Category: Inspiration

Inspiration · Nature · Trees

Nature’s Fairylights

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Outside is a day I would like to stay that way – outside!

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Still I stomp along on my walk until slowly I realise where I am and what I am doing. I lift my head from the study of my welly boots. Visibility is poor, I can’t see further than the line of trees ahead. The world beyond is hidden, has become mystical and mysterious.

I tiptoe along the edge of mini lochs which appeared overnight. Coming to a standstill I see, what? What is it exactly that I am taking my time to see? What aspect of nature will I have the chance to appreciate today?

Raindrops.thumb_IMG_8017_1024

Crystal fairy lights clinging to bare branches.

I tuck away my camera. Not every day is a bright, sunny one but each one certainly has its own moment, its own beauty.

 

 

 

 

 

The following day …

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Garden · Inspiration · Trees

Countryside Yarns

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Autumn has swept in with all the colours of a warm, woolly scarf.

I went on holiday recently, full of enthusiasm to leave and have a change. Well, the holiday was a real treat but so was the return.

In the time I was away the countryside has been transformed. Summer has ended but a new season, a fresh start has begun.

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Last year I planted a rowan tree by our front door. As a child I remember being told a rowan tree was always planted in Scottish gardens by the front door to ward off evil. On the other hand, the wood is also used to make wands.

I don’t know if any of it is true but this rowan tree has certainly given us a magical  display with it’s long fingers of reds, oranges and greens.

Now I just need to put on my own woolly scarf, go out, and start planting bulbs for the spring.

 

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Books · Flowers · Inspiration

‘Cup of Tea Books’

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Returning to the theme of books, I wanted to mention ‘Cup of Tea Books’.

I’m sure you know the ones I mean, the books you return to time and time again. For many people it is the classics such as Jane Eyre, for others it may be a favourite series.

Maeve Binchy will always be one of my favourites, I would also count Elizabeth Jane Howard and her Cazelet Chronicles. Perhaps there is a theme, they are all stories of families through the years. The characters develop over time to become like old friends.

When I need a book to chill out with then I’ll turn to one of these.

Sometimes I think these are ‘easy’ books to read as they often deal with everyday life but I am sure they were not easy to write! If I could write one story with characters you would like to ‘meet’ again then I’d be very happy!

 

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Flowers · Garden · Inspiration

Sunflowers

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Okay, this sunflower photo had to have pride of place here, right at the top, hopefully bright and cheery!

I wondered if anything would come of the seeds since I planted them a bit late but my imperfect timing doesn’t seem to have really mattered.

Flowers have now appeared: majestic crowns on top of their giant bodies. (I’m thinking of Jack and the Beanstalk here!).

As far as I remember I’ve loved sunflowers since I first saw an exhibition of Van Gogh paintings at The Burrell Collection in Glasgow, I think it was in 1990. A while ago I was lucky enough to go to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, where I unashamedly enjoyed filling in the worksheet provided for the children!

On a practical note I think I can chop off the head (!) and leave it out for the birds in the winter for feed, surely a win-win all round?

Maybe next year I’ll plant the seeds late again or maybe early, who knows?

 

 

Books · Flowers · Inspiration

Lost in a Good Book

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Libraries Week

 

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

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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?

 

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Flowers · Inspiration

It has to be …

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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!

 

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