A Rare Review

Some time ago I wrote a post called Brightening Up about taking on our new allotment (did I mention we have an allotment ;)) In the comments section the lovely Frances from City Views, Country Dreams asked if I had read a book called Four Hedges. I immediately looked it up and was blown over by the cover alone. A few days later I was happily ensconced in what I consider to be one of the most enjoyable pieces of writing I've read.  

Written in the 1930's, Clare Leighton - renowned wood engraver - told of her experience of creating a garden in the Chiltern Hills. Alongside her partner, Henry Noel Brailsford, she fought against the not too ideal location to develop a garden that provided both visual and spiritual pleasure.

Divided into sections - one for each month - she not only observes the plants and wildlife but also the weather, social etiquette and the symbiotic nature of gardening.

Even if you're not a gardening nut such as myself you would find it difficult not to be moved by her deep understanding and appreciation of the senses.

To quote from 'January':

There is nothing more satisfying than to lie in bed at night, secure and warm,with a whistling wind outside. Windows creak and flap and grumble; one's senses are limited by the dark to hearing, and so the moan of the wind lifts and falls, strengthens and diminishes with a range of sound that is unimagined during the daytime, when hearing is tempered and distracted by sight, and wind means the racing of clouds across the sky.

In the introduction Carol Klein tells us

As you read each word, as you study each line, you smile. Yes, you want to say, yes, yes, you want to shout, that's it!

Not only battling with the plot and the weather, they also have another battle on their hands. That with their gardener - someone for whom they have the utmost respect but are too intimidated by to disagree with. This leads to often subversive methods in order to try and garden 'their' way. The local villagers also enrich their gardening knowledge with local lore.When their housekeeper Annie turns up with the phrase 'Coo! There's thunder about' they are confident that rain will soon appear to end a prolonged period of dry weather.

Clare urges us to look at things from a different view. When all seems grey and stark in the middle of Winter she notices the brightness of the birds plumage, and furnishes us with a beautiful account of watching the first iris open.

Throughout the book there is an air of appreciation and optimism. She manages to put into words what so many of us might feel but would find difficult to express. The eloquence of her writing is enhanced by the intensity of her engravings.

 A truly beautiful read.

So - how to follow up such a book?

Recently another blogger (I'm sorry I can't remember who - please put me right if you know!) put up a book for a giveaway. This one was called Allotted Time and with the strapline 'two blokes' one shed, no idea' I knew it would make a perfect gift for Mr K. Very loosely linked, in that it is about developing a garden, it provides a light hearted recount of the trials and tribulations of starting an allotment with - in their words - no idea. The writing may not be as lyrical, but the events are just as recognisable - with battles against the similar obstacles of land, weather and locals. 

Good fun.

So there we go. Two books - similar themes but very different tones. Both perfect for snuggling up with on these dark January days when all we can do is dream about what the year ahead will bring.

I'd love to hear if you've read either of these - or if you have any recommendations yourself.

Keep warm

Jane

xxx

Enchanted Enid.

Before I embark on my newest witter can I just say a heartfelt thank you from mum and myself for the lovely comments left on my last post. She's had a 'bit of a time' of it lately but the pacemaker is now in and we are expecting cartwheels in no time at all. 

Now this post could be divisive. I'm aware that Enid Blyton isn't everybody's cup of tea and from recent evidence she probably isn't someone who I would want to have met but - oh - those books of hers!

From the earliest age I always had my nose in a book but as I try to remember which ones they all come up Enid. 

My favourite had to be this one.

Never mind the dandy outfits the fact was there was a wood that was inhabited by fairy folk, and - this was the best bit - the animals talked! 

A talking bunny - every eight year old girls dream?

Reading that bit back I realise I've used the word 'fact' there - to me this place was real!

The wood was home to a magical tree that transported the children to faraway lands where adventures were waiting. Some lands were more desirable than others. For example in Birthday Land you just had to wish for something and it would appear, whereas Dame Slap's school was a terrifying place. But to me the tree itself was as magical as the lands. You could travel down Moonface's slide that ran from top to bottom, or sit on a branch and share fresh home made biscuits with Silky the fairy.

I'm going to share something with you now that I don't condone - in fact it's something I've railed against all my adult life - but look what I did ...

... I wrote all over the inside cover! Several times it seems!! Oh dear. But it was my 'best book' and obviously I had to mark that in some way! I even marked the contents page each time a chapter was read.

I don't think Enid would have approved.

The back covers of these books had a tempting array of 'rewards' which I used to pore over and covet.

From fairy woods I moved on to a slightly more 'grown up' version with 'The Children of Cherry Tree Farm'.

Following the same premise a city dwelling family go to stay with their country relations and soon find that a whole host of adventures await in the woods. In a timely situation that we probably wouldn't conceive of in this day and age, the children befriend a local wild man, Tammylan, who then teaches them about the local flora and fauna.

