the abandoned flat next door in Tinakori road in Wellington & finding this sweet, sweet picture in a cupboard
under the stairs.

fossicking through Victoria St market
& antique shops

... everywhere we went 

looking for loveliness & anchoring ourselves to the 

imagined halcyon days & romantic notions of times gone by.

Quite soon, we found our own little house in Hawera

 then came two small children

& later another,

and all the while our love affair continued...

little did we know what lay ahead of us,

all that we would have to endure & work through 

& what that would cost us both.

We grew up together, however & eventually found 

a place in the world to be ourselves

 & to make a difference.

A great relationship takes courage, commitment & passion

& a plan of tender care & adventure.

When our 3 children were still quite small we began to be 

very brave & saved up some money & some courage &

 booked a night away in the historic County Hotel Napier 

(only 20 mins away saves on petrol!)

now when we look back over the last 32 years we cannot 

seem to harness the time & all the memories very well
 but we do recall vividly, all the sweet times like this when
we chose to honour "the gift" of our love in these
special romantic interludes together.

A couple of weeks ago we headed over to Napier once again.

 Having carefully packed & planned

we took an alternative
route to get there

over a one way bridge.

(There's no turning back

it's the rules!)

our bags packed with lovely things & a spare vintage blanket

 or two, just in case it got chilly & a delightful selection

 of magazines

pretty tablecloths, & flowers from home

...bubbly wine & bubbly 

water, homemade museli 

& guavas

& Greek yoghurt 

for breakfast

candles that I made in old pressed glass jugs

epsom salts & essential oils for the spa bath

we felt so blessed when we came across the most
exquisite green vintage velvet eiderdown in the
Antique Centre & "the girls" decided to make it
half price because of a water mark : )

The green is actually much richer but velvet is
notoriously camera shy. 

These vintage clip ons that I found in Decorum are
so much fun. I just love wearing them.

Linda kindly allowed me to photograph these gorgeous 

vintage velvet flowers that were for sale

..so glad that I could show you

aren't the pansies just divine!

sweet dreams are the

 heart beat of romance

(a sign in Emerson St)

we all need to dream a little...

who knows what adventures are stilling waiting for us....

MUCH 

 SWEET DREAMS XX

several of the pictures in this post came via we heart it