A Fanciful Twist

Autumn in July {Plus Book Details}

Some kind of magic has been swirling in my garden...

I know I know, we don't want to rush seasons, but this one is out of my control.

(by the way, book winners announced at the end of this post)

This all began with a curious little package of large white pumpkin seeds that rolled around my kitchen for a few weeks.

I decided to plant them in late March and they sprouted the very next day.

(please insert Hedwig's theme from Harry Potter at this stage of the story)

It's unbelievable but true.

It was time to take these first 3 sisters off the vine today, but just as these curious happenings occur in my life - 

I looked around the pumpkin patch this morning and found that 3 fresh baby pumpkins had set on the opposite side of the patch.

Almost to replace these 3.

And there are about 12 others in different stages of ripeness incubating under the umbrellas of leaves.

These pumpkins have enviable stems.

Just the perfect thing for my good garden witch heart.

Oh how it pained me to make the snip snip snips...

But I did want to cackle with glee simultaneously.

Because now I have three happy punkin babes.

I knew last week that the time was really nearing, which was only confirmed by yesterday's epic golden hour.

Come little pumpkins...

I'll take thee awayyyy <3

I am a tried and true pumpkin lover to the very core of my soul.

Are you?

I can not explain the why of such a thing.

It just is.

 

I am drawn to them and they to me.

They always grow in my garden, knock on wood 10 times.

I feel ever so lucky that they do, and only pray that they continue to for many years indeed.

And so, my first three pumpkins are coming inside.

Beginning the butterfly magic in my belly that autumn always brings.

The garden is slightly beginning to change, and I noticed today that the morning wasn't bright as early.

But do not fret!

There is still a world of summer to enjoy - it's just that as a garden girl you do have a certain awareness of the slightest change in garden happenings.

Little shifts start to unfold.

Planting of the late summer seeds is happening in the next month.

I have mine ready to go for autumn vegetables.

But right now it is summer, and there is a pretend café happening under the citrus trees.

I always feel extra excited when my grocer has things for delivery that were not available before.

Things such as chocolate croissants and maple yogurt.

Perfect for my make shift café bistro.

There are wisteria blossoms at the country house and quince are bobbing on the quince tree.

Thank you to the hatter for keeping the gardens alive there during this time of staying at home more.

I love my short drive between houses and long to sleep in the loft of my tiny house hidden in my country garden soon.

I have it all planned.

But since I can not be there every single day, he is an invaluable character in the tale of two houses.

I also wanted to mention and thank you for the notes expressing joy for more blog posts.

Blogging can be a very lonely cricket sound of a place, but still a fun and fulfilling destination.

I know I had not been blogging nearly as regularly the last couple years, but I truly needed some refuel time.

We all do, and I had the loveliest of whirlwinds during my refuel time.

It's really a job of passion and love to create blog posts.

And now I feel a bit more blog loving again.

I am glad to know there are some of you still out there, what fun would it be without you?

Down the bend and though the secret keyhole...

This is where we shall continue to meet!

 

And now, I best stop my sappiness to share the winners of the book set.

Since I do believe many of you are wondering madly.

I decided to draw two names since so many of you are die hard book lovers.

It is my greatest pleasure to send off two of these beautiful book sets to fellow bookphiles.

I was dying to engage and respond to your favorite book comments, but I didn't want to mess up the giveaway numbers.

Per random number generator we have lucky numbers 25 & 39.

Is that your number?

I know who it is, but I will let you go and check for yourself to add and extra level of mystery (tee hee).

I love love loved your sharing of your favorite books by the way.

I will be picking some of them up per your suggestions.

If you won please e-mail me or DM me on Instagram with your address so that I can send these lovely books your way.

(I will notify the winners if I do not hear back in a couple of days)

 

 

Thank you all truly, for joining in the fun <3

Let's do it more often, shall we?

 

Now...

In more pressing news.

What ever shall I name my 3 pumpkins fresh off the vine??

 

Do you know?

I feel you truly might.

Will you share the names with me??

:-)

 

Well, I suppose it is toodles for now.

And I promise - I will see you soon.

 

Love, Vanessa

 

 

ps: here is a phone camera photo of the winning numbers.

 

Book Lovers Unite {A Giveaway}

I was sitting there enjoying my books when I thought...

Why don't I share this set I love so much with my fanciful friends?

Mister Rabbit thought it was fine time we have some fun around here, and I agreed.

