riot of lilacs

I am desperate for warm spring to arrive, to be out in the garden. Even if it's not happening in real life, I can pretend it is in blog life, so the next few posts all have a spring flower theme.

'I can only remember the riot of lilacs that bloomed that spring in all the gardens, courtyards, and streets, and how they drove away the smell of winter.' Elisabeth Gille The Mirador

spring

What drives the smell of winter away for you?

The Month of January

Started with seeing more than just a few inches of blue in the sky. Hurrah! Perfect weather cold, crisp. dry and blue for a New Year walk. Off to Oxleas Woods we went.
Having a lovely impromptu meet with a great friend along the Kings Road. A little sales mooching and a long sit and catch up in Grocer on Kings.
A day trip to Bath to Mr B's Delightful Reading Emporium for my reading spa, but you've read all about that.
A leisurely wake up and breakfast with mother and then a mooch to Blackheath together before saying goodbye.
A slow weekend - the most venturing to the cinema to see The Life of Pi. I'm sure I didn't jump that much when reading the book.
Then back to school after a lovely and relaxing holiday.
Ohh it began to get colder...
A lovely catch up supper at Rocket, and giving of the last Christmas gift.
Off to Mama and Papa Warmth's for a family gathering to celebrate Papa Warmth's birthday. This also is the occasion of the annual 'Card of the year'. Where we look at every card and firstly vote for the best and then the worst. Left over Christmas food is nibbled, the last of the mince pies eaten and then we read a Christmas section from Diary of a Nobody.
Catching up with a dear friend and our usual pizza, the final receiving of a Christmas gift
Our engagement anniversary and a hospital appointment for our 20 week scan. So, if all continues well there will be a mini Warmth or Joan born in early June. All is well and we're getting most excited, and a little bigger...
Then the snow came... and our weekend in Cardiff to celebrate a good friend's 40th birthday was postponed. So a weekend of wrapping up warm, walking to the shop to buy food, making soup, baking, re watching multiple West Wing, napping on the sofa. In fact it felt a little like the days just after Christmas - lazy and full of food.
Mama and Papa Warmth for Friday night supper, crumble felt like the only pudding to eat this week.
Saturday blue skies - oh what a welcome return.
Off to good friends for the night. Chinese takeaway, a lasagne for lunch, laughter and catching up together.
Baking loaf cakes in the cold weather. This Lemon Drizzle Cake - my it was tangy and delicious. Straight from the oven it would make a perfect pudding, then if any left as cake, trying to find the perfect flapjack recipe - do you have one? Lady Grey Fruit Loaf as the snow silently fell and one from the Great British Bake Off book an apricot and marzipan fruit loaf.

sprigs of winter jasmine

I think our days have been a little more than 'fine cold' but a post to help us look to spring never goes amiss.

'It was the middle of January now, a fine cold Wednesday morning. Ellen, who had half an hour off before serving lunch, came out of the porch in her old coat, the belt hanging, to cut sprigs of winter jasmine for the tables. Jasmine was all there was at present; soon there would be winter aconites and snowdrops, floods of gold and white under the trees; then daffodils, then primroses and violets...' Dorothy Whipple Someone at a distance

white

How is your garden? I miss pottering in it, but look forward to spring and the new life, but bought the first bunch of daffodils at the weekend.

watch the snow settle

But then the urge to go outside becomes too much...

'Outside, the air was clean and cool against her face... She let the snow float around her, and then Mabel did what she had as a child - turned her face to the sky and stuck out her tongue. The swirl overhead was dizzying and she began to spin slowly in place. The snowflakes landed on her cheeks and eyelids, wet her skin. Then she stopped and watched the snow settle on the arms of her coat. For a moment she studied the pattern of a single starry flake before it melted into the wool. Here, and then gone.' Eowyn Ivey The Snow Child

snow

How do you like to explore the snow?

pearl-blue clouds

It started Friday morning and then continued on and off all weekend...

