Autumn Cottage Diarist

A Quiet Hour in the Conservatory

......after a mundane hour doing the weekend
shopping. I am still always astonished to see, from the conservatory window, a bird as exotic as this cock pheasant parading around. He and his girlfriends are very evident in the garden at the moment - like the smaller birds, they are all stoking up energy in the form of seed and fat from the bird table, before the important business of egg laying begins.

Inside the conservatory, I enjoyed a cup of tea as I browsed though some
old auction house catalogues. I am immensely lucky to be able to buy
these old catalogues for the princely sum of one UK pound each ($2.00).
Originally sold for sometimes £40.00 each,  printed on the highest
quality paper in the most intense colours, I buy those of lesser
interest so that I may cut them up and use them in collage work. But the
more interesting are on a par with the best art and antique books - and
in fact are printed in greater detail and with much more extensive
descriptions than any coffee table tome will offer.

Amongst them, I have the catalogues from the Sale of Gianni Versace's
mansion, the Vivien Greene collection of dollshouses, and today I
acquired a superb, almost inch thick catalogue of the contents sale of a
small French chateau, decorated by Alberto Pinto. Packed full of
exquisite tapestries, furniture and objets d'art, the catalogue is also
an exemplar of strikingly tasteful work by one of the 20th centuries
finest interior decorators. So much to learn, especially about
upholstery and soft furnishings, in this catalogue - and not bad for the
price of 1/3 a glass of wine!

An Amorous Evening Down at the Pond

Frantically searching for Lissie this evening, as it had got dark and
the cat flap had not been shut, I was drawn to the pond, where
occasional plops and a quiet croaking gave away the fact that amorous
activities were underway in the water.

This is what was going on - taken one-handedly with only a simple Fuji
digital camera and a failing torch, I was still able to capture the froggie "boys night out".

I counted at least nine frogs skimming about on the pond - here five are in evidence, white throated mug-shots caught on camera. A veil was drawn across the final herpetological embrace in the interests of privacy (and due to the fact that the torch gave out).

Lissie came in before I got the camera - with wet leaves stuck to her
tail and a wet underside. Now I think I know where she was...sat in the
same place where had been watching, down by the pond, just as fascinated
as I was - but probably trying, in addition, to figure out how she could
walk on water (well, only a week or so she was able to :-).

Birdsong and Frogspawn

A rise in temperature from the 2C last week to the giddy heights of 14C
for the last couple of days, and Spring really is bursting out all over
on this Mothering Sunday here in the UK.

I noticed a frog lurking beneath all the oak leaves that I was clearing
(five months late) from the pond a few days ago - but surely just one
frog could not have produced the huge quantities of frog spawn which
appeared in the pond this morning. The local population have obviously
found the warm wet nights just to their liking!

Unfortunately, the local grass snake also takes a liking to the pond
when little tadpoles start to emerge - so I think I will be re-
distributing some of this spawn to other ponds in the garden, one at
least of which is not so accessible to snakely visitors.

The little tête-à-tête daffodils have also burst open with vigour - they
are such a welcome pleasure to see amongst the bark chippings - I know
that candelabra and drumhead primulas will not be long now, to join the
tall green hellebores that have already given me early flowers, but are
now growing even more luxuriantly all about.

The birds are also tuning in to springtime. They are terrifically hungry
at the moment, so I am seeing blue tits, long tailed tits, great Tits,
nuthatch, blackbirds, robins and sparrows at the bird feeder (and
hearing the woodpecker at the bottom of the garden).

But at 5 am BST this morning, I flung my bedroom window open and sat beside
it, just to hear that most joyous and particular of sounds for the first
time this year - the dawn chorus, which announced to me that the long,
dark winter nights are over for now. I was personally serenaded by a blackbird
soloist very nearby, backed by a chorus of finches and thrush, with the
baritone croaks of pheasant, jay, and jackdaws down in the woods for
final effect.

It's raining now, but even so, there is optimism even in the rain, which
is now positively balmy, and contributing to making everything just
grow, grow, GROW!

