Archives (page 4 of 184)

HELLO, March

Hello, March. We’ve already seen a few signs of your spring-y arrival, here and there with the bursting forth of snowdrops and daffodils. They’ve been dotting hills, lawns and gardens with little dazzling white and custard yellow bursts of magic against the green. 

We’re ready for you to continue lengthening our days little by little. We’re ready for more ramblings in the woods and along the coastal path. We’re ready to wear the green for St. Patrick’s Day and feast on my Nana’s Irish soda bread. 

We’re ready to dance in our kitchen, crafting meals that allow us to cook with the season. We’re ready for more movie watching, popcorn eating, puzzle doing, quiet weekends just getting to be together. 

We’re ready to carry on in this season of Lent and use it carefully as a time for reflection and an opportunity to commit even more “random acts of kindness”. In my family we always “added” too Lent, alongside abstaining from something of our choice for 40 days. My parents instilled in us a need to do good within your own community and we have carried that into adulthood. 

We’re ready to continue to cherish the little things, to stop and be present and to find peace in the quiet moments. 

Welcome March, we’re ready for all good things. 

{Daffodils by Tatiana Boyko // Central Illustration Agency | Pinned HERE}

Happy Valentine’s Day

💗 Happy Valentine’s Day! 💗

To me, Valentine’s Day is a celebration of L-O-V-E in all its many shapes and forms, and although it’s highlighted on this day, there are 364 other days in the year when it should be celebrated too. 

May your day be filled with love in all its many shapes and forms. 

{American actress, singer and dancer Debbie Reynolds, circa 1955. Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images | Pinned HERE}

HELLO, February

Hello, February. We’re ready for the birthdays you bring this month and a day solely dedicated to the celebration of L-O-V-E in all its many shapes and forms. 

We’re ready to keep moving into this new year at a slow and steady rhythm; cherishing the peaceful calm of winter. No, we’re not done with Lady Winter yet and we hope that the she will blow us a snowy kiss from her frosted lips before spring dawns to pull us out of our cozy winter-hibernation.

We’re ready to feast on breakfast for dinner on wintry nights, with maple syrup running over tall stacks of pancakes, accompanied by crispy bacon and coffee. We’re ready to nestle, in the comfort of hot chocolate and popcorn, while watching much-loved old movies. And, we’re happy to continue warming ourselves with homemade soups and hearty stews.

We’re ready to spend the evening wrapped up in a good book. We’re ready to drink wine and indulge in deep conversations that somehow manifest on winter evenings and last until the wee small hours of the morning when you suddenly realise the time, and have to scurry to bed before the alarm goes off. We’re ready to listen to music by candlelight and dance in the kitchen while we’re cooking dinner together.

And we will be ready for the changes in light, both morning and night, as the days lengthen and spring signals its inevitable arrival. Albeit, far too soon for our liking.

{1950s Ski Girl Pin-Up by E.B. Segner | Found HERE | Pinned HERE}

{Ellen Barbara Segner (1901 – 2001) was an American Postwar and Contemporary artist and illustrator who is most well known for creating the artwork for the Little Miss Sunbeam ad campaign, as well as the Dick & Jane children’s book series. She was one of the few female pin-up and glamour artists working for numerous publications.}

A Clean Slate

All the little nisse have been tucked away until next Christmas. Every space has been dusted, swept up and mopped and there is now a bareness to our home. But that has been softened by greenery and twinkle lights still peeking out here and there. 

To me, we have now moved into the darkest time of winter and we need all the warmth and magic that we can bring to a space. 

But there is a beauty to sparseness, a beauty to stripping something back to the bone and enjoying it in its simplicity. There is a certain magic to this time of year not to let go unappreciated. Each season holds its own enchantment. 

Happy New Year’s Eve

As with every New Year we stand on the edge, balanced, reflecting on what has been and what could have been. While, also dreaming about what is to come.

Let the countdown begin…

{Joan Collins | Image Found | Pinned HERE}

The In-Between Days

I love these in-between days. The space between the holidays. It isn’t wasted time to me as so many people feel, I think they are vital days. It is the time to relish in what has been, to reflect, to be and to prepare for the New Year to come in as much as you can prepare for the unknown. 

There are no expectations on these days. We’re not scurrying around wrapping, baking, delivering gifts, doing pre-Christmas cooking and baking prep. We’re just being. 

Watching movies, listening to Christmas music, basking in the glow of the twinkle lights. Going on long walks, reading, writing, working on puzzles, playing board games, visiting with loved ones and being still. These days have a rhythm all of their own. They are sacred days. We walk on almost hollowed ground. Where we watch time slip away from one year as we get ready to move into the next.

{Image FOUND Via Steven Singer | Inscribed on the back by my grandmother: “Bev & Chuck Merritt Dec 22, 1962” (Although she meant 1961) | Pinned HERE}

Merry Christmas

🎄 Merry Christmas! 🎄

{Original Caption: Pretty Columbia Pictures’ actress Beverly Adams is wishing everyone a Merry Christmas from the film capital, where she is presently starring in Birds Do It. The curvacious brunette, a former secretary to a judge before turning to acting, is under a long term contract to the studio. | Beverly Adams Posing for a Christmas Portrait | 1965 | Bettmann Archive}