The Land of Discombobulation and The Red Velvet Coat

When I was just seven I got a bad dose of the chicken pox.

I was miserable!

My mother had left & I had to stay home from school in bed for a week.

My aunty Margaret came and cared for me, since she had two small boys of her own, that was very kind of her.

Nobody read to me in those times, but my aunty patiently sat and read me The Magic Faraway Tree.

 

I loved those stories of silly magical places...so much.

And the whimsicalness & the possibilities!

When you got to the top of the tree you would burst out through the clouds and find yourself in a different land with each and every visit. Sometimes it was a very strange land indeed! 

I think I must have climbed out the window by mistake on this particular occasion, as I ventured up through those clouds, as I have found myself trapped in The Land of Discombobulation this past week or two.

This is a very horrid land full of nasty little goblins who keep leading you up the garden path to the wrong place & who have the audacity to give you half of someone else's cold and then, even more rudely, they make you bleed for ten days on end and they give you confusion and sadness for dinner.

They make all the flowers disappointed and Dame Washalot actually lives there and everything is damp and clammy and it makes everybody odd and cranky. The roads have huge ditches, so deep they can swallow a small car whole, as they did with my boy's just bought one. Fortunately he climbed out of the ditch with kind assistance and sirens attending and left the awful land and came home for dinner and comfort, as if nothing had happened at all.

If you don't know The magic Faraway Tree you might like to watch this lovely little video 

Bringing Books to life: The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton with Naomi Wilkinson

And if you do know it you might like to watch it too! 

Late this week, I found some flowers still smiling. 

 I wish you could smell this winter sweet..it is heaven on earth.

 Raindrops on maidenhair fern.

 This white Sparieshoop has got a little ahead of itself and mistaken the seasons.

 Camelias are always so lovely.

 After gardening I visited my friend Ruth.
Isn't she the kindest friend, she picked me these glorious narcissii.

 By the time I left Ruth's house I swear there was not another tiny space left in my car. I forgot to take a photo...stuffed as it was with primulas & polyanthas, sacks of walnuts, jars of flowers, persimmons, apples from the tree-ripened stall along the way...
Imagine the sight if I had been found in a ditch that day, covered in fruit & dirt & flowers!

I have never had this happen before with a rose, but even after all this time, (well over a month) the roses that Trish had given us at the camping ground for Lucy, are still going! Well one is.

 My lovely neighbour over the road, came over with this sweet tablecloth for Lucy this week..wasn't that so kind!

I stopped here just before the sun went down to get some more tree ripened apples. The people are so kind..they pick just the ripest ones every few days & leave them in wooden bins at a little honesty stall so that we can come & help ourselves.

 My brother took his son to a model show a week or two ago & look what they found to show me!

Oh dear, we sent for some more Cath Kidston recently & thought that the blue spray flowers might be great to have for Lucy..when we need it next. But I am rather cross, after it coming all that way..I think it is very naughty of them to say that this is blue!

Very polite & all that, & have been able to leave a review but no responsibility taken.

I have listed it on Trade me.

 When I was last in The Little Red Book Shop I found this adorable wee book.

 "Once near the Tinkling brook, where the water swirled in to deep pools, a tiny little Sprite sat upon a stone, watching a speckled trout in the water...

...when they came to the home of Bertha Bumblebee, she asked them why they were so happy, and they told her of the new Field Mice Babies. "Their happiness makes me happy!" said Bertha Bumblebee, "so I will hum-m-m-m!"

And she went down the road with Granny Cricket and Thomas Toad and they fiddled and drummed and hummed until they came to the home of Catherine Catbrird and told her why they were so happy".

The stories are so sweet and so are the illustrations.

 And I adore the dedication:

Almost lastly, I finished this book some weeks ago and I am still thinking about the story even now.
It is very deep & intriguing and complex and you may well enjoy it too.
It reminded me a great deal of a richer version of the Secret Garden.

Here is Kate Morton herself to tell you about her story:

The red velvet coat is a little shy & didn't much like being photographed.
In the window of the Hospice shop this week...it drew me in the door where I found many of the staff clustered together behind the counter. I was able to tell them all how much I love their shop & the new fabulous window displays. I tried on the velvet coat just for fun...but it was perfect!
After I remove the pins from the hem & sew it up I shall where it to a winter wedding at the end of June.

Thank you so much for visiting me.

While I was trapped all that time in the nasty place it was a huge comfort to know that you were all still there!!

Hugs & grateful friendship friends & readers.

MUCH

 ♥♥♥♥♥