Easter Holidays :: part 2

Hello Lovelies,
This past week we have been  spending some time in the garden, it's great when the boys help.
Here middle son is pruning the Buddlia..........

I've had some seed potatoes chitting for a few weeks ...........

And now they are planted, two each, in these containers............

They do take more watering than those planted directly in the ground, but they are so easy to harvest....just tip up the pot and they are all there........when we try and dig them up several always seem to get the fork stuck through them.

Actually I'm not growing many vegetables this year and my little square veg. patch is having a change of use.....as I cut flower patch. Thank you for your helpful suggestions for this corner of my garden. 

I love this time of year when there is so much to look forward to....so much potential beauty to enjoy in a tiny handful of seeds. And the seeds themselves are so interesting......here we have Cornflower........

Aren't they funny little tufty things....and so different to these huge Nasturtium seeds..........

Then there's Stock........

and Cosmos...........

And tiny black Nigella Seeds.............

I like their other name "Love in a Mist"....very sweet............

But if you allow your teenage son to write the label you may end up with something more comical..........

it says "Nigella Lawson !" ....I like the smiley faces and the saucepan 

The weather has been so nice that after all that hard work I stayed outside for a well earned break. Some Banana loaf and magazines lent to me by Mum. This is Aprils edition of "Country Homes and Interiors"....

I love the inside of this cottage on the Northumberland coast..........

With all it's seaside touches...........

I think this boot room is wonderful with it's colourful coats, wellies and crocs..........

And that colouful plastic basket caught my eye

It made me go and fetch this basket of mine to show you lovelies again. I say again as it first appeared HERE back in 2010. I take it with me every workday, to carry my lunch and other essentials..........

After all this time it still looks great and people often comment on how cheerful it is.

While I was doing my reading I enjoyed listening to this little fellow............

A Dunnock

I even made a short video of him or her singing......Not much happens but I thought you might like to listen too........

Spring Birdsong from Bunny Mummy on Vimeo.

Indoors ( in attempt to reduce his screen time ) I've been doing some baking with youngest.........

I still have one child who needs to stand on a step to bake.

And Mum has been round, sharing her latest painting.............

Long Bridge Haworth.

Then Yesterday we went on a family cycle ride somewhere new and so beautiful. Youngests fairy cakes were very welcome to refuel half way through...........

And I took LOTS of pictures. I'll share our day very soon.
Thank you for you kind comments on my previous post....I'm so happy you feel the same way about documenting family times before they are a distant memory.
Jacquie x

A Simple Day

Hello Lovelies,

I'm really enjoying having this colourful calendar above my desk. 

You may remember I was lucky enough to win it in Heathers give away last year. 

It's great to have a different quote or motto each month to inspire me.

This month it only says " Live Simply"

This could mean different things to different people. To me it means take time to notice the little things and special moments that cheer your day.


Like taking a walk along a favourite route.
Yesterday it was so foggy, more like November than March..............

But that created it's own beauty. The blossom is such a welcome spring sight and the addition of glistening water droplets was a happy surprise..........

The gorse is just beginning to flower.........

My familiar route did look a little eerie in the mist............

But the absence of views made me notice the small details like the lichen covered branches........

Further along the pond was just visible...........

The world seemed smaller as the muted colours gradually faded to grey...........

Up close there was colour. More signs of spring were a welcome sight...........

Everywhere was so damp but I loved the stillness and gentle beauty............

When I got home I tapped the barometer glass, happily the needle was stuck on Fair..........It's such a simple weather predictor and rather unnecessary in these modern times, but I still like to see what it says.........

The next simple thing I wanted to squeeze into my day was a little dressmaking. Gosh I'm so slow at this. But there's no rush, I'm taking my time and trying to get the best results I can.

 My dress now just needs hemming and then I'll try and get some photo's taken to share it with you lovelies............

Next I dashed about doing some house work and the weekly food shop. By now the fog had all disappeared and when the food was all unpacked I enjoyed the simple pleasure of a home make scone (more on these soon ) and a browse through the April edition of a favourite magazine, Country Living.
 Mum buys me a subscription to this  magazine every Christmas...........it's such a great year round gift.........

I think this photo is simply stunning. Those glorious Tulips in a simple metal bucket....wonderful......

It's part of a feature on Britain's very first "Pick your own Tulips" field..........

