Flowers

Just beacause it's Friday and nearly the end of January.
Seeing this image at the Dior Illustrated exhibition instantly made me think of this poem.

Flowers

Some men never think of it.

You did. You'd come along

And say you'd nearly bought me flowers

But something had gone wrong

....

It made me smile and hug you then.

Now I can only smile.

But, look, the flowers you nearly brought

Have lasted all this while.

Wendy Cope

Miss Dior 1971

It was a small exhibiton but it prompted many thoughts.

Different Scents

I've joined a new book club, friends from printmaking invited me. Tonight we're discussing The Glass Room by Simon Mawer
This is my favourite quote from the book.

'Love seems a relative quality, not a unitary thing that can exist independent of an object. Love for, love of, never just love. There are different grades of love, different shades of love, different scents and tastes of love. It is not like happiness or misery, qualities that seem dull and limited. Love is limitless, she feels. You can love one person one way and another person another way and your store of love, all the different loves, is never diminished.' Simon Mawer The Glass Room

love

A Partnership of Delight

Four years ago today Warmth and I had our first date...

'In the weeks that followed, Molly walked into another life. There was then, and there was now. Her entire past self seemed like someone else. a person who had been fine, who had been content enough, but also quite ignorant, who did not know. Now, she was the person who knew, who knew how it was to be one of two, half of a partnership of delight, who knew the exquisite pleasure of anticipating the phone call, the uprush of joy when you saw him coming down the street or stepping off a train, or looking at you from the bed.' Penelope Lively Consequences

are so happy

Six O'clock Feeling

I've just finished reading The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

'and there was suddenly a six-o'clock feeling in the house.' Muriel Spark The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

What's the six o'clock feeling in your house today?

Skipping in the door?

To sink into a hot bath?

Dressing up to go out?

Getting ready to eat with friends?

A cup of tea from a stylish yet hearty cup and saucer?

skipping, bath time,dressing , eating cornish red

Warm and Human

Visiting the Rene Grau Dior Illustrations reminded me of Mrs Harris and her quest for Dior.

'It would not, it would never be the same again. But then neither would she.
For it had not been a dress she had bought so much as an adventure and an experience that would last her to the end of her days. She would never again feel lonely, or unwanted. She had ventured to a foreign country and a foreign people.... She had found them to be warm and human, men and women to whom human love and understanding was a mainspring of life. They had made her feel that they loved her for herself.' Paul Gallico Mrs Harris Goes To Paris

ruffles

So today's post was planned just in case yesterday was a 'certain breed of Tuesdays'. We may need something to make us smile today.

A breed of Tuesday in January

Hoping today bucks this trend but if it's anything like last Tuesday...

'In England letter-boxes do not jam with snow. Rarely does one see a squirrel tremble... This is because it is never really very cold in England. It is drizzly and the wind will blow; hail happens, and there is a breed of Tuesdays in January in which time creeps and no light comes and the air is full of water and nobody really loves anybody but still a decent jumper and a waxen jacket lined with wool is sufficient for every weather England's got to give.' Zadie Smith On Beauty

cold

The Twinkling of an Eye

When Rachel wrote about how she was 'slowly making my way through' Gilead, as she was relishing it so much, I was prompted to find my copy with all its turned down pages.

'...but it's your existence I love you for, mainly. Existence seems to me now the most remarkable thing that could ever be imagined. I'm about to put on imperishability. In an instant, in the twinkling of an eye.
The twinkling of an eye. That is the most wonderful expression. I've thought from time to time it was the best thing in life, that little incandescence you see in people when the charm of a thing strikes them, or the humour of it.' Marilynne Robinson Gilead

@

Do go and read Rachel's brilliant review.
Thankyou for reminding me to re open the book and read my favourite passages again.

Why not make the most of being a girl?

Reviewing this Christmas with mum and we remembered the lovely sale shopping trips we used to have. We had them for many years, pre Warmth, when the time inbetween Christmas and New Year can sometimes seem slow. This quote sprung to mind, although Polly was a great deal younger than me when Aunt Sadie said this to her.

'...but since you have the whole of your life before you as a married woman why not make the most of being a girl? You'll never be one again.' Nancy Mitford Love in a Cold Cimate

Diorissimo 1956

This was one of my favourite images from the Rene Graus Dior Ilustrations exhibition. It felt appropriate in this post seeing that Nancy Mitford was a great admirer and wearer of Dior's 'New Look.'

A place, a room

My parents have lived in our home for thirty years. I have always loved home yet since the wedding preparations I think of it even more warmly. Those weekends of preparations, arriving the week before the wedding, those final days of preparation, sleeping there the night before, waking in the morning,

leaving the house with Pops...

With these memories I treasure even more the time spent there, part of looking forward to Christmas was being home. How perfect that I read this sentence in the book I was reading over Christmas.

'Is it rational to have a sentiment about a place? A place, a room is just a space enclosed, volume sequestered by concrete and glass.' Simon Mawer The Glass Room

dream home
My answer to this question is a loud resounding YES. What's your answer?

And in another year everything will be different yet again.

A quote for New Year's Day.

'She thought a year ago I would never have dreamed...that we could be here, like this, that I would feel as I do, that I could have become a new person. And in another year everything will be different yet again. It is always like that, and always will be; you are forever standing on the brink, in a place where you cannot see ahead; there is nothing of certain except what lies behind. This should be terrifying, but somehow it is not.' Penelope Lively Consequences

reflections

How do you feel about last year?