Among my souvenirs

It is a time of great passion for me at this time in spring.
I am utterly enchanted by the exquisite, delicacy of the sweetly fragrant lily of the valley.

I have planted plenty of plants in to the garden through the years but they don't seem to feel quite at home & I lose them. I now plant them in pots & they have conceded to stay. This way I can keep a close eye on them & also bring the pots out from under the shelter of the plum tree once in flower so as to admire them as often as possible. This spring I have installed some of the pots up on a table in the garden and quite by chance discovered that the fragrance wafts more freely this way as we pass by.

There must surely be a lily of the valley angel..I think she may live in under my ancient plum tree.
Hope renewed!! some of the young woman out there are writing the sweetest, most eloquent, delightful & heartfelt blogs. I could not help but fall in love with a blog entitled she would have liked wings, now could I?!! Demure Folk, (toile) & The Simple Life are three web logs (I learnt that the other day...that's where the word blog comes from in all it's ugliness) by the dearest girls and of course an endless abundance is being written by a fine young chap
 ; )

I hold simple dreams.....to walk through woods of bluebells & to be able to pick actual bunches of lily of the valley. No wonder that this divine wee flower is often said to symbolize purity. It speaks to me too of innocence.
  I am equally besotted with a heritage rose growing on my front fence. Today I saw a couple walking by who stopped to stare, captivated by the beauty of my Souvenir de la Malmaison, just as am I.

There is a story told of this gorgeous beauty..
.. the 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' rose was given to Napoleon by the Empress Josephine to bring him back safely from war. it was claimed to resemble Napoleon's hat and was also carried by French soldiers in the Battle of Waterloo to protect them. The 'Souvenir de la Malmaison' is named after Josephine's garden in Malmaison near Paris."

 Today was freezing here, only about 13 degrees so it seemed quite odd to put on a scarf & jacket to work in the garden & yet still be able to pick all these gorgeous flowers. I have been meaning to use a teapot as a vase for some time..worked brilliantly!

 so I tried a few more..teapots that is!

Dear Ania, the green teapot that you liked the other day is in the centre..would you believe it has "Made in Poland" stamped on the bottom  : ) I also remembered a little trick with vases that I had once seen in Victoria magazine

see in the left hand side of the photo I have used a small glass vase that fits in to a larger one & in the space between the two I've put small white pearly buttons. That way the buttons themselves don't sit in water & get all slimy. I love the effect..I started off using actual mother of pearl buttons but I soon realized that various ordinary white/creamy ones would do just as well. One spring, while I was working at the antique shop in town, I took flowers in for the counter in this same vase arrangement, part way through the day we turned around to find a woman fishing out the buttons with a hair clip!

once again, the little jug
& saucer from my
market last weekend
worked really well to
hold small roses...dear
little Cecile Brunner




 soon the winds will come & blow all the blossoms away as if the world were a bride, to be drenched with delicate petals of blessing!

Just before I go have a wee look at this..a lemon blossom in the garden

now look closely..see the tiny little baby lemon in the centre of the flower. Truly remarkable!
Thanks so much for visiting I loved having you here.

MUCH ♥

XX

Passing the passion, tag

I just adore this recent post from Matthew at
an endless abundance
& thought that you might like it too : )

As a single parent and a full time student, sometimes my financial

means can become a little thin. Its not always comfortable,

but to have built my independent adult life from simple beginnings 

has nurtured something I now find profoundly rewarding. Although, 

it's also been partly inherent by nature, with parents as passionate

as I about the relics and often forgotten simplicity of those beautiful

lives of the past. I cherish my now well developed resourcefulness,

it has become a way of life that I would not change for all the money

in the world. It has coloured every element of who I have become,

and it greatly influences both my appreciation for the simple things

in my life; and the way in which I present my philosophical views

of life in how I raise my little man.

And then there are things like maintaining Leonard, our temperamental

1950's fridge. He's a jolly reliable old chap, ruggedly handsome for his

age, and was an absolute steal. Though lets put it this way; he's Not

equipped with a frost free freezer.

But there's something so fulfilling in emerging from one of my

friendly little secondhand stores, my meeting places with others

discardedness, tightly clutching something precious and helpfully

inexpensive. I rather dislike the disposable societies that are establishing

themselves all over the show; throw away packaging, throw away plastics,

throw away people... Although the one and only upside, is for those of us

who enjoy the excitement and reward of the forage. Searching for the
beauty amongst others rubbish.

