Flutterby Patch

Figurines and firesides

I love figurines of all ages, shapes and sizes and have several around the house.  Here are just a few of the prettiest.

  "What are those sweet little Victorian maids doing perched on a mossy rock? I hear you ask. Well...I have a confession. I acquired them from an elderly gentleman when I was 8 years old. In those far off days, Victorian bisque figurines of this type were not greatly valued and so I was allowed to play with them. I immediately set about making the girls a 'romantic leafy bower' in the garden in which too frolic. The trouble was, I was the only person who knew of their frolicking and as a consequence the poor souls were left outside in all weathers for well over a year. Can you believe that?  Amazingly, as you can see, they came to no harm. Since then they have travelled through life with me and are now a precious possession. Today, for the first time, I took them back into the garden and I do believe their little faces lit up with joy and excitement as they recalled their past adventures. Rest assured however, their garden visit was short lived and they are now safely back on the sitting room shelf with my other treasures.

These two little china children date from the early 1960s. They were a birthday gift when I was a child and I have always loved them. They are designed as bookends but are not very stable so I have always used them for just the few small books that you can see here. The little girl's carrot has an end missing and I think her rabbit looks like the greedy culprit wouldn't you say?

Mr and Mrs Apple, made by Royal Doulton, are characters from Jill Barklem's Brambly Hedge stories and date from the 1980s. I would love to live in the wonderful world of Brambly Hedge. Just look at that lovely little room with beamed ceiling reflecting the glow of a roaring log fire. Snow is falling outside the window and, here I quote from the 'Winter Story'... 'Mrs Apple had spent the afternoon baking pies, cakes and puddings for the cold days to come. She drew two armchairs up to the fire and brought their supper in on a tray'... Doesn't that sound just the cosiest place to live?

If you are not familiar with the Winter Story, do read it. In the bitter chill of midwinter the mice plan a magnificent ball in their Ice Hall, and what a ball it turns out to be. The accompanying illustrations are just wonderful.

Finally, dating from the 1980s, this sweet little girl with her dolly was a gift to my daughter from her grandma but I am currently looking after it. All girls (young and old) love dolls so I was thrilled to find some real beauties on Jenny's blog at Little Jenny Wren. She creates such cute little characters, hers are definitely some of my favourites. Recently Jenny was kind enough to mention my Flutterby Patch blog for which, many thanks Jenny.

The kiss of the sun

Can you believe it? Its the first day of autumn tomorrow and sadly in England this year we have had summer in name only. I'm beginning to feel as if I've been asleep for the last few months and somehow missed it. But what joy, today has been gloriously sunny, a real shirt sleeves and garden day. My husband has been mowing grass, sweeping leaves and chopping logs. And me? Well, after an initial enthusiastic flurry of general garden tidying this morning, I threw open all the windows indoors and did a bit of spring cleaning (six months late!)

But now I'm back in the garden. I like to capture it in all its moods so I have just walked around with my camera and would like to share a few pictures with you.

 
Our acer has been this colour for weeks. Isn't it magnificent. It has the canny knack of making it look sunny even when it isn't.

Four very different trees on our lawn. On the left the poplar grows at a rate of knots and loses its leaves earlier than most, probably from exhaustion. We refer to it as the feather duster (hopefully for obvious reasons!) Next to it, the katsura was planted several years ago for its autumn colour and supposed unusual aroma of burnt sugar, but I've yet to smell it. The stately cedar towers over them all. Its going to be real giant. The small tree far right is a liquidambar. This will grow much larger in time but meanwhile we are treated to a glorious display of deep reds and pinks when its leaves change colour each October.

This red dogwood looks better without leaves than with them if that doesn't sound too unkind. The stems remain a wonderful deep red and provide superb winter colour when days are at their darkest. At Christmas it gives me an unlimited supply of festive red for garlands and floral displays.

More red, this time from a rhododendron that is having a 'second flush'. Always welcome at this time of year.

Gorgeous waxy water lilies floating on our pond and today the dragonflies are flitting over the water with amorous intent (or so it appears!)

 
I was rather pleased with myself for capturing this cobweb stretched across a holly bough, glinting in the sunshine.

The wet summer has meant a few jobs in the garden have sadly remained unfinished. This path has been under construction for several months. The spaces between the stone slabs are to be filled with pebbles in a bed of cement. Will it still look like this next spring I ask myself? Probably!

Today this is the last rose of summer, tomorrow it will be the first rose of autumn.

I can't finish this post without adding four lines that have become a firm favourite with garden lovers everywhere. They are part of a longer poem and you will find the complete version in my 'Poems and Wise Words' section.

The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's heart in a garden,
Than anywhere else on earth.

Taken from 'The Lord God planted a garden' by Dorothy Gurney (1858 - 1932). An English poet and hymn writer she also composed 'O Perfect Love' the popular wedding hymn.

Balloons, bears and honey

On this day in 1783, the Montgolfier brothers of France tested their new hot air balloon. The passengers in this first ever 'manned' fight were a sheep, a duck and a rooster. The animal's eight minute journey took them a distance of about 2 miles and all was witnessed by King Louis XVI who was not at all impressed as he was choked by the stench of the dense smoke.

My goodness, what progress we've made in the intervening 225 years, although you wouldn't think so looking at this illustration of Winnie the Pooh. Always a favourite of mine, the story of Winnie the Pooh and the bees was given to me in the late 1950s. I'm pleased to say all four pop-up pictures are still intact. The price was six shillings, just 30p in today's money (that makes me feel old).

Silly old bear, there are much easier ways to acquire honey.

My dad was a beekeeper for many years and the smell of fresh honey transports me straight back to my childhood and my dad bottling the gloriously gooey, golden liquid as it flowed from the extractor.

These days I make it my mission to buy British honey whenever I can but it isn't always easy to track down. Fortunately the small independent supermarket where I shop always stocks a good variety. Yesterday I treated myself to this Scottish heather honey as I hadn't tasted it before. My goodness, is it rich! Heather Hills Farm that produces it is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and has an attractive web site. I have to say I am tempted by several varieties from overseas that are advertised on the site and like the sound of chestnut tree honey from the wooded hills of France and lime tree honey from Hungary. I notice that the price quoted is about £1.00 cheaper than the retail price but delivery charges are high if you only want one or two jars. If you visit the Heather Hills Farm website be sure to look at the cute beehive candles made from beeswax. Each one has a bear clinging to it. These candles last 50% longer than other candles and at 50p each I think they'd make great gifts (though I don't think I could watch the little wax bears slowly melting).

I can't leave the subject of delicious honey without quoting the last two lines from Rupert Brooke's well known poem 'The Old Vicarage, Grantchester'.

Stands the Church clock at ten to three?
And is there honey still for tea?

What a wonderful picture that paints