1 The children and I made Pain au Chocolat for breakfast today giving KJ another rare lie-in. They were delicious!
Putting the chocolate on the dough
We made these Pain au Chocolat
2 Small paper carriers made delightful Easter bags when covered with sequins, wool, stickers and feathers.
Easter bags to put any Easter goodies in tomorrow
3 Watching the Magpies at the seed table has proved to be very popular.
Magpies at the seed table
Today, as a day in my life, was out of the ordinary and very special as our Grand-children are staying with us and we only see them every couple of months. This day therefore has been a child centred day! Scroll through the gallery, each photo with a caption to explain. For an enlargement, click on any photo. Have fun with us this Good Friday!
Sadly both T and her Mum have a virus and slept much of the day. The rest of us had fun!
1 Three cardigans are now done to add to the new Grand-baby’s wardrobe! They are in new-born, 3 months and 6 month sizes and they all have the baby’s Great Great Grandfather’s beautiful mother-of-pearl buttons. I had some labels made to go inside each hand-made item.
Three sizes of cardigan
Handmade with love
2 My next project is a padded pram blanket so I went to Mum’s cottons drawer to match the colour. I hardly ever have to buy new thread – Mum’s collection is so full of colour.
Mum’s rainbow of cotton threads
3 On a grey day such as this, the fruit bowl full of bright orange clementines is a joy to behold. The moon has been this colour for the last two nights but I haven’t been able to get a photo.
Beautiful fruit
1 Today was Larissa’s last singing session with us before she and her family leave for Glasgow. It was a super morning with singing, dancing and cake and a beautiful piece of art for L from all the choir, painted by one of our members, local artist Jo Short.
Jo Short and the painting she has done for Larissa’s leaving present.
2 Our Choir-babies are a delight to us all and this was also T’s last time with us. We will miss his constant good humour. He has always loved the accordion and made a manful attempt to pick up the heavy case. Choir-baby E is now walking with support.
Choir-baby T taking off with the accordion
Choir-baby E is walking
3 Yesterday I noticed a field full of daffodils near to home and managed to stop today to get a picture. I love this season in Cornwall where there are fields upon fields full of gold.
A field of golden daffodils
1 The sun was shining this morning so off we went to one of our favourite gardens, Trelissick, a National Trust property. As well as daffodils all over the grounds , the annual Daffodil Exhibition was happening – what a joy! The following gallery will take you around the gardens and into the old stable block where the daffodils were on display. Click on any photo for an enlargement.
2 A hot drink was called for after a bitterly cold walk so off to the cafe where the room was in the process of being decorated with beautiful stencils of purple Wisteria.
3 After that to the Gallery which is always full of the most beautiful things. Today was no exception! The rope coil on the floor used to hoist heavy paintings was one of the beautiful things to attract my attention.
1 On my walk back from town this morning, I had my head down against the cold and saw this fragile leaf flattened on the pavement.
Skeleton leaf
2 I found this quotation today and loved it.
“There is space on everyone’s book shelves for books one has outgrown but cannot give away. They hold one’s youth between their leaves, like flowers pressed on a half-forgotten summer’s day.” Marion Garretty b. 1917
Marilyn asked in her blog some time ago about favourite childhood books and I said ‘Horton the Elephant’ but, sadly, I don’t still have him on my shelves.
3 What I do have is a book that, as a little girl, frequently moved me to tears but I loved it and asked to have it on again and again. It is A Talking Book of ‘The Happy Prince’ by Oscar Wilde and it so beautifully illustrated.
The Happy Prince – cover
The Happy Prince at the start, crying to see the poor in his city
The little match girl to whom the swallow has taken a sapphire – the second of the Prince’s eyes
The Happy Prince at the end, blind and drab, having given away all his gold and being kissed goodbye by the swallow before he dies.
There are no words just enormous pictures and a record tucked inside the back cover to be played at 78rpm! It comes with the instructions – “This is a Talking Book. Start the record. The voice will tell you when to ‘turn the page’ or ‘turn’. When you have listened to Part 1, play the other side.”
The record
Just writing about it, I can hear the words (which I haven’t heard for years) and can feel my eyes prickling!
1 There are three of these fluttering flags outside a local school. What a lovely thing.
Curnow School flags
2 I couldn’t resist a visit to my favourite shop, full of wonderful fabrics. I love the way some of the colours are echoed in the calculator.
Rolls of colours for patchwork
3 KJ sent me photos of Grand-baby T’s 2nd Birthday Cake and I thought you might like to see it. Isn’t it beautiful, inside and out?!
Birthday cake
Inside the Rainbow Cake
Walking home this morning, through the industrial estate after dropping the car in for a service, I entertained myself searching out signs of Spring on this day, 25th March, when the temperature is not at all Spring-like at 0*. There is snow over much of the UK today (but not in Cornwall) and we are all promised the Beast from the East (a bitter Easterly wind) for another week so I just want to offer hope to everyone who is still waiting for Spring to arrive. Spring will come!
1 We discovered a new lane on our very brisk walk in temperatures of -2* with the wind chill taken into account – a very sudden change from 8.5 on Thursday.
New lane
Bark
2 I love the bright red wheels on the low loader in the car-park.
Red wheels on the low-loader
3 Being somewhat of an ailurophile, I was delighted to find this beautiful cat just waiting for its portrait to be taken.
Beautiful cat
Future tense? A hard challenge but then I thought of these cardigans and Sally-boots that I’m making for a new baby. They will both be finished in the very near future…….
One more sleeve to sew in
Cardigan and boots, nearly finished
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