It has become effortlessly part of most days for my little man and I. He knows where to look as well as I do now, and oh how that enthralls me. He disappears to his own little hidden boxes and tables before I've seen him gone. I can see that passion growing in his eyes. He loves doing anything I do, but I can tell with his few jingly coins in his pocket he's started to love it for his own enjoyment. So this week we went, as we do, and we found, as we hope, more of the things that fill our house with life, and character, and our beloved vintage. Being the school holidays, the best thing he could have found was something that would entertain him for a few moments at a time, while I wrote by very brief and small installments a lengthy politics essay...

But this Whizzer and

Chips Annual from 

1977 that he bought 

for a dollar full of quirky

 little comic strips, 

captured his attention

 for hours upon hours.

 To the point that it 

needed confiscating

so that he could eat,

 and he loves to eat.

I discussed with him a few weeks back about the production
 of things in China. A few days later as we foraged, he stopped
 himself in the middle of asking to buy a small plastic toy,
quietly returned it to where he'd found it and we left. 

As we walked away from the shop he told me he wasn't going
to buy it because he'd realised that on the bottom it said
'made in china'.

 Life's all about choices, even when you're a child.

 courtesy of the seventies. whizzer and chips.

Apple Blossom Time

It's apple blossom time..& peach & pear & nectarine & apricot but they don't sound quite the same somehow do they!
 I have loved Cicely Mary Barkers flower fairies for as long as I can remember..so adorable, all of them..

and look, so true to life. I popped in to an orchard while we were out walking to take a picture of these beauties while they were still perfect..Rob waited on the road side twiddling his thumbs.  He said he didn't mind : )

This lovely little song comes from a book called "The little pink book" how perfect!

You might have to make up a little tune for yourself.

The Song of the Apple Blossom Fairies

Up in the tree we see you, blossom-babies,

All pink and white;

We think there must be fairies to protect you,

From frost and blight,

Until, some windy day, in drifts of petals,

You take your flight. 

You'll fly away! But if we wait with patience,

Someday we'll find

Here, in your place, full-grown and ripe, the apples

You left behind- 

A goodly gift indeed from blossom-babies,

To human-kind!

Today I drove home from work the long way so that I could take a photo of this extraordinary sight

that I spotted recently..the apple & the blossom babies : )

and look at these dear wee poppets..I feel as if I came upon them mid-recital.

This month has been a very pink month in New Zealand with all kinds of fundraisers & breast cancer awareness campaigns. I thought that this ploy was soo clever... certainly got my attention!

 A dear friend of mine is having a fun & pretty opening of her cottage home stay in November & I have been invited to take along a few lovelies to sell. Inspired by lovely creations at The Pink Poodle I have been having fun dying some doilies to make bunting.

There is an appallingly small & expensive selection of dye available these days at Spotlight & my pink was fairly "out there" so I added a pot of tea & that seemed to help mellow the effect.

pretty in pink on the line

well ok, startlingly pink then!

I continued using my solution for days!! Including colouring paper doilies...works really well...just dip, swish, then dry on something that doesn't matter.
Mind you the end result is a little more subtle and quite pretty.
What do you think?

This week has been really hard for some reason, maybe the stuff I wrote about in Sharing Hope Gratefully, who knows? Anyway.. I saw that St Lukes op shop was still open on my way home on Friday afternoon so I thought I'd pop in & I was just thinking that it would be really nice to find a summer dress again one day..."where have all the dresses gone?...far, far away!" (Australia I suspect).. when, what should I see but, a pretty summer dress & on the $2 rack...thank you!

In the middle of all this, I thought I had better use some of the fruit from my freezer before suddenly it was summer again. These omega plums & blackcurrants & some "in season" tamarillos were just divine cooked together & so yummy with organic Greek yoghurt from the Farmers Market. No, probably not a good morning for a white blouse!

I am really enjoying this vibrant combination of pansies, apple mint & a vivid orange calendula planted in my courtyard in an old metal babies bath or "Katies flower bath" as Kaitiaki calls it.

Best to get in & use my chard before it goes to seed..I love the colour of these stems..everything is beginning to bolt with the warmth...natural urge, I guess : )

I picked up this little jug & saucer at a market last weekend ($3)..perfect for spring roses.

