Tulip ♥ Love

The hyacinths on my mantel are in full bloom and are looking very pretty indeed.

They have quite a light fragrance, much more delicate than the blue ones I had last month. But as lovley as they are, I confess I can't help myself from wishing that they were a proper rich, deep pink colour, rather than this very pale pink. I do really like my interior floral accents to be vibrant....

....like these tulips. Ahhh that's better, a good punchy shout of vibrant colour!

Aren't they gorgeous? I bought them from the market on Friday, five stems of happiness. Mr Plant Man had several buckets full of tulips of all different colours, but I instantly fell in love with these fiery coloured ones.

I have always loved tulips, I suspect mainly due to the vast, vivid colour range. They seem so luxurious to me, and yet a small bunch only costs a few pounds at this time of year.

Whilst I was tidying up the considerable mess on the dining table this afternoon and arranging my tulips, I also decided it was high time I sorted out my mantel. It was still bare following the removal of Christmas, and the jug of bare twigs was making me feel a little sad. So I strung up my crochet heart garland, and decorated the twigs with the Teeny Tiny Hearts I made two years ago.

And I put all the sweet little miscellaneous objects back up there that mean so much to me. The mug of feathers, the little tin plaque of Robin Hoods Bay (one of my favourite places in the whole wide world). The little house tin that holds my white angel feather, gorgeous Miss Fleur. The wooden ladybird that was given to me by my grandparents when I was three and has the date 1971 written on the back in biro. The china toucan that was given to me by a family friend when I was in my teens, and has moved through every single house move with me (thirteen in total). The ceramic house number 24 bought in Barcelona.

And there are a couple of new things up here too....do you like the sweet little tin globe I bought a few weeks ago from the local antique shop? It's an old child's one from the 1960's and I just fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. I've been looking for a globe for years as for some obscure reason they really appeal to me. But I've never managed to find one that was affordable enough or charming enough, until this one that is.

Next to the globe, you can see my latest purchase which arrived in the post this week. Again, it was love at first sight, for I was deeply smitten as soon as my eyes touched upon it.

Isn't it lovely? It's a handmade mosaic picture made by the very talented Felicity at "Just Mosaics". I actually found it via her Facebook page :: Felicty was showcasing a number of her smaller mosaic pieces, and this was one of them. I really liked the sunflower and the sweet little clump of snowdrops, but it was this vase of tulips which really pulled at my hearts strings.

A few days after I bought this mosaic, I happened by chance to come across this image on the internet................

......WOW!!!!!!!!!!! Breathtaking eh? It shows an aerial view of the Dutch tulip fields, and I was completely mesmerized by it. Wow. wOw!!  I couldn't stop looking at it, and was compelled to go and drink in more images (type "dutch tulips fields" into Google and you will drown in the gloriousness of it all!)

It struck me immediately how Blanket-like these images are.

And it also struck me how very, very, very, very, VERY much I would like to see these fields for myself. Oh my. Can you imagine?! Can you just picture me hyperventilating with excitement and leaping around at the edge of these fields like a deranged colour-mad loon?!

Gosh, yes, that sort of trip would be a dream come true. I am trying unbelievably hard to persuade my family that we need a holiday to the Netherlands sometime in mid April. Failing that, I will be trying very hard to persuade my family that they can do without me for a few days in mid April while I run away to the tulips fields. I'll keep you posted on progress.

Meanwhile, back on the home front, my own creative colour journey continues. I've been working really hard on the Little Squares blanket for the Red Nose day Dolls and late this afternoon I finished. One Hundred and Eight teeny tiny crochet squares all patched and stitched together and turned into the cutest little blanket ever. My friends, it looks a-w-e-s-o-m-e. Really. As soon as I've blocked it out I'll share with you, you're going to swoon!

