Spring in my Steps

Well, to quote the song - "It may be winter outside, but in my heart it's Spring...". The clocks may have leapt forward into Spring but the weather seems to have lurched back into the gloom of winter...
But I will not be deterred, we all wish for Spring so much at the moment, it's been a long, long winter.



So I shall pick the hyacinths from the garden



Contain my birdwatching to the pages of an old lovely book



Dream of all the lovely Spring colours that will soon be around (I spotted my first tree in blossom yesterday)
Keep my fingers crossed for some sunshine and time in the garden
Content myself with gorgeous little snippets of Soring from the Persephone book I am reading at the moment, "Hostages to Fortune" by Elizabeth Cambridge.
Be eternally grateful to a lovely friend, who, as I type, is queuing in the baker's for me for the best Hot Cross Buns in town!
Hope that we can get in at least two Easter egg hunts this weekend...



And wish you all a very Happy Easter x

Two For Joy...

Well if the two magpies that were sitting in the field had stayed put whilst I fumbled for my camera and tried to find them through the lens then the title of this post would have made sense! However, it does kind of sum up how we all felt yesterday when we went out for a walk. Perhaps my floral wellies will make up for the lack of magpies...



I did actually manage to photograph one of the magpies but then that would have meant "One for Sorrow", not the kind of post you look forward to reading really is it? Certainly not on a cold, dreary wet Monday. Yesterday, however, was a different story. Spring had sprung, the clocks had gone forward, we all lost an hour's sleep and welcomed in the new season. We had long promised ourselves a walk in the countryside to celebrate the end of our winter's hibernation and no amount of lack of sleep, grey sky or unco-operative magpies was going to deter us!



I'm so pleased we stuck to our guns, my it felt good to be out in the fresh air, walking up and down the hills, getting stuck in the mud and cow poo! Swinging on the gates, listening to the birds, looking up through the trees to be greeted by blue skies and small tiny green buds, feeling our cheeks grow rosier and tingling in the Spring sunshine, stretching and unfurling from the winter's cocoon And oh doesn't that cup of tea feel good after a long walk...



Have a good few days and thanks for all the daffodil love.

Daffodil days...

I looked up at our window boxes as I parked the car this afternoon and was smitten by these blooms - they are so pretty, it made me feel as if our home was smiling back at me. A vibrant, sunshiny grin.
Two more sleeps then the days will be longer, the birds will be chirpier, the cats will be perkier and it won't just be my window boxes that are grinning...
Have a wonderful weekend.
x

It's In The Bag...

Hey, hey, hey, the sun is shining! We have Springtime! What a boost to the spirits it is. It's been a week of highs and lows, days when I've been feeling decidedly down in the dumps and days when I've awoken to birdsong and wanted to spring out of bed. The pressure of exams and hiccups at school (not literally because they're never really problems, unless like me you would be seized by a fit of giggles at school whenever anyone started to hiccup and inevitably the stern gaze of a teacher was sent my way) have left us feeling all a little bit, well, worn out I suppose.



But then on Friday the sun started to shine, school was behind us for two days, there was a trip to the theatre to be taken (Rosamund Pike in Hedda Gabler, fantastic!), a very special meal out with some very special friends for a very special celebration, and, of course Mother's Day...



a day full of flowers, chocolate, being spoilt rotten, cuddles with my girls and a quick trip into town to buy some goodies and a return home with this gorgeous carrier bag from Carluccio's which just about sings Spring to me! Birds, pansies, blue sky, buds and blossom, delicious!



There has also been sunshine on grey days too - a much awaited trip up to London for a staff jolly with my partner in crime, Dottie, certainly made up for the two years since we last saw each other! Yes, two years! How is that possible? We speak every day, our emails have their own very well worn path through the ether and of course, there's all the custard cream sharing that goes on in the stockroom, but how can it have been two years since we last saw each other?




Well it may have been two years and a lifetime of phone calls since our last face to face, but we chatted and giggled our way along the pavements of London. My goodness we can talk! Thank you Dottie, it was a jolly to remember (and you know what I mean). Let's hope it's sooner rather than later for the next jolly, although I'm not too sure if it's safe for us both be out alone together... maybe next time we should take a compass.



And today, well today, my mind has been pulled in two directions - the garden was calling to me as was poor old Janome my much loved sewing machine... A mental promise to spend the weekend in the garden digging and planting allowed me to get behind the old sewing machine again.




It's been a while and I have been waiting and waiting to make this cushion and somehow today the sunshine galvanised me into making it.



And as I sat sewing I realised that it wouldn't be long before the hedgerows and countryside and the beautiful Downs would be full of these kind of flowers, poppies and corncockles, scabious and orchids...



I could literally feel the sun on my face as I sat and imagined myself walking out over the hills, Mr Roses and my daughters being able to escape the pressures of work and school with each deep breath of fresh Spring air - now that's something to look forward to!

The Times They Are A Changin'...

And I'm not just talking about the lengthening of the days, change of seasons or month. But while we're on the subject, isn't it lovely to have some sunshine, proper daylight. A day that doesn't abruptly end at 4pm but gives you a couple of hours extra playtime. It's not so much the cold weather that I don't like, it's the greyness of the days that has got to me this past winter.
Here in the Roses household changes are afoot.



The hands on the clock seem to be moving ever faster, Little Sister this week found out where she will be going to Secondary School in September, now how did that happen? A friend came to visit on the day the letters came home to parents informing us of the new schools and she couldn't believe that it had been nearly eleven years since the day she was born. Eleven years since she came round to take Big Sister out for a special treat whilst the midwives called to check on the newest Rose... That day was a day that time stood still, a day of dreaminess and sunshine. So now I have one daughter counting the days to start secondary school and the other counting the days to Sixth Form, it's rather like being Wonderland at the moment, I get the distinct feeling that they've both drunk from the "Drink Me" bottle and have got too big too quickly...