'The snow fell all night. It fell without a sound and covered the frozen ground, and the dead leaves beneath the maple tree, and bowed the limbs of the evergreens, and sifted out of the high, pearl-blue clouds hour after hour. Mrs Bridge was awakened by the immense silence and she lay in bed listening.' Evan S. Connell Mrs Bridge

bed

Lying in a warm bed with gorgeous blankets knowing it's snowing outside is one of the 

loveliest things.

Battle of Flowers

After the dark days earlier in the week some flowers.

'All autumn Mrs. Parmenter had run out between the showers and picked the asters, saying brightly that an old woman must be allowed to do something around the house. Opposition would hardly have been hysterical if she had offered to make the beds, but her tastes appeared to be floral. Now it was January and the snowdrops, and before you knew where you were, Mrs. Ramsay thought morbidly, it would be May and the tulips. Somehow she had never expected to spend the war having a Battle of Flowers with Mrs. Parmenter.' Mollie Panter-Downes Mrs Ramsay's War in Good Evening, Mrs Craven

tulips

Not quite sure what a Battle of Flowers would look like but in some ways I like the sound of it. Which flower would win?

a delightful little Tudor gem

'It was before lunch on a dark January day in the Ramsays' country cottage in Sussex. Just how dark January could be, Mrs Ramsay reflected gloomily, no one would ever know who had not spent it in a delightful little Tudor gem with a wealth of of old oak and several interesting features (such as the beam on which you knocked your head outside the bathroom).' Mollie Panter-Downes Mrs Ramsay's War in Good evening, Mrs. Craven: The Wartime stories of Mollie Panter-Downes

home

Hoping you have moments of light this January day.

feast days

Today with #shareadvent it's Gratitude. This post makes me grateful for a festivity to break up the dark winter months. An excuse to see family, celebrate, reflect and be joyful.

'How wise and right feast days were, and how cleverly Christmas broke up the winter ... just when the weight of the cold and darkness were beginning to make themselves felt.' Elizabeth Cambridge Hostages to Fortune

light

pale-lit hours

So November is upon us. Hopefully it won't be as bleak as this description in Alaska.

'November was here, and it frightened her because she knew what it brought - cold upon the valley like a coming death, glacial wind through the cracks between the cabin logs. But most of all, darkness. Darkness so complete even the pale-lit hours would be choked.' Eowyn Ivey The Snow Child

cabin cosy

What are your plans for November?

The forest in spring

And now to spring in Russia.

"He reflected again that he thought of history, of what is called the course of history, not in the accepted way, but in the form of images taken from the vegetable kingdom. In winter, under the snow, the deciduous wood are thin and poor... But in only a few days in spring the forest is transformed, it reaches the clouds and you can hide or lose yourself in a leafy maze. During this transformation the forest moves with a speed greater than that of animals, for animals do not grow as fast as plants; yet this movement can be observed. The forest does not change its place, cannot lie in wait for it and catch it in the act of moving. However much we look at it we see it as motionless. And such is the immobility to our eyes of the eternally growing, ceaselessly changing life of society, of history moving as invisibly in its incessant transformation as the forest in spring." Boris Pasternak Dr. Zhivago

forest


This passage is almost poetry in the way I don't quite understand it but feel it.