Stretching into Springtime

This is what I am feeling like this morning. The sharp, bright shafts of
early spring sunlight, the touch of real warmth in those sunbeams (at
least when I am sitting in the shelter of the summerhouse) - the change
in the song of the birds, the tête-à-tête narcissi bringing a fanfare of
colour before any other daffodils, still, have flowered.

I, too, am feeling like stretching and flexing this winter-faded body, just for the joy of it, and finally announcing with conviction "SPRING HAS ARRIVED!!"

My little helper has thought it fit to fill the trenches I am digging with herself this morning (throwing in a couple of bags of neglected, over-wintered-in-string-sacks bulbs "just to give them a chance"). Lying full length and fitting the hollow perfectly, I have to lift her out each time before I can replace her with daffodil and narcissi. She
thinks it is all a great game. But the bother is all worth it - she is the perfect companion, always there, listens to everything, and replies with approval to whatever I say!

I've done my bit this morning, though - I've picked up mountains of fallen oak leaves that should have also been collected in the autumn from around the pond (how many leaves DOES one oak tree have?)...there's a bit of an ache in my back  setting in - and I'm definitely needing a cup of tea, a biscuit and an old copy of "Victoria" Magazine in the summerhouse, I think.

See you in the garden, everyone!

Goodbye, Dear Old Chariot

It's always nice to have a bit of a silver lining to even the smallest
grey cloud.

Today my much loved old Ford Granada car went to the Happy
Crunching Ground - but it makes me feel a bit better to know that,
though it is officially being scrapped, it is actually going via the
Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service, who will use it to practice
rescue procedures, ("cutting out passengers, and sometimes we set them
alight!"), before it is finally destroyed.

This car was wonderfully comfortable to drive and has carried me and the
family on many adventures, so it is very sad to see it finally go. But
it was also a gas guzzler and was many times the biggest car in the car
park, so finding a space could often be a bit of a devil .

Time moves on, and so must I, but it is one more event that reminds me of  the
passing of another era. Well done, thou good and trusty servant!

Yet More Lantern Slides

As I know so many readers have enjoyed earlier posts, here are just a few more images from the boxes of glass slides that I acquired last year, dating, I believe, from around 1870-1880. Two of these show some unknown village in the Engadine region of Switzerland, with a most interesting, combination "one and a half carriage plus back seat" coach - has anyone ever seen this sort of construction before?

The lady in the next image is peering through the windows of a Toyshop - how I'd love to be able to see inside along with her!

The black and white images are taken in Venice. The photographer seems to have signed the slides ..."E.R. Fasnacht" (anyone know of him?) and has captured wonderful images of the back streets and backwaters, as well as a shot of the famous horses atop St. Mark's from quite an unusual  angle.

More images when time permits scanning and manipulating!

The Things You Find in an Old Cardboard Box

Liz and I did one of our famous "runners" today. We had got together to
drink tea and bemoan the state of our own particular worlds (well, mine
actually, she has just returned from a week in the French Alps so was
feeling decidedly full of bonhomie!), when the phone rang and another
friend, Jakki, asked if we were up for sitting by the river (Thames) at Streatley and drinking coffee. Were we!

A couple of hours later, we were full of coffee, a glass of wine,
somosas, Calimari and spring rolls......we had watched a couple of kites
(the feathered kind) wheeling over the river, and we were invited to
visit Jakki's home-in-the-building, high *up* on the Berkshire *Downs* (I
know - go figure :-).

But not before Liz & I had had our regulation visit to the antique shop
just across the river, after which we drove up to Jakki's house and took
a tour around the property. Oh, to see the snowdrops out now, along the
stream, oh to walk past the quaint, historic village houses, with the pale spring sunlight shining at last - it was heaven!

The house is being built on farm land - hence the presence of the geese
and all the other sorts of bric a brac and curiosities that old farms
seem to collect - a magical mystery tour around each corner, that put a
spring into both our steps.

And the cardboard box ? Well, I found it in the antique shop for five pounds - and this is what it contained.

25 little birds, 15 sheep and lambs, a farmer and his cow. All hand carved from wood - the birds then gessoed and hand painted, the sheep all with wood shaving wool and all of them bursting with character.

