~for the love of yarn~

its been a quiet few days since my last blog, mostly concerned with finishing off a wool hand muff i made...


finished the main body some weeks ago using some wool i bought years ago but didnt know what to do with!
 then i became distracted with other crochet projects and finally decided to get it finished this week. i added a ruffled edge at each end and included the flowers.
this is destined for etsy when i finally get my etsy store set up!



i have nearly finished the wrap for my friend in wales~she is still poorly so i am keen to get it finished and posted.
 if you enlarge you can see i am working the edges in a lacy/fish net stitch.


i went a bit mad this week~well stir crazy to be honest.
it feels as if i have been stuck in for days because of the cold and rain and the constant grey sky makes it feel like i am stuck in some gloomy box.
i really needed to get out even for an hour or so.
so swampy took me off to look at yarn!

now to me racks of natural yarn is like a drug~i adore it all.
 i love to pick it up and feel it, even, if nobody is watching, give it a little sniff.
my mind becomes a whirl of what i would create with each one...

well needless to say i ended up deciding i need to make myself something~my own wrap actually and so three balls of Rowan alpaca cotton 'fell' into my basket...




these drew my eye and i fell in love and images of a striped wrap formed in my mind...i had to start with three because it is quite expensive and i am not sure yet how much a single ball will make up.
still with names like raindrop, salmon and rice how could i not fall in love?


~*~*~*~

this arrived through the post last week...



i wanted to buy something special with the money given to me for my birthday from my ma and pa and there was only one of theses at fairysteps store and as with the alpaca cotton i fell in instant love with 'pod'.
the little moccasin is a tiny but perfect minnetonka brought back from from lake tahoe.
parts of it have been worn smooth where i constantly  touch it when out and about.

*~*~*~*

~today is another grey day with the odd patch of blue breaking through.
i hope you day is a bright and happy one~

So long, farewell...


Auf wiedersehen, good night...


Thanks, everyone; it's been real.
I'm putting The Dreamer's Den to bed.

I need to unplug, read some books, take my dog on more walks, paint the trim around the french doors, and do some laundry(!)
Also, I just feel done with blogging in general.

I'd love to stay in touch!  I'm on Facebook (Anita Severn Davis) or send me an email:  pillowmint120@gmail.com

Love to you all!
Take it easy,
Anita



Things always get better I promise you


Well yesterday and today has not been my best days :S
fights, disappointment, sadness... well so much things
and either it was my fault or not the thing is that
not everything is what it supposed to be and
yeah I learned it in a bad way :S anyways that kind of
things that can happen to you and you didn't expected,
leaves you something to learn about(:
and well the 1st photo I uploaded it because I dont know
I like it hahaha and the 2nd its quite funny because well
my face! but its to remind us that we always have to be
happy no matter what(: so I understand why people have blogs!
to upload that kind of photographs hahaha love&hugs

~chain store frustration~

i have been feeling somewhat frustrated lately

maybe because i can finally smell the end of winter, the sight of the yellow buds on the forsythia slowly opening, the crocus and snowdrops in flower while other green shoots push up through the earth, the buds on our clematis...

this morning i stood in the garden surrounded by a light mist, everything was silvery, pale grey and i could smell sea salt and marsh.
we live a few miles from lymington where there are salt marshes and the river, one that journeys through our village, finally flows into the solent. bucklers hard on the beaulieu river is few miles to the east of us, this is where naval ships, and many of Nelsons fleet, were built from the wood of this forest for hundreds of years.

so we are close to the sea, that's why i could smell the marsh and sea, its never a scent i have noticed in winter, it seems to be a specific spring scent.

the salty smell must have traveled the few miles to our little village atop the silver strands of mist~reminding me of my deep connection to the solent itself that goes back seven generations of fishermen, mariners and bargemen to my great, great, great, great, great grandpa joseph duke, born in 1777 and who was still a fisherman in his seventies

the next day...

in my life i have spent only a few years living out of sight of the solent and the isle of wight (for my overseas readers~the solent is the stretch of water that separates us from the isle of wight) and i feel decidedly out of sorts when my automatic radar knows i am far from it.

i am drifting somewhat here~my frustration isn't about the season or the smells or thoughts of my sea faring ancestors~i am feeling frustrated about feeling something is lacking.

