AMETHYST GARDENS IN INDIA

Good Morning to you,

When it is very sunny and your feeling very hot.... what do you need?

Why a very cold Kiwi Cooler and a Lime Soda Cooler to quench your thirst.

As you can see from the photograph it was a very hot day when we decided to go for lunch at Amethyst. What am I saying, every day was a very hot day.

......and what a glorious place it was.  We were surrounded by the most luscious gardens, which I fell in love with. The sun was shining quite brilliantly, but we were sat underneath the canopied shade, with  a ceiling fan, gently circulating the air, to keep us cool. 

I did not take photographs of our lunches, because to be quite honest, we ate and enjoyed the lunch and it never occurred to me to take a photograph until after we had finished, and as lovely as our lunch was, it was the gardens which I wanted to show you.

Can you see why?

The pink flowers, on what I think is an Orchid Tree are  just so beautiful. Maybe you can tell me  if I am wrong, because to be honest I am not really sure.  What I am sure about is that the flowers are stunning.

....and what is there to say about this is an African Tulip Tree.... well there are so many words I could use, to describe the beauty of the flower, but I will just say, the beauty took my breath away. The colours of the flowers are so vibrant and with the blue backdrop of the sky....just perfect.

Now, I do know that Tulip Trees are grown in Atlanta, because the Sugar Hill Gang had a beautiful tree in their garden.  I had mistakenly thought it was a magnolia tree, because there is a similarity, but the Sugar Hill Gang's Tulip Tree was a beautiful shade of pink.

This fascinating plant is known as the Bird of Paradise and I grew the yellow version when we lived in Cyprus.  

A friend gave me some seeds which we planted in the ground in October, when we knew the rains would be arriving. The first year of planting, the seed was "settling in" and was finding it's roots, the second year, it grew quite quickly,  and produced lots of fern like, delicate leaves, which resembled a Maidenhead Fern, but the third year, it seemed to grow a mile a minute. The third year the plant  blossomed and was covered in these beautiful flowers. As I said, I grew the yellow version, so the flowers were yellow and the stamen, as in the photograph, were red....just so beautiful. The intriguing part about this plant is how it reseeds itself. Do you see the black  seed pods, well I shall tell you a tale.

George and I were sat in a shady part of our Cyprus garden, reading our books and just relaxing as it was siesta time, so all was quiet.  We heard what sounded like a ping, with something hitting the soil. This was during August, when the soil was very hard and cracked, so you could hear the sound of something dropping. We both looked up, but decided it could be anything, when we heard another ping and a few minutes later another.  We went to investigate in the vicinity where we thought the sound had come from, and there on the hardened soil, were seed pods, which were empty, so we looked around and discovered seeds which were quite a distance from the main plant.  This very clever plant, waits for the seeds to dry, then the pods open and the seeds are catapulted as far away from the main plant as possible, so as not to inhibit the growth of the mother plant.  Then all the seeds have to do is wait until the rains come, hopefully in October, to allow it to grow....how amazing is that.  

Now this little fellow tickled my fancy....do you know what it is.....yes, a baby pineapple.  Maybe you have seen pineapples growing before, but I certainly had not..... it is fabulous. I would love to own a pineapple plant to watch it grow, but the weather here, is certainly not conducive to growing sun loving pineapples.

Chennai is a very humid climate which is perfect growing conditions for the palms.

I grow this type of palm, planted in a pot, in my house. The trick to caring for these palms is not too much water, but they will thank you for  a fine mist of water to create  humidity around the plant.  

As you can see these palms can grow to enormous heights and because the conditions are just right they grow in abundance.

The colour of the flowers on this Crown of Thorns is just so beautiful. If you look closely you will see the spikes growing out of the stem.....be very careful when touching this plant.

Now this is a plant which I grow in my garden the Solanum Jasminoides or potato vine as I know it as. I love how the plants intermingled with each other to form canopies of shade.

......and this fellow, the Flaming Dragon Tree, is a plant I have grown on numerous occasions, as a house plant.  

Reading that sentence back it sounds as if I am always buying these plants, because they do not survive in my house, but that is not so.  I love growing plants, whether it is in the garden or in the house, but when you move as often as I have, plants cannot travel with you, so they were always given away to friends, who I knew would take care of them.

It is fascinating visiting hotter climates to discover just how many plants, which we grow indoors, are  grown outdoors......and we wonder why they do not survive without specialist care.

Gardening is such a large part of my life, I look forward to May, when I can start gardening again in earnest.  For those few short months, when the days are longer and much warmer when  I can lose myself in my garden for hours..... it makes me so happy..... and that time is almost here.

This week I shall be joining,

Sherry at No Minimalist Here

Haken at The Rose Garden in Malevik

Take care and I will see you later in the week.

BOSTON

Good Morning to you,

I awoke this morning and heard the dreadful news about the bombing in Boston.

I was so sad to hear about the tragic loss of life and to hear how many people have been seriously injured by the explosions.

My love and prayers go out to everyone who has a family member or friend who has been affected by this senseless act of violence.

