Giveaway on Sofia Barao's Blog

I have admired the artwork of Sofia Barao for a while now and she also makes jewellery, necklaces in particular one of which she is offering as a giveaway on her blog. The above photo is taken by Sofia and includes one of my favourite colours. The giveaway can be found here. Sofia also has an etsy shop where she sells her jewellery and another where she sells her beautiful artwork.

May Bank Holiday - Wightwick Manor

The weather was not very good this Monday and I felt like we needed some fresh air so we decided to go to Wightwick Manor, a National Trust property which is about half an hour's drive away. Although it was a little cold we went for a walk around the small but lovely garden:

There were quite a few plants and shrubs in bloom:

and bluebells in the wood made it feel really springlike:

Then we went for the obligatory cup of tea, apple juice and slices of cake in the Tea Room.

Lastly we went for a tour around the house which is full of William Morris wallpapers and fabrics (ideal for design and sewing ideas). There are also Pre-Raphaelite paintings, including one by Edward Burne- Jones. The house is quite big and we only saw the downstairs. Although we wen't there very long (a couple of hours) I felt that we had seen quite a lot, and blown some cobwebs away!

Spring

Visited my friend's last week and she had a thrush's nest in her magnolia tree. When I visited the babies were very fluffy and almost falling out of the nest! Click on the photo to see their little beady eyes. I was surprised how close to the ground they were and hoped that they would survive. Apparently they have all flown the nest now and my friend is hoping that the nest will be used again.

Last year I bought these wood anemones above from a local plant nursery and was really pleased that they came up again this year. The colour is a lovely delicate shade of blue.