Dandelions,

they’re just weeds aren’t they?

Tessa can’t pass by without picking a clock and blowing it apart, so it takes ages to walk anywhere these days……

and inevitably it gets blown all over me……..in my hair and on my clothing…….

But, just look at how beautiful they are!

I have a group of my best friends coming over this evening and it was just the excuse I needed to buy some wine glasses that I have been eyeing out at one of my favorite shops in Winchester – The Hambledon.

As usual, at the very last minute, I rushed into Winchester yesterday – and dashed in 5 minutes before they were due to close.  I picked the glasses I wanted, had them packed up and when I got to the counter to pay found that I had left my purse at home!

Finn, the lovely lady who helped me, not only took my payment using the “cardholder not present” facility, but also very thoughtfully gave me some change so that I could get myself out of the parking garage I had parked in! So these Cyber flowers are for the very lovely Finn at The Hambledon – and some real flowers are on their way to her too!

The petals from our apple trees are all gone now, I should have done a post called “Poppy the puppy in the petals” as for a while there was a carpet of petals under the trees. Linda sent me these photo’s of her beautiful tamarix tree, one in bud and one 1n full flower, truly magical! I think that this must be my favorite time of the year and I can’t imagine a nicer place to be than England in the spring time. I am loving the wisteria and the lilac trees that are in bloom now.

Images courtesy of Linda

I know that spring is on the way when little daisy princesses appear in my garden!

Have you come across Bookmooch.com yet? If, like my family, you are readers then it’s worth looking in to.

Bookmooch is a site, where you can list books that you own, but no longer want. Other members can then “mooch” your books from you and you can “mooch” any books you might want. It is all based on a point system, so if you mooch from someone in you own country, it costs you a point, but if you mooch from abroad, it’s costs you 2. If someone from abroad mooches from you, you get 3 points.

You don’t have to agree to post abroad, set up your profile carefully as there are various options you can choose.

I have been a member now for a couple of years and love it.  We all read a lot and while I think the library system is amazing here, sometimes I like to keep a copy of a book. I earned a lot of points posting abroad – I always say  that I will only post by surface mail, as it’s much more affordable and that postage will take 6 – 8 weeks but  it’s been lovely to see more people from the UK joining and using Bookmooch.

What a lovely suprise earlier today to have an email from Quick and Crafty! magazine drop into my inbox. Every month they feature a blog in the publication and they are (hopefully) going to feature mine in their April issue! How exciting is that!?

My wee girl, who has just turned 10, is having to have some orthodontic treatment done. Today she needed to have 2 baby teeth extracted. Fortunately I have a very good friend who is a dentist in Winchester and that does make it easier, but it’s still not much fun for a little girl (or a mum…..)

Michael, thank you so much for getting it done as painlessly as possible.

Maryam of My Marrakesh has been to Rwanda in the last week. Today her post was horrifying and I have thought about the genocide that occured there all day. I can’t even imagine how she must have felt – hearing and seeing all she did first hand. How is it that we vow never to let these things happen again and yet they do and how is it that one human being can do these things to another?

These flowers are for my very lovely sister Rosy. Rosy lives in Australia where Donna Hay is a household name. As a food editor and cookbook author she has inspired us both

Although her cookbooks are readily available here in the U.K. she also produces a fantastic bi-monthly magazine, which is not easy to find. Only excellent bookshops have it – and I found my very first one at Selfridges.

Well, my lovely Rosy has just given me a second years subscription to the magazine for my birthday! Thank you Rose, I absolutely LOVE receiving my copy!

Flowers go to Steev today, who not only bought his lucky wife these Crystal Briolette Earrings and this Large Champagne Heart Necklace – but also took her off to a romantic Greek Island to celebrate their Crystal Wedding Anniversary!

Steev, you are a man after my own heart!

Flowers go to the fabulous Corey Amaro – from Tongue in Cheek today. This is a blog that I never, ever miss.

Corey pointed us to a series of advertisements for Californian cheese – you MUST click here and watch some – they had us rolling on the floor with laughter this morning!

Three times a week, come rain (yes, honestly, I have even run in the rain) or shine, I go out for a 3.5 mile run through the fields surrounding our village. Up until now it’s been a very relaxed affair, with no pressure, just a little “me time”.

But recently I realised (with a bit of help from my quite competative husband David) that to take up to 45 minutes to run 3.5 miles is pretty pathetic. So, no more gentle jogging, no more taking time to smell the flowers – it’s serious!

I’ve been working really hard to get my time down to 35 minutes – which is a fairly acceptable 10 minute mile and today I did my best time ever – 33.36!

I love this time of the year, when there is so much springing to life, colour and shape, things seem to change and grow overnight.

I like Honeysuckle but I almost prefer the buds to the flowers. Look at the organic and sculptural shapes of these buds that are almost, but not quite open.

Have a lovely weekend!

I’ve been playing around with my new Canon camera. It’s a bit tricky and needs a bit of trial and effort to get to grips with (especially if like me, manuals hold no appeal…)

I’ve taken some pics of the stunning hellebores that are in flower in my garden at the moment. I love that they are among the first to lift their lovely faces amongst the grey of the English winter.

The last clematis petals have dropped sadly. I am always amazed at these brazen blooms that burst from a spindly, scraggly tangle of stems.

I never know quite what to do with the plant. Do you prune it or leave it alone? It looks quite untidy during the winter months, dry brown stems wrapped around our pretty white trellis. But when spring comes, light green leaves arrive, and not long after we are blessed with these gorgeous flowers.

I came across Jude Miller’s website today and could hardly believe that her creations are made from paper!

I love it when someone who is obviously so talented finds their perfect vocation and is rewarded for it. Jude Miller must fall in this category.

Being a “flower” girl, I really struggled to choose a picture of her work to put up here – I think my favorites must be the Passionflowers, but for those of you who have contacted me recently for wedding jewellery – have a look at the Bindweed Garland, there are all kinds of wonderful things you could do with that!