little women

October 12, 2018 / 0 Comments

Danse Carribe

I was not familiar with this Andrew Bird song, until I saw the BBC’s production of Little Women at Christmas last year.

I like it, there is something so sing-song about it. When I hear it, I can see leaves changing colour, hayrides, pumpkins piled high, fresh apple cider, hot donuts and crispy skinned sausages. Barn dances under the full harvest moon and twinkle lights glowing. I can see Indian corn almost completely shucked and gathered by their dried husks, tied up with a ribbon and hanging on doors. I can smell the aroma of spice in the air, mingled with the scent of wood logs burning in open fires. When I hear this song, I can see autumn.

January 16, 2012 / 1 Comment

The Quiet

The weekend has come to a close and I am up working on a project for school. The Holiday is on TV and Mr. Michie is softly snoring away upstairs. My Christmas lights are still twinkling at me, casting a warm glow around the cottage and I am surrounded by quiet. I am happy.

I love this time of night, this time when the world seems just yours to hold. My own magic hour, when I seem to think best. I always understood Jo March, from Little Women, when she felt that her head had such clarity at this time of night to write her novels, I have quite often had some of my best stories pour out of me at this time, or my best work flow through me.

This is my calm before the storm of this school week, a chance to get prepared for what this week will bring. So Good Night to you all as I savor my last little bit of my magic hour before I turn off the lights and tiptoe upstairs to bed, for the beginning of the day will come all to soon.

December 19, 2009 / 0 Comments

The Stockings were Hung…

Eglantine has been filled with little love notes and each day it has been a special treat to see what we have written for each other. We finished decorating last week and I love the fact that I get to come home to the merry twinkle of little lights and Scandinavian ornaments bedecking our garland that runs along the stairs.

Pixies, Milo & Gertie are watching over the garland on the mantle. Next to our nativity set stands Genevieve, our beautiful Christmas Angel handmade with vintage materials by Claire Fletcher, a friend of mine. I love her. She looks to me like she belongs at the top of the March girls’ tree from Little Women.

My slowly building project has been collecting little odds and ends to go around my zinc Christmas house. Last year I found a vintage chalkware Christmas cake topper from a little antique store. The red breasted robin sits so proudly on the postbox.

I love this time of year; pulling out treasures that have memories; everything has a story, putting in the new pieces that you have collected over the year to add to your Christmas stash…

We are all decorated now, so it won’t be long before we have our first hot chocolate night. Those are the nights where we can’t sleep so we come downstairs at some crazy hour, turn on just the Christmas lights, a little Christmas music and sit on the couch just being with a cup of hot chocolate. It is pure happiness!

October 8, 2009 / 0 Comments

It is that time of year again when I seem to listen to my “Little Women” soundtrack nonstop when I am at home. It is one of my favorite albums to take you from Fall into Winter. Not always do they make a movie out of a Classic and get it right; in my mind the version with Winona Ryder is superb, the music catches my heart strings, the cast was wonderfully chosen and for me, the March girls came to life.

I have always loved this story. I first read it when I was in the 5th grade. My teacher had bought everyone books for Christmas and that was the book I received. I was the only girl in the class to get this particular title and I felt so special. I took it home over the Holidays and read it and read it again, I was in love! From that point on I have slowly been collecting old copies of the book when I see them. I adore the old color prints in the books, set in their little oval on a page all to themselves.

In doing a little research yesterday, I discovered that Nicole Sayre will no longer be doing work with Seasons of Cannon Falls (she is still selling her originals on her website though). I saw some dolls she had created that I have never seen before. Her dolls have a real vintage appeal. They immediately made me think of “Little Women”.

I can see Amy playing with these beautiful dolls in the garden of Orchard House and Beth gently resting them on the chest at the foot of her bed. I have always wanted to go to Concord and see Louisa May Alcott’s home. I know it would look beautiful laced in snow. I can see her walking up her path, taping her shoes against the house to release the snow powder that has built up, rushing inside to a warm fire, pecking Marmee on the cheek and with a whirl of skirts, dashing to her room to write down the latest idea that has come into her head. One day I hope to get there and see the house that a woman who has inspired me with her writing, once lived.

(Doll image taken from Nicole Sayre’s website, Orchard House in the snow from the Louisa May Alcott website)

September 10, 2009 / 0 Comments

Apple Cupcakes for Autumn Days

The weather is so beautiful here today in England. The sun is actually peeking out and there is a nice breeze going. Autumn is coming, you can hear it whispering through the trees. The trees along our common are just starting to turn a delicious gold, along their edges. This is perfect picnic weather.

I would love nothing more right now than some fried chicken, a homemade pimento cheese sandwich and some sweet tea from Chick-fil-A, and then to nestle down on a nice quilt in the sun. If the weather holds we might be doing that this weekend, sans the Chick-fil-A tea. Sadly, they are not in England yet!

I am listening to my “Little Women” soundtrack, it seems to hold the best promise of autumn and winter in its notes. I was in a cupcake mood today and decided to try something new. I came across these cupcakes on the Martha Stewart website and thought they were too cute for words. I like the idea of an apple cupcake, but I think that pumpkin spice would be just as lovely with the cream cheese frosting on top.

My local grocery store is out of marzipan at the moment, so this is a recipe that will have to wait till I go shopping in the bigger village. Until then, I will just dream of Autumn and festive apple topped cupcakes, complete with a smiling worm.

Picture and recipe are copyrighted to Martha Stewart

May 27, 2009 / 0 Comments

Yo-Yos

The days seem to be ticking by faster than I want them to, as I still feel like I have so much left to do for the Fair. This year is going to be very exciting, it sounds like there will be a very good crowd of people coming and an even more diverse range of stalls.

One of the projects I have been busy working away on involves making yo-yos. I was never a fan of them before but after seeing them in a magazine, they somehow began to grow on me. Now, I seem to notice them everywhere. The possibilities of what you can make with them are endless.

My mind has been buzzing non-stop with ideas which led to the creation of one of my main Fair projects; a collaborative concept formulated by my Mom and I. I had so many notions, some of which have come into being however some will just have to wait until the Christmas Fair.

Knowing that November seems forever away until the Christmas Fair, when we will all be together again, but this time, in the coziness of an inviting house, with a crackling fire, Christmas trees adorning every free space and a coming together of friends old and new to have fun and raise money for a worthwhile charity along the way.

Like the March girls we gather, shaking the snow off our boots and heading for the kitchen, where a kettle is always boiling on top of the Aga. We gather to share ideas, celebrate each others company, love and cozy warmth.