oh nothing in my life is lacking.
i am feeling frustrated about the lack of places~by places i mean good, independent coffee shops, book shops and cafes around here.
yes the land here is so beautiful and the villages as well, but mostly the shops have been taken over by chain stores~i am sure i don't need to tell you who i mean!

the next day...

i am determined to finish this post today! my hands and arms have been painful and wont let me ramble on too much in one go!

so where was i?

yes, the dreaded chain stores that are taking over *sigh*
i really wish i could go out into my village...any village around here and walk into a lovely, quirky, independent coffee shop that serves really good coffee, chocolate and tea~that is not exorbitant~and be able to sit and drink and chat with swampy or read and people watch.

i have had a long time dream of opening a coffee shop or even coffee/book shop~every time i see an empty shop i say to swampy 'that would make a good coffee shop' and i imagine how it would be decorated, laid out...ahhh we need these dreams don't we?

~what dream have you had today?~

"Because you only have one trip, you might as well enjoy it."




Isn't she lovely?  Let's all be inspired by Ms. Apfel this week.  How about adding one more bangle before we leave the house?!





Can you imagine?  I want to find some rockin' zebra pants like hers!!


videos from the ever-stylish blog:



Old World Gets Me Jazzed

I look through a lot of magazines, read a lot of blogs, and spend way too much time searching, googling, and linking around the internet.  Sometimes hours go by and I come away with nary a pretty room to blog about.

And then sometimes, I strike gold. 

Meet an 1890's restored home on the Greek island, Nisyros:








 
The floor!!


 









I am a little lost here.  What is that -- a mattress??  Um...wtf?
























Have you ever seen color so gooooood?  Great art, great furniture, perfect flooring, and gorgeous light fixtures.  Love, love, love.


All photos:  yatzer

house designed by owner/architect George Koukourakis


 


Its all about love


We took this photos on febrery 14th(:




It was febrery 14th(: and yeah i know its the best
opportunity to spend your money in expensive gifts and
details but nevertheless all of us have known as well
that we dont need a special day to celebrate and be
with the person you love(: nevertheless its nice
to be all day long with the person you love or eather
friends to hang out with, I honestly have to say that I
had a very nice day with my boyfriend(Roman) it'll be
5 months together the next sunday! so for me thats so
exiciting and in saturday i'll be all the afternoon with
him.Im not that kind of girl that have all details
and gifts when it comes about universaries because I
prefer to spend my money in memories am I wrong? the
memories that you have will be forever and i think that
is what counts here(: hope you have passed an amaizing
day with your friends or the person you love(: kisses&hugs

Total Bliss

One of my favorite companies is Blissliving Home.
I am thrilled to announce they have some new goodies available.  If you are in the market for new bedding, feast your eyes:









*Obsessed with this over-sized houndstooth!*



On another note, I'm feeling much better, thanks to my new lover:
the neti pot

www.Blisslivinghome.com

Michael Kors does SEXY



Chic and Sexy
Sleek and Slinky

HELLLLOOOOO Gorgeous!!

~sea glass~







i am in love with my jar of sea glass~this was collected during the few years swampy and i lived a two minute walk from the sea in bournemouth. you can just see a small piece of blue, somewhere in there, there is also a piece of red~they are the very special ones for as you can see its mostly white, with some pieces of brown and green.


******

there is something very pleasing about sea glass~yes, it is essentially someones thoughtless dumping of rubbish. but i think it undergoes some special alchemy during its time in the rolling, travelling sea.

it hears the talk of the sea creatures and tales of the wind as it spins on its watery journey until it washes up on some beach with the tale of its journey tucked inside the frosted blanket that surrounds it.

if i open it i wonder if a drift of sea blue and green sparkles will fly out and shower me in their salty tales?

~herbs, sticks & stuff~

today is another fine day here in this ancient forest~more shoots are pushing up through the earth in the garden, although it is still too water-logged to walk on and really do anything constructive.
but seeing some blue sky and sunshine has lifted the spirits.

yesterday was a day for random photos~


i wear these two necklaces everyday~the triskele was a gift from swampy.
the other is one i made from beads and a pewter green goddess i bought on one of my trips to Tahoe.




silver bear and turquoise bracelet and another gift from swampy, a bear paw ring~again from our travels to Tahoe...looking at the amount of bear related things around our home is making me wonder if i am being told something~maybe its time for some meditation and inner journeying.


my kitchen windowsill~i love my pot of basil, i often ruffle the leaves just to have that wonderful smell, there are two small bits in a glass pot which i hope will produce some roots.

