Yellow spells spring...!

Mmmmm, yum, yum! Now, where are we likely to find a stunning stone planter like this...?

(Click on the images if you would like to view them larger and against a black background..)

Oh yes. I have brought you here a hundred and one times before, but as our Saturday walk again took us to the yummy village of Castle Combe, my camera just happened to be bouncing about in my backpack, the sun happened to be joining in with the general spring mood... and this village just cannot seem to offer anything BUT pretty views... well, what is a girl to do...?

Sometimes I do have to pinch myself and stroke the old stone walls just to check that they are indeed hundreds of years old and not just some card board film set. But no, everything is real. The old car in the previous photo, the horse riders having a rest by the old market place, the horse poo - all real, all part of life in the English countryside. All reasons to be grateful that this is on my doorstep, particularly in severe missing-Sweden moments ...

Yes, indeed a gorgeous house, but now focus for a moment on the top left corner of 

the photo... can you see them? Pink blossom on the tree!!! Yippey!

Yes, spring is definitely here. Saturday's walk was done without a coat, flowers greeted us on either side of the path through the forest, and the ice-cream intake increased by 200 % or so. All in the name of spring. Aaah...

***

Featured in Sanselig Jul, 

a Christmas book by Franciska Munck-Johansen

To those of you thinking that "this whole spring thing is a little overrated, why can't we look forward to Christmas instead?", I have got some good news for you too. Norwegian interior writer, stylist and photographer Franciska Munck-Johansen - whose book Sanselig Sommer (Summer For All The Senses), published last year, offering lots of decorative summer inspiration from herself and a number of other bloggers - has just announced that her new Christmas book, Sanselig Jul, will be out in November. I feel very proud to be part of this book too and look forward to 200 pages of Christmas inspiration from Franciska and some fellow bloggers.

***

I hope you are surrounded by spring-spirited people and flower-lined paths, 

wherever you are, and if not, have faith, spring (and Christmas!) is just around the corner! 

Helena

No commentsRead more

One step behind...

Dear, oh dear... sometimes the wheels spin so fast one forgets all sorts of things...

...like the second anniversary of my blog! A week ago, it was two years ago that my blog took its first stumbling little baby steps, and little did I know that two years later, I would have enjoyed the most amazing experience being part of such a warm-hearted community! So many smiles, so many encounters - even if many only virtual - with lovely, lovely people, whom I feel very grateful to have met.

But this journey has not only been about virtual friendships. Some blog friends I have had the delight to also meet in the flesh, so to speak, and last weekend one of my very cherished blog sisters visited the Swenglish Home again. Charlotte, with the inspiring blog Trädgårdsflow (Garden Flow) ended a UK business trip with a day here, and you can imagine the rattling sound of our thoughts, ideas and giggles flying back and forth between us. Think squash game, but without the ferocity behind the serve...

We took a little stroll through Castle Combe...

...where the snow still lined the road of these two love birds 

(unknown to me, but my lens caught them showered with sun light and couldn't resist)...

Imagine my delighted surprise when on Monday we woke up to a completely snow-free world, 

and not only that, but one where GREEN seems to have been set as the new trend.... Yes!

Today, the spring-dizzy birds are singing as if their life depended on it, and when I saw these 

lovely snow drops on the side of the road, I let out an equally spring-effervescent tune.

***

As a special treat for my boys who are on half-term school holiday this week, I took them for a scrumptious lunch at our favourite sushi restaurant in Bath (Yen Sushi). This little coincidental leek heart in my Miso soup brought a smile to my lips that lasted long into the afternoon. For once, I also happened to have my camera handy, and there it is, ladies and gents, evidence that we only have to open our senses to the small signs around us, to see that there is love in the world, sometimes even in your lunch!

Soooo, last, but not least... a Valentine greeting a little late... 

This little heart is for you, for being the lovely readers that you are! :

No commentsRead more

Mother Nature's mood board...

A few days ago, we went for a walk in and around the lovely village of Castle Combe again...

