Hello folks - it's been a long while since I posted. Autumn is so beautiful this year - a wet October but lovely colours abound going into November. 

 

Hi
What a wet winter we have had. Lots of books have been read, lots of old films watched and lots of wool knitted and crocheted.

 You have to make the most of the quiet wintertime. The earth is asleep and the rest well earned.
St Valentine's Day today - but I look for snowdrops not roses.

Lovely roast beef for dinner and blackcurrant crumble for pudding - lovely to have these things in the freezer, making these things and popping them in the freezer to be enjoyed in the depths of winter, delicious.

Have you read this?  If not you must, my sister has recently discovered Daphne Du Maurier and I am lending her these - she is a very slow reader, bless her so in the meantime I read it again and had a spare afternoon to watch the film.

20th Century Fox 1952

  A testament to how well this is written is that still, after all these years I cannot make my mid up whether Rachel was guilty or not!

The film starred Richard Burton, he looks so young, it was his first screen role and Rachel played by Olivia de Havilland. The casting director made a perfect choice in her for this. .

By the way Olivia's sister was Joan Fontaine who played the role of the second Mrs De Winter in the film "Rebecca" also starring Lawrence Olivier - and directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

 "Rebecca" of course being the most popular of all Daphne Du Maurier's novels and a much loved film by many people.

this is mis-shapen (but lovely) red Cedar

and this is a Goat Willow - I have never seen nor heard of this before - shall look it up. and also revisit this tree later in the year when in leaf. but isn't it a wonderful shape even though it is bare.

 

March at last and it came in very much like a lion !

Till next time

Angela x

Foxes, foxes everywhere - two asleep and one playing cricket !

This taxidermy fox is in the foyer of The Inn at Whitewell, a beautiful old inn by the side of the river within the Trough of Bowland, Lancashire.

and these winter companions look as if they wanted me to let them in.
Angela x

Lovely autumn colours

Bess loves walking in any weather and any season,

lots of berries on this branch !!
I will add more photos soon
Angela

Hello folks
Have just bought this lovely old tin - it even still has it's original key.

Then I remembered I hadn't watched the film "Gone to Earth"  starring the very beautiful Jennifer Jones, for quite some time so settled down over the weekend to watch it again. I do love this film despite the sad ending - the original book it is based on is of the same title by Mary Webb. If you love a good tale and all things country try and get a copy of the book it's wonderful.

October is here again but we have had mainly warm and slanting sunny days - perfect methinks. Due to the hot dry summer we have had the leaves have stored up lots of sugars so we can expect deep autumn colours on the leaves before they drop.
My tulip tree always goes a fabulous bright, golden yellow - but this year it is now going a rich copper-yellow - absolutely stunning. It is now around forty foot high - and to think I brought it as a little three foot tree home in my car maybe twelve or so years ago!
Happy and Mellow Autumn to you
Angela x

Hi folks - I can't imagine where the last six months have got to?
So true that time flies - almost the end of another year. Hope you have had a lovely Christmas and are looking forward to the New Year.
Today it has been very wet and windy so I haven't been very far at all with Bess, just half an hour as it was so cold and a piercing east wind brrrrr.
 This afternoon I finished a bit of knitting with pure wool and it is in the washer now hopefully being felted - then I will cut a circle from it to be edged with fine crochet.
At the moment I am having a very early glass of wine- it's 4pm!! (well it is Christmastide !)  and watching "Bleak House" on DVD - must check who the casting director was as they got every character spot on. Charles Dance and Gillian Anderson in particular were superb in their roles.
Feet up now with various cats and Bessie Womble the dog snoozing in front of the fire.
Bliss
Take care in everything you do
Angela x

my Christmas mantle decoration - not very glitzy -  it was quick to do and looks natural
Do you like it?

Flaming June - well it has been very warm and pleasant at times. Perfect for the farmers who managed a first cut then we had a cooler week with some rain to make it grow all again for a second mowing in August.
I do like to see the tractors busy and loads of hay going down the lanes.
Me and Little Bess had a different walk back today and I came upon this

a little home-made plant stall. How sweet and there were all sorts of lovely and unusual plants. And only 50 pence each.
There were hollyhocks, purple woodruff, love-in-a-mist, borage, sunflowers and cucumber plants. A few more I can't just recall - as I didn't have any money with me I will pop back down today in my little mini and indulge myself - I don't reeeally need anymore plants but at that price who could refuse? 
There is a note saying to please put your money in the box hung up on the right. How quaint and old-fashioned but lovely to see people still use £honesty boxes".
This is the cottage door...

and this is the lane it is on ...

which leads us under the railway viaduct before we get onto the canal towpath...

