A Jar of Summer

Fantastic News!!!! Today the sky was blue! There were cute little fluffy white clouds! There was actual, real, bonafide sunshine! There was also rain this morning, but after the rain had been and gone we were left with a beautiful gem of a day. Thank goodness! It's been wonderful to go out without a rain coat on, to feel some gentle warmth in the air, to feel light and happy and summery all of a sudden.

To celebrate, I picked flowers. Flowers with no soggy petals, flowers that looked and smelt of the sweetest summer day.

This little jar contains a mix of summer flowers from my back and front garden.

Alchemilla, sweet peas, nasturtiums, honeysuckle, rose and blue marguerite. Oh, and that clumpy green foliage on the right is an unopened hollyhock flowerhead which a mean and nasty slug/snail chewed through. Yes, there was bad language, a whole stream of verbal abuse came forth. I don't expect the flower will open in my jar, but you never know. Pesky molluscs.

Aren't they beautiful? So so so beautiful. I look at this modest arrangement in it's little glass jar and the sight truly moves me. I am such a sucker for simple, vibrant flowers.

Whilst gazing lovingly at my Jar of Summer this afternoon, it suddenly struck me that during the past week or two I've been crocheting those exact same floral shades right into the end of my ripple blanket. Aren't the colours remarkably similar? Funny to think that this blanket is now spanning all four seasons :: it started in Autumn, passed through Winter and Spring, and will end in Summer.

Now do you want to see something funny?

Well not funny as such, but definitely illuminating.

I want to show you the power of macro photography, combined with artistic cropping.

The above photos are all so lovely don't you think? They make my heart sing when I look at them. They are all close-up studies of a small object in a small area. There is, of course, a reason for this.

And that reason is quite simply that my house is in a huge, chaotic mess!

Look...............................................................

Crikey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, there's a bit of honest reality for you. It's not pretty around here at the moment.

Righty-ho, lets move swiftly back to the subject matter, that Jar of Summer.....where is it in amongst the mess?

Gosh, that's better. The table is now clear(ish) cos I had to sweep everything off in order for us to eat dinner.

Isn't this a delight? It was about 5.45pm and the sun was streaming in through the dining room window lighting up the flowers. I felt like I wanted to stop time and just sit and worship the visual gorgeousness of sunshine, shadow, petal and leaf.

The colours of nature are truly wonderful ♥

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

Comments

[Ada Bea]

I can almost smell those flowers! Ada :)

[Hazel]

Funny but wonderful post! x

[WoollyBudgie]

It is a stunning jar of summer and your house always looks lovely, even with a little chaos! Rachel x

[Sandra Licher]

Oh, Lucy, it IS beautful! Those colors are just gorgeous...what can I say? Did you grow them all yourself? Were those all those little seeds you planted in your bowls and had in your greenhouse thingy? It's a miracle isn't it? You DO have a green thumb for sure!
I love your ripple and I was thinking about you last night while I was working on my granny stripe table runner. I get so nervous picking out the colors and I even ordered your Stylecraft colors and yarn but still when it's time to change colors do you have a system or do you just pick up the next in line? Your stripes and ripples are so pretty! Just curious.
Glad you have some sun and I hope we get some rain! LOL!
I'm on Ravelry and joined the Year of Projects Blog Along group. I love it! It's very motivating and inspiring. You should join in! It's so fun to see everyone's FO's and WIP and future fiber dreams! I hope the sun continues to shine on you!
P.S. Even your little messes are pretty! At least you don't have big gobs of dog hair roaming the house! LOL!

[Rachell]

Very very envious; we're having huge torrential rain storms today. I long for summer proper!
Wondering what the blue crochet(?) on top of the basket is as I'm very nosy! The room doesn't look that messy to be honest.

[Faith]

Huge , chaotic mess or not, it is still beautiful, the flowers are sunny and happy and I bet the honeysuckle makes your house smell like summer too.

[RainStorm]

I loved seeing a spot of sun today too :) The ripples are looking great - you always seem to pick the right combinations of colours! I have to do the same type of "artistic cropping" with the pics for my blog, although I have a whole load more mess to crop out!

[Linda]

Those flowers are beautiful so pretty, How nice to see the sun shinning for a change, it's still raining here. Mess what mess :)

[Noelia]

Happy summer and enjoy :)

[lydia @ Twelve]

You are so refreshingly honest, better han those oh so staged pictures of perfectness.....
Love the colours of your flowers...

Lx

[Naomi]

Your house is is beautifully "lived in"! I don't think a home should look like a show room anyway :) You should see my living room currently... piles of crochet & creativity, piles of books, piles of baby toys & clothes and the last few unpacked boxes from our move 4 months ago... now thats a huge chaotic mess! Ahh at least it's a happy mess :)

I'm so glad you haven't been swept away by the rain and that you are finally getting some sunshine. Down in the South East it seems to be getting steadily wetter :/

Adoring your flowers as always :) xxx

[Cindy]

Hi Lucy,

Hey I have a question for you about your ripple blanket. We, at Groovy Girl Yarn, are making a ripple blanket. I was wondering if your colors are in any specific order...is there a pattern to the stripe colors, or do you just pick a color and put it on randomly? Just wondering.

Cindy Bee

[Rachael Iddon]

Ah, you made me laugh. I soooo know that feeling of sweeping everything off the table to get dinner on to it. Those flowers look delightful and the last picture reminds me of an old fashioned still life oil painting. Glad you had some sun and could remind me of what blue sky looks like.

[Gracie]

Hi Lucy! Your flowers are lovely!
I am working on a granny square blanket using your Stylecraft Lucy Pack colors
Thanks for your inspiration!
The sun is finally shining here near Portland, OR, too! Hooray!
Gracie <3

[Jeanet Jaffari]

Dear Lucy,

Your flowers are really beautiful!!! And what mess???? You know it: Good moms have sticky floors, dirty ovens and happy kids. Ánd flowers.... :-)

[Patti Johnson]

Loved the pics of the flowers on the table with the lighting & the shadows! So glad you finally got a taste of summer. Here in Pa, USA we need the rain.

[Half Acre]

Your jar of summer is beautiful! Im happy you had some sunshine today and took time to enjoy it. Housework will always be there!

[patchcath]

très joli bouquet de fleurs, aussi coloré que tes ouvrages au crochet
ou inversement
j'aime vraiment des mélanges de couleurs qui dansent sur tes ouvrages
merci c'est un vrai régal

[Seaweed & Raine]

Your ripple looks delightful - especially those last few rows!!! And how gorgeous does that rose look with the light illuminating it's petals!!! Sigh. :)

[eskimo*rose]

That's not mess Lucy, its just everyday life, it makes a house a homely, warm, welcoming place to be ;o) (if it makes you feel better mine is exactly the same, esp at this time of year, we've all run out of steam - roll on the holidays!)... on an aside, how gorge does your ripple look with those flowers, perfection, it all actually looks summery - quite astonishing!
xx

[idiosyncratic eye]

Cute cloud. :)

[penny freshour]

A beautiful mess....:)
penny x

uh..oh...don't tell me those shelves of DOOM
have returned...those pesky shelves!!! haha

[Sue]

The flowers are lovely. Mess? Looks like a normal house of a young family with three kids.

[Jess]

Happy Summertime! And I'm smitten with the red to pink to blue to green to yellow to orange bits of the blanket. So gorgeous!

[Louise]

What lovely colourful flowers. So glad the summer has found you at last!