The summer has wings.....

Join me as I wonder through the butterfly paradise in Havelte in the north of Holland. Come and sit a while as this is a tropical climate and it is very hot in this greenhouse...

We enjoyed visiting this greenhouse full of exotic butterflies. I am no butterfly expert and am doing my best to give you the correct names of each. It was a challenge to photograph them as they take flight while you are walking around. I hope you enjoy the start of a new month of summer with me and perhaps it will even encourage you to go outside and see what butterflies are in your own garden.

The Owl butterfly (Caligo eurilochus) greeted us as we came in the door.

Do you know what this plant is? More later...

It is a magical sight to see with all the Rice Paper butterflies (Idea leuconoe) dancing around in front of your path. It is like they are bidding you to follow.

Finally one sat still long enough to get a photograph...

"I've watched you now a full half-hour;
Self-poised upon that yellow flower
And, little Butterfly!
IndeedI know not if you sleep or feed.
How motionless! - not frozen seas
More motionless! and then
What joy awaits you, when the breeze
Hath found you out among the trees,
And calls you forth again!"

~ William Wordsworth, "To a Butterfly"

Yes, it was a banana plant. They have them growing all through the butterfly greenhouse.

"Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

Lemon Butterfly (Papilio demoleus).

A swallowtail butterfly (Papilio deiphobus rumanzovia).

Julia butterfly (Dryas iulia) is such a bright one to spot.

This Atreus owl butterfly (Caligo atreus) is the most amazing blue on the inside but we were unable to capture a photo of in with its wings open.

When we left the greenhouse, I bought this pretty bookmark to share with one of my readers. Jos snapped a photo of it before it was kindly giftwrapped for me to give away. All you have to do is leave a comment and perhaps tell me about a butterfly you see in your garden regularly. Everyone loves having a pretty bookmark to stich out of their favorite summer book. I will draw a winner by the end of this week. Please leave your email address if you do not have a blog so I can contact you if you win.

Life lessons among the blueberries?

Odd title for this entry? All will be revealed...


We went to Cranberry Cottage a day earlier than we normally do last weekend. Friends are staying at a campsite near us and we had them come for the day on Friday. One of the things the men do each summer is pick blueberries.


This year, the women decided to tag along. I picked with Jos last year often and enjoyed it so my girlfriend wanted to try it too. There were many berries ripe while there are many more to go back for more.


It was so very hot that day but we set to work...


We brought home a bucket full of blueberries and a small container of red currants. I froze some of the blueberries to enjoy in the winter season.


Soon we will be picking these blackberries but they still need a few weeks in the sun. Now speaking of the sun...it was just baking down on us so I finally thought it best to give up and get myself out of the sun. I told the men we were going across the street to a shop to cool off.


Now for 4 years, I have passed this shop and never bothered to go in as I thought I wouldn't find anything there being a rotan (wicker furniture) shop. It does not look all that interesting from the outside and I don't buy any wicker furniture after watching my cats destroy some pretty chairs we used to have. Remember the saying 'Don't judge a book by its cover'? This has proved to be very true here! We were greeted by the owner as soon as we stepped foot in the front door and said we just wanted to browse. A moment later, he asked us if we would like a cup of coffee or tea. I said tea would be nice to the shock of my girlfriend who is not used to the hospitatility of people in the north of Holland. She felt like she was imposing. She was later glad I did say yes as we were sat at one of the beautiful tables for sale in the showroom and enjoyed a little refreshment. Doesn't the cookie look fun and it tasted so wonderful too.


I wanted to drink up and get shopping as I worried the men would show up too fast. They were among the blueberries in a panic that we took off to shop after all. Little did I know that a little shopping angel was watching over us that day. The men did show up not long after and the owner showed them to a set of outdoor chairs in front of the shop and made them fresh coffee while we continued to shop.


Oh heavenly bliss! The owners of this shop have used an English country style theme with their rotan instead of the normal Eastern exotic theme. It was just the most wonderful shop that to my very surprise was full of the most wonderful accessories. We literally did not know where to look next.


This framed portrait of Willem of Orange is now living with me. My girlfriend bought it for me as a gift.


The owners also sell pretty Dutch oak furniture and each piece is accessorized in the showroom to make it look like a house.


I love these Victorian look lampshades and never did get around to asking if he sells them seperately or only with the lamp itself.





If you would like to see more of this shop, check out the website here. If you are ever in the village of Wilhelminaoord in the north of Holland, it is most certainly worth the stop. I have learned that you should not judge a shop (oops book) by 'its cover' or you could be missing out on something really great.

