Wednesday 27 March 2013

The shrinking shelves

Bought an old pine bookcase from eBay this week - it seemed huge when we finally got it in the kitchen to paint -

 
I was pleased with it once I'd painted it though -

 
It was to go in the alcove in the sitting room, to balance out the shelves on the other side. Once in place, though, it seemed to shrink!  I'd forgotten how tall the ceilings tend to be in Victorian houses - until a few years ago we'd always lived in old cottages.
 
 
Bought a pine shelf unit to paint for my unit in the shop, too - (forgot a before pic!) -
 

 
Found some very pretty china today -
 


 
And Tilly found a friend ;-)   -
 
 
Hope you have a lovely time over Easter!
 
 




Friday 22 March 2013

The language of flowers

Found a sweet little book this week - 'The Language and Sentiment of Flowers' -

 
 
It's a bit battered, with the spine covering coming adrift, but has lovely gold-edged pages -
 
 
There aren't a lot of illustrations, but a few pretty ones -
 



I've always been interested in the 'meaning' of different flowers, but I'm sure it was a bit of a minefield when flowers were frequently given in order to convey a message (Victorian times?). I wonder if sometimes young maidens always received the right message?  "When a flower is given, the pronoun 'I' is understood by bending it to the right hand; 'thou' by inclining it to the left" for instance (pretty subtle!)

Crocuses (crocii?) suggest 'Youthful gladness' -

 
And primroses, 'Early youth and sadness' -
 
 
Found some nice old tins this week, too - including this 'pixie' one -
 



 
And a sweet preserve pot -


 
Pleased to find this morning that we have some frog spawn in our little pond -
 
 
Not long now 'til Easter. Someone's getting in the mood! -
 
 
Have a good weekend!


Monday 18 March 2013

Flowers in the house...........

Linking in with Jane at Smallbutcharming for "Flowers in the house" for March -

Hellebores doing well in the garden, so brought a few in and popped them in this Moroccan jug -

 
Such pretty, shy flowers, aren't they?
 
 
Greeny-pink roses from Mothers Day on their last legs now, but I rather like them at this stage - all softly fading, like aging dowagers wearing too much powdery make up! -


 
Daffodils - large and tiny - all over the house - so cheerful! -
 


 
And a pretty primula, in a pretty pot -
 

 
Have a lovely, flower-filled week!

Thursday 14 March 2013

The trouble with Spring is......

Misleading post heading really - there's nothing wrong with Spring - it's MOST welcome. My slight niggle, as someone who hates cleaning, is that all that glorious light and brightness reveals quite a bit of dust and worse!  As I found today when I wasted time had a sort out of our downstairs rooms.

Today was very cold here, but beautifully bright, so I decided to swap the red cushions and rug in our open plan sitting room for the Spring-like green ones put away last year -


 
 
And find some more Springlike things -


 
 
We've lived here for about 3 years now and still haven't put anything on this large blank wall in the kitchen -

 
I painted the mirror - that's propped on the radiator - today, and thought that might go on the wall........but it doesn't look right.........probably needs shelves really........?
 
 
Mother's Day flowers still going strong -
 
Found some nice stuff this week, like this barbola mirror -
 
 
and these pretty cups and saucers - 
 
A couple of jelly moulds, too and a heavy glass dish -

 
And a chunky old tea cosy, and a pretty teapot, and a tin -
 

 
 
And a new book to read :)
 

 
Hope you're having a good week!