Alongside them I also learned. I remember reading that a very comfortable bed could be made out of moss and heather, and that a 'slow worm' was neither slow nor a worm but actually a legless lizard! In the days before t'internet Enid provided valuable information to a young nature lover like myself.

I continued with 'The Naughtiest Girl series followed by Malory Towers. Tales of independent young gals who sorted out right from wrong at their respective boarding schools. 

Then came the Famous Five and, my preferred crime solving gang, the Secret Seven. Alongside these were The Put-Em-Rights and The Mystery of ... series. 

Most of Enid's tales were based around children. They seemed to exist in a separate world to the adults (sadly something which her own children experienced only too well) but with strength of character and camaraderie anything was possible. As a young girl this was perfect escapism and encapsulated an innocence that has seemingly diminished in our technical age. (Although saying that I'd still like to think there were fairy folk at the bottom of the garden!)

I'm going to return to the talking animals now and leave you with a final word from Topsy.

Jane

xxx

You can find out more about the books here, and more about Enid herself here.

A Maud, a make and a mandala!

First Maud. 

A belated birthday present from Mr K. 

Here she is in all her glory.

Or should I say her birthday suit! 

Pretty roses all around.

But Maud! Where are your manners? Clothe yourself immediately!

Aha - I see you have chosen my latest make (did you see what I did there?!)

A tunic from The Great British Sewing Bee book  - the first series. Yes that's how long it's taken me.

But what's over there on yonder table?

Don't tell me ... it isn't ... you can't have?

You have! You've succumbed to mandala mania!

Destined for Yarndale and using the Petal and Puffs tutorial over at the very talented Bunny Mummy's blog here.

What fun!

Hold on - I sense mischief.

Hello Birdy, what can I do for you today?

You're hungry?

Oh dear - I don't think I have anything for you.

What's that - you've spotted some worms?

You haven't.

You're not going to...

BIRDY!!!

Jane

xxx

P.S. Some of us bloggers are going to meet up at Yarndale - anyone else going?

Hold the phone...

... I've finished a thing! 

Or two things to be more precise.

I used this

and this

(obviously lured in by this)

 and ended up with these!

(modelled by our very own Little Sis after several bribes and a promise not to get her face in the shot!)

The wool was lovely and soft to work with and the pattern was indeed as easy as an easy pie who lives in easy land.

Lovely warm arms now.

What to do about the fingers ....?

Jane

x

P.S. Hello to my new followers - I hope you enjoy it here!

A Ghostie Post

One of the many things I love about this time of year is the proliferation of all things spooky. The darker nights lend themselves to creating the perfect atmosphere - light some candles, stoke up the fire and off you go.

As a child I devoured ghostly tales. Usually they were compilations of short stories - read under the sheets with a torch - they were just enough to scare me into not wanting to go to the bathroom on my own! I remember 'The Waxwork' about a man who took up a dare to stay overnight in a wax museum, and 'The Doll's House' with it's slightly too realistic inhabitants. Later on I delved into some Edgar Allan Poe and M.R. James but it wasn't until I found 'The Woman in Black' a few years ago that I was able to revisit those early feelings of being genuinely spooked.

Of course this was also the heyday of Hammer Horror films. Each Friday night we would settle to watch Peter Cushing fight off some demonic beast whilst amply bosomed ladies wilted in the background.

Tales of the Unexpected provided more fuel - the hypnotic title music was often the best part - but it was relished nonetheless (the man who turned into a bee, the wife who 'tidied' her fastidious husband away into his own filing system of screw topped jars).

Several years ago the BBC ran a series of ghost stories running up to Christmas and each one was a treat. If you have never seen the Michael Hordern adaptation of Whistle and I'll Come to You it's a must see. Alongside Dicken's The Signalman. Both call for a nip of brandy to steady the nerves afterwards!

So - have I ever seen a ghost?

For many years I thought I had. At the age of six I woke in the dead of night to go to the bathroom. The door was directly opposite my bedroom and only a few steps away. Alongside the landing was a banister - the solid type that was popular in the 1970's. At the end it opened out on to a smaller landing at the top of the stairs with a window that allowed in the natural light. As I passed this section I froze. Standing in front of me was a young girl. She had a short silver coloured bob and was wearing no shoes. Her sleeveless mint green dress had no sleeves and a pocket with a large white daisy on it. I screamed and to this day remember how long it seemed to take for me to get back to the safety of my own bed and under the covers. Mum and dad were so convinced that someone must have been in the house that they searched high and low but, of course, found nothing. This mystery stayed with me until fairly recently. Watching one of these nostalgic 'let's remember all the kid's shows we grew up with programmes' there - alongside Mr Benn and The Clangers -was my ghost. Frustratingly I can't now remember the name of the character but she was a young girl who used to press the daisy on her pocket to grant a wish. Her clothes and hair were exactly the same as I remembered. I'm pretty sure the hairs must have stood up all the way down to my toes. After all these years the mystery of the girl on the landing was solved. So why even now, sitting in my sunny kitchen with a fresh coffee and Mr K's home made tea loaf, do I still feel a bit shivery?