Bess and her stick  - she never tires of sticks,

This aquaduct over the Leeds to Liverpool canal is known as "Periwinkle Bridge" due to it's amazing design.
Bye for now, enjoy the fine weather,
Angela xx

Tree People

a sad and tortured face here - can you see it?

A gargoyle or even Sssssid the snake ?
Out and about with Little Bess, and these two dissimilar faces said hello as I passed.
 The month of May is so very special and varies so much from year to year. On record it has been the coldest and latest spring for 30 years, I believe this but cannot even recall anything from 1983 so do these things matter to Mother Nature? No - she just gets on with it no matter how we human beings count and measure.
To quote one of my favourite poets e.e.cummings - "he answereth only with Spring"

This face makes me smile - it is a hammerhead shark of sorts - or do you know the Picasso style modernist cats by Rosina Wachmeister?  take a look you'll see what I mean
Take care and enjoy the very last days of the merry month
Angela   xx

Hello there
What  a wonderful but time and penny consuming thing ebay is?
  I have even begun to do something my younger (but not wiser) self vowed never to do,  re-reading books. I used to think life is too short and that it would be boring or I would remember all the plots and stories!
I did have one exception to this though as I have read "Wuthering Heights" several times. I find that as you age in years and experience that you can understand and empathise more with the characters.
This week I have read Joanne Harris's " Blackberry Wine" and enjoyed it immensely, even though i have read it before several years ago. It was bought second hand via ebay and the funny thing is it has pencil marks and underlinings on several pages - I do this myself !  only in books that are not valuable of course and those you would keep and refer back to.
Second hand books are a wonderful thing if you read a lot as I do - and I got four last week and even then it was buy one get one free :) - how lovely

Above is my latest purchase of a hare by Kate Wyatt - I have re-decorated the lounge and decided another picture was needed - call it an early birthday present to us and the house.  The dining room I thought had sixteen pictures but when checked it has eighteen!!   If I ever win the lottery there will have to be a library and a gallery amongst my early purchases. 

Now to take Little Bess for  a walk in this wet and windy weather ... we don't mind, we each have our waterproof coats and love of fresh air,

Until next time, take care in all that you do

Angela x

.

Time

Hello there
I,  like most other people often wonder where time goes? I am lucky enough to only work part-time and that is also in my little home office. Maybe that is part of the problem - too many distractions.

I do get a lot done to be fair, I have painted the sitting room which is known as the "Red Room" and it now has green walls. The chimney breast had a couple of other colours but is now a deep crimson to bring the room together as I am stuck with the red carpet and sofas.
This is a photo after dark so the green walls don't show very well. The house was actually built in 1975 but my cottagey taste takes over in here!  My husband prefers the rest of the house more modern and clutter free - the dining room does happen to have sixteen pictures up though , they are a weakness of mine whenever I go to a car boot or antiques fair. I bought a lovely print of Pendle Hill ( of  Lancashire Witches fame) from ebay last week too - now where on earth is that going to go? There's still a pile on the floor in the hallway as they didn't go back up in the red room when I had a change round.
Can you see the little gourds on the chest?   such a simple idea and they make me smile :)

Also treated myself to an old american style rocking chair I saw the other week in the antiques shop at Salmesbury Hall, it looks perfect in the red/green room and little Tana seems to agree >^..^<
Take care
Angela xx

Buying bits and bobs

Have been very much into the "vibrant vintage" stuff just lately - making things, going to fairs etc. In fact I will be helping with a Vintage & Crafts & Christmas Fair" at the local church at the end of November so am quite enjoying myself getting some bits together. I will put a couple of photos on of some of the things I come across later.

Vintage seems to be 1920 - 1949 and Retro is the more modern groovy stuff from 1960 - 1980s ish I believe.
In this photo are some books from my own childhood/teens that have recently come down from the attic.I can't imagine parting with any of these ones though. May even indulge myself over the winter re-reading them - what a treat in store !
Angela x

Rug rats !

