i adore snow

I am so happy about these huge drifts of snow that are upon us. You see I so much prefer cold to hot and wet to dry, and white to grey. I love the way snow has the power to make everyone 'slow down'. I love that snow is tea and toast weather. I love pulling my daughter on a sledge instead of pushing her in a pram. It all just feels so right somehow. Snow simplifies everything, snow is quiet, snow is me... I adore snow.

rabbit tracks & roses

Yesterday we found wild rabbit tracks in the snow. you could see where he had hopped across the grass, where he had stopped alert...

We enjoyed the 'wilderness'. It sets you free.

I am not sure if this snow will ever melt... its a good thing its pretty.

Under a fir tree

This little tea cup filled with fir and pine cones sits on my mantlepiece...

My birth tree is the Fir tree (the Mysterious)... and according to my reference this means I have extraordinary taste, I handle stress poorly, I love anything beautiful, I can become depressed at times, I am stubborn, I tend to care for those close to me as well as helping strangers, I am rather modest, I am a hard worker, I am talented, I am unselfish, I have many friends, I don't want foes, and I am very reliable...

I would say this description is pretty well accurate... and I am glad to be an evergreen.

heart shaped box

Today was one of those perfect sort of days. The frost was thick and there was ice on the lake, and we took a walk to visit our swans...

J was dressed in her favourite coat - she calls it her 'white bear'...

There was frozen moss...

a tree framed view of the palace...

and lunch in our favorite cafe with toast and pink milk and turkish delight ice cream...
and as we arrived home the snowfall came thick and fast... it looked soooo beautiful...

then we ran inside for more homemade gingerbread and hot tea but the fire...

today there was something magical in the air... something I wanted to catch hold of and keep in a heart shaped box...

Lace and tiny footprints in the snow

I am loving lace. I am just home from my local charity shop with arms full of vintage lace. So strange what people will give away. I am delighted with it.



My Snow White bedside journal is finished

Its so dreamy... white vintage fabric and white lace sewn snug with a tiny handmade poison apple button in the centre and a silk ribbon to close.

I have also received a few custom orders this week so I am having fun designing for specific people... and meanwhile baby J has started walking!

White as Snow

I have already written about my tendancy to move from obsession to obsession when it comes to fairytales... Most recently it was The Princess & the Pea and for the longest time Beauty & the Beast was my fixation. Over the past weeks it has been Snow White. I find that these obsessions overtake me quite naturally. I will be sitting there and suddenly think "I must read Snow White". I think its because in some ingrained way these tales are part of my psyche and whenever I need a little help to work things out, the right tale for the job pops into my head.





If you analyse it, Snow White is about puberty and the steps we go through to reach maturity. I may be married with a house and a kid, but I still need to enter that glass box now and again for some thinking time. We all do. Or maybe take a long hard look in the mirror mirror?



I really love the above edition by Josephine Poole which I amazingly found in the charity shop around the corner from my house. Why do people give these things away? It was 35 pence.




I also love this edition by Berlie Doherty which i bought ages ago in 2004:

Just look how beautiful Snow White is in the illustration.

So now I am inspired to design a Snow White themed journal... since my Princess & the Pea journal worked out so well (and recently sold on my Etsy , yay!)