Random thoughts while visiting with the dead

Robert's working away form home today and I'm feeling a bit morose, a bit jet-lagged and a bit lonely. Went for a walk down to the village, to the church to visit with my Knight Templar and his Lady.It's such a hot day today, hot and muggy. The door to the church is huge and heavy and oak and needs both hands to wield the latch, but once inside it's so cool and so silent. The only sound is a gentle dull thud of the movement of the huge clock hands. These deep, Cotswold stone walls block out the outside world so beautifully. Isn't it fantastic to be in silence once in a while? Do you have anyplace you can go where there is silence?Here is my Knight. His name is Thomas Moore. I don't know much about him except that he died in 1347. But isn't that so fantastic to know? Isn't it so fantastic to be remembered for 666 years.Here is his lady. I've no idea what her name is so I call her Isabelle. To me it suits her. She's here dressed in her whimple and tunic. Must have been so suffocatingly hot to run around in a whimple and tunic on a day like today.Her feet are on her King Charles spaniel. (Actually I have no idea if that's a K C spaniel except that ladies of that era always had a K C spaniel around them. Didn't they?) I wonder if she ever ran with her dog to the middle of a field or close to the Thames and took off her whimple and tunic and felt the wind's caress?There used to be frescoes painted in the alcoves above them. If you look very closely you can just make out Christ and a few angels. The originals are in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. I keep meaning to go have a look.Linking with Nancy from a Rural Journal for random Friday thoughts. :)

So, if I had a million pounds ...

Oh my gosh I'd so redecorate!I completely have to stay out of the Burford Garden Centre.Here is just a tiny corner of this fantastic place, only about 1/50 of the space that you can see here, I could live here.Here are the most scrumptious kilim rugs and crewel work pillows and furniture made of reclaimed Indonesian boats (5000 GBP for the table and four chairs).It all looks like the most exotic fantasy. Just look at these colours! The reds are the best, deepest, purest shades, the blues are sky and the blacks are true black, deep and rich.Mixed into this wonderful tapestry are the most beautiful hand thrown and primitively glazed bowls. (45 GBP)This is the pillow I fell in love with. (85 GBP)And I haven't even shown you the giant (4' tall), sunny yellow Provencal olive oil pots at 500 GBP each. I'd need at least three of those.Maybe if I just stay here very quietly no one will notice. :) Hmm, how can I do this on a budget?

Here I am

Ugh, those X Atlantic flights are something, aren't they? Remind me to not fly thru the Canadian night again.But then, I did have an empty seat beside me and a lovely little old lady as a plane companion who smiled and quietly read a book or dozed thru the whole flight. Also, it's something to try to get comfy enough to doze off, isn't it? I must have done though for a few minutes anyway because the real map on the screen said 4 hours to destination and the next thing I knew it said 2 hours to destination. Well, that counts for something. And then, British Airways decided to fly into terminal 5 and Robert was waiting for me at terminal 3 and finally we found each other after 30 frantic minutes of texting! We had to laugh, it was like a comedy of errors. :)But happily I'm home in England now. The biggest hug from Robbie, and we both looked at each other and said "home?" Oh yes. And then home at West Cottage where I got the warmest tail swipe form Theo. He does this thing where he gently swipes your legs and then wraps his tail around you and just stands there. He's the sweetest thing.And someone who loves me very much was so thoughtful that he cut fresh garden roses into the large blue vase and put them on my dressing table.And this morning, after I slept about 17 hours, I found that I had a little visitor in my bed.All's well now. All I have to do is get rid of that bubbly, fuzzy-head feeling. It'll take a day or two. :)