yes, that's two sticks you can see~if i find a particularly nice one i always bring it home, the thinner one is a piece of windfall from one of several holly trees which grows around the longslade view bronze age barrow where we often walk flynt down the hill to the long disused railway track that linked our village to burley and ringwood.

you can see my mini propagator there too~i am awaiting my first batch of micro /baby salad leaves.
between the rooting basil and propagator is a jar containing my home grown lavender. i have had two large bunches of it drying in brown bags in our airing cupboard~one for two years (!!!) the other for a year and i have to say the two year batch is much better...




i shall be making some lavender bags with this at some point for a giveaway.



my little Portuguese chicken sitting next to his bigger brother.
 i bought on the cruise and we stopped at Madeira~oh i so love this gorgeous little island and hope to return again one day. if you click here there are some great photos of the island and you will see why i fell in love.

i have been feeling the need to introduce some new recipes into my cooking so down came my much loved cookbook...




there are some great and unusual salads and salad dressings here and an omelet that is on my menu for the coming week~i shall keep you posted.

*have a great day everyone!*




St. Kilda




I would LOVE a sexy serpent ring.  Just found these surfing the web -- I think they're the prettiest snake rings I've seen in a long time!

NYC

~rain...lots of rain~

its been raining hard all day again.

it seems we are having alternate days of rain and sun, so maybe tomorrow will be sunny. i hope so.

so today i have done little...

toast with whiskey marmalade

peering out the window for delivery vans that may be bringing my 'money burning a hole' gift to myself~even though i know its way too early, but its fun to hope...maybe tomorrow!

drink tea *mint soother* *ginger mint* *lemon*

ate a salad of carrot, apple, tomato and red onion splashed with balsamic vinegar

looked up recipes to brighten up my menu ideas

took photos~lots of random photos from around the house, i shall post them tomorrow

looked out at the birds feeding in the garden *gold finch* *blue tits* *siskins*

i am now thinking a glass of mead to end the day.

oh my, i said end the day and its only 8pm~what am i like?
i am actually feeling not too bad today, i could stay up later~i have done little to use up my spoons but all the same its comfortable in my bed, i can put on my radio and sit there reading or writing in my journal or just thinking...

I'm not a doctor, but I play one on my blog


I am self-diagnosing Strep throat.
We'll find out for sure when I get to the clinic and have my throat swabbed.

It has not been an enjoyable time here at 'the den.'


I hope all of you are healthy.


This looks like it would make a fantastic sick bed.
***Update:  Quick strep test was negative.  I have a nasty viral infection.  Rest, fluids, and Advil will be my remedy.*** 

 


~well now...~

rain?

what rain?

last night was another insomniacs dream~i lay tossing and turning for ages because my legs and hips were aching and having a burst of restless leg syndrome (anyone else have this? isn't it a nuisance?) by the time i decided to put on the radio within a few moments the presenter announced it was 3.45!
at one point i heard a burst of heavy rain on the greenhouse.

well i ended up getting a couple of hours of interrupted sleep~i kept dreaming about fast growing lizards escaping from a vivarium and coming after me~whats all that about?!

at the moment the sun is shining and the sky is mostly blue, the forecast for today is for showers, so i am hoping our new climbing jasmine will be put in to replace the clematis that suddenly died~leaving the arch over our front door only half covered and rather lop sided looking.

~*~*~*~

i have had some birthday money burning a hole in my pocket for a week or so now and couldn't quite decide what to buy with it~i kept thinking of things, then forgetting them.
well forget about it burning a hole, the hole burnt and the money fell out when i fell in love with something...but more about that when it arrives...but oh i am so excited about it!


*have a lovely day everyone!*

Spread The Love

I am inspired by people who do the good work; people who strive to make the world a better place.

I want to call attention to the company 
Roma Boots.
Founder Samuel Bistrain, currently living in Texas, grew up in a small village in Romania.  He lived through many cold winters, going without basic provisions just like the oppressed people there today.

Samuel was compelled to help those in need; the children of Eastern Europe growing up there as he did. Roma Boots was founded for the purpose of providing warm, dry boots to those who need them.


Basing his business model after TOMS shoes, he gives away one pair of boots for every one purchased.



If you can afford to buy a pair of rain boots for yourself or your child; make a purchase through Roma Boots, won't you?
You'll be saving some precious little feet from cold snow and slush.


They're super cute too!!