Smiles and Sunlight

The sun has been out in our little village.

Flowers have been picked from the garden.

Cheery summer clothes have been worn.

The beauty in dust has been rediscovered.

As ever, I delight in sparkles and colour.

I delight in tiny feet.

I love the way that light falls.

Flowers always lighten my spirits.

Rosy apples wait to be cooked.

Being at home is a welcome break sometimes.

We enjoy wanders and gazing at the sky.

The trees in the garden are flowering.

Somone has some spangly new shoes.

I hope your day is full of smiles. xxx

Of Hope and Teapots

The sun has come out and there is a little more cheer round our way. Eliska has been playing with the garden. 'I like being in dirt,' she said, in a rather serious manner.

It is good to see life breathe into the air.

Although there has been sunshine, there is still a nip in the air, but I am hoping it will warm up soon. I bought Eliska a top for the summer months.

I love the lace detail.

I am feeling in a sugary mood. The dresser has had a reshuffle and has a new candy pink teapot.

There is also a little jug to match.

What do you think of the pastels? I find them quite summery.

The teapot and jug are from Bombay Duck.

This is a little fairy I made a while ago.

I admire her spirit, she looks like a plucky little thing. I am weathering the storm of low spirits and feeling hopeful.

'Hope' is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul

And sings the tune without the words

And never stops at all

Emily Dickinson

Thankyou for your comments on my last post. I am extremely grateful for them. There is something to be said for being different. There is also much to be said for solitary moments, the sense of calm and inner strength that they bring.  Yet we all need other people.

It made me feel much better to know that I wasn't the only one, that many of you feel like this too. I hope that you and I don't feel like this forever. Maybe there is something positive we can take from these feelings. We ought to celebrate the fact that we are different.

Hopefully, in time, we will find our place in the world and kindred spirits. Until then, thank heavens for the net and the beauty we find whereever we are.

This litte face doesn't worry what anybody else thinks. I want to be more like her. xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Happy Bunnies

The sun came out on Sunday, although a wintry chill still hung in the air. We visited Lednice.

It is on the border of Austria and is a really stunning place with a beautiful castle.

I love the sunshine, but I still like the occasional day like today when it rains and smells like England. Sometimes rain matches my mood, as if some emotion is being released while the world pauses in a collective sigh. You can hide inside for a while without feeling guilty.

I feel a connection to my surroundings here and the architecture really pulls at my heart strings. Yet at times,

 I feel disconnected. I love pretty things, but I am no traditional housewife, as many Czech women are proud to be. I don't feel it is my duty to cook and iron everyday. I am quite suspicious of 'fixed' masculine and feminine roles, but people seem to revel in them here.

I miss the mix of people in the UK. Czech people are proud of their heritage, but there doesn't to be any celebration of anyone elses. Sometimes I feel like a curiosity, 'the English woman.' Sometimes I sense hostility and feel unwanted. Luckily, there are warm and friendly people here too, like the family in the village here that I teach English to.

A lot of buildings in the Czech Republic are imperfect. The paint is crumbling a little, like the one below. When the sun is shining, it only adds to their charm.

Anyay, back to some shallow eye candy. I like this shop and visit it every time I go to Lednice.

I loved the Tilda hearts.

We also had a walk in the park in Lednice.

We went to see some birds of prey in the park. There was a very long introductory talk about the birdies, in Czech, to which I muttered to myself, 'Come on,  crack on lads.' Then the birds did some impressive flying and returning and some amusing feats, such as chasing pretend rabbits and foxes. Then a girl of about ten volounteered to hold one of the birds. She was told to call the bird back, but the bird went AWOL and could be seen flying around in the distance for the rest of the show. Two wild birds of prey joined it and they all had a jolly fly about, with one of the geezers shouting desperately calling the bird to come back.

My imagination went a bit in overdrive after that. 'Just how much control do they have over these birds?' I thought to myself. One of the men held a huge bird of prey quite close to me, not dissimilar to the one in the pic above. 'Why didn't you take a picture?' Roman asked. 'I didn't like to move,' I said.

The bird handlers were all lovely and had the look of sociology teachers or university lecturers. I found this reassuring. They wore sensible shoes and cordueroy. Chances of having my face bitten off by an eagle, in reality, seemed slim.

We went to a local eating establishment afterwards as I was freezing and wanted to warm up. A lady at the next table kept shooting us 'evils' as Eliska was being a little loud. She was accompanied by her family and granddaughter who shot us equally disapproving looks. Smacking kids is still pretty common here, so maybe she though that I ought to be remonstrating her more severely. Czech people don't tend to 'tut', but if they did, she would have.

I seem to find much more general uptightness here than in the UK. This extends to Eliska's nursery where we recently had an incident I will refer to as 'Lollypopgate.' At times here I feel like I have stepped into the Narnia wardrobe and when I step out again, time in England will not have moved on. Except it has and it does and life there continues without me. This sometimes makes me sad.

It is more complex than being 'homesick' or not wanting to live here. I think it is more my 'situation.' I need to write more, make more, be more enthusiastic about things. I quite enjoy being on the periphery and I like my own company, but I would like to feel more of a part of something.

I think this is why connections made with you lovely people all around the world is so uplifting. I recently won a giveaway from Dev at The Fairyglade and was delighted. Ok, I know I am a little behind, but I had to show you the Easter inspired prettiness that she sent me...

Lots of vintage sweet Easter cards. I had some Easter pegs which came witha box of Easter decorations. 'What shall I do with them?' I had asked Eliska. Yes, I do ask Elsika things like this, general chit chat type stuff. 'I think they are for people who get Easter cards, but I don't get Easter cards...' Then I did, hurray!

I also recieved the beautiful crocheted bunting. I am leaving the bunting and cards there for a while, as despite Easter being gone, they are still Springlike and cheery. I think the bunting could look cute in Eliska's room at some point.

I have been trying to make Eliska's bed more appealing as she prefers to sleep alongside me in mine and kick me during the night! I had the canopy for ages and had been nagging Roman to put it up for quite some time. Ok, I could have got all handy and done it myself...

It was from Ikea but I didn't like the Ikea bunting type fabric at the top, so I chopped it off and added my bunting that was on the dresser where the bunnies are now hanging. I think it looks pretty and Eliska seemed to like it. She got herself in there straight away, 'It's a tent,' she said in her funny little voice.

I sewed on some butterflies. I need to add some to the other side too. They would look cute scattered all over it really, hmmm...

                                       Eliska has a happy collection of cheery cushions.

Along with my giveaway wins, I was also sent a book by Dev. I was thrilled as English language books are hard to come by here. It is funny how people you have never met 'know' you and I am already loving this book. you were so right, it is right up my street.

I have been reading some poems to Eliska. She is enjoying being read to at the moment and she really loves 'The Owl and the Pussycat', which is one of my favourtes too. I thought I would share another favourite poem. It is a little bit eerie somehow. It reminds me of myself. I feel I have lost my way a bit. I think you have to veer off the path sometimes though, it makes life more interesting. xxx

Fairy Story

I went into the wood one day¨

And there I walked and lost my ay

When it was so dark I could not see

A little creature came to me

He said if I would sing a song

The time would not be very long

Bit first I must let him hold my hand tight

Or else the wood ould give me a fright

I sang a song, he let me go

But now I am home again there is nobody I know.

Stevie Smith