Ooooh, yes please. This is a simple thing I would love to do , to wander in amongst rows of these beautiful blooms admiring the view and picking a few to take home, wonderful..........

 Sadly for me it's a long way from home, in Somerset, HERE  I do hope there will be something like this in my area one day.

When  the boys were all home from school I sat quietly, keeping eldest company while he did his homework.
 It was a great opportunity to enjoy the simple pleasure of bird watching . We saw Robins, Blackbirds and Starlings which were all too fast to capture on camera. I did manage to get a reasonable picture of this Great Tit  enjoying our peanuts...........

It was easy to capture this plump grey Woodpigeon as it wandered about...........

And my happy Buddha looked extra cheery in the sunshine :0)

I hope you lovelies have had some  time to enjoy the simple things this week.
jacquie x

♥52 Weeks of Happy♥ 45/52

Hello Lovelies, 

Here are my happy things from this chilly November week.

1. Bonfire Night. We had our usual food and fireworks at home. The food is always jacket potatoes, sausages and mushy peas with mint sauce ( baked beans for the children ).

The fireworks sadly did not include a Catherine wheel ( my favourite ) but there were some pretty rockets and roman candles to ooooh and ahhhh at.

My boys and their cousins still love the sparklers.......

2. Walking with a friend. Happily my lovely friend knew the path I got lost trying to follow last week.....

 it's a shame the weather was grey , but I will be back now I know where to go. I can imagine this view will be wonderful in the sun or snow........

it was still rather pretty on a cloudy day don't you think.

3. Baking with donated fruit AGAIN. This time it was over ripe bananas from my sister in law......I made THIS cake...it was scrummy......

Also on my coffee table is the December edition of Country homes and interiors. I bought this as a  treat to myself ( I have a subscription to Country Living and rarely buy any other magazines) . It was the free calender that tempted me :0)

 This year I had four different calenders and I loved it so I'm keen to do the same next year.

4. Colourful crochet. My next blanket is coming together. I'm going to sew these squares ( plus two more ) together and add a wide border..........

Maybe I'll have completed two blankets by the end of 2013....that would make me very happy.
Hope you have a relaxing weekend lovelies.
Jacquie x

My Weekend

 Hello Lovelies, 

for Christmas I was lucky enough to get a years subscription to my MOST favourite magazine ( thanks Mum ).
This is the first issue I've received.....you have to be patient while waiting for this kind of gift to pop through the letter box, but boy it was worth the wait. This issue is filled with so many lovely and inspiring images and stories. I love this cover image ...........

And was very good, when I got a while to sit and enjoy it on Saturday. I did not flip through the whole magazine , but took my time , reading everything that interested me before moving on.

I always do this with my favourite blogs. Slowly savouring the words and waiting for the pictures to unfold.

Anyway, back to  my magazine. An article that I particularly loved was about a talented artist Emily Sutton.............

 this is  a closer look at one of her paintings.........

I adore all the detail, colour and timeless, illustrative style of her work. I could look at this picture for ages, with its Autumnal palette and pretty house. 

It's this picture that first caught my imagination though. We have allotments locally that look a lot like this. I'm fascinated by all their higgledy piggeldy sheds, neat rows of veg and imaginative bird scarers  so this subject really appealed to me.......

 

THIS is Emily's website if you want to see more of her work. I loved THIS image too.

As you might have noticed I'm very drawn by the garden at the moment. It was sunny on Saturday so I headed out there to prune my huge Buddlia . And also planted some garlic, simply using a few cloves I had and some recycled "pots".
 I haven't tried this before so who knows if it will be a success. HERE'S how to do it if you fancy giving it a try too.........



On Sunday I decided to go for an early morning run , hoping for a beautiful sunrise. But it wasn't to be. The early light WAS pretty...........

But the wind blew fiercely across the open fields and it certainly felt like spring was a long way off......

 

I stopped momentarily to capture the silhouettes of some bare trees, then headed home to warm up.....

In the afternoon we all headed to the park and fed the birds. Last years cygnets are getting really big.....

I'm trying to enjoy the seasons and not wish too much for spring. February is a short month and in the mean time I have a pocket of spring on my Kitchen windowsill to enjoy..........

At what other time of year can you enjoy a bunch of such wonderfully happy flowers for a few pennies........

Jacquie x