Monday 12 March 2012

Noticing.




A few things I have been noticing of late: how pretty spring flowers look when randomly popped into various containers. Camellias, muscari, hyacinth, forsythia and pale primroses - all so sweet and so much more me than hothouse flowers with their slightly forced air, though I would rather those flowers than none at all of course.





Onions: as I am told I say very frequently, I love onions in all their guises and varieties. Raw and juicy; red or white; spring, shallot, leek or whatever - they are all delicious and turn any dish into something exquisite (something else I used to say a lot according to my Mum.) Seeing a chopping board covered in onions ready for cooking quite honestly lifts my spirits just a little!





Seafood: I have noticed Mr Davey and I have been experiencing ravenous cravings for seafood lately. A sure sign that spring is here and the outdoors calls. I cooked these sardines with chillis, rosemary, garlic, white wine, onions (of course) and threw some rosemary & bay leaves in for good measure. Oh, they were good! Desperate for freshly gleaned mussels now so we must get going on dear mermaid while the season is right.





Isabella: I notice how proficient this little girl is in her cooking and cracking of eggs. I also notice how much I love her efficient hands which make me think of a lion cub's paws. So beautiful.





Lucy: I notice every day how beautiful our newly-turned-fourteen year old has become and wonder at the magic that takes them from tiny babies to this. I love that ever present smile and her wonderful sense of humour.





Cream: I notice I am drawn to the creaminess of all things just lately, whether the centre of this white camellia which turns to clotted cream against the window...




or the delicious hue of a Camembert in its little box, the top drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with thyme from the courtyard ready for baking where the creamy colour will become oozingly rich and dense, ready for crusty bread to dip into its unctuous centre. Mmmm...





Bees: I notice the bees are all around filling the air with their drowsy buzzing and hinting at the hotter weather to come - hopefully. This one was so drunk on pollen that it could barely move. Isabella and I moved it off the path and out of harm's way in the shape of Davey's boots!





Ethereal: I notice how often this word pops up in my head. It is another favourite of mine with its ghostly connotations and the misty coastline we have been experiencing in our part of Cornwall of late certainly makes it spring to mind. Shifting shapes emerge from out of the mist and form into vague outlines which may be cliffs or may be ghosts of another time...who knows as the mist rolls in once more before they are fully revealed.





Knitting: I am noticing how slowly my knitting is growing in the light of Davey's which will become a little stripy jumper for our grandaughter. It is already looking so sweet and reminds us of ice cream with raspberry sauce!





Pecan: I am definitely noticing the pesky Pecan waddling all over my garden when she should be in her pen! She is very large and rather clumsy, pushing through clumps of tulips and daffodils without a care in the world. There will be words.





And finally I am noticing how when there is only one slice of Davey's chocolate birthday cake left on the cake stand it get smaller and smaller without anyone cutting off the tiny slivers which render it so. Amazing isn't it really?




Nothing sadder in all the world than a lonely piece of chocolate cake is there?




What are you noticing? x

21 comments:

  1. Lovely post Pipany and great photos to illustrate it too.

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  2. I've been noticing all the little daisies coming into flower on our fields. And the tadpoles too. I might have to do a noticing blog! Wonderful blog as ever Pipany and that cake is just too irresistible!

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  3. Such gorgeous stuff throughout Pipany and I know I say this every year, but you guys are always at least a good two weeks or so ahead of us in the season.

    take care and have a lovely evening

    Nina xxx

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  4. Lovely photos. I have been mostly noticing the SUN!! Today we lay on a picnic blanket and noticed a beetle larva shedding his skin, a bumblebee cleaning his legs and a very bust ant. And this morning I noticed some escaped pansies growing in the road outside the post office. I love spring!

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  5. I really should not be craving baked Camembert and chocolate cake at 11 at night, but I am now!

    I have been noticing the buds on everything, and that lately I seem to be perpetually tired, and have been glorying in the former and worrying just a little what to do about the latter. Hopefully when spring in North Wales is as far on as it clearly is in Cornwall I shall regain my bounce!

    Great post.