They are all old - and I am wondering if the birds are Indian (there is a guinea fowl or two in the collection, and their construction is similar to that of a set of Indian servants that I have in my possession). I'm thrilled with them - I find carved wood of any sort fascinating, and regular readers will know of my passion for old toys. What could be more fun than to have opened an old, brown cardboard box and found this treasure inside? It has turned out to be a very good day after all!

Colourfest

If you enjoy the rich diversity of this planet - if you're longing for
sun and colour (like me!) - get set to have your eyeballs zizzing with
these incredibly beautiful images of Morocco.

Put aside a half hour when you can really immerse yourself in this
glorious colourfest - you will want to go through time and time
again.......

(I feel a miniature Riad coming on!)

Portugal Comes to Me

Since I have to wait a while to flit off to the warmth of Lisbon, I thought I would bring a little of it to me - so for the last couple of weekends, I have been creating a miniature Portuguese holiday cottage
from a carcass I bought at a car boot sale a few years ago for only 2 UK pounds ($4.00). This is what I did........

Firstly, I painted the shell inside and out - the interior with a matt white paint, the exterior with a warm yellow paint mixed with sand, to give a roughened texture.

Tiles - as panels, flooring and whole wall coverings are one of the most individual features of architecture in Portugal, so I had great fun creating these from photographs of actual tiles that I had taken when I was last there. Reduced and replicated in Paint Shop Pro, then printed out on glossy photo paper, they are a fair imitation of the real thing.

Finally I installed mini lighting. This brings a mini interior alive and though it can be a bit fiddly, is well worth the effort.

I've filled the interiors with bits and bobs that I mostly had herealready - several items of very cheap white wire furnishings (perfect for a "Mediterranean" atmosphere), little antique bisque dolls, a tinycarved wooden figure of St Francis of Assisi, hand painted Moroccan
coffee tots that now double as garden planters, lots of little brass pots picked up for pence in jumble sales and charity shops, scraps of delicate antique lace from my own scrap bag of "things that might come in useful".

I've had great fun creating all this and bringing a bit of sunshine to bright but chilly North Hampshire. I hope you enjoy this little tour around my holiday cottage :-)

(Oh, and by the way, if anyone reading would like to swap miniature "bits and pieces", do get in touch - I'd love to hear from you!)

Longing for the Sun

I've been quiet for a while here recently - mirroring a "hibernating"
period in my own life. I sometimes think the human being closes down for
the dark and cold winter as much as other mammals that climb away and
sleep.

Something to do with the light levels perhaps - and Oh, boy, could I do
with those light levels increasing a bit faster. It's raining now, but
three days ago we had a cold, clear but very sunny weekend  - just
enough for me to feel that spring really is on its way.

I am noticing the long, dark cold days of an English winter much more
over the last couple of years, which is why I am so thrilled to have
another visit to Lisbon on the books a few weeks hence. How I long to
look down on terracotta rooftops, cerise cascades of bougainvillaea
against white walls and blue tiles, how I crave the depths of
glittering, bejewelled chapels filled with incense, how I ache to sit
out at a cafe table, with a glass of wine in one hand and a pen in the
other, writing in my journal while living the "Mediterranean" life for a
while.

We have booked an apartment this time instead of a hotel, so will be
able to come and go more easily, and in a more relaxed manner than
before. I believe that we also have Internet access in the flat, so
hopefully, I will be able to get my daily on-line fix and share some of
my adventures with others.

And then to Venice in October - to retrace the steps of an Edwardian
lady whose hand-written journal I own. She travelled with a friend "of a
certain age" and I will be doing likewise. (Think Maggie Smith and Dame
Judi Dench and you will have some idea of what we will be emulating!).

I love England, I love Autumn Cottage, but I am also longing for an
escape hatch to somewhere warmer - so we will be taking details of
apartments and cottages for sale in Portugal, and doing a little bit of
house hunting while we are there.

Southern Europe does, of course, mean aeroplanes if I want easy and
regular access - and anyone that knows me, knows that I hate flying. But
my journal, a knock out travel tablet and a lot of deep breathing helped
last time - I hope the same things work for me on my next visit - and
the more practice I get, the better I may cope in the air. What's two
hours when the rewards are so great, anyway? Lisboa, I long for you!