Armchair Travel & Magic in the Moonlight

Aren't spring blossoms the cheeriest?

 The surest sign of spring.

Not much else is happening outdoors yet, but the trees are beginning to leaf and the grass is greening up. I'm so glad that we are in the hopeful time of year in our part of the world.

This is the lovely second year bloom of my cast off paperwhites. I tossed the spent plant into the nearest flower bed right after Christmas two years ago and it surprisingly came up again in the spring. My kind of plant! 

To express my appreciation I have set up a little fairy garden set beside the solitary bloom.

The rest of the yard still lies in suspended animation.

Vinca

Something that has me enthused about gardening this season was stumbling across a mention of the film Magic in the Moolight set on the French Riviera in the 1920's. Need I say more? I had not seen it before but have now watched it a dozen times, often with the sound off. But the music is great too.

It's a perfect film for an armchair traveler. Released in 2014, PG-13, about three stars. The sets are luscious, the gardens divine. The lavish costumes are all vintage and gorgeous. The architecture and landscape are a main feature of the film. Lots of container plantings and dreamy verandas. We are going to do more garden pots this year because of the gorgeous scenes in this movie.

Oddly, I found the story more amusing when I read the subtitles with the sound off.

Magic in the Moonlight

Closer to home... rose buds are coming on.

And the little boxwood made it through another winter!

And lilac. (Unfortunately just a few this year.)

I was asked about the swarm of bees poem in my last post (a sketch from The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady), so here it is in full.

"A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay,

A swarm of bees in June is worth a silver spoon,

A swarm of bees in July is not worth a fly."

... a proverbial bee-keepers' saying, mid 17th century; meaning that the later in the year it is, the less time there will be for bees to collect pollen from flowers in blossom.

Finally, it's national poetry month. Did you know? So if you're needing a little mental stimulation you might google "April is the cruelest month" and you will get a list of material to choose from starting with the text of The Wasteland by T. S. Eliot. Move on to questions to ponder like "Why is April the cruelest month?" and other discussions. Darkly thoughtful, and not as cheery as bee proverbs.

"The best way to understand the poem’s endless allusions — obscure in some places, impenetrable in others — is to have both the text and a glossary to hand. However, it’s also possible to appreciate the poem on a more basic level: its lyrical flow, jarring juxtapositions, and surprising images." From the National Review

Click here for the rest of the interesting current article.

Thanks so much for coming by!

 Your visit cheers my day like cherry blossoms.

Jacqueline

A Little Pink Dooryard Garden

 

 

 

The size of Jane's garden has grown smaller over some ninety years. But it's every bit as beautiful as ever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Special gifts and treasures are still tucked here and there inside its diminutive world.

 

She still has a green thumb, even though someone else may have to do the digging and heavy lifting. (And it helps to live in the garden of Eden that is Santa Barbara, CA.)

 

 

 

Ths is the pretty potted garden shelf right outside her patio door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love to see all the pretty shades of pink when I visit! All the walls of her home are a light shade of pink too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Too bad it isn't quite small enough to pack away in my luggage to bring home!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

Jacqueline

 

 

 

Celebrating Lilacs

If you are going to be my special houseguest, and I know that your favorite color is lavender, there's going to be a scramble to uncover something suitable enough to please your color sense at my place. This particular hue isn't easily found in my linen or china closet. But lilac season is so inspiring that I managed to remember an item or two.

I've been monitoring the bushes for the precise moment to showcase these blossoms in a post, and today's the day! I'm also sort of celebrating my debut into gardening (small "g"). I have a cluster of new tools in my ancient trug and will be dipping my trowel into a bit of garden dirt on occasion.

Until now, my garden pursuits have tended toward relaxation, and entertainment. Not broken fingernails and sore back muscles. My recent lifestyle has left a little earthworm sized wiggle room in that respect, however, and I've been testing the limits of my vintage metal rake. Who knows where this may lead?  

A vintage fringed barkcloth tablecloth picks up both the colors of the lilacs, and the muddy-colored garden walls. (Another post with this tablecloth is HERE.) I tend to use stronger colors outside. The quilted underlayer is the more sedate side of a vintage patchwork quilt.

A little mix of weathered wood and lace finishes things off.

I have a new dandelion digger. . . . Anyone care to join me? . . . anyone? . . . If only weeding was as fun and easy as growing lilacs! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the show!

Jacqueline

Join me at

Common Ground~Vintage Inspiration

My Romantic Home~Show & Tell

How Sweet The Sound~Pink Saturday

House in the Roses~Cottage Monday

Twilight Tea

I inherited this German bone china tea service from my mother-in-law. I really enjoy the subtle color of the blossoms inside the bowl of the cup. This set really sings when you use it, and chimes very like crystal.

We are set up more for coffee than tea after dinner. And we are enjoying the full leaf of the ivy after a long bare winter. The vines transform the north side of our house.

Twilight is such an enchanting time of day. Sounds grow hushed with the fading of the light. Songbirds give way to chirping crickets.

The full daylight seems too harsh for the pale pink hues of this china pattern. I find it more suited for the evening hours.

The color becomes almost mauve in the fading light. And the gold trim seems to ask for the glow of candlelight.

Ivy covered walls have such drama. A perfect stage for dessert.

A dainty cup for a dainty chair.

I was lucky enough to come across this set of flatware with the family monogram. But any letter suits me. I like the romance of monograms in general.

Wouldn't it be a nice ritual to end every evening meal like this? Gathered up and peaceful to end a hectic day?

This setting reminded me so much of the beginning to the Merchant Ivory film of Howard's End that I had to look up the text to E. M. Forrester's novel.

"Oh, the beautiful vine leaves," Helen writes in her letter to Meg. "The house is covered with a vine...

". . . Mrs Wilcox was already in the garden. . . she walked off the lawn to the meadow. . . Trail, trail went her long dress over the sopping grass, and she came back with her hands full of the hay that was cut yesterday--I suppose for rabbits or something, as she kept on smelling it. The air here is delicious."

"And finally Mrs. Wilcox reappears, trail, trail, still smelling hay and looking at the flowers. I inflict all this on you because once you said that life is sometimes life and sometimes only a drama, and one must learn to distinguish tother from which, and up to now I have always put that down as 'Meg's clever nonsense.' But [just now]. . . it really does seem not life but a play. . ."

Ciao! Thank you for stopping by!

Jacqueline

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