Found the green teapot too & was going to replace the ugly bright yellow one that some one took off with from the "shop" recently (goodluck to them it was soo vile) but I rather like it's very vintage greenness so perhaps I wont put it out..I might be sad to lose it. 

I was fascinated by these huge clover flowers I found on an unmowan verge along the way. They look quite amazing in front of this old 1930's calendar picture on the mantel piece.

my very first "sweetheart" rose of the spring..just soo perfect

I love how some of the best things in a garden happen by their own design..this old rose has decided to take a ramble through the flowering cherry..no smothering, just as polite as you like & look at the two of them..

a symphony of pink everywhere...how truly glorious is
Spring! 

Hope you've had a good week.

 ♥MUCH

Sharing Hope Gratefully

What I have been pondering in recent weeks is the character & function of the global cyber community. The random connections & interconnections that happen every second of any given day are beyond my imagining. When I check the global visitor statistics on even a simple, little followed blog like mine, I am amazed to find that there have been visitors from all around the world, literally: India, Poland, Romania, Germany, Russia, South Korea, Mexico yip Australia even ; ) the UK.....and many more.

If I try really hard I kind of imagine the endless chaos of interaction, the social intercourse, to be a bit like this...

 via we heart it

 Each of us, anonymous, is given a clean page to colour in just exactly how we want to, when we want to, with what ever we want to. No matter where we have come from or what has happened in the past we have a chance to re-choose "whom" we will present to the "world". For some woman (& it seems to be mainly woman) it may be the first time that they have had autonomy over their lives in a long time. We get the chance to learn new skills, gain fresh knowledge, refine our social skills & to be inspired & encouraged by others daily & all without prejudice, derision or judgement awaiting us round every corner. For some it is the first whisper of hope that has come along in forever...

via deviant art

 Truth is, there is still so much hurt out there, so many damaged lives, so much suffering, loss, pain & loneliness, but together, as we share our lives & our stories & our knowledge we will all learn, grow, heal, re-form & transform our lives in ways that we cannot yet predict. People often believe that to be loved is all that matters & that if we find true love then our lives will be perfect & all will be well, but what most of us crave fundamentally, is to have a witness to who we are..SEE ME! To know that we are not alone in this wild & scary world, not to say, that to be loved for who we are isn't pretty useful too!  

 Two years ago I couldn't use a computer (except to look at the catalogue at the library!) but through being brave enough to take the first step & then another, my world has been radically changed & others have been affected in varied & interesting ways all around me. I am so grateful.

As I stand in the place of slight elevation, that being nearly 50 provides, I am intrigued to notice that childhood, is in fact, only a small portion of this life. All the imprinting was there in those first 5 years: the pale blue gingham & checked woolen blankets, the scent of freesias, daphne & winter sweet & the early blossom trees that I passed on my way from school to the Village, the cucumber & tomato sandwiches in my little school lunch box, the polished wooden floors & the comforting smell of the turpentine & linseed applied to them. Feijoas, strawberries & the scent of just mowed grass, moss & making miniature gardens, one fingered piano playing & the old enamel bath & water jug & bowl at Nan's..her crisp white linen sheets... all these things formed a girl & she was pink.

 Then, her mother was gone & she was displaced & disconnected from all that was familiar & safe.

(How strange, I realize at this moment that I do not have any other photos of myself from this time, just a couple of baby pics.) It was if from that moment NO ONE saw me, the real me had become invisible..gone.

Then they decided that I was orange! ORANGE! well ask yourself!! really!! So for the next decade I was orange & invisible & miserable & lost. 

How can you be some one if you no longer know who YOU are?

It's taken 30 years & a million tears & all the survival kind of courage that I could muster to find the girl again, but she's still there & she's still pink & she's now a woman immersed in every day loveliness & fashioned by beauty.

 Hope comes new every morning..

 Innocence can be revitalized. 

Sometimes I hold the hand of the One who loves me 

& when I just can't, He holds on to mine..

when I found this waiting in a box at the Salies the other day...I knew that He was right by my side & that in loving me.. He sees me

"Be who you are & say what you think 'cos those that mind don't matter & those that matter don't mind."

That's all very nice but when being who you are & saying how you feel gets you in to a lot of trouble then there's a cost...to being free...to being yourself...but it's worth it in the long run..

 beauty heals

 artist Susan Brown 

and belongs to us all

truly!!

MUCH