I don't remember which storm demolished this fence, but it is lovely to have the replacement almost finished. The colour is Cuprinol Silver Birch. Wooden structures, including the house, require quite a lot of maintenance in our wet climate.

Rain again today but more days like this are forecast.

..and frosty mornings. Wonderful, as in full of wonder.

Getting up in the middle of the night I glanced out and saw the starriest of skies. I quickly  put on a few thick layers and switching on the electric blanket and the kettle, went outside and gazed in wonder. I can still see the stars quite well and made out the few constellations I recognize. We don't have streetlights in our village so the velvety dark and the deep silence and stillness were thrilling to me, and I could feel my heart beat a little faster.

 Have you been out looking at the stars?

Some of you know that I like to walk barefoot on frosty grass (it makes me feel so alive!).  Look who sat on my clogs..

Isn't nature wonderful, and it is always there. I only have to look.

Part of the project plan is to take time and care, making something 'properly'. I have to say I just flung this wreath together for effect, but if I was going to reuse it I had to tweak it somewhat and make it stronger to withstand the winter. (Might be something I should do for myself?)

As I reworked it seeds kept falling out.

 I think I will sow them. I have grown agapanthus from seed before and more plants would be lovely.

It is a bit big for my table and a bit early for the door but if I think of it as a winter, rather than a  christmas decoration...maybe I won't use the lights until Devember.

The third sunny frosty day in a row - I could take any amount of this kind of winter weather.

Do you remember the scene in the wonderful film Girl With The Pearl Earring where Griet cleans Vermeer's studio with infinite care and attention, patiently going over every surface? Laid low by this horrible cold I took a notion to clean the sitting room where I am spending most of my time. Having little energy,  I decided to work my way round the room slowly - feather duster round the ceiling (there are cobwebs), then all the flat surfaces and even the floor (can't remember when it got more than a quick vacuuming. My housework standards have never been particularly high but not being able to see very well has lowered them somewhat (a fine excuse!).

It was surprisingly satisfying. In fact I would go so far as to say it was enjoyable!

..those leaves you pressed under the rug?

Along wih a friend and her grandson I am embarking on Sugar Free Nvember. Accountability makes all the difference!

The concept of Hushing The House struck a chord and I enjoyed the conversation in the comments on this post

 
The nearest I have had to Amelia's lovely experience was when we moved into a modern town house in York. The house was on three floors and the rooms were painted in olive green, donkey brown and terracotta, so weleft our furniture in storage while we painted every room white and tiled the whole of the ground floor with white tiles. All we had in it was our low bed and a table and chairs. I absolutely loved it!

Simple living. I didn't want to move the rest of our furniture in.

Have you had a similaar hushed house experience?

I have just come across this phrase. The idea is that you clear your room of all decorative objects and pictures, then live with it for a bit and gradually and thoughtfully put back only those things which are meaningful to yu in some way. It can take a day or a week or longer I suppose.

I have been living with eleven of my pintings on the sitting room walls for Open Studio weekend, I can't wait to do this as almost every room in the house needs 'hushed'. I will do it one room at a time.

Is this something you might try?

Thank you so much for your comments on yesterday's post.

I took a break from grass cutting (all the meadow areas are now cut) and enjoyed the warm sun on my back as I made a wreath from the agapanthus seedheads. It's prejaps a little sombre, but nice.

If little triangles on a string make us feel cheerful, I think circles can make us feel calm and content somehow. Isn't that curious?

..with the season. I change lots of small things as the mood takes me. I have mainly plain white bedlinen but I do have a patterned pillowcase for each season..restful.

I often listen to the podcast by Lia Leendertz As The Season Turns at bedtime, and am particularly enjoying this month's Found Sound feature about a man who is passionate about wild honey bees and has some interesting things to say about the world.

Sleep well tonight.

Harvesting a few things from the garden for some simple indoor decorations.

These atre agapanthus seedheads. Do you have anything that will make some natural decorations? Even a few leaves pressed under a rug?

I am sure I have said before that it amuses me that little triangles of cloth or paper on a string can make us feel cheerful, happy even. I took down the bunting round the porch which I put up most summers just for fun, and have put up the Open Studios bunting as a bit of early publicity.