Alas, we had to stop shopping and pay for our treasures so we could go home and put our own shoes by the fireside just like the photo. By the way, this pretty vase also came home to live with me. Can you see me smiling?

Brown paper packages.....

Sunday evening, we picked up two packages that the postman left with our neighbors over the weekend while we were gone. One of these packages was a surprise from a very sweet blogging friend Mary. If you have never seen Mary's blog AcrossThePond, do go and enjoy her beautiful home, front porch and garden.

As I pulled the package out of the padded envelope, I found a beautiful box wrapped in white tissue paper. I just love Pre~Raphaelite paintings so to me this box is itself a real gift.


The back of the box is also very beautiful but when I lifted off the pretty ribbon saying 'imagine, wonder & dream'...


I found the box was personalized with the letter 'H' and filled so prettily that I almost did not want to take things out to look closer. But curiousity would get the better of me so look I did!


In the floral tissue paper I found a gift which was a vintage eyeglass case. And laying next to it was an adorable card...


It instructed me to 'Open & Read' almost like Alice in Wonderland. This is the cutest idea Mary and I have never seen it before. I will save this to hang on a sewing Christmas tree in my quilt studio.


Inside the eyeglass case was a pair of vintage eyeglasses. I collect them and love adding this pair to my little collection. These are so fun as they are a very strong perscription and have bifocals in them. Who were they made for I wonder? Eyeglasses are great fun to use when decorating.

I thank you my dear friend from the very bottom of my heart! I will treasure these and think of you often when I see them. I think of you often anyway Mary!

"What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies."

~ Aristotle ~

Reminiscence

"It is never too late to have a happy childhood."
~ Tom Robbins

I really enjoyed reminiscing with you about childhood memories. When I awoke this morning, I had no idea what I wanted to post on my blog. I then read the latest comment from Tanya and was still thinking of the joys of childhood things. I loved reading her story about winning a coloring book from her childhood on eBay. I don't think it is silly as it takes us back to fond moments and endearing people when we discover things of childhood.


I found this antique cradle when I was shopping with a friend about 3 years ago. It was perfect for the tiny doll's quilt I had just made from castoff corners of another quilt. I sewed these cut off corners together to form little pinwheels and the size of the doll's quilt was determined by the amount of scraps I had. Still, when I saw this cradle, I knew it was just the right size! My friend was amazed that it really was just the perfect size when we got it back to my house.


I set to work making this old fashioned mattrass. Even though you don't see it now as it is covered with the sheets, pillow and quilt, I wanted to know it had its own little mattrass.


The sales lady told me the cradle was probably from Eastern Europe. It has sweet painted sides. The front and back are of a man and woman dancing.


The sides have roses painted on them.


The cradle sits happily in my living room as decoration and a reminder that we never really grow up if we are lucky.

Do you have items from your childhood or things you have purchased that remind you to always search for the child still inside you? I am really looking forward to reading your comments so please stop in and say hello...

"There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again."

~ Elizabeth Lawrence

Wilbur?

Each Saturday, we drive out in the country to buy our fresh eggs. For ages, we never noticed a tiny patch of garden put aside for a pig. One rainy day, I noticed this beauty out in the mud. Oh, glorious mud! This year, she has given birth to her family of piglets which we see grow each time we drive by.


Not only the family has grown but also the pig's space. In the left corner of this photo, you can see the old and much smaller fenced area for mother pig. When I jumped out of the car to take the photo, one pig who looks to be the runt was looking up at me from a little hole dug behind Mother Pig. In the first photo, he is standing beside Mother.


It brings to mind my 5th grade teacher Mrs. Greer. Do you ever wonder what happened to your teachers all these years later? She was so wonderful and loved reading books aloud to us each day. She read things like Charlotte's Web, The Trumpet of the Swan and James and the Giant Peach. She brought Charlotte and Wilbur, Louis the swan and James with his wicked aunts, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker, along with his fantastical insect friends to life for me.

Each year, she would take a handful of her best students to go on a camping trip with she and her husband. I got to go and can still remember things from that trip. We had to create our own little stove top from an empty coffee can. On it, we were supposed to fry our only egg and a piece of bacon. She only had enough eggs for one each and mine slipped off the can as I, very silly child that I was, placed mine too much on a sloop. The bacon was tasty though! *grins*


Do you ever see something that sparks off deeper memories like I have had with these pigs?