But there have been signs along the way - the days of pink are no more. Her pink bedroom had to go apparently (a sure sign if ever there was one of a blooming Rose), so one weekend, whilst she was at a sleepover I had the Mad Hatter of an idea to paint her room to surprise her. Saturday night and Sunday morning found me spattered in blue paint, well actually "Summer Medley" to be precise, eager in my anticipation to see her face at the grand reveal.


She was delighted and i have to admit so was I. Her room does feel more "grown up", but deep down she's still my little squirrel...



In the same week that March arrived along with the new school place, there came her choice not to be Alice on School Book Day, but the Mad Hatter (and the Johnny Depp one at that) , a sign if ever there was that my little girl is growing up. And I have to say a mighty fine Hatter she made too.
Perhaps I'm turning into the White Rabbit, constantly looking at the clock and wondering where the time has gone... some days it certainly feels like I have fallen down that rabbit hole and time seems to be galloping ahead of me.


And today to celebrate the school news we are off to see THAT film, to marvel at the March Hare and Mad Hatter, wonder at Alice and relish the White Rabbit and that watch of his ... and I can't wait!

Digging For Victory

During Half Term us Roses went for a ramble up to London to the Imperial War Museum (I can't believe I have never been there before), to see a wonderful exhibition "The Ministry of Food". Little Sister wanted to see the World War 11 children's exhibition, Big Sister wanted to visit the Holocaust exhibition and Cold War exhibits (she is our Modern History buff!), Mr Roses was quite happy to take it all in and I, well, I just couldn't wait to jump into all that Home Front ephemera...



We have been lucky enough to have had a really good exhibition locally about Land Giris and having just looked at the leaflet, I notice it's still on so if you get a chance it's really worth it if you're down on the coast over the next few weeks... We went to see it went it first opened last year and found it absolutely fascinating and it fuelled what was an already large interest in 1940's England. I have to admit it's not the military side of things that get me (perhaps that's why up until now I haven't 'done' the War Museum, but the social history just grabs me every time (and, moreover, those Land Girls uniforms that we got to try on are rather fetching!). What was fascinating about this exhibition was a film made featuring former Land Girls talking about their experiences and you had to notice just how remarkably well they all looked, there must be something in all that fresh air...



A few weeks later Emma (Sew Recycled) and I attended a study morning about 1940s Christmas' which we found entertaining (maybe for all the wrong reasons...) and in between our giggling and naughty schoolgirl acts we gleaned some more snippets to add to our knowledge.



So all this is a bit of a preamble I know to our visit last week but it kinds of describes the anticipation that I had been experiencing as our visit drew nearer. Of course we had to choose the busiest day ever on official records to visit the Museum (I am not joking) and the queues were seemingly endless (try and go out of the holidays if you can).
Lots and lots of photos to share and fewer words you'll be glad to read I'm sure!



So obviously at the start of the war we as a nation were encouraged to "Dig for Victory", grow your own, eat healthily etc.



At the heart of the entrance to the exhibition was a beautiful mock up 1940s greenhouse, full of the most wonderful gardening ephemera.





Posters



and posters abound ...


As the campaign to grow and eat more vegetables gathered momentum its influence was soon seen on fabrics etc



"Utility" housecoat made from gorgeous "mushroom' fabric



Delicious chair back showing Land Girl digging for victory



The oh so attractive Land Girl Uniform

Campaigns to make us eat more vegetables grew more and more playful with characters entitled Potato Pete and Dr Carrot.
The importance of women during the war came to the fore and they were encourage to play their role, signing up for National Service, becoming Land Girls, working in munitions factories and actively taking part in life on the Home Front.



Leaflets were produced by the Ministry of Information for women on the best use of rations, health and nutrition as they waged war on the Kitchen Front,



keeping the nation fit and healthy.



I could go on and on but then this post would turn into an essay... so I'll just let the photos do the talking...



A mock up of a 1940s grocer's



With ration size chocolate bars



A tea urn and cakes (perhaps we should have something of that size in our Stockroom) used in canteens and workplaces



Imagine tea being rationed!



My youngest couldn't believe that sweets had been rationed too and she read incredulously of children's accounts of going to the sweet shops after rationing had ended.



Suffice to say I could have spent all day in there!
In the "Children's War" exhibition we experienced life on the Home Front through the eyes of children. Photos and recollections of being evacuated, achingly sad letters from children sent home to their parents, examples of wartime clothes, childhood, and for me, the absolute highlight, a complete reconstruction of a 1940s home.



A three bedroom house



bathroom (my aunty had those tiles)





complete with kitchen
( well, I could have stayed in this room for hours if it were not for the queue forming behind me)



Living room (note the little toy dog by the chair Dottie!)



A bit of "Make Do and Mend" going on in here



Delicious firescreen



And an inside shelter housed in the backroom, looks frighteningly like a cage a "Morrison Shelter"



Examples of wartime ingenuity and resourcefulness in Make Do and Mend - an outfit made from cloth maps...



I could go on and on ... if you get a chance to see it, grab it with both hands and listen very carefully to all the people reminiscing around you, I learnt even more from the snippets of conversations I overheard from fellow visitors' first hand experiences of life during the Home Front. I was born just a decade after rationing finished (it lasted for fourteen years, ending in 1954) and its fascinating to see the advice of growing your own, eating healthily and the basic tenents of recycling, reducing the number of imports and the "War on Waste" are still as pertinent today,



I'm off for a word with Potato Pete and Dr Carrot... Enjoy