Fairy gardens

You might remember the post I did some time ago about fairies in our garden. They are busy little people as you can see.

And here they are in the meadow making a daisy chain.

I thought of my garden fairies recently when I read a Milly Molly Mandy story about the time she and Billy Blunt made a miniature garden in a dish.

I well remember making these tiny gardens in saucers and dishes when I was young. Our village fete always held a competition for the best miniature garden and these tiny worlds fascinated me.

What a lovely surprise to find a post about a pretty garden made for two tiny pals in the US. Below you can see Honey and Tilda working in their garden. It was cleverly created in a barrel by Lydia and her Mom at Blueberry Cottage.

I'm not showing you more of this garden because I'd like you to pop over to Blueberry Cottage and take a look for yourself. Its amazing what can be achieved from a few pebbles, shells, moss and twigs plus plenty of imagination and magic. The pictures bring back memories of the days when we created tiny worlds in dishes for our village fete . . . . . happy days!

Sunny days

The sun has been shining for a couple of weeks and the garden has suddenly burst into life. We tend to leave plants to ramble and do their own thing at the start of the season and as a result this pretty clematis is hanging in festoons over the dining room window.

Beneath it this pot of tulips is still blooming happily. The bulbs are from a 'surprise' packet that I bought in the autumn and I have indeed been rewarded by several nice surprises. My favourite 'surprise' has to be this gorgeous fringed tulip which reminds me of raspberries and cream.

Very close to the dining room window is this small acer tree. A thick carpet of heather grows underneath it and right in the centre of the heather a silly duck has decided to make her nest. She is currently sitting on a large clutch of eggs and so we are trying not to disturb her.

She has buried herself deep inside the heather so is well hidden. In the picture below you might just be able to see the entrance to the nest (left of trunk). We only have a small pond which isn't at all suitable for ducks so I have no idea what will happen if the eggs hatch and a family of tiny ducklings emerge looking for water. I'll keep you posted!!

Meanwhile, across the lawn there is typically a 'man at work'. As soon as the sun shines my husband contemplates a bit of stone wall building. We have a lot of loose stone around the garden so I'm happy for him to put it to good use.

This week he has just completed a pillar that he started building last year. I already have a pot planted with summer flowers ready to stand on top!

And so back to the flowers. This wisteria was a birthday gift 18 years ago. It was only tiny when I received it but now covers the house wall.

Inspired by the recent Royal Wedding some of my dolls are now wearing homemade crowns and when no one is looking they pick a few of my flowers to make tiny wedding bouquets. So far I haven't noticed the appearance of any Prince Charmings!

It seems my dolls aren't the only ones to be influenced by this royal event. Take a look at this tiny grandma doll who has made herself a sunny yellow outfit just like the one worn by the Queen. She even has her own clump of lily of the valley growing in her garden. You'll find her at Space within.

I hope you are enjoying sunny days in your corner of the world.

White on white

I was so entranced by the beautiful white and green floral displays at the recent Royal Wedding that I popped into the garden this morning and picked a few blooms for the house. Of course I couldn't resist showing you some lilac and apple blossom placed on delicate white lace over silk.

I especially loved the bride's bouquet which contained masses of sweetly scented lily of the valley. We have a small patch of this growing in a shady spot so I picked a few sprigs for the kitchen window sill.

The Victorians were passionate about lily of the valley and it was pictured on many of their greetings cards. The card below is from an old album and dates from the 1890s.

And here is a picture from a Victorian scrap book.

As this seems to have turned into a post about this beautiful bloom I'll leave you with one of Mary Cicely Barker flower fairies. Isn't she lovely?

Easter Greetings

Looking through my album of old postcards I found some Easter cards with postmarks dating from the early 1900s.

Edward VII was King when this Easter card was mailed

 on 19 April 1905

It seems a mother hen with baby chicks has always been a popular subject for Easter cards.

The card above showing a little girl finding eggs in the grass was mailed from Germany in 1903.

The pussy willow and kittens below date from 1909. I love pussy willow as it always reminds me of the classroom nature table at my junior school.

A Polish legend describes how pussy willow got its name. It tells how long ago some little kittens fell into a fast flowing river. Seeing their mother weeping on the riverbank the kindly willow trees along the water's edge swept their long branches down into the water. The drowning kittens held on tightly to the branches and were brought to safety. Since that time the willow has produced tiny fur-like buds on the tips of its branches every spring and we know it as pussy willow. . . . . . Isn't that the nicest story?

We don't have pussy willow in our garden but we do have cherry blossom which is often in bloom at Easter.

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now

Is hung with bloom along the bough,

And stands about the woodland ride

Wearing white for Eastertide.

Finally the pretty card below dates from 1911 and surprisingly it is the only one in the album that depicts the true reason we celebrate Easter.

I wish you all a happy and peaceful Easter.

Pencil Dolls

There's been much activity in the playroom this week as Posy has been teaching some of the dolls to knit. Yesterday, when they were squabbling over the coloured pencils Posy told them to each choose a pencil so that they could knit it a warm jacket!

 Each doll chose a coloured pencil.

Then they chose some yarn and fetched their knitting needles.

Next they carefully cast on 12 stitches and the race was on to see who was first to knit 10 rows. There were several dropped stitches along the way but with a little help and a lot of perseverance . . . . . .

. . . . . everyone eventually managed to complete 

10 rows of knitting.

The knitting looked quite neat although some of the yarn had become badly tangled.

Once all the knitting had been cast off it was Tilly's job to stitch a warm woolly jacket round each pencil. To do this she wrapped the knitting round the pencil and over-sewed the cast on edge to the cast off edge; then she closed the top.

When all the pencils had been given a warm jacket Tilly lined them up for everyone to admire.

The pencils looked very snug in their new jackets.

But that wasn't the end of the story . . . . .

When all the dolls were safely tucked into their beds Posy began making some little heads for the pencils. This is how she did it.

How to make a head

Cast on 12 stitches and knit 10 rows in stocking stitch (alternate a knit row with a purl row). Don't cast off. Cut the yarn leaving a 15cm (6in) tail and using a tapestry needle take the 12 stitches from the needle onto the tail and gather the knitting. This will be the top of the head.

Fold the knitting in half and stitch the sides together. This seam will be at the back of the head.
Stuff the head and make it really plump and rounded. Gather the open end and stitch it firmly to the top of a pencil (see below).

Posy made four little heads.Then she stitched on woolly hair and a smiling face. Finally she made little arms from twisted cord

The following morning the dolls got a huge surprise when they found their little pencil people waiting for them.

Now there will be no mistaking which pencil belongs to which doll as the little pencil people look a lot like their owners wouldn't you say?

If you'd like to make a Pencil Doll you'll need small amounts of double knitting yarn (light worsted in the US and 8 ply in Australia). You'll also need a pair of 3.25mm needles (US size 3)

Body - cast on 12 stitches. Knit 10 rows  in plain garter stitch. Cast off. 

Head - cast on 12 stitches, Knit 10 rows in stocking stitch (alternate a knit row with a purl row). Don't cast off. Cut the yarn leaving a 15cm (6in) tail and using a tapestry needle take the 12 stitches from the needle onto the tail and gather the knitting. This will be the top of the head. Use the text above for instructions about making up.

This pattern for Pencil Dolls and several other free patterns can be found in 'Posy's Pattern Patch' in my blog sidebar.

Meanwhile if you'd like to make any of the dollies featured in this post you'll find patterns for them in my Etsy shop and my Dollytime (UK) shop.