The Month of February

Finally February arrived.
A weekend of entertaining my parents. The first time they've stayed in our home. It was lovely. We wandered into our town centre, watched the fireworks to celebrate Greenwich becoming a Royal Borough and then the snow fell. After a cooked breakfast off to Oxlea Woods. So lovely to see the snow - the beauty of the trees, the shrill of the sledges.
Thursday night a little more snow fell.
A quiet weekend. Collecting our wallpaper, a hair cut, mooch along Northcote Road and then to Warmth's parent's.
A day trip to Cambridge to visit dear friends.
Spending Valentine's together. The bus to Greenwich, a walk through Greenwich Park up on Blackheath and then down through the village.
Visiting Granny Warmth in Worthing and then along the coast for an afternoon in Brighton.
An early wake up and a return to Portobello Market on a Friday. For nine years this was where I worked and so the Friday market was part of the rhythm of my week. I miss it and feel quite emotional returning, A favourite croissant from Gail's. A return to my market stall, and yes they remembered me. A pleasing purchase of two cashmere cardigans, a Persephone and a nail paint. Then a hop on the tube and I made it on the 11.30am train to Berkhamsted for lunch with dear university friends.
An expensive visit to the optician for new glasses. Ouch but I have had my last pair for nearly 10 years. So price per wear they're actually quite cheap, well that's what I'm telling myself.
A planned mooch along Marylebone High Street was rather cut short due to the rain. A meet up with Warmth's brother and wife. A pub for the boys and then to The London Cocktail Club for the girls and supper at DimT to satisfy all our stomachs.
A Sunday of productive jobs around the house. Arranging with a neighbour to prune our apple tree and then a paint of our laundry room. (A smart name for the cupboard that houses our washing machine.)
The end of a lovely half term.
Meeting a dear friend for cake and cocktails at Drink,Shop, Do.
Friday night cocktails with the best girls and then for supper. So lovely to catch up and a warm fuzzy glow of love as we laughed, listened and sipped the night away.
Picking up my new glasses. Thankfully I like them, as does Warmth, which is good as he sees them more than me!
Ma and Pa Warmth for Sunday lunch. The last entertaining before our dining room is redecorated - starting the very next day.
Hoping I've managed to stop word verification for posting. Please let me know. Next step ability to reply to individual comments.
Restarted baking. Nigella's Supper onion tart for lunch with butternut squash and stilton soup. Bea's of Bloomsbury's Snickerdoodle biscuits for afternoon tea. A beef stew for supper and Jamie Oliver's Plum and almond tart. Note - half the filling as we had an additional small pudding made from the left over filling. Bill Granger Little Lemon Puddings after a delicious roast pork.
Finished Hostages to Fortune by Elizabeth Cambridge and then braced myself for Ian McEwan's The Comfort of Strangers.With a story line like that I was glad it was a very short story, not sure I could have managed a full length book of that story. Then my first Elizabeth Taylor - A view from the harbour. Just in time to join in with Stuck in a Book's hosting of this Taylor. Finishing the month with my third Elizabeth - Elizabeth Bowen.

I'm now itching for full blown beautiful spring to blossom and bloom.

Bare Black Branches

Seventh February
There is something very beautiful in the tracery of the bare black branches of the trees against the pale blue sky. D.E Stevenson Mrs Tim and the Regiment

branches

Yet another of Mrs Tim's thoughts that I have often thought. I love it when that happens in a book. Suddenly coming across your own thoughts expressed by a character. It's even better when you like the character.

Winter Night

Winter Night

Snow swept over the earth,

Swept it from end to end.

The candle on the table burned.

Like swarms of summer midges

Drawn to the flame 

The snowflakes

Flocked to the window.

The driven snow drew circles and arrows

On the window pane.

The candle on the table burned,

The candle burned.

window

.....

And everything was lost 

In the white-haired, white, snowy darkness.

The candle on the table burned,

The candle burned.

.....

snow

The snow swept all through February,

And now and again

The candle on the table burned,

The candle burned.

Boris Pasternak

Dr. Zhivago

How did you spend your snowy Sunday?

Very Sundayish

Thirty-first January
Wake very late after night's revels. The sun is shining and everything looks and feels very Sundayish. D.E. Stevenson Mrs Tim of the Regiment

sunday

We woke up at friends' home. Drank copious cups of tea. A cold drive home. The weekly food shop. A delicious afternoon sleep. Fresh bed linen. Warming supper.
How was your Sunday?

January Afternoon

"... she stood by the landing window. The twilight was disappearing into darkness; there was the wonderful pause which comes between the two. The chestnut tree stood out against the sapphire sky, black, calm and majestic. Such a winter's twilight is perhaps the most beautiful of all aspects of the year. She had never failed since she was a child to gaze at it on some December or January afternoon." F.M. Mayor The Rector's Daughter

It's my first day back at work today and I would much rather be standing by the landing window, or lying on the sofa reading, gazing at the twilight. Where would you like to be this January afternoon?
twilight

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

I drop the dying year behind me....

Guess what? I found a Carol Ann Duffy poem for New Year's Eve.