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Comments

[Debbie]

Wow! I love your love for colour. Thank you for brightening up my day again with your wonderful blog :) x

[RainStorm]

That mosaic is stunning! I have a mirror with a similar design (in paler colours, so wouldn't necessarily fit with your decor). It is lovely :)

[Cassandra]

Red and yellow tulips are my favorites. I bought some for my window a few weeks ago and now I am saving the bulbs to plant in my little flower garden. The tulip fields definatly have a blanketyness to them, I love it!

[actiu]

que belleza!!!!!!!y que colorido tan fantástico para una manta
gracias por esas imágenes
un besazo

[Mihaela Miron]

Hi!
I love your blog and your creations.
You are very talented!
Mihaela xoxo

[Patricia Brambley]

Dear Lucy,
You just have to make the bulb fields, they are a glorious sight that will live with you forever. I just loved them on our visit, and you can also buy the bulbs, which can be shipped to you at the right season to grow them.
Fingers crossed for you
regards,
Patricia Brambley

[Kerry Petley]

I love your choice of favourite place Lucy, it's mine too.

[Christa]

Lucy, lke I said on facebook, if you're coming to the Netherlands I'd love to show you the tulip fields and take you to see the flowers at the Keukenhof!

[Becca]

Wow! LOVE your mantel (as usual) and LOVE all the tulip photos! What a happy place to be this time of year!

[Clare]

wow what a feast for the eye's, all that wonderful colour to brighten a winters day. As always Lucy you're blog cheers me heart.

[Trudy]

Tulip love, I'm swooning!!! How amazing would it be to visit?!! Good luck with the convincing : -)

[Ariadne]

Thanks for showing us Just mosaics!She is a great artist!AriadnefromGreece!

[Rachael Iddon]

Well, surely you could fire up the caravan and hop on the ferry from Hull....Good luck planning a trip. I am trying to do likewise and loosing the will to live!

[Jan @ Handcrafted by Picto]

A beautiful post with lovely colourful pictures, I'm also now following The Red Nose Day Dolls on facebook, it's a great idea, thank you for the link :)

Jan x

[Jennifer B]

We have similar tulip fields north of Seattle (though not quite at the scale in the Netherlands I presume), and yes they are spectacular. Well worth a visit for the tulip love and color inspiration.

[Heather]

Ahhhh Robin Hood's Bay. My happy place. I almost don't want to tell people about it. Shhhhh! I love the tulips - mosaic, in the vase and aerial pics. And i love all these nix macs with their own stories that we collect through life. Lovely post.

[Helen]

Check out the ferries from Hull. They do various deals/trips so might be worth keeping an eye out for one.

[Marbada]

Hi Lucy, If you can persuade you're fam. that they can do without you for a few days I can offer you a room to stay. When you managed it just mail me.
Ofcourse I also want to drive you to and through these fields.

[rita]

Hola!!! estoy un poco lejos de ti, vivo en Argentina, pero descubri tu blog y te sigo desde entonces, me encanta el lugar donde vivis, tus creaciones, tus pequeñas compras, , gracias por compartirlas, me haces viajar y parece que te conosco desde siempre, como van las clases en la cafeteria, enseñas alli??, contame!! me encantan tus comentarios, y ojala puedas viajar a Holanda, mi sueño es viajar a Paris,, un beso, amiga del facebook, Rita.

[Lorena]

loooooovely!

[Paula Hendrickson]

My life has brightened considerably since finding you and your blog a couple of weeks ago. Truly.

[Thistle]

Thank you for sharing your beautiful treasures, Lucy.

[Tania]

Lucy, your mantel is so adorable and your blog is too :), you always brighten up my day :)), thank you :)). I now visit you at Facebook too, so glad you made a page there as well :)), I just followed the link from there to here :).

[Helen]

I love these tulip pictures, our local newspaper often has package tour deals for trips to places like the tulip fields, I'm often quite tempted to just pack up and go
Excited about seeing the progress of the Red Nose Dolls!
http://ahandfulofhope.blogspot.co.uk/

[Juliebricole]

Hi!
Congratulations! I just nominated you for «The Versatile Blogger Award».
Your blog is just so colorful life gets better after a visit!
Have a nice day,
Juliebricole