I was dismayed to discover that I am the only artist showing in the village this year. In the past there have been as many as six - a potter, a wood carver, a jeweller and several painters - which of course encourages people to come out this far.  I have to accept there may be very few visitors..

Meanwhave I have a cold - the first in years. I spent a whole eveing ironing and found it quite comforting.

Do you have a household task you find soothing?

What is sparking joy in your day?

Table still life.

The summer bedding isstill looking prretty.

Tiny cuttings taken in early summer have made a pretty potful.

I had taken the hammock down but put it up again one recent sunny afternoon! Bliss.

A gift from the birdfeeder.

..moments of stillness, captured on camera, keep me grounded.

A subtle bunch from the supermarket.

After a couple of days cooped up sheltering from the storm and with a power cut just as I started baking, I needed a walk today. Join me?

mOut of the back door, and through the red ggate.. The meadow areas will be cut soon.

and the pah needs strimmed again.

It is very colourful with garden escapees.

Rosebay willowherb looks strange at this stage.

I was heading for that sandy beach across the bay.

I have done several paintings of these lovely rocks and thrift,

Under the shady tunnel of beech trees  where the shore is claiming part of the path.

Looking up the glen which is to the west I could see the rain coming, so I turned around and went back home at this point! May try again tomorrow..

..as it got darker.  Do check out Grace's link in yesterday's comments - a delightful installation. I am thinking of making a mini version for the table - a bowl of water with one floating candle and one floating flower...

..we planted those birch trees where we did.  They give just the right area of dappled shade at lunchtime and into the afternoon when the sun is at it's hottest. (The next day it poured with rain!)

Setting the scene..I do love this fun bit.

At one point I came round the corner from the kitchen and the sound of laughter fom around the table just filled my heart to bursting. If you have not read it already, do look at PannyL's lovely description of her son's wedding. (12th July

These famiily celebrations are so precious.

Wednesday is aniti-procrastination day, so I did my least favourite job.  I cleaned out the fridge. There is always something in there whcih makes me feel guilty - it's way past it's sell by date and/or is turning into a science project as Flay Lady says. A certain ruthlessness is required and the job is soon done. It's rarely as awful as I thiki it will be.

Likewise the phone call I had been putting off.

I've mostly been gardening and planning for a family get-together this weekend.

What have you been up to?

I always pick a huge bunch of buttercups from the roadsise about now, as I know they will get cut down soon by the council!

I am talking home decor here! I used to say there was enough distress in the world without deliberately 'distressing' furniture, but of necessity I have joined the shabby chic fraternity. It may well be outdated but it's all I can manage right now.

My kitchen worktops are painted with Fired Earth Malm - a colour I absolutely love. Not a very practical finish and it needs repainted quite often.  As you know I don't see very well, so it's a bit hit and miss but I think I can get away with it if I call it shabby chic and ignore my perfectionist tendencies! Life is short. :-)

..and a Country Living magazine moment.

Will you create a Country Living moment for yourself today?

What will it be?

Happy Easter

Just a few small branches of the balsam poplar scent the room. You have to pick it just as the leaves are emerging, as, unusually, it's the leaves which are fragrant. I love the delicious smell and can detect it from the back door although the trees are about 100 metres away.

Apple, pear, plum and cherry, and oh those magnolias! This one in a churchyard in Norwich, sparkling in spring sunshine. I hope that wherever you are you are getting good weather. Meals outside with my robins for company, gardening from early till late, the kiss of the sun lifts my spirits.

..of things. I am always moving my things around. A visitor to the house once said 'little still lifes everywhere!' I am in good company. Matisse, even when ill in bed, would have someone move an item on the manterlpiece one or two centimetres to the right or to the left until he was satisfied with the balance of the arangement.

Mostly my arrangements are by design but sometimes they are by happey chance. A friend brought me this seed pod from Malawi and when I opened this page of my current daybook I was struck by how beautiful they looked together.

Changing thins often keeps them fresh for me.

 ..of the scent of hyacinth. I wonder what prompts the flower to pump out it's scent. It's not always there. Is it the temperature or the light levels? I have a single hyacinth in a glass beside my bed and woke this morning to a delicious waft of that unique perfume.

The timing was beautiful. I think it actually woke me up, and it lasted right through the breathing exercises I do while still in bed - 20 minutes or so, just washing over me, heady, intoxicating. How beautiful was that?

Do you have a favourite floral fragrance?