Just by leaving a comment, sharing one of your favorite tales of all time, you will be entered to win the set of books below.

 

I got my first set as a gift from my mom in 2015 and have loved it so much.

I am a total and complete Anne of Green Gables girl.

And an absolute March girl as well.

Little Women is absolutely dear dear dear to my heart.

And I think I grew to love porridge because of Heidi.

But I will never ever forget how I swooned when I found out that all girls are princesses.

The Little Princess, a true love.

And so, why not share these with you?

And they're pretty too, so they will add a bit of delightment to your home for certain.

I just love grabbing a stack of books, hiding in a cozy spot and losing myself.

Books, what marvelous magical things.

Simply leave a comment sharing one of your favorite tales of all time to enter the giveaway.

I'll use the random number generator to draw a name in a couple of days.

If we have to spend more time at home, we might as well have some fun, don't you think?

There are clouds rolling in which puts me into a book mood in ways I can not describe.

Some treats, a hot tea, rain drops on the roof, blissssss!

I will be back on a couple of days!

 

See you soooon!

 

Love, V

 

 

 

Of Tea Times and Fairy Cakes

This morning I woke up knowing it was time to do something fun.

To turn on some music, and set out to bake some treats.

To add magic into my life on a random day.

I will tell you one thing - 

There is something wonderful that happens if you stay at a tea party for too long.

But I'll tell you that part in a minute.

First...

The menu was mini scones, brownie cake bites and tea sandwiches.

All made from scratch.

I love the zen of baking.

I start by cleaning my kitchen really well, a blank slate.

Then I plunge into the measuring and mixing and oven timing.

I love the quiet hum of the oven.

And Matty standing by the corner of the oven door sniffing the air.

Have you ever known a dog who is obsessed with baked goods?

I set the table with antique cloth napkins and dried flowers.

When I sent my mom a little video of what I was doing she said - 

I think tea time like this should be a daily must.

I have to say it was an instant mood lifter and I agree with her.

To sit and enjoy a cup of tea, add a spark of light and joy to the day.

It's about taking the time to do something nice for yourself.

And then of course, after several cups of tea the real fairy magic begins.

When cherries get dipped into edible fairy dust and edible stars somehow float onto your cake.

And before you know it, you have a very proper piece of fairy cake right in front of you.

And what, may I ask, could be better on a weekday afternoon than a proper piece of fairy cake?

It seems nothing was at that very moment.

I am working on finding my new norm and not feeling worried all the time.

I have been home since March 8th.

I leave occasionally to visit my country house, but have been nowhere else.

I have not seen my family or friends since February 16th.

I am working to do my part to keep others and myself safe.

So, tea parties are a necessary must.

I am working in my garden, throwing tea parties, and working on art projects.

In the meantime, I am finding ways to add a spark into my life and live happily in this moment in time.

To find my own joys and get back to living in some way that adds light and joy to my life.

I did feel quite stressed for a long while, but now I feel that stress gets me nowhere.

Things are what they are, and all I can do is my part to stay safe, stay home, stay healthy.

And why not have a little fun while I am fine and well?

I am taking this very seriously, I know many people who have gotten sick and a few have even lost the battle.

And while that sounds quite somber - for whatever time I have left in my life I have decided that I need to do the best that I can to live with a mindset of gratitude and do my part, whatever I deem it to be. I will sacrifice whatever I have to in order to help the cause.

If that means I stay home for the next year, then I will.

I know not everyone can do that, but if I can then I will do my part the best way that I can.

And in that time I will grow plants and bake a lot of fairy cakes :-)

I will watch the birds and nurture my pumpkin patch.

I will sing and play my piano.

I will paint with wild abandon.

I will pray and do yoga and dance.

I will talk to all my friends and family on the phone.

I'll read books and watch the sunset.

That's basically what I'm up to here in my neck of the woods.

How about you?

All I can say is that tea time is a mighty fine medicine.

Hands down.

 

Sparkles included ;-)

 

I'll see you really soon.

Can you believe it?

 

Love, Vanessa

 

 

 

Inspired by Flowers {How to Dry Flowers Perfectly}

Hello there flower loving friends <3

I've been keeping myself so super busy with my gardens (what's new right?).

It's just so good for my soul.

In sharing my gardens I get lots of gardening questions, especially over on Instagram.

One of the number one questions is - 

How do you dry your flowers, and...

How do you get them to look so rich and vibrant when they are dried?

My garden has been extra floriferous this year so I've had lots and lots of flowers to dry.