Mum also has a ghostly tale. When she was three she had a particularly nasty bout of chicken pox. She was tucked up on the old sofa which was pushed up against the window. Outside the snow was falling but through the blur she saw a lady standing on the garden wall. The lady looked down at her and was smiling. Mum called her Grandma over and asked her to look. Of course her Grandma could see nothing so mum went on to describe a young lady with short dark hair and kind eyes. Grandma said nothing. Later on mum discovered that the lady she had been describing was in one of the family pictures - it was in fact her own mum who had died two years previously from tuberculosis. A combination of fever, memory and the hypnotic swirl of the snow - or was it something more?

Grandma Irene - looking after her poorly daughter?

There are many other tales. A close friend tells of hearing his dad having conversations late at night with his Grandad who had died several years before. Mr K once though that his glow-in-the-dark mummy was growing and chased him out of his bedroom! 

Do I still believe in ghosts? Not really. I believe our mind and imagination are incredible things and given the right conditions they will produce experiences that we have no other explanation for. So why is it that I still see things out of the corner of my eye, still imagine that that pile of clothes could be a figure and still have to - on occasion - ask Mr K to accompany me to the bathroom in the middle of the night?

I think there's someone behind you!

Jane

x 

Great Stuff and Stuffing

Hello October!

Detail from 'Sleeping Beauty' by Herbert Laupin

The annual food and drink festival is in full swing here in our sleepy town. This afternoon Mr K and I wandered through the vibrant farmers market, chatted with chums, ate salt fish croquettes (didn't even know they existed before now but really very nice!) and ooohed and aaahed at various delectables - all the while accompanied by a man on a kettle drum (not us personally you understand - that would be odd). On the way home we chatted about how lucky we were - not in any huge way but we're happy (most of the time), healthy (as far as we know) and are able to appreciate what we have rather than yearning after that which we don't. But just in case you were thinking I was going to hand over all my worldly goods and run to the nearby convent let me furnish you with some of the very definite material things that have delighted me this week.

First up I was really lucky to win a giveaway over at Handmade Jane (go over and take a look at her blog, she's just written a fascinating piece about 1950's couture but her own makes are an inspiration in themselves).

 It was this

Just the end pieces make me drool

 But the projects - my heads a buzzin'!

Thanks so much Jane!

Mr K surprised me with these

and this

a screen print from his old colleague Lauren Van Helmond - all of my favourite things!

Mum and dad returned from a trip with these tasty Canadian biscuits

 filled with the most delicious maple flavoured cream

And whilst we're on the subject this week we made a gorgeous vegetable and lentil broth with dumplings (definitely THAT time of year) but, try as I might, it was difficult to take a decent photo of it. To be honest what ever angle and what ever light I had it still ended up looking totally the opposite of  mouthwatering so, in order not to put you off your next meal here's a picture of some apple crumble instead

Yum!

Now for the stuffing. A little while ago a dear friend asked if I could make a few things for a local Christmas Fayre. Instantly my mind was whirling. That evening saw me dancing around the house looking for our old funnel, a bag of lavender I 'bought some time ago in order to do something with but never quite got around to and put somewhere safe', and cutting up a perfectly nice Laura Ashley skirt that had been on it's way back to the charity shop. The result?

Hearty hand warmers!

Spurred on by this I decided some felt flowers would be a good idea

but I quickly tired of the fiddly stitching so my mind turned to bunnies (as it often does). Another rummage in the charity bag yielded a skirt in a lovely fine needlecord. Sadly once this was stitched up it proved the 'devil itself' to stuff neatly - who'd have thought stuffing a bunny would be so stressful (feel free not to respond to this question)? After several viewings of tutorials and a grapple with a crochet hook I managed these

Not ideal and - hmmm - just a little naked?

That's better!

So - my little workshop is buzzing. My aim is to make just enough to buy the turkey but it's clear I've still got a long way to go. I've seen patterns for dachshund bookmarks, miniature teddies and Peter Pan collars. I want to make some tote bags and Christmas stockings. Candle holders? Maybe - oh and definitely some crochet snowflakes. So many ideas - so little time!

So far there's this 

I don't think I'll be ordering the home reared organic bronze just yet!

Hope you are all having good weeks - smiles if you are and hugs if you need one.

Jane 

x

P.S. Hello to those of you who have just joined me - lovely to have you here!