My Pocket

Ile de Re

Warm breeze, barefoot, summer dresses, picnic rug, blue tent, outdoors cooking, green frogs in the bathroom,

freshly baked bread, smell of sunlotion, sultry evenings, palm trees by the swimming pool, sunlight underwater,

laughing at our appalling French, sand between the toes, lost in a book, sound of children playing, tide coming in, making sand castles, lighthouse sweeping at night, evening liquorice and mint tea, snug sleeping bags,

early mornings, French market, sea food stalls, quilt stalls, fruit, vegetables and bread, cycling across the island, salt marshes, egret herons, sailboats snug in harbours, narrow village streets, cobblestone,

colourful doors, whitewashed walls, smiling faces, bonjour, long sandy beaches, refreshing swims, tousled hair, sandals, soft sunset light, smooth rocks,

smell of seaweed, cry of seagulls, salty skin, colourful beach parasols, tanned arms, fresh air, simple life.

simple living

Hello! I'm back, but I won't tell you all about it tonight, tomorrow it will have to be. I can show you why it was exactly what I needed though:

Simple, restful, fresh air living

...with happy people doing the same thing, in the sun. See you tomorrow!

beach dwelling

So, I will be leaving you for a while. We will be spending six days in a tent 50 metres from the beach on a small island off the west coast of France, reading books, lathering on sunlotion and listening to the waves. Well, that's what I'll be doing, not sure what D feels like. He would have liked to do some surfing, but the waves are not looking promising so that might not happen. I'd like to go cycling on the paths all around the island at some stage, when I remember that I can only stand so much idle beach dwelling. Explore the villages, walk along the coast or just get lost. I like getting lost, you find ever so much more when you do. Well, enjoy your week and I wish you adventures big or small and quiet moments. Take care!

Ile de Re and La Rochelle.

Do you see

Ser du dessa vissna löv,
vissna löv i vinden -
så är jag ett visset löv,
visset löv i vinden -
Döden skall mig fatta
I sin gamla kratta -
...Åh, jag är väl ännu röd,
ännu röd om kinden -
fast jag är ett visset löv,
visset löv i vinden.

Do you see these withered leaves,
withered leaves in the wind -
so am I a withered leaf,
withered leaf in the wind -
Death shall me gather
in his old rake -
...Oh, I am still rosy am I not,
rosy on the cheeks -
although I am a withered leaf,
withered leaf in the wind.

Nils Ferlin, 1933, Songs of a Deathdancer

I don't mean to be morbid, I just like this poem and was reminded of it when I found the first maple autumn leaf today. Autumn brings that kind of melancholy vibe doesn't it, stripping away and going inwards, leaving and letting go. I found this poem as a teenager and the tenderness combined with the frankness appeals to me. Life is frail and short and strong and full of potential at the same time. Also, I like the idea of being gathered into a rake held by a loving hand when my time is up.

projects

I never blogged about the project I was sewing on a while back. It was a quilted baby blanket and my friend Sophie received it a couple of weeks ago. The baby was a girl, called Tindra which in Swedish pretty much means twinkle, like the stars, sweet! I thought the baby could lie on the blanket on the floor, but Sophie says she'll save it for the winter and use it as a duvet, bless! It went surprisingly well sewing that, only one what the!? oh nooo... moment after getting half-way through sewing the wadding onto the outside instead of inbetween the outer layers. I didn't bind the edges, next time. Oh, and of course not all the patchwork squares lined up but it being the first time I tried it I wasn't surprised. The fabric is a mix of things, the sweetly patterned ones from Superbuzzy, the green linen from John Lewis, the blues from Laura Ashley, the peachy from a ripped kaftan that was in the cleaning rag-bin :), and the white is an old cotton bed-sheet.

Embroidery is a treat, I love it! I'm bringing a project to France next week, to do on the beach. The pattern for the rabbit is from this Japanese craft book - it's a lovely series. This ebay seller is excellent too if you haven't already found her, free shipping (takes a couple of weeks to the UK) and very good prices for the books.

