Winter snowdrops

After two weeks away from England, 

we've swapped the actual snowflakes of Japan 

for the first snowdrops of the season in our garden.

It is so good to be home.

Of course I had to snip some to bring indoors. 

I admire snowdrops so much. 

Always the first sign of the coming spring 

(even when it is still quite far off), 

they never fail to push up through frosty days and nights. 

So delicate, yet how tough they are to endure gloomy January and frozen February.

Kate  x

Last years snowdrops at Cerney House Gardens.

Summer eggs

Like the weather, the presence of eggs at the farm gate has been unpredictable recently. 

In early summer it all started out strong, warm (almost hot) sunny days, light stretching long into the night and a near-constant supply of non-uniform, straight-from-the-hen eggs. The hedgerows were full of bramble flowers, buttercups, queen anne's lace, and for one glorious week, wild roses.

The eggs came in every pastel shade imaginable, blue being the colour I hoped to see when I peered into the cartons to choose which 1/2 dozen to pay for. 

There were times when I went days, or weeks without being able to purchase eggs. This most recent stretch without eggs at the farm gate was almost a month long...

But, after a three week stretch of consistently rainy days (where on more than one occasion, to our shame, the heating was put on), and just as the blackberries were beginning to turn...

...the eggs reappeared. 

This is yesterdays 1/2 dozen, dappled sunlight dancing on those pretty pastel hues. I was so happy the sun was back out that I ran half way up to the farm, never expecting I'd find eggs or blackberries. 

Maybe we'll get a second shot at some summer weather?

Kate  x

Parrot tulips

Just when all of the spring flowers started to appear, the weather regressed back to its wintery ways.

These peachy, coral coloured parrot tulips have brought with them some spring cheer in between the gale force winds and the rain lashing down.

The winter revival can't last forever, St David's Day is almost upon us, and right on cue the daffodils are opening at a spring-like rate now.

It's so wonderful how the seasons unfold, time after time, bringing their own bounty with them.

Kate  x

January citrus and antique markets

For my birthday I planned a trip to the ICAF antiques fair in Shepton Mallet. One of the things I was most excited about our move to the UK was all the antiques and vintage homewares that I'd be able to buy. So, I eagerly anticipated this particular birthday treat. I had visions of baskets, French dough bowls, milk glass vases, plant stands, kitchenalia and all manner of curiosities coming home with me. In other words I expected to be parted with cash, and be happy about it. After all, I'd heard good things about ICAF fairs HERE and HERE.

Although I did make a purchase- or should I say Alex made the purchase, being the one to haggle the price while I pretended not to know him and look busy on another stall... But, I didn't come away with a car load of beautiful-but-maybe-not-practical wares like I had imagined I would.

My sole purchase was some beautiful Edwardian era transfer ware.  I'm hopeless when it comes to resisting blue and white ceramics. And I have long admired the Asiatic Pheasants design first released in 1862 by Burleigh.

This is a lovely pie dish which I promptly filled with the season's best clemetines.

Accompanying the pie dish is this small platter plate, shown here with my grapefruit breakfast.

They weren't bargains per se (Alex did negotiate 7 pounds off the total) but they make me happy, and I am sure I couldn't have bought them back home in Australia at the same price.

I'll just have to keep looking for more treasures.

Kate  x

Paper whites

Yesterday was my 28th birthday!

Alex sent me a whole lot of paper white narcissi. 220 stems to be exact, although I didn't count them myself. All of my vases are still in storage, so I was desperately trying to find appropriate vessels to plonk them all in before dotting their heavenly scent in different corners of the house.

These are from one of the flower farms on the Isles of Scilly off the coast of Cornwall. I just love that they were hand cut on a farm off the British coast and couriered right to my door.

The Isles of Scilly are well known for their flower farms, at the peak of this industry in the early 20th century, approximately 40 tonnes of flowers were being shipped from the islands to markets in London weekly. The Isles are owned mostly by the Duchy of Cornwall which leases much of the freehold land to the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust. The rent payable? One daffodil per annum. Such a funny and sweet little bit of history.

We've woken up to snow here in Wiltshire today, so right now this is what my day is looking like...

Kate  x

Winter Solstice

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,

Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,

In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;

Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.

In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed

The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day,

Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;

Enough for Him, whom angels fall before,

The ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,

Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;

But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,

Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;

If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;

Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

It is the Winter Solstice today, and my gosh am I feeling these short dim days. I swear the sun set at 3.30pm today...

Still, it can't last forever. From here the days will get longer, brighter and the spring blossom and bulbs will arrive.

Kate  x

Distant memory

These scenes from the weekend seem like a million miles from my reality this week. 

I am wrestling (and I do mean wrestling) with an assignment from hell. I have 2 more assignments to write before we depart for our new life in England. Which basically means I have 14 days to pull 4000 words from the deepest of depths. 