There is in fact one specific key to beautiful dried flowers.

Ready for this?

The answer is that you must dry your flowers when they are fresh.

Plain and simple.

When they are still strong and full of life is when you have to dry them.

Then just hang them upside down and watch the magic unfold.

It's really that simple.

I always have flowers that will be used specifically for drying purposes.

I cut those when they are lush and lovely and immediately hang them to dry.

After over 20 years of growing flowers I can tell you, I have dried flowers in a million different ways.

And this is the true way to have spectacular dried roses.

The thing is, if you dry a flower properly you can have years of enjoyment of it.

I look at dried flowers like paper art.

And the colors get so much richer as they dry.

The really funny thing is that they also change color.

Some light pink ones might turn purple and coral ones turn raspberry.

It's like flower magic, such a gift upon a gift.

Sometimes they retain their scent and they smell heavenly.

If you keep them in a place where they do not get direct sunlight they will last for years.

So I make sure to reserve some for vases, some to just keep out in the garden to enjoy, and others to dry.

If you wait for too long to dry your roses, then as they dry the petals will simply fall off.

Which is fine too because then you can use them for potpourri.

The wonderful thing is that my technique goes for all flowers.

I dry zinnia, hydrangeas, carnations, dahlias and all other flowers the same way.

Cut them when they are fresh and prop them somewhere to dry in a nice shape.

I use birdcages to dry flowers quite often.

Roses look the best dried upside down.

They retain their shape if you hang them this way.

I had some branches in my giant urn, so I just started hanging my flowers to dry from the branches.

They truly do become art specimens.

You can hang them to dry from anywhere, even chandeliers.

The roses below were a bit too spent for drying because I enjoyed them outside for a long time on purpose.

But they dried perfect in this basket where I am enjoying them in a different way.

They were so spent that they were losing petals, so I just clustered them in this basket and they dried beautifully layered as such.

I love seeing flowers drying throughout my house, they add such a lovely pop of color.

Even zinnias dry especially nicely.

Such rich tones, but same, you must dry them when they are fairly fresh.

This zinnia below is from last summer, and it still looks great.

If you dry flowers (such as roses) when they are spent, then they likely will dry brown and be really fragile to the touch,

So, that's my secret tip.

Dry them fresh and you will get to enjoy them for a very very long time.

I'm a bit obsessed with dried flowers.

I especially enjoy them throughout winter, and they are beautiful for decorating the house with.

Sometimes, I even take a few little fresh flower buds.

At first it's really not that easy to take flowers when they are so fresh for drying purposes, because I think we instinctively want to enjoy them alive for as long as we can.

But I love dried flowers so very much that I know the reward that is to come.

So, there you have it, and it's just that time to start drying flowers right now.

I do many of mine in spring because roses slow down in summer.

But they will be back in autumn, and I will collect more.

It's such a joyful hobby, I love looking at them everyday.

Let me know if you give it a whirl.

I am so happy to be here typing to you today because I have been trying to create this blog post for almost 2 weeks.

My blog service kept glitching, then my computer.

But here I am now, woo hoo!

I hope you are staying safe and cozy in your homes as much as you can.

I am digging in the garden and watching Chateau Diaries on YouTube.

I am reading books, baking, cooking, cleaning.

You know, the never ending tasks that keep us busy.

Put on some good music and everything feels better.

I think I will work on some crochet again, I have not been crocheting in ages.

Truth be told, I always feel kind of guilty crocheting and watching movies, it always felt like too good of a luxury, when I should be being more productive.

But now that we have to stay home, crocheting seems like just the thing :-)

The only good thing about having to be home more is the lack of guilt I feel in enjoying shows or kicking my feet up and looking at pretty books.

I always put pressure on myself, things to do and places to go.

I wish the reasons I don't have to go anywhere were different.

But it is nice to just be able to do things at home and not feel like I should be going here or there.

So, there's that I suppose.

Miles is still doing a-okay, he's snoring right now as I type this and Matty is also snoring right behind me.

I'm looking out the front window at the mountains that are no longer on fire, thank goodness.

And I'm watching some monsoon clouds tease us.

I have pumpkins in my garden, which I am so in love with, imagine that?

Haha!

Many are just getting ready to be picked, so early I can't believe it.

I'll share more about that next time.

I hope you're doing well in your neck of the woods.

Lots of love from me and Matty and Miles!

 

Be well dear friends!

xoxo

Love, Vanessa