Of Winter Delights & Garden Petals

Lovely friends, how are you?

I had the most wonderfully delightful visit with my family for Christmas.

I returned to where the desert meets the forest with a mind determined to organize, dust and refresh my life.

I have spent a few weeks doing just that.

I’ve been on ladders moving things to and fro, deep cleaning and listening to a thousand podcasts.

It has been lovely, and I cannot explain how unexpectedly light the rooms feel.

In the meantime, winter has definitely arrived here to the land of sun.

There has been so much wonderful rain and big fluffy clouds.

Dried flowers and books are just the thing to make one happy during these magically moody days.

I love all the seasons so much.

This morning I was peeking through the wet garden, watching nosy birds jump from branch to branch, whilst early spring flower sprouts push up through the earth.

Ivy explodes over makeshift stairs as drops of water plop onto the very top of my head as they roll down the sides of lemons hanging in the trees.

There is magic all around.

Winter is brewing spring, wet earth sinking in self-seeders that dropped their seeds last season.

Poppies and hollyhocks have leafed out in green, as they don’t mind the cold much.

Poppies rather love the cold for proper germination, and they all seem to be okay with a little February snow.

Old rose leaves turn yellow, soon branches will begin forming the tell-tale little bumps, where new leaves will grow out of in March.

Water droplets like jewels catch my eye.

Somehow a few winter roses turn up here and there drooping, heavy with rain.

Still, very beautiful.

Dried hydrangeas make me so very happy, as the sun teases through thick clouds.

The clouds have been epic really, so heavy, some even sinking down low.

I love the storms of January and February because of all of the dramatic clouds they bring.

For now, I am inside, cozy as can be, getting ready to migrate to the country house, as I go back and forth regularly.

It’s during winter that I am extra delighted with my obsession of collecting flowers to dry in spring and summer.

They are like paper art, filling flower voids in their own wonderful way.

I do lament that I was not here sooner to say hello, but I have enjoyed my little break of tidying and organizing.

I started in November and took a break for the busy month of December but am now back on my mission.

I have made a huge amount of progress.

I bought clear containers for cabinets and have organized things in a way that if you say, cut your finger, you would come inside and grab one little clear container filled with assorted Band-Aids, ointment and cleanser all in one place. It was all in one cabinet, but just grabbing a little container filled with everything you need makes things so much easier.

I have been going through each cabinet, from kitchen to laundry room, doing the same.

I’ve been dusting the tops of built in cabinets and fan blades as well.

I mean, the list goes on and on, but I find it enjoyable and meditative.

3 days ago I organized all my yarn, which was so inspiring, and going through all the beautiful yarn tickled me to no end.

In the process you often find things you think you have lost.

The only curious thing happening right now has to do with a lost 19th century papier-mache doll.

She was always tucked safe into a fabric cabinet at the country house, and now she is nowhere to be found.

I hope to find her again one day, as I have given up my crazy search for her.

I remember learning in a psychology class that your brain can invent where you might have put an item, but it’s not usually the place.

I have invented a scenario of me throwing her away, which I know I would never do.

And so, hopefully I will find her one day.

My bee brooch that I have lost on 3 occasions was found recently after being missing for 13 years.

Mister Lovee says that if you keep something in one place for a long time and then move it, you can only recall the first place you ever put it.

I suppose there is much truth to that, especially as you get older, haha 🙂

I also have a necklace and bracelet missing for about 7 years now that I’d love to find one day.

Have you lost anything very special that you cannot find?

I’ve learned that if you do a really deep cleaning/organizing, all manner of things will turn up.

I will retell you my bee brooch story that I posted here many years ago, about when it was first lost in 2002.

I lost it again 13 years ago, and as I said, I recently found it and just squealed with delight.

I really cannot believe that it was sitting at the bottom of a bowl in my studio that I keep antique wood printing blocks in all that time.

It must have fallen off and just plopped into the bowl and slid to the bottom.

But its first time being lost was a bigger adventure than that, and if you fancy that tale I shall tell it next time.

Well, I am off to make a roast dinner in the country as Teddy and ML are waiting for me.

 

Much love to you <3

Until we meet again, 

Vanessa