Unbought Delicacies: Cherries and teacups................

Monday, 2 June 2008

Cherries and teacups................

Couldn't resist the cherries or the teacups!!

10 comments:

Greentwinsmummy said...: ooo what lovely colours on the teacups & saucers :o) Sadly am hidiously allergic to fresh cherries,they always look so appealing but the result me eating them is not so! :oS
x xx x; 2 June 2008 at 08:52
MrsL said...: I'll have yours then...........

In fact, I think I did!!! :) :); 2 June 2008 at 09:08
Leanne said...: lol Sarah!
My ex husband nearly died from anaphylactic (sp?)shock from fresh cherries, they werent a pressie from me though!!!

teacupsare gorgeous, real ice cream colours!

leanne x; 2 June 2008 at 15:13
Pixiedust said...: Hi Mrsl, I only had two takers for the PIF, one of whom is yourself! Can you please e-mail me your address. xxxx; 2 June 2008 at 22:33
Jitterbug said...: What a lovely, refreshing blog. I will be visiting often.

Have tried requested a couple of the books you say changed your life (after looking them up on EBay) from my local library (Christchurch, Dorset) with no luck. Any idea where I could get reasonably priced copies please.
Jitterbug; 4 June 2008 at 16:32
Jitterbug said...: What a lovely refreshing blog. I will definitely be visiting here often.

Jitterbug; 4 June 2008 at 16:33
MrsL said...: Hello jitterbug, welcome to my blog, and thankyou for your kind comments!
I tend to get a lot of books from Amazon - good prices, and lovely to get a nice parcel in the post containing books. Only trouble is, any pretension of doing the hosuework goes out the window when teh Amazon packets arrive :)

If you can't get hold of them, I would be happy to lend them to you.; 4 June 2008 at 20:52
Jitterbug said...: Thanks for the offer. Have managed to order 3 of the books from dorset libraries - Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Sisters in the Wilderness and A Thousands Days in Tuscany. So will check on week-end if they have come into the library.

Have you read The Hills of Tuscany, A New Home in an old land by Ference Mate. Also a good read. Let me know if you would like it and I can send it.

Jitterbug; 5 June 2008 at 09:49
MrsL said...: Haven't read that one! Would love to borrow it. Could you e-mail me on
Julian.Dean1@btinternet.com, and I'll reply with my address.

OOOohh - excited, a new Tuscany book! :); 5 June 2008 at 14:44
kathyann said...: Love the teacups and the other comments did make me laugh!!!
Cherries are lovely if a bit expensive, will have to wait a few years before we get any on our trees!!
Love from Kathy and the girls; 6 June 2008 at 14:23

I have found such joy

I have found such joy in simple things;
A plain, clean room, a nut-brown loaf of bread,
A cup of milk, a kettle as it sings,
The shelter of a roof above my head,
And in a leaf-laced square along the floor,
Where yellow sunlight glimmers through the door.
I have found such joy in things that fill
My quiet days: a curtain's blowing grace,
A potted plant upon my window sill,
A rose, fresh-cut and placed within a vase;
A table cleared, a lamp beside a chair,
And books I long have loved beside me there.
Oh, I have found such joys I wish I might
Tell every woman who goes seeking far
For some elusive, feverish delight,
That very close to home the great joys are:
The elemental things- old as the race,
Yet never, through the ages, commonplace.

~ Grace Noll Crowell

Ideas for handmade gifts

Small knitteds - gloves, scarves, hot water bottle covers, hats, tea cosies, phone covers, little toys,,cushion covers, bags. Some of these can be felted/fulled for extra interest.
Edibles - chutneys and jams, pickles, nice teas in a vintage/retro tin, sweeties, toffees, mustard, home made wine and liqueurs, home dried fruits, ketchups.
For the home - trimmed tea towels, handknitted dishcloths, quilted wallhangings, small samplers, restored picture frames, pot pourri, lavender bags, covered coathangers, little scented bags for hanging on handles, framed photos of family,etc you've taken yourself, pincushion,needle book, scissor keeper, book of promises (eg babysitting, 1 hour's housework, the ironing, etc)
Bathtime - homemade soap, bath oils, bath salts, knitted washcloths, herbal bags for the bath, hand sewn toilet bags, trimmed hand towels, homemade lotions and potions packed in pretty jars and bottles.
For the garden - home saved seed in handmade decorated packets; homemade handcream, exfoliating soap, wheat bag for those digger's aches and pains!

Handmade books, personalised printed notepaper and envelopes.
Hamper of bits and bobs from the above lists, packed in a pretty lined basket.

I'll add some more as and when I think of them; These can be used all year round and easily tailored to the recipient - everyone loves a homemade gift. :)

Inspiring thoughts.............

I saw a man, an old Cilician, who occupied an acre or two of land that no one wanted.
A patch not worth the ploughing, unrewarding for flocks, unfit for vineyards;
he, however, by planting here and there among the scrub cabbages or white lilies and verbena and flimsy poppies, fancied himself a king in wealth, and coming home late in the evening, loaded his board with unbought delicacies.
Virgil

I had no theories to prove. I merely wanted to try living by my own hands, independently as far as possible from a system of division of labour in which the participant loses most of the pleasure of making and growing things for himself. I wanted to bring in my own fuel and smell its sweet smell as it burned in the hearth I had made. I wanted to grow my own food, or forage after it. In short I wanted to do as much as I could for myself, because I had already realised from partial experience the inexpressible joy of doing so.

Harlan Hubbard, Shantyboat: A River Way of Life

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Monday, 2 June 2008

Cherries and teacups................

10 comments: