Visual Pleasures

It's Sunday evening and earlier on this afternoon I was looking through the photos on my camera and thinking to myself how lovely my days look from a purely visual point of view. All the photos in today's post have been taken this weekend, and nothing out of the ordinary has happened at all. Really it's been a very run of the mill sort of slow mid-March weekend spent mostly at home, and yet I look at these images and I confess I'm a little bit in love with the visuals of my life. And how wonderful that simple thought is! Lucky, lucky me. 

Yesterday my new house arrived, another absolutely adorable little bobbin cottage made by Helen of Thimbleville. I am really delighted with these houses, they make me sooooo happy and I have no idea why, so I'm just rolling with the joy they bring me and leaving it at that. They look unbelievably cute sitting on my mantel with a backdrop of old Observer books.

I had to pop into the supermarket on Friday and they were selling pots of hyacinths for £1.50 so of course I popped one in my basket to bring home. Yesterday I spent a little time re-homing the bulbs into an old stripy bowl, adding some homegrown moss and a little toadstool for good measure. What a difference it made, massively increasing the visual pleasure which I'll enjoy for many days to come.

Every time I bring bulbs into the house I get a thrill  of anticipation, and I hope that I never stop finding pleasure in keeping up these small seasonal rituals for myself.

I took some photographs of my lunch yesterday, like you do. I honestly have no idea what compels me to want to capture images like this, but there is something about observing the visual details of everyday life that really appeals to me. In the case of the above bowl of courgetti noodles, it was the beautiful colour of them - so vibrant and fresh looking, and somehow perfectly suited to mid March.

I don't know if you remember, but it was around this time last year when I bought this very clever little spiralizing gadget and got way too obsessed about eating courgette and butternut noodles for lunch. I haven't had them for a while (this kind of lunch is better suited to Spring and Summer I think) but yesterday I had a craving for them.

I added a little drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice to the noodles, with a liberal sprinkling of sea salt and a heavy grind of black pepper. I then plonked on my toppings - half an avocado which needed eating up, cucumber and tomatoes, with crumbled feta cheese....

....and ohmygollygosh it was exceptionally good. Such a simple meal that looked as good as it tasted.

After my lunch, I took advantage of the fact that I had the Big Chair to myself and settled down with a blanket, a cup of coffee and the latest issue of Country Living magazine. I drank in the Spring vibes on those pages and enjoyed soaking up all the little floral details and light, airy springtime colours. I adore this kind of seasonal inspiration and always feel uplifted by the stylish photographs and beautifully laid out pages.

Little Lady spent some time with me downstairs yesterday afternoon, and it was lovely to have her company. I noticed that she was carefully watching me as I danced around photographing my lunch and my flowers and my yarny pursuits and I have to say it was a bit odd being observed. I'm used to inhabiting my own world when I'm photographing and talking to myself inside my head, wrapped up in my own colourful bubble. Eventually I think I wore her out with my carryings on because she quietly snuggled herself down on the sofa with the Harbour blanket and had a nap with the kitty. It was as if she was four years old all over again.....ah, happy memories.

This weekend I've been crocheting, of course I have - I've been working on some designs that I'm doing for Stylecraft, a little secret project that I'm really, really enjoying but can't show you just yet. I can show you the yarn I'm using, it's the Organic Cotton which I love, in a pretty palette of sherbet shades. I can't wait to show you what I'm up to.

Part of my dancing around yesterday involved these beeeeeeautiful flowers, oh, they really are so, so lovely. I bought them yesterday,  and although they look rather posh and florist-esque, they were in fact from good ol' Morrisons. Not only that, but they were reduced in price - I found some buckets which had small bunches of single flower varieties which were only £1.25 for five stems, so I bought snap dragons and some very unusual carnations....

...just look at them!!! I've never seen carnations this colour before, kind of a dirty, vintage pink, aren't they stunning? And the tulips are also very beautiful and were only £3 a bunch. I need the flowers for some photographs I want to take for the aforementioned Organic Cotton Secret Squirrel project, so I felt justified in buying them. If you scroll back up, you can see how well they match the colours of the cotton yarn - I'm super pleased with it all, and have thoroughly enjoyed my creative time this weekend. 