The timing hasn't been wonderful, 2 assignments due 48 hours after our plane takes off. Some people would calculate the time/hemisphere/date differences and submit just in the nick of time. Me? I am struggling with compound complex sentences, relating verbs and non-finite clauses without having to do that sort of maths too. My plan is to cruise along and push submit on both before I hand over my passport at the airport.

Wish me luck.

I really need it.

Kate  x

How August unfolded

There have been daffodils, violets and ranunculus.

There have been time with loved ones, time with just the two of us, and time alone.

Alex has been on numerous business trips, and I've helped my Mum move house.

There have been many, many preparations for moving ourselves...

Less than one month to go.

Kate  x

Daffs

We've got cheery spring daffodils in the house this week. These are the paler 'white' daffodil variety, and at $7 for two bunches I think they more than brighten the house up, affordably!

I wander'd lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host of golden daffodils.

William Wordsworth

I love they're happy disposition so much, and they remind me a lot of my childhood. Daffodils were the only cut flower I remember my Mum having in the house. 

Kate  x

En Saison

En saison, or the very opposite, in this case. 

It's a blustery winter Saturday here. I set out to buy an inexpensive bunch of daffodils to bring some cheer indoors. I've been patiently waiting for the daffs to start appearing in florists and green grocers this season.

Then, my usual flower man had David Austin roses. In winter! A little more expensive than a bunch of daffodils or jonquils, but Oh-so-worth-it.

The smell is divine. But that's a redundant statement when talking about David Austin roses. They tick every box. 

Simply a superior rose.

We also came home with kalettes. The kalette is the newest vegetable on the Australian market, a cross between kale and brussel sprouts. Should be interesting. 

Kate  x

Winter pears

The apple tree that we usually pick raid from each autumn was almost entirely bare this year, so I am embracing pears in a big way to make up for it. A healthy addition to the fruit bowl, but also easy to turn into a sweet dessert.

They're beautifully photogenic. These are the Corella variety. The prettiest of all the pear varieties in my opinion. They lend themselves to a still life composition so nicely.

Ever since I read A Garden in the Hills by Christine McCabe (one of my favourite books of the last 18 months) I have thought about trying her apple fritters recipe. Now I am wondering if I should try it with these pears.

Recipe from A Garden in the Hills, page 307

To make the fritters, sift together 1 and a 1/2 cups of plain flour, 1 and 1/3 tsp of baking powder and a pinch of salt. To this add 1/2 a cup of brown sugar, 2/3 of a cup of milk and 2 well beaten free range eggs. (Preferably Claudette's. Of all the hen's eggs hers are the loveliest- brown shells, saffron yolks. We know they are hers for so resolutely independent is she that Claudette commands her own nest, frequently escaping the confines of the large chicken run to rummage among my vegetables.)

Mix well and add the apples, peeled, cored and cut into thin slices, or grated if you're in a hurry. Drop tablespoons of the batter into hot oil (Mum used fat or dripping) and cook until golden. Dust with icing sugar and serve immediately with great, fat dollops of cream.

I think this would work well as a sort of pancake/pikelet recipe too. 

Maybe for brunch this weekend.

Kate  x

Poppies

Our move to England happens this month. 

With such an important date looming you'd think I would be hastily packing, sifting through paperwork, or occupied by some other equally important task. 

Instead I am spamming instagram with pictures of the poppies I bought last Friday. 

My time management is woeful. 

Kate  x

Latest thrift find + enduring milk glass obsession

This little Coalport dish was a happy find for $4 at one of our local Vinnie's last week. I ummed and ahhed a little deciding if I would buy it (another thing to wrap and pack into shipping for our move to the UK), but I justified it because I am going to use it as a soap dish. I plan to stop buying liquid pump soap and instead keep this with a little bar of soap by the bathroom basin. (Alex is forever coming home from business trips with pilfered hotel toiletries- so I rarely need to buy hand soap). So that $4 is actually a bigger saving, in plastic waste too.

I happily splashed the cash (a whole $12.50 *sarcasm*) on these darling dahlias on Saturday though. That dusky pink colour had me hook, line and sinker. The combination of pale pink with the stark white of vintage milk glass is stunning I think.  I can't get enough of my milk glass vases. My collection is small right now, but I continue to grow it any chance I get. Milk glass isn't common place in the vintage/collectable/charity stores of Australia, but it should be more prolific in England. Fingers crossed.

My milk glass obsession started HERE in case you need convincing of its beauty. It is relatively cheap because it isn't to everyones taste, and I'm grateful for that. The real Fenton pieces can be a bit expensive, but the generic vintage no-name ones are quite affordable. I don't discriminate, and buy whatever I can spy and fall in love with. This one above was $17, and a Fenton hobnail one that I have was $20. I'd love to get a compote style one. I think they're lovely.

So, that's a big tick for milk glass, and a big tick for the last of the dahlias for this season. Although, I'll get round two when we're living in England. 

Kate

Styling and photographs by Moss & Vine