... discovering that Mother Nature...

(The Old Rectory Tea Rooms, here decorated for autumn. See here what it looked like in August.)

... was in full swing creating her golden mood board for the season...

Our walk at one point crossed the golf course behind the village...

...but for those of you who are golfers, don't worry, despite being a snap-happy girl, not afraid to climb high and low for a good shot, I did keep strictly to the paths on the golf course...

There is a saying in Swedish that "green is lovely and yellow is ugly" ("grönt är skönt och gult är fult"). Yellow may perhaps not be my favourite colour, but when Mother Nature is holding the paint brush, her art work is FAR from ugly..!

In fact, I was so inspired by this golden glory, that I decided to bring some of it indoors...

... and in my next blog post, I will show you how...

Thank you so much for your kind comments on my last blog post. You make my day!

Wishing you all a golden day!

Helena

No commentsRead more

Castle Combe revisited...

Tired of old stone houses and windows yet?

Well, then this is not a blog post for you, unless...

... I can distract you with the thought of tea and scones
in these lovely tea rooms in a private home in Castle Combe?

Ooups, terribly sorry, more old stone houses and flower-clad windows to put up with...

Are you squealing for mercy yet? No? Well then, here's another one...

This last row of houses are by a small stream (hence the bulrush in the foreground) and were the background for some scenes in the film Doctor Dolittle. For the cineasts among you, if you happen to watch Steven Spielberg's new film War Horse (intended to release in the US in Dec 2011, in the UK in Jan 2012), you may recognize some of the houses in this post, as Castle Combe was the key location when the film was shot last year.

Now, enough namedropping... 

Thank you SO much for your kind response to my outdoor decorating attempts in my last blog entry. Swamped by work at the moment, my decorating frenzies will have to be put on hold for a while, but I hope these floral facades can offer some inspiration instead. Personally, I dream of one day "dressing" the front of my house in a flower "gown" similar to the Old Rectory Tea Rooms here - now there is some curb appeal if ever I saw some!

Wishing you a magical week, 

whether shimmering with stardust or just your glowing selves!

Helena

More images from Castle Combe in earlier blog posts here and here.

No commentsRead more

Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door...?

Or pull, perhaps... Call me greedy, but I WANT a door bell like this!

We are back in our neighbouring village of Castle Combe, and continue the walk I started with you a few days ago. If you approach the village from the lower end, you are greeted by this lovely sign:


Our boys love trout-spotting at this spot, and feeding the ducks - who were apparently hiding the day these photos were taken...

Can you see the yummy old and rusty roller leaning against the wall there? I have zero use for one, but can I have it, please? Please?!

Oh, wouldn't I like to explore what is behind these gates? And have they not left them open in a very inviting manner? How I would die to peer into the windows, just to see what decorating style and treasures inhabit this beautiful abode. Perhaps one day I will knock, knock, knock on a door to see if I can find out...

No commentsRead more

The fairy tale next door...

One of my favourite neighbouring villages is Castle Combe. It is a 10-15-minute drive from us, or a pleasant, long Sunday walk. Either way, what greets you on your arrival - provided they are not shooting a film there on the day you come - is a village so pretty it is almost unbearable. I am used to it now, of course, so I can handle it.

But only just.

It still takes my breath away, fuels me with a desire to write a fairy tale, an itch to create a costume drama or at least compose a little crime detective novel, Agatha Christie-style.

If only I could...



In the meantime, I drool and dribble and try not to get too much excited saliva on the lens as I snap-snap-snap up the views, as if I could bottle them and bring out whenever I craved a little castlecombing at home.

If only I could...


The thing is, you see, these are not just some theatre props, this is a living village, with real people leading their real lives behind those doors. They may not be allowed to change the exterior of their houses, should they be overcome by a desire to paint their house cerise. No, that is a no-no. The buildings are listed and cannot be messed with. Personally, I would not change a thing, if I were ever given the chance to live in one of them.

If only I could...

No commentsRead more