Home Thoughts from Abroad

Oh, to be in England

Now that April's there,

And whoever wakes in England

Sees, some morning, unaware,

That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf

Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,

While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough

In England - now!

And after April, when May follows,

And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!

Hark, where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge

Leans to the field and scatters on the clover

Blossoms and dewdrops - at the bent spray's edge -

That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,

Lest you should think he never could recapture

The first fine careless rapture!

And though the fields look rough with hoary dew

All will be gay when noontide wakes anew

The buttercups, the little children's dower

- Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower! Robert Browning

Exhibition Alert

Oh là là I cannot wait to see this! 'High Kicks & Low Life: Toulouse-Lautrec prints' beginning this Friday, May 14th (also my birth date). The Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, is hosting an exhibition by the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, featuring prints that show the glamour and style of 19th century Parisian theatre and daily life.

For more details click here

Fashion Fancy

Its rare that I spot something in a shop that I love, yet this colourful and quaint little range recently caught my eye and I can actually say I love it all. Ladybird brooches, fringed clogs, pastel-sugar colours, birdy-prints... so pretty, so British, super nice. I'll take one of everything please. N.W.3 thumbs up from CC.

Now where did we leave the car...

What-a-lovely-little-family

It's bleak up North

Not a soul around

Only the comfort of the clouds

Bleakness living on

and on