A word of advice for the Sunday whirl

Chloe is a little sad that I'm leaving for England and we won't see each other till September. It's hard now with her being an adult. I can't really drag her around Europe for the summer any more. So I used these words to write something for my little girl.Yes, we'll be brave and we'll both cry a little. :)voices, impossible, scare, climb, risk, listen,where, smoke, happens, pressure, might, ordersListen,allow yourself hit-or-miss days.It happens.Let the days pass by normally as air does in your lungs, expanding like pink balloons. Don’t let it scare you.It’s impossible to have known the days already, each risk, each sluggish start, each heavy heart, each buttered breakfast toast and expiration date.Don’t try to climb above it. Don’t try to come bend fate and bring destiny to your will and shed light on your path and borrow more life.Stay grounded, close to the fire for warmth and don’t climb into the smoke where you are blind.Just like life is an arcs of orbits, day and night, growing out from and setting into all things, so too is feeling, filling up all things until our shoots can no longer stay straight and our yellowed stems bow back to the ground.Feel the pressure and think how remarkable it all might be.Remarkable, because it isn’t one of those moments when your insides turn and your heart beats double time.Remarkable, because then the only voices you will listen to are yours, the only orders from your heart.So stare out at the puddles and rain’s soft strike on the windows in drop after drop, and don’t wonder when the weather will let sadness go.But if it does then dance this time, maybe unbutton your pants a little.Pretty much just like that, except maybe a little more.

How to make a lavender wand

Now is the season for lavender in the Pacific Northwest and my three shrubs are completely resplendent with beautiful blossoms.Now is the time to make some beautiful lavender wands or cages to give as gifts, keep with your lingerie or decorate your home and keep the fresh smell of summer all year long.It's really easy, I'll show you how.Gather some longer lavender stems in full blossom. It's pretty important to chose an odd number of stems for this process. I like 13, Chloe likes 15 stems.Lay them on your work surface and make sure they are all pretty well the same length. That is, don't have some 12 inches long to some 5 inches long.Strip off the bottom leaves and some of the mid flowers. Any hitchhikers must be gently lifted off and coaxed over the garden fence.If you'd like a fat wand then place the blossoms all together, if you'd like a long wand the stagger the blossoms somewhat.Choose your spool of ribbon, one of those narrow spools from the craft store is ideal.Don't cut the ribbon from the spool.Tie your bunch together just below the blossoms taking care to leave the end long enough that it reaches maybe 6 inches or more past the blossoms for the tie at the end.Use the back of a spoon to gently bruise the stems just below the ribbon. This will help to bend the stems back without breaking any. The lavender is fresh and pliable so the stem probably wont snap, but if one does snap, don't worry, the ribbon will hold it in place.Now gently bend the stems back on themselves. Some people will tie the bundle off at this point. That makes a lavender cage and cages are really charming. But let's go on to a wand.Hang the cut end of the ribbon thru the flower centre and take the spool end and start weaving the ribbon thru the stems. Go over and under and over and under just like your first ever weaving you did as a child.Now is when the importance of the odd number of stems comes in. When you finish the first layer and come back to the first stem you began at, you will find that the natural progression will continue with the rhythmic over and under instead of having to deal with two overs or unders beside each other.Pretty soon you will begin to see the beautiful ribbon weaving take shape and all that lovely lavender goodness protected within.You'll soon find a style of your own. I tend to make tighter weaves......while C makes them looser.It's all good, do what ever you like, it's your wand. :)When you weave past the blossoms, pull the ribbon tightly and wrap it around the stems. Use the end you've let hang from the blossoms as one side of the tie, the spool end as the other side of the tie and tie yourself a pretty bow. Now cut the ribbon from the spool end and admire your lovely wand.People say that it's pretty important to let the wand dry out before you put in into a drawer or beside clothing as it could stain fine fabric, so that may be a good idea, and, besides, it gives you a chance to put all your lavender wands into a lovely bowl and have them hanging around on tables for no reason at all. :)