As for any other inspiring sewing, it hasn't happened. I've been doing lots of this:

and this:

This was half-way through the second lot of curtains, I didn't bother folding and unfolding them between pressing and sewing.

I did a quick job of it all really, no pins and only one proper seam for the top. For the bottom seam I just pressed one fold and zigzagged across the cut edge, creating a neat edge for the front and the back looks a bit ragged, but it being for the boys' rooms the curtains won't be visible near the floor for very long anyway. Because the fabric is so thin it falls more gracefully this way too, not having too bulky and heavy a seam at the bottom (I tell myself :>). I didn't have to do anything with the sides as the fabric was just the right width for the job.

Finally I just want to show you this because it looks just like a picture I remember from a children's book which if I remember correctly features a very small girl, ponies, huge blackberry bushes and some adventure, don't ask me what. What was important to me as a kid was the berries because they looked so luscious, there being both blackberries and raspberries on the same bush. Blackberries aren't common in Sweden so I didn't know, but now of course I can see why they drew them that way.

When I go to Sweden next I'd like to bring my favourite children's books back with me. My parents were great with books, they bought lots and read something every evening for us in bed. Also, Amy reminded me of my Calvin & Hobbes collection which is also left in Sweden, that will have to come too.

crop, crop

This post will take a bit of scrolling methinks! All photos are of the area around Brockwood where I walk, all of places and trees I love. I don't know what you think, but cropped like this the photos become a whole new experience for me, it's almost like I'm in them watching it all. See what you find!

Hey - you made it to the end! Thanks for dropping by, all of you, I really appreciate it. :)

sunflowers

Hello you! Life is sweet for the moment, but fast. Wrapping things up at work, sewing the last of the 25 curtains (phew!), getting the library into reasonably fit shape before I go (after a year I still haven't got used to the idea that I'm a, well part-time, librarian. Never saw that one coming), fitting in as much homework as I can (lying in bed in the evening with laptop on my tummy reading about asthma...), writing on those assignments and enjoying good walks (the more I have to do the more I need to take time for that). I like being busy and having less time to think and worry about stuff, just get on with it. I just need something to work towards, I'm definitely a deadline person.

I've been experimenting a bit with cropping my photos, I'll show you more tomorrow. I'm still loving my camera, but I got into a bit of a rut lately and had to come up with a different angle or project. I wanted to get my landscape pictures to come out differently, it seemed none of them were done justice by the camera so here's my first attempt:

blackberries!

The blackberry season has officially begun - yay!

The blackberry vines, or brambles (love that word!) grow in all the hedgerows that flank the lanes and this time of year you can spot those plump jet black berries everywhere. Just stop on your walk by the side of the road and a quick pick will easily get you a handful or two. D has them on his fruit salad breakfast, I have mine right then and there. In Swedish they're called björnbär, bearberries, but I don't know how many bears actually have them. They're more fond of blueberries as far as I know - less thorns and easier to eat off the ground.

the island

Hello! I am not so quiet anymore, just busy again. Trying to finish all my homework before we go on holiday to France on the 22nd. Every previous summer I've spent my holiday on my family's island in the Swedish archipelago so this will be the first summer I miss that. No sunbathing on the warm smooth rocks, skinny dipping in the sea (Swedish style), hanging out by the barbeque with my brothers, preparing lunch salads with my mum, watching the evening glow over the water, feeling the peace of early mornings, seeing the sun sparkles on the waves. It breaks my heart and I miss being together with my family, but I felt this year I had to choose. D and I have never had the time or money to go on a real holiday together, we always either visit his side of the family or mine. Which is lovely, but we need a life of our own too.

Our little cabin on the island won't be empty and lonely though, my oldest younger brother and his girlfriend will live there for a while. I hope they remember to take the hammock out for the tree, it needs to be swung and read in at some point each year.

quiet

Hiya... I'm feeling a bit quiet, as I sometimes do. Life is sweet those times though, somehow it slows down and makes you suddenly realise and appreciate with tenderness all the beauty and love it is showing you. You know? There just isn't much to say about it, it is, is all. :)

Wishing you peace.