Simple Saturday

Hello Lovelies,

it's been a slow and simple weekend.....my favourite sort.

On Saturday  morning there was time for some blog reading and e.mail chat. 

Lately I've been enjoying corresponding with a lovely  lady I met at Yarndale last September. Following my latest sewing make we got nostalgic over old bedding....as did many commenter's on my previous post.  I dug out this old photo from the early 80's.

 It shows my first ever duvet cover.........before this I had always had flannelette sheets,blankets and a candlewick bedspread ( does anybody remember THOSE ? )

this was taken in my student bedroom and I loved this intimation Log Cabin patchwork

My photos from back them are pretty rubbish and my lovely friend, who took the ones of me, was good at chopping off your head or your feet.

This slightly earlier photo is a good example, but I included it here to show how little my likes have changed over the years.
Here I'm riding an old bike with a wicker basket, wearing a skirt that I made myself.........

 I've no idea where that skirt is now but I still have some of the red fabric that was left over in my stash.

Back in the early 80's "The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady" was discovered and published for the first time. It was hugely popular, a lot of homewares and decorative items were produced using it's gorgeous illustrations, like THESE

I didn't have any of them at the time, but now I treasure these books that I have since picked up in charity shops. Yesterday I took a look at April's pages..........

 I love these full page illustrations, from the two books I own

And the beautifully accurate nature studies..........

Oh, so many pretty things.........

 By mid afternoon I had to go exploring myself to see what I could find...........

 Eldest and I walked under blossom filled branches

Which are stunning close up...........

Glossy yellow Celandines shone out on such a grey day...........

It was just a simple walk along familiar paths...........

To see what spring beauties we could find...........

 I loved these tiny but gorgeous Forget-me-nots

And these lovely trees made me gasp with delight . The last time I walked this way, which only a couple of weeks ago, they were still bare............

These are the trees that produced the multicoloured leaves in THIS post.

 But now they are the most amazing zingy green............

 Look at those flowers...wonderful.

We wander further, past cute gardens........

Noticing more tiny spring flowers that are included in the "Country Diary" pages........

 Marsh Violet

And Wild Primroses.....how I LOVE these

The day may have been grey but all that spring beauty really lifted my spirits, and indoors I'm FINALLY sewing together the colourful crochet squares I started as a quick project a year ago...... 

More on these soon.

I'll leave you with something else unrelated, a little video I made of those lambs we saw on THIS walk....I've finally managed to work out how to upload a video :0)

Spring Lambs no sound from Bunny Mummy on Vimeo.

Thank you for all your lovely P.J. comments....you guys are the best.
Jacquie x

December Nature Notes

Hello Lovelies,
here I go with my final "Nature Notes" post. To be honest I've not been feeling the love for this post . I think my own pictures are not so good as other months ,but I guess December is not always very photogenic. How different it was last year.

One thing that does not disappoint are the Illustrations from my "Nature Notes of an Edwardian Lady" book .Here are Edith's paintings for December..........

I love these beautifully observed bird pictures...........

And the friendly looking fox.....

A short verse that is so evocative of this this December's ( and January's ) weather.........

Ahhh, holly and ivy...a bit of festive cheer.......

And a happy Christmas verse..........

The facts and mottoes for this month.........

I particularly liked ............

Sounds good to me :0)

Here are my own photos from last month. 2011 seems to have been a particularly good one for berries...

This Hawthorn hedge , now devoid of leaves ,looks stunning with it's mass of red berries.........

December saw our first significant frosts this Autumn,Winter ..........

Some festive Ivy........

And a friendly local peeping through the bare branches..................

When there is not much growing on the ground it's good to look up and notice a stunning skyscape....

I also loved the sun on this favourite country church , with the stormy sky behind.........

The trees my be bare , but fear not, Mother Nature is already preparing for
Spring :0)........

And even though I've completed the twelve months of my Nature notes posts I'm sure I will be looking for more countryside scenes to share with you lovelies in 2012.
Have a great weekend.
Jacquie x

October Nature Notes

Hello Lovelies,
Finally I'm managing a little computer time to write my monthly nature notes post. It's rather late, but better late than never as they say .

I'll start in the usual way by sharing the illustrations from the book " Nature Notes of an Edwardian lady".......

There are many lovely paintings this month , but I think this one is my favourite .....

Here are the saints days and folklaw rhymes from the book.......

If you have been reading my blog for a while you will know this book was written in 1905 and I love Edith Holden's beautiful paintings that capture the English seasons so wonderfully. I'm no artist but, luckily for me, I live in an age where you just have to point your camera and click to be able to capture the beauty you see around you .

So here are my images for October .......

The above photo was taken in mid October and you can see these beech leaves begining to turn. Many trees were still  green at this stage..........

This photo still  looks almost summery doesn't it.

The Hawthorne hedgerows were still green but laden with berries.......

Living in a flatish area it's never easy to get a good , far reaching ,view  but I was pleased with the way this image caputred the October countryside scene.....

This year October has been generally warm and dry in these parts. No real frosts to speak of but by the last week of the month we did see some more classically Autumnal misty mornings. This day was particulaly pretty as the sun could be seen through the mist.........

And as it faded, just a faint haze and a dew on the grass made the fields look quite magical ,when glimpsed through a gap in the hedge.........

I love the brown grasses and varied colour in the trees in this shot taken right at the end of the month........

The hedgerows were also a mass of oranges and yellows...........

I've posted a picture of this view before ...back in my June nature notes post. Its different now without the poppies but still pretty with the distant church...........

I was inspired to get a closer look at that church..........

Wow, I love it's setting ...dwarfed by that beautiful mature tree. Can you see that interesting old building to the left and the fence ,which has definitely seen better days....

I think the cows must be happy in this timeless spot..........

I've loved getting out and about this October ...hope you enjoyed it too :0)
Jacquie x