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  6. Pipany, I am noticing just how marvelous your posts are! And also enjoying those extra minutes of afternoon/evening light since we turned our clocks forward last Sunday.

    xo

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  7. I am noticing that things in the garden are coming up - I can't believe that spring is, at least, six weeks early; so, I'm noticing the sound of the birds, how wonderfully sweet the relatively warm air is and how the sound of water fills my ears and, then, fades away again as I walk past the rivers.

    Such a lovely post but, like the lovely friends who have commented above, now, you've got me craving brie like crazy (well, worse than before)! Actually, oddly enough, last Monday, I had a 'creamy brie sandwich'(that's what it was called) - turkey, pesto, white grapes and brie on gorgeous bread. I think that a trip to the store, tomorrow, is pending...

    Goodness! I can't believe how much Lucy has grown. What a gentle and beautiful spirit is shining through in your picture of her. =] I love Bella's hands!!! =D

    xxo

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  8. Pipany, your photography is stunning, such a beautiful, colourful blog, so inspiring. I often smile and wonder at how my gorgeous big teenagers have evolved from such tiny babies, it feels like you shut your eyes at somepoint and missed them turning into 'biggies', what a lovely daughter you have, and so cute seeing Isabella's tiny hands baking. I thought the Camembert was a delicious lemon cake until closer inspection, and that fish dish looked scrummy. Enjoy xx

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  9. What a lovely post, Pipany! I haven't visited your blog before (obviously too dim to find the link from your FB page...). Glad I did today though!

    I'm noticing various signs of spring - from the snowdrops and crocuses of a couple of weeks ago, to buds on our baby plum tree (yay, we hoped it would survive the winter!), to the great tits coming out of the nest box with a little white sack (birdie nappies!), meaning there are babies in there... And I can wake up now, before the alarm goes off, because it is light!!
    Happy Springtime!

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  10. Lovely pictures, and lovely thoughts too - I also have a 14 year old daughter and your comments could easily be mine ( I think my younger one at almost 11 may be a little older than Isabella, but again, noticing the same!). Today, however, I am mostly noticing that it is *still* foggy outside my window. Must mean it's time for more spring cleaning..! x

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  11. What am I noticing? Well, I'm noticing I'd like to eat a couple of your photos, especially the slice of chocolate cake and I'd like to do some knitting. It's been a while. :)
    Jess xx

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  12. Hello Pipany, your blog is so uplifting. I'm noticing, the nights are drawing out, blossom is appearing on the trees,there are lots of jolly daffs popping up. Most of all I'm noticing how my little boy is growing ever more handsome and independent :)
    Twiggy x

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  13. It's been too long since I caught up with your lovely life!

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  14. Oh what spring loveliness! Such lovely flowers and girls and chocolate cake and everything! You've made me notice that I haven't been doing enough noticing lately so noticing is at the top of my list now. And your stitches are soooooo neater than mine! (that includes your knitting stitches too!)

    Kate x

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  15. Gorgeous pictures, so pretty and cheerful! I'm noticing the spring too, how each day a few more flowers and buds are opening in the garden and the evenings are a bit lighter for longer. Thank you for sharing such sweet home and family pictures.
    Helen x

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  16. Loving Ms Pecan, I would love ducks at the Fairyglade, but as you say, they have such big feet! We have had one or two misty days of late but today the sun is shiny, shiny, shiny, blue skies and everything. Yay! Dev x

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  17. Hi Pipany,

    Congratulations on your beautiful 14 year old daughter! How did you manage to get her in front of the camera? My daughters are never that keen.

    Your bouquet of spring flowers looks very pretty! I can't wait for my garden to bloom. I took the day of work tomorrow to do some work in the garden. There is still a part that has to look more respectable.

    Have a lovely evening,

    Madelief x

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  18. Lovely pictures! At the moment I'm noticing the amazing changes in the quality of light. Living at the other extreme of the British Isles (I can see the Orkneys from the end of my road!), the amount of daylight is increasing measurably at this time of year. It's the little things that are pleasurable, like driving to work without my headlights on!

    The knitting is lovely, the colours are yummy.

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