Family Friday and random thoughts

I'm feeling rather nostalgic today and linking with Nancy for random thoughts.Nostalgic because it's the Wordpress weekly photo prompt and I have that on my mind, but also because I'll be leaving in a couple of days and C and I have been in the garden this morning cleaning up trying to clean up the weeds and plants before I leave, and I'm looking round the garden and thinking, wow, I'm growing all the plats my grandfather loved the most.In his garden I remember rows of portulacas, and I grow them every year. You know what? Their little seeds are like tiny silver beads of mercury and the most fascinating thing a child can hold in her little hand.Why is it that the minute you pull up a weed it just makes room for 17 more weds to grow? But the raspberries are shading all the weeds out. Maybe growing raspberries everywhere it the answer. :)Also, I've decided that if you can't beat 'em, let 'em be. This seven foot tall iron structure is where the red runner beans are supposed to grow, but somehow a few have escaped to the bronze fennel and the sweet pea gate. Whatever...grow happy little beans.I think that yellow and purple are the queen of colour combinations! The absolute ruling monarch. I'm so going to try for more yellow and purple round here.C took this photo of me today and did something funky with it and stuck it on her Instagram. Yes, I can see that dandelion laughing at me from between the bricks. No I probably don't have time to pull it up before I go.

Update on the floors

Yesterday I promised a floor update, so let me see:When last I left you, I just figured out the stain recipe and custom mixed the shade I wanted for the feature strip. After that, I decided to go with Home Care Contractors advice and started taping at the earliest.Taping began and staining began and everything was going beautifully. I even had thought of seeking Thermalchem's services to give the floors a good finish.This is the entrance hall to my house and now you can see the Craftsman design and the stain. I love it, but I sometimes get wistful thinking about the bamboo flooring in my mother's house.So taping continued until just in front of the fireplace. And then:The second feature strip on the right side of the fireplace is separated by the correct two floor planks, but the left side is separated by only one plank!Here's a closer photo.WHAT THE HELL!!!???!!! How hard can this be?Considering that the sanding took at least two centimetres of floor off, they could have followed the inlay with a sharpie, or their painter's tape, hell, even fuchsia spray paint!So back to the Russian crew who came in Sunday morning and pulled up the floor and re-laid the planks.Good thing I was looking over their shoulder because all of a sudden completely different wood, cut across the grain and completely not the kind of wood my floor is made up suddenly was in the pile ready to be installed.I made them pull up two more planks and re-lay the kind of grain the rest of the floor is made of.Phew! Another two disasters undisastered, and polishing taking place.More sanding and polishing, vacuuming and polishing, polishing and vacuuming.I feel like the floor police! I feel like I always have to be vigilant and on the ball. I feel like I can't trust any of the trades to do a proper job.At this point I briefly thought that possibly taking up a habit of drinking coffee might been a good idea. (Very briefly and then it went away. It always sounds like such a good idea but I can't stand the taste.) Besides which, I'm already not sleeping. This is why people start drinking the scotch!And then, this morning, the first coat of varnish dried and I had a good look:Things are looking better. There are still a few issues to address. One is the high gloss finish I want is not there, and the second are a couple unacceptably proud corners which need to be sanded down flat and re-varnished. But I'm hopeful that there won't be any more disasters to undisaster.This floor is taking years off my life!

Our Oriental Express tea/lunch outside.

So, things are a bit challenging at the moment, and lunch and afternoon tea is usually consisting of a quick sandwich and a to-go mug. But today Chloe and I decided to actually take some time.Also, it helps that the sun is shining. :)Some of the china which is not packed away and in storage is this beautiful Real Old Willow by Booths and those are the tea cups C and I wanted to use today. I'm not sure what everyone thinks but I love how the little red Mason's ironstone plate goes with practically every kind of china.Summer on the patio means we get to drag out our sun hats and this one is a new one for us. I found it in a flea market last Sunday. It reminds me of Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly and those 1950's classics where everyone wore Chanel or Dior. Doesn't C look like something out of Sabrina?Vancouver has some lovely idiosyncratic habits. One is that each evening a canon is fired over the harbour to denote 9pm. The boom echoes up the mountains and down again and is audible for miles and miles. Another is the first four notes of  "O Canada" are sounded at high noon. Just as I was taking our lunch out to the patio, O Canada played.Our lunch is very simple but ever so delicious. Melted brie with pine nuts, artisan toasties (Green olive for C and rye for me) and grapes.Blue and white is such a classic, isn't it? I've been learning a little about the hallmark stamps on the bottom of these Booths pieces and, while I only have a few, the earliest is the batch described as 1906-1921, but they all have the gold rim and not the brown. Fascinating to learn how long these bits of china have been around and remained unbroken.So now we will just finish our tea and head off to the beach for a swim and get away from the house and the floors.And later on this afternoon I'll come visit everyone. :)Linking very quickly, (because the varnish fumes are getting to us) with Terri, and Martha, and Sandi, and Bernideen.