New Year

I drop the dying year behind me like a shawl

and let it fall. The urgent fireworks fling themselves

against the night, flowers of desire, love's fervency.

Carol Ann Duffy

champagne

Wishing you all a Very Happy New Year

2011

The Month of December

It started with snow... and lots of it...Which meant
I missed going to The Vintage Wedding Dress shop with a dear friend.
We missed going to see my parents... which meant we did lots of Christmas shopping instead.
Winter cocktails with the Best Girls at Skylon - The Winter Warmer kicked quite a punch.
Wanting to be a snowflake having marvelled at The Nutcracker with mother, Twin and Blessing.
Lunch with university girls at Browns.
Festive drinks and pizza with dear friends at Rocket.

Making Cranberry mincemeat for mince pies...
It snowed again which meant...
Walking through the snow to meet up with dear old book club friends, drink mulled wine and eating mince pies and Nigella's Christmas morning muffins.
Buying The Christmas Tree. Then decorating it. And then admiring it.
More mulled wine and mince pies this time at Beas.
Christmas events at school. Our class Nativity tableau, Christmas Parties, Staff Panto.
Morning coffee in Forest Hill.

As part of trying to be productive this Christmas holiday I went along to Somerset House to see the Rene Grau exhibition on Dior illustrations. It was lovely to walk past the ice skating.

Diorama 1955

Books read - The Glass Room by Simon Mawer, Miss Buncle's Book by DE Stevenson (my Persephone secret santa).
Films watched Joyeaux Noel and Elf on Christmas Eve in front of the sparkling Christmas tree. United 93, The Reader. A most enjoyable time watching Upstairs Downstairs on BBCiplayer whilst Warmth was at work.

Shopping - bought not one but two pairs of boots - quite different ones and there was 25% off them both - so I saved money. However with the snow it took along time to wear one pair. Thankfully neither of them are in the sales - phew right decision. Good sale shopping at SpaceNK too.

Christmas Day in Kent with my family, The Blessings were on good Christmas form, Boxing Day over eating - family friends for lunch and then a drive up to London to see Granny Warmth. Huge Boxing Day tea there including Mama Warmth retelling The Story On Top of the Christmas Cake. (There's a whole post in this but basically each year there are topical (both family and news worthy) events illustrated on top. This year an errupting volcano, the Chilean miners, a 'No to university fees' protesting Father Christmas, and then when the cricket really did go well a cricketer appeared!)

Christmas cooking on the 26th for Family Warmth.
Parsnip and Stilton Soup, Turkey, Ham and Cranberry pie, Aubergine Involtini, green salads (on my insistence), potato salad and pasta salad. Christmas Pavlova, a disastrous caramalised clementine pudding, delicious Neal's Yard cheeses and then devouring a large box of Quality Street.

New Year's Eve tapas with dear friends and then back to our own homes for fizz and welcoming in 2011

Red Boots On

Oh the snow.... And this poem makes me smile and seems oh so appropriate.

Red Boots On

Way down Geneva,
All along Vine,
Deeper than the snow drift
Love's eyes shine:

Mary Lou's a walking
In the winter time.

She's got

Red boots on, she's got
Red boots on,
kicking up the winter
Till the winter's gone.

....

Sweet light burning
In winter's flame.

She's got

Snow in her eyes, got
A tingle in her toes
And new red boots on
Wherever she goes.

..........

May Lou's walking

In the big snow fall.

She's got

Red boots on, she's got

Red boots on, kicking up the winter

Till the winter's gone.
Lady Dragons, Sigerson Morrison, Christian Louboutin, hunter, red shoes

What will you be wearing in the snow?

December

Sometimes I think this blog could be renamed 'The Carol Ann Duffy Appreciation Blog' . Her poems always fit in so perfectly with my thoughts and the seasons.

December

The year dwindles and glows
to December's red jewel,
my birth month.

The sky blushes,
and lays its cheek
on the sparkling fields.

Then dusk swaddles the cattle,
their silhouettes
simple as faith.

These nights are gifts,
our hands unwrapping the darkness
to see what we have.

The train rushes, ecstatic,
to where you are,
my bright star.

Carol Ann Duffy

red jewel