Category: Flowers

Books · Flowers · Inspiration

Lost in a Good Book

sareenmclay5 Comments

Libraries Week

 

Thank goodness for the libraries. Otherwise the rest of the shelves on my already overfull bookshelves would collapse!

thumb_IMG_7537_1024

 

I’ve given many books away over the years but some are just too difficult to part with: the presents from a special person, the book I read on a great holiday, the one I would like to read again, the book I know I should read but haven’t!

These shelves have now also become a deposit for books my children have outgrown but I am finding it hard to give away!

Visiting the library always brings back happy memories. Pushing open the heavy wood and glass door I used to feel I had walked into a whole new world. One where shelves of books were all at my height and arranged neatly so I could instantly spot a new book. The librarians sat at a desk low enough for me to talk to them and they would often recommend a new author.

 “A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people. It is a never failing spring in the desert.” Andrew Carnegie

Nowadays I’ve realised the benefit of the Library App and I can request a book in seconds. My latest trick is to borrow the books for our book club reads and then if I really like the book I can think about buying it.

The only problem is, when I go in to collect the book I always find a few more to read and then, well, where does the time go when you’re lost in a good book?

 

thumb_IMG_7494_1024

 

Flowers · Inspiration

It has to be …

sareenmclayLeave a comment

Teapots!

Well, it has to start with a teapot really, doesn’t it?thumb_IMG_7485_1024

 

I have to confess I bought this teapot over 20 years ago, it’s travelled with me around the world and yet, I don’t think I’ve ever had a cup of tea from it.

It is strange looking back at the things we keep as we move houses and countries, as we age, as our families grow and change. Why did I keep this teapot when so many other things have been left behind along the way?

I bought it on holiday in Keswick in the Lake District but when I recently returned to the town, it was only to discover the place I bought it from, The Teapottery, was no longer there.  A little reminder not to look back too much but to keep on moving forward?

I know am certainly not alone in admiring a teapot. Hans Christian Anderson was moved to write a story about one.

Now, like Aladdin, I’m going to wipe this teapot, have a cup of tea and maybe, just maybe, it will be an inspiration for me to write!

 

thumb_IMG_7486_1024

 

 

Flowers · Inspiration · Nature · Poetry

The Patchwork Plan

sareenmclay2 Comments

I have a plan. I’m setting myself a target.

One blog post a week for the next year.

thumb_IMG_7460_1024

My posts will be a patchwork of ideas, inspiration, and, hopefully, a little bit of sunshine – all in the time it takes to have a cup of tea!

I am a self-confessed Jack (Jill)-of-all-trades: someone who is always happy to learn new skills. So to pin down a theme for a blog has proven too difficult for me!

So, what to expect? Well if I had to write a recipe for this blog it would include:

books, writing, poetry, wildlife, gardening, baking, crafts, travel, music, the seasons, children, dog walking and more I’m sure.

Most of all I’d like to share the things that make me smile.

I hope you like it and I’m looking forward to having fun writing!

thumb_IMG_7458_1024

Last week I planted some hyacinth bulbs, getting ready for the coming winter days when there aren’t so many flowers in the garden.

As I did this I was thinking about National Poetry Day on Thursday and how one of my favourite poems for children  is Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Bed in Summer’.

For me this poem is always a reminder of the long summer nights when you just want to be outside enjoying the light. Planting hyacinths is a signal of the shortening of the hours of daylight when you are inside so much more. Hence the need for hyacinths!

 

 

(Pictured mug; ‘Machair’ by Highland Stoneware, Lochinver – and there’s always time for a flower photo!)

thumb_IMG_7448_1024

 

 

Flowers · Garden · Inspiration · Poetry

Sweet Peas

sareenmclay2 Comments

 

Back in April I spent five minutes sewing a few sweet pea seeds. As the weeks passed I spent a minute or two watering the seedlings now and then. It didn’t take long to pot them on as they grew taller. Being a fair weather gardener I planted them outside on a dry day.

Now, today I am picking the flowers. It’s early morning and it looks like it’s going to be a warm, sunny day. What a  great start to my day to smell the perfume of these delicate beauties, to admire the combination of colour, to feel the pride of achievement.

thumb_IMG_7287_1024.jpg

To know that five minutes here or there can slowly, slowly build to something beautiful.

thumb_IMG_6971_1024

 

Poetry link: Alfred Noyes, ‘A Child’s Vision’.