Heartsease

On saturday afternoon when the day turned to pure gold I was suddenly filled with a sense of urgency. I rushed outside and began hastily snapping the first brave spring flowers. Faces velvety, open and turned towards the sun, colours glowing.

Ordinarily I would spend time thinking about composition and light ~ but no! I just snapped away. When it came to this mosaic no time was spent on laying out, I just added them in the order I took the photos! Very unusual for me and quite liberating.

The vegetable beds are looking very forlorn, the brassicas have survived well though, yum!

The helebores are really flowering prolifically now but the pansies and violas have me captivated, their wonderful colour combinations and sweet delicate scent.

Today is an altogether different proposition, I need one of these

I am so glad I spent a rainy afternoon in October last year potting up tulip bulbs and adding pansies and violas for winter interest above them.

Today is quite a contrast to the glory of Saturday, grey and mizzly. A day for making things and being indoors. I am going to press some of my favourite flowers and have a go at this.

The other result of days and days of mizzle is baking.

I love to bake cakes when I can't be outdoors. What could be nicer than a piping hot cuppa accompanied by a freshly made cake decorated with flowers?

You could be really decadent and throw in some whipped cream!

I suppose I can't ignore the date entirely, yes that time of year again.

I somewhat disapprove of Valentine's Day and Mr.Lane knows this.

(I can't bear red roses flown hundreds of miles and cynically shoved in a black bucket at the front door of the supermarket.)
As a consequence I am unlikely to receive a shop bought card or flowers, instead I find little scrawlings artfully placed around the house and never on the actual day!

So far this year?

A doodled cupid/achilles hybrid and a marvelous diagram of Wolfie Adams playing darts.

I do love you Mr.Lane x

I am fascinated by the Victorian custom of using the language of flowers and I suppose before the advent of e-mail, facebook, twitter etc. to recieve an anonimous card and or posy must have been heartstoppingly exciting. (Mind you, remember the difficulties it caused Bathsheba!)

I think it best to know you are loved all days!

xXx


PS Did you know there was a butterfly called a "blue pansy"

extraordinarily beautiful

And back to the language of flowers, love this Rosetti painting

x