Hello again - you can see I have been rather preoccupied with furry purry newborns !!   Lots of fun and hard work with these bundles of fluffy fun >^..^<

English summer

Beautiful June - sunshine and showers and rainbows and swallows. Light and shade, leaves and hedgerow flowers. I am always amazed at the lushness of an english summer meadow. I think there is too much doom and gloom about here being no green or open spaces left these days. There's certainly plenty here in the northwest.
Up early as usual but it was too cloudy to see the transit of Venus - to be honest I am rather more concerned that up to now I have only seen one magpie today and that's one for sorrow. Hopefully there's time yet for one to show himself this evening.
Whilst on my walk along the canal there were two young men running with ropes and sticks, a young heifer had fallen in the water on the other side!!  They just shouted and banged the stick and somehow the cow got itself onto a shallow overflow bit and heaved itself up!  I congratulated them and he said well it was better than going in as well. Drama on the canal bank!
Only yesterday I was leaning on the gate watching the swallows swooping inbetween the cattle, a lovely swishing of birds so close to the animals and the ground but never touching. I do like cows - the grassy earth smell of them and their long balck eyelashes.
Also I have been to the antiques fair today - had to restrain myself as I have three family birthdays this week so I actually only spent ten pounds though there were lots of things that tempted me. Would you like to see what I bought?

The picture of a lion is a print by Rembrant it says?  Shall have to check this out some time, green shoes are another weakness and the basket is quite large and in very good condition - bought to hold kittens in that are due here on 19th June,
I'll keep you posted on those    >^..^<

Hello there Spring is here again and very welcome it is too. In between everything I have been watching a couple of old films "The Go-Between" and "The Hireling" both based on books by L.P.Hartley, I must say the books are far better than the films - rather flat endings to both I thought. And nowhere near as brilliant as anything H.E.Bates ever wrote.
In fact I have just read by him "The Feast of July" by Bates and then found the dvd on Amazon - I realise they are adaptations i.e. "based on" the novels but huge changes to the story are annoying - the ending of the book was far and away better than the film version. I won't spell it out here in case you read the book.
Have been out for an early walk today with Little Bess and the woods are thick with wild garlic (or ransoms), beautiful green glossy leaves and creamy fat flowers filling the air with the pungent scent. Must dig out Monty Don's recipe for nettle soup which is always to be accompanied by some ransoms. If you would like the recipe let me know and I can pop it on here,

Kindest wishes for a bright albeit still chilly springtime! Angela x

Spring ( or W E I L & F P T )

"Oh To be in England, now that spring is here!"
And at last I am going to write about books. I have had a little sojourn into the green and pleasant land that is H.E.Bates.  If you haven't read it then you must find a copy of "love for Lydia" and settle down. It is so very poignant and another one of those I think you can read again and find more and more in it.
Also I have it on DVD and have watched that also - you may wonder where I get the time - well I am blessed with insomnia!  That's the truth and how I choose to see it - always look on the positive side if possible.
The serialisation was so true to the book and the words changed hardly at all. How it should be, shouldn't try to  improve on perfection. I have two copies of the book - the one in the middle was bought last and probably because it showed the actors from the series and the DVD wasn't out then. It was 1977 and I would have been thirteen - an impressionable age for a young girl.

If you have read it let me know what you think - take care - Angela x

Hello there - I was up early as usual - today at 5.15am when it was just slowly changing from bluey purple to that greenish tinge before the dawn breaks.
The dawn chorus was so loud and beautiful too. I am sure there was a gathering of all sorts of birds, some surely I'd  never heard before and it sounded like hundreds of them.
 It was a bit chilly but I was wrapped up with a cup of strong tea leaning out of the bedroom window. A beautiful experience - I am often glad to be one of those people who only need five hours or so of sleep.
 It's a wonderful world we have.And watching the sunrise and listening to birdsong are free and happen daily - it doesn't get much better than that.

Hope you are enjoying the weather at the moment - uncommonly warm for March  - 20 degrees!!
My sister is picking me up shortly and we are having a day out to Lancaster with our mum too.
Shopping and lunch is in order methinks
Take care, Angela >^..^<
photo of DizzyMint - she's crazy about knitting !!!!!

Good morning - well it appears my blog site is here again?   I had thought of giving up as have had so much trouble being unable to access it. I have done, seen and bought so much since my last post !
Where to start?  I will gather my thoughts and put a little update on later this evening, off to work now Very busy time in floristry being Mothering Sunday this weekend
Here is a cute little teapot I picked up from my favourite antiques fair - good job it's on only fortnightly as I find it hard to resist little things that cost a few small pounds Happy days :)))
Chat to you later

Angela >^..^<

Hello - well I thought I'd just add this - sitting up in bed Saturday morning with a steaming cup of tea AND then..... "toot toot"  a steam train was coming through the cutting behind our house!  Fantastic !  and I took this photo after running downstairs  for the camera -it was a frosty morning so the steam was spectacular !   Lucky shot I think don't you?

Take care and Thank you for visiting xx