I had some of the tulips in a jug in the kitchen and yesterday for a very short while the sun was streaming in through the window and lighting up the petals. Oh, I just swooned my woolly socks off right there by the fruit bowl, the sight of those sunlit flowers honestly took my breath away.

Today was a day with no plans, so I enjoyed a beautifully slow start to my Sunday. I was awake quite early when it was still dark but spent some time sat quietly in bed with a scented candle lit and a mug of milky coffee in hand.

You may think from these photos that all I do is idle around swooning over flowers, crocheting things and eating bowls of pretty food, but the weekends always include a number of chores too. There is the market food shop of course, and the cooking of the family meal each evening, plus laundry, always laundry. I typically do four loads of laundry over the weekend (whites, blacks, bright colours and pale colours) which entails a lot of running up and down stairs (the washing machine is in the cellar), plus sorting, shifting, carrying, folding and piling. I did get a little moment of visual pleasure when I folded up my freshly washed and dried woolly socks though, so there was that.

J and I went out for a walk this morning. The weather was grey and damp, but it's always good to get out into the trees to soak up a bit of nature. Look how green the wild garlic is looking, such a welcome sight.

I noticed that the early blossom is now blooming, and that really did make me happy.

These blossom trees at the edge of the woodland are always stunning, and the view over to the castle makes for a very photogenic Springtime scene.

We walked past the blossom hedge on the way home and my goodness it's looking so, so pretty. You might remember me showing it to you last year, it's just too lovely to walk past without wanting to capture it on camera. 

It made me think of the pile of crochet blossom waiting patiently for me to add it to my Winter-Spring Garland.

I had every intention of getting that finished this weekend, but then I remembered the Stylecraft project which has an actual deadline looming, so I needed to be sensible and prioritise my crochet time. Soon though - the garland will be coming to fruition in the next few days I hope.

Well that's all my photos from this weekend, I hope you've enjoyed seeing the little snippets that have brought me some very welcome visual pleasure, and that in turn they have delivered you some feel-good too. Ordinary day-to-day life can be really beautiful don't you think?

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Comments

[Gail]

Hi Lucy, my daughter is a florist at Morrison's they do have great flowers. Often the little reduced bunches are made from the large bouquets that don't sell so reducing waste. My daughter has taught me to trim tulips and put a two pence piece in the water. This helps keep the stems upright my last bunch lasred 2 weeks!!

[Tammy]

Always love your posts, but never comment. Your visuals are always lovely!! I don't ever recall having ever seen the castle you showed though. I will be in the UK this summer and plan on checking out MANY castles (we Yanks do love us a good castle - LOL!) and was wondering if this one has a name?

Tammy

[Lacey]

Morning Lucy,
I've been a fan of yours for a few years now, really since I got a magazine with a special on you back in 2016. Anyways, I just started working from home, and I gotta say, my favorite part is that my office is actually in my craft room right now. It's hard to not grab up my hook and crochet in my "down" time, but I will prevail. I wanted to say thank you for all the inspiration you've given me and I hope you continue your blog for a long time.
Sincerely, CrochetCricket-Lacey.

[Nora McGrann]

Just this..... ❤️❤️❤️💐💐❤️❤️.
... And THANK YOU!

[Erika]

Can't wait to see the stylecraft cotton project! Wonderful colors. Thank you for the reminders of the beauty in the ordinary and for sharing little snippets of your life. :)

[Miriam]

Very nice post as always,
Miriam

[Charlotte]

Lovely Little Houses. Since a recent move I no longer have a mantel and miss being able to place little visual pleasures there. Thank you for sharing your lovely pictures.

[Femke]

Thank you for sharing - I keep on saying that, but I really mean it! It's also a good reminder to enjoy the daily visuals, because it's too easy just being busy with the daily 'stuff', without really noticing all the beauty that surrounds us.

