Kew Garden Florals

It's been quite a while since my last Kew visit. So with the long weekend, good weather, and my determination to do some proper, carefree unwinding following the hectic end days of my long-term job, it seemed like a good idea to head out there today.

This is what I saw, and this is what I wore. Flowers and colours in abundance, in both instances! I wore tulips, thinking it was about the right time for them but I saw very few of them in fact, and think I may have been a tad late in my timing. Oh well, there were plenty of other things to see...

A plane caught my attention... One of the few problems with Kew is the massive number of loud, loud planes
that go over. It somewhat interrupts the sound of leaves rustling in breeze...

Making friends with trees again

Bumble bee! I love bees!

Dress: Beyond Retro
Jacket: Cow (Sheffield branch)
Belt: Beyond Retro
Shoes: Jones Bootmaker
Bracelet: Recent gift from a friend
Earrings (little red beads that are barely visible!): market in Nottingham

I photographed some of the last of the season's roses last year... and this is one of the
first of this year

Statue entitled 'A Sower'

Some ironwork photographed once before, but now with leaves on the tree and a
brighter background

Cricket on Kew Green after the Gardens

Happy Sunday! And happy May Bank Holiday to those other lucky people who get the day off.

Happy Easter

It may be raining in London today, but there were sunshine and flowers in Buckinghamshire yesterday. Wishing all my readers a joyous Easter and God's blessings at this wonderful time of year.

PS There will be an Easter dress post to come, I promise... It's rather a special one this year, even if I do say so myself.

The Flower Book

I've taken an unexpected and rather prolonged blogging break! Things got rather busy all of a sudden - some of it planned but most of it unexpected. I thought I ought to pop by with a post, albeit a small one, just to keep things ticking over here...

A couple of weeks ago, I finished reading a biography of Edward Burne-Jones called The Last Pre-Raphaelite by Fiona McCarthy. As you may know from one of my posts a while ago, Burne-Jones is one of my favourite artists and so I thought it was worth sitting down and finding up a bit more about him.

The book mentioned this series of small paintings he did for The Flower Book, begun in 1882. He did the watercolours for his own enjoyment, rather than as a commission, using the common names of flowers as the inspiration for each scene. This concept definitely spoke to my imagination and, thanks to the wonders of the internet, I was able to find all the images when I got home from reading in the park.

So I thought I would share just a few of them here in a post. It seemed appropriate with spring having arrived, with flowers and trees all coming back to life, and with Easter just around the corner. As well, it's a harbinger of next weekend, when I'm off to see Burne-Jones' Briar Rose series at Buscot Park in Oxfordshire with a couple of my best friends. I've wanted to see those paintings for quite some time so I'm very excited! Expect to read about it all soon...

February? Is That You?

Last weekend I went on my latest adventure to Kew Gardens, as I continue to make the most of my membership. I've now had August, October and December in Kew and January at its sister site of Wakehurst in Sussex. Sunday's trip had an extra adventure in that I cycled all the way there - that's 13 miles, ladies and gentlemen! It was mostly along the river and was awfully pleasant, particularly once I got through the centre of London. Cycling along the Embankment and river path at Putney was especially lovely - people were strolling along, enjoying the sun and there was a fleet of sail boats out on the Thames. I would have stopped to take photos but it was already quite late in the day and I didn't want to delay my arrival at Kew any longer.

And when I got to Kew? Well, Spring has well and truly arrived. It really did not feel like mid-February, with the warm sunshine out in its full glory and all sorts of flowers already sprung to life. Last year, I struggled to find a few daffodils at the very end of March. This year, there's already snow drops and daffodils by the hundreds, not to mention crocuses.

So I enjoyed my wander around the gardens, spotting all the signs of life, not only in the bright flowers on the ground but also the hints of green budding from the trees. I ended up exploring a little corner of the garden which I've not been in before as well, which was a treat. Here are some of my snaps I took as I wandered about. You will notice a few bare branches here, giving away the true season, even if the blue, blue skies might have you thinking of a later one for a moment.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any snaps of my outfit in my usual tradition - a combination of having limited time as I arrived there quite late in the day, fading light, and a popular day in the gardens leaving me little opportunity away from people to set up the camera on timer to grab some shots... However, it was worth missing out on posing about in front of the camera in order to catch the orchids exhibition in the Princess of Wales Conservatory, and the fun displays encapsulating the exotic expeditions of Victorian plant-hunters.

I also admired some Amazonian fish in the Conservatory, adding to my list of means to entice The Cat to come to Kew with me on one of my future adventures. It can be hard, sometimes, convincing boys to frolic in gardens... It's just a good thing I'm happy floating about on my own!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend, and enjoy any early signs of Spring that you encounter.

Sunshine and Croquet

It's been a mad couple of weeks since I last posted... But what better way to offset all that than with some croquet in the sunshine on a Bank Holiday Saturday?

Heather, Heather and Heather (Image source)

I've long had a soft spot for croquet. I first came across it in the classic '80s film, Heathers, and, of course, in Alice in Wonderland. I used to play casually with friends in school and have had a few chances to play in recent years - at Christchurch in Oxford, at a fabulous, rambling, ancient B&B in the Somerset countryside, and at a Diamond Jubilee garden party event in Bedford Square last year.

I learnt that the group who supplied the kit and know-how at the Diamond Jubilee event were called Croquet East, and that they played in Victoria Park every fortnight over the summer. Sadly, I never managed to make it to any of their gatherings last year, due to a combination of circumstances and weather. However, this afternoon I wandered down with a friend to join in, and we had a jolly old time. So I hope to become a regular this year, and would recommend any Londoners to come check it out some time. It really is the most satisfying game, striking just the right balance between civility, fun, skill, strategy... and malice... 

The ladies from Heathers, dressed to colour-match their
croquet mallets (Image source)

I Heart April Showers

... Even if they do make things slightly inconvenient for cycling. Or any other outdoor activity.

And though I may love the showers, I am still hoping that the slightly warmer weather they've been predicting for London comes through tomorrow...

Happy weekend, everyone, whether you have showers or none!

Spring Personified

The spring months are upon us!  And once again, as promised, I bring you Eugene Grasset's representations of the months for this season.  I can never, ever decide my favourite!  I love that March is sowing seeds with the proper tools, I love April's river and blossom trees, I love May's hat and her red locks under it with the shockingly bright background.  But I think Miss April and her tranquil, idyllic country scene just might win it for me, largely because I would love to be lying in a fresh, green meadow right now...  

What do you think, who's your favourite Spring lady?