Happy Birthday Canada, you don't look a day over 145!

For years C and I have had a tradition of heading down to the beach for Canada Day celebrations. We love and cherish most times we spend together, but somehow Canada Day represents something special to us.We both realise that had my family not immigrated to Canada when I was nine, possibly our lives would have been very different. For people, possibly as unpatriotic as Canadians are, Canada Day is the one time of the year when we all stop to think about how lucky we are to live in this great country and we count our blessings and we celebrate.Our day always starts at Waterfront Park and the national anthem, (which C always needs to sing in French (12 years of French immersion school)), speeches by the mayor and by council, the parade of veterans and RCMP, bagpipes and entertainers on the central stage.A couple of days ago I said to C, "we have to get the flag and fly it." And started automatically walking to my bedroom, to the bottom drawer of my dresser, to retrieve my flag. Oops, the dresser and all the contents have been packed away (floors) and are in storage. Well, that takes care of that. So, we thought, how about we wear something red and white. Oops again, our provisional wardrobe doesn't contain any red or white clothes.Thank goodness for The Rotary Club and their supply of little Canadian flag lapel pins.Then, after ceremonies, down to the beach for a suntan and a swim.Lots of people at the beach. This is great, we love people watching and, besides, it helps to remind me that today is a day to have fun and let go of the stresses of life. A recharge day.Here is a pic of serious C at the ceremonies and serious C trying to organise her evening. Had to laugh at the new sunbathing 2013. Must have iPhone! :)It's been a glorious, wonderful morning/afternoon. Evening fireworks to come still. :) Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian friends. I hope you're enjoying/have enjoyed your day as much as we have ours, and Happy 4th of July coming up to all my American friends. Hope your day is filled with sunshine and family and laughter and love. :)

Sunday whirl, such a nice mind break from life!

Wow, Brenda, I love that you took these words from street signs along your trip. And I loved playing with them. :)bird, bridge, unstable, wild, bend, rock,retreat, bear, lane, fallen, meadow, islandThe word if is a curtainin the right breeze it floats between the real and the dreamshows the way to a room without walls, a room part forest of fallen trees where cold is law and no birds can sing, and part golden meadow, part air and lighttwo parts shiver and one part desire sliding up your arm and over your shoulder and around your neck, kisses, whispers promises in your ear.The word if is an islandwith a house and a breakfast table with coffee and juice and toastnewspaper spread open to show you tragedies and miracles, deaths, births, the black and white of life.it’s beautiful, it really is, but so small,so small that one unstable tide washes it over and leaves a swimmy image, like a cardboard cut-out; too real to actually exist.The word if is a neuronit prowls in the heart and over-rides the brain and acts like a bridge to bend or bind the will so thoughts run like wild horsesand little girls and boys look at reflections on water and imagine moonlight to be a path, and the lights of the cars driving the twisty lane on the opposite shore to be the lights of some fairytale world that is almost within reach.The word if is a shrewit darts across your vision and hides behind rocks and retreats underground when the world is too turbulent for such a tiny thing to bearit stays just behind the sun and walks only thru shadows and if you quietly, patiently sit beside it on the ground it will come to you and sit quietly, softly, warmly in your palm.The word if gives you goose bumpsit is a doorway to an ideal world of yellow dandelions, of breaking the dandelion stem, brown juice staining your hands, blowing the clock catching it in mid flight,wipe off your fingers or cover the new ifs with dust, cover the fact that they have not always been there.The word if is a grand oak in autumnit’s lived for hundreds of years of seasons of bud, leaf and drop, thru drought and monsoon and still it gives goldyou want to touch the gold, own the gold, ephemeral though ifs areAnd, after shaking the tree so hard, you feel obliged to sweep up the leaves.