Magical Things

 The Yorkshire Sculpture Park is about an hour north of where we live. It is basically a large country garden, surrounding an original 18th century house which is currently under development. The house appears to have been many things since it was first built as a grand private home.

The park is an open air space for a wonderful mix of contemporary sculpture. The church on the estate, which was erected by the Wentworth family for private use is also now used as a gallery. It is a fantastic backdrop for the work of Jaume Plensa. Unusually for me I was VERY taken with his work. The marble sculptures are exquisite. Sadly way out of my price bracket. But a cat may look at a king eh?

In other delights, I received an unexpected small parcel today, full of magical things sent with love. A reminder to be thankful for what I have and to see the importance and beauty of small treasures.

The Queen's Horse Emma With Her Majesty's Scarf On Her Saddle

 

Respect, Admiration and Affection For Our Queen.

 I saw this little film over on John's blog  I felt greatly moved watching Justin Trudeau's tribute to our Queen. I thought I would post it here in case any of my chums haven't seen it.

A Time To Plant A Time To Reap

 

Harvesting as much as we can at the moment, and freezing any surplus for the winter months. We bought a modest chest freezer a while back now so nothing we grow is wasted, well that's the intention anyway. No waste and mindful consumption are nowadays even more important, although I have to say I have always been a bit thrifty. Not "tighter than two coats of paint" as a colleague once described herself, but wanting to do the right thing.

I have made a few Sale purchasers this week, from the Glyndebourne online shop which I'm very pleased with. A few early Christmas stocking fillers and a gorgeous velvet sky blue evening bag for me, reduced from £85 to £22, the website price said £55 but when it arrived I could see it had an original price of £85.  I have a very sweet vintage 1940s evening bag that I used a lot when I was a wee bit younger, that will be sold and hopefully reimburse me for the money spent on the new bag.

We had to lay some turf last weekend to cover an ugly area in our garden. It looks very nice and tidy now and the recent rains have delivered on cue to water it in, which in itself has saved us a lot of money in water fees. We had some excess turf left over so we have given some to an elderly man, 94years, through our gardener, who had layed some turf recently for him, but he had failed to water it and it has died. I suspect it was far too hot for the man to be out watering lawn. The rest we sold to a local couple at a reduced price, they were so happy as it saved them a trip to B&Q and also saved them a good deal of money. 

Happy Days.

Doing My Absolute Best

 

I thought this was a rather lovely, gentle yet positive notion. I saw the same quote on a rather wonderful blog that I follow, Hill Top Pop over yourself you'll see it's rather splendid.

Jacko The Monkey

 

This is the face of love and affection. In the early 1960s I awoke one Christmas morning (early doors), to find a large toy monkey hanging from a shiny bright red scooter next to my bed. My excitement went through the roof and I suspect woke the rest of the house. A most extravagant pair of gifts. 

Jacko the monkey was manufactured for Woolworth's and we had a local branch in Clapham Junction. I don't remember what happened to the original monkey, but this version was recently purchased for me by my big brother. Very sweet.