[BillieJo]

I could linger over your lovely photos for hours! Thank you for sharing the beauty in your world. I love an afternoon in a cozy chair with a blanket and a good book. Have a cozy evening!

[Michele]

Such a lovely post! I especially loved all your crochet yumminess-the colors are so inspiring. The little thimble house is absolutely adorable and would be make me happy as well. Beautiful weekend!

[Louise]

So much pretty! Early spring is hands down my absolute favourite time of year. As soon as I see blossoms starting to appear on the plums and apricot trees my heart leaps! My 2nd favourite seasonal time of year is early autumn which I'm in now. It feels cool and fresh like Spring with flowers trying for a last burst of colour before having a winter sleep. xox

[Cathy]

Thank you for sharing that visual banquet for me to nibble on. I'm inspired to do some more intentional looking and seeing in my own world. xx

[Geeha]

Thank you so much for reminding us of the joys of the small things in life. We had an Ukrainian member of the congregation at church yesterday tell us about her mother and husband still there and I'd come home feeling very sombre. Definitely a day for counting my blessings.

[CJ]

Your photos are absolutely gorgeous and I love how appreciative you are always are of life, it is very uplifting. Those carnations are beautiful, I am looking forward to seeing what your Stylecraft project is, I'm a huge fan of organic cotton yarn. I treated myself to a container of 9 hyacinths today, they're a scrumptious colour (hyacinth 'Woodstock') so I shall take a leaf out of your book and pop them into a nice pot. CJ xx

[Linda from Boston]

I love the little bobbin houses. Adorable. Your flower pictures are beautiful. I used to buy a bouquet of flowers occasionally, but with this crazy inflation, I’m lucky to buy food!!!

[Miriam]

Thank you because you are doing more posts in this period. Thank you for what you tell us and the pictures you show us.
Thank you,
Miriam

[Rebekah]

So so beautiful, Lucy. As always! X

[Esther]

Hello Lucy,

Thank you for the wonderful visuals. Like you, I love capturing the visuals of life especially those right in front of my nose! My latest, which I am so head over heels excited about and have encouraged all family members, visitors, guests and I am even thinking delivery guys/gals, to come and see with me! It is in the garden and jellylike! Have you guessed it?! Another clue, you could say I have babies!!! Yes, I have frogspawn in my pond, how absolutely gorgeous is that?! It is especially special because I have been checking my little pond for over a week and seen nothing and then I saw (prepare self for rather sad news) a poor splattered frog on the lane and thought that was it, no baby frogs this year, but there IS. Excited here! Anyway, gone on a bit, thanks as always Lucy, it is a real joy sharing your family, homely days with you. I have a spiraliser too!!!

[Liz Hasler]

Just have to say that I love your descriptive sentences along with your lovely pictures! Thanks for sharing your life with us through words and pictures.

[Ann]

I love that you’re ‘blogging’ more often these days.
Can’t wait for the new Stylecraft project to be revealed I would really really like to crochet one of your designs in that gorgeous cotton yarn.
Keep up the good work of cheering lots of us up with your posts from beautiful Yorkshire. ❤️

[Jacqui]

Awww such a lovely write up and beautiful photos its the little things that make us happy. I have a serious case of octopusitus (cant stop crochetong them) and I got a big bottle of cif (jif) cream cleaner and that has tickled me pink cleaning away with it this morning. just sat down for an internet catch up and snack🐙

[She Thomas]

You really cheered me today. Thank you Lucy for the gorgeous photos.I have to remember the simple beautiful things in life and stay positive. Thank you again. You're an inspiration xx

[Elaine O.]

Thank you for your bursts of great visuals to delight my morning. I love how you have such a way with color in your plantings and crochet--and in your food. Your diet is so bright and cheerful and looks delicious; I'd love to see more of what you eat and how you make it look appealing.

[Maureen]

With all the troubles in the world it is good to focus on the simple things which give so much pleasure. A lovely peaceful blog which is a pleasure to read.

[Suz]

Gorgeous colours. Looking forward to seeing the garland completed. Xx