You are in my thoughts.

With Warmest Wishes,

IVY'S COOKERY BOOK

Good Morning to you,

I am pleased to say we had a beautiful, sunny day yesterday.  George and I went for a long walk and it was so lovely to feel the sun on our faces again.

Sorry to be so English, but you know how we always like to talk about the weather, it is a part of our make up I'm afraid.  When the sun shines and it feels so much warmer, it makes me feel  happy, and  people you pass on the street smile as well, so, I have to talk about it, as the sun might disappear tomorrow and not return for another fortnight.

On Friday I had a lovely surprise. Nowadays, most of the things which drop through my letter box, are either bills, brochures or circulars, or since I have passed 60 years of age, I receive a range of brochures informing me of what I am suddenly in need of......you know, things like chair lifts!!! but  I will not go into that.

It was not always that way, I used to write and receive lots of letters, but I will talk about that another time. So you can imagine how pleased I was to receive two lovely pieces of post. The first was, this lovely card.

Do you remember a little while ago I told you about Ivy's Cookery Book, well, I opened the envelope and what a surprise I received. It was a card depicting The New Radiation Cookery Book, circa 1933.

Look a little closer at the pinafore....isn't it gorgeous. I could not decide if the pinafore was smocked at the waist or if shirring elastic had been used. What do you think? Which ever was used, it certainly looks pretty.

Do you know, I don't think I ever saw Ivy without a pinafore, whether she was cooking, baking, washing or cleaning.  She always used a pinafore to cover her day clothes, so at the end of the day when she was ready to settle for the evening,  she would remove her pinafore....or pinny, as she called it, and her clothes were still neat and tidy.

Phyllis wore pinnies, but the ones she wore were half pinnies.  Phyllis said they were much more fashionable when she was a young married women and she would not have dreamt of wearing a full pinny as they were so old fashioned. What is it about us women and fashion! 

Do you see the egg slicer, on the right hand side. I am sure this style of egg slicer can still be bought nowadays.

I remember Ivy using one of these, they made the slicing of eggs so much easier, as they were cut in a uniform width. The sliced bread was buttered, thinly or as thickly as you could afford, then the sliced eggs were laid onto the bread, the second slice was then placed on top.  I know you all know how to make a sandwich, but I was describing the process, just to reach this point, as it brings back happy memories for me.  The next stage and most important stage to my mind,  (remember I was a little girl) was cutting the bread, not in half, oh no, but into small triangles. Which I loved! they looked so delicate on a tea plate and just right for little hands to pick up.

Looking at the ingredients on the table, I think this lady was preparing an egg salad.

Pyrex dishes were fashionable in the 1930's and I remember when I was married in 1970, I was given quite a few different sizes of Pyrex  dishes as wedding presents. Do you remember, you used to buy one large, one medium and one small casserole dish, with lids.  I used to stack them, one on top of the other, on my open kitchen shelves....this was before fitted kitchens became fashionable. I used the Pyrex dishes for many years, but with moving, slowly one by one, they chipped or broke, but I visited a Charity Shop before I went to India and found three in different sizes just like the one in the picture. I love them as they are so easy to clean, even the most stubborn stains are removed with a little soaking. 

Do you see the little jug with the stopper in the top.  This is how vinegar was decanted by Ivy. They were gorgeous little glass jugs, the only problem was, that as lovely as the jugs were, even if you were careful and only lifted the stopper slightly, nine times out of ten, there was always too much vinegar pouring out. Years later, I used my vinegar jugs for olive oil.

I thought I would remind you what Ivy's book looked like, a little dogeared now, but well used, and certainly well loved. 

I loved the words "A selection of proved recipes".
Now take a look at the next page showing the various editions of the book.

Do you see the sixteenth edition, February 1933? This is the date shown on the card.

Who would have thought. I had not seen anything to do with Radiation Cookers before, so to see this card was such a surprise and such a thoughtful gift. I have decided to buy a frame for the card and hang it in my sewing room where I can see it daily.

My second piece of post I will share with you later in the week.

Before I go, I think I should mention, that as cold as it has been in the North of England, nothing compares to what Debbie from Our Old Homestead

has had to cope with.....16 inches of snow.  Debbie said the snow started on Thursday morning and of Saturday morning it was still falling. It would be lovely if you could pop over and say hello, I can not imagine what it is like being snowed in like that.

This week I shall be joining,

Karen from Sew Many Ways
Claudia from Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Take care and I will see you later in the week.

COTTON STREET

Good Morning to you,

Do you love material?

Do you love scouring shops for that perfect piece of material?

You do.....well I have a treat for you today.

My favourite place, in the whole wide world for material....now that is quite a statement, is Cotton Street in Chennai....and I was taken there by Natasha for my Mother's Day treat.... I was in heaven....let me show you why.

There are so many fabulous material stalls, standing shoulder to shoulder along Cotton Street. They set up at about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, when the sun has past, as this allows the stall holders to sit in the shade. It also makes it a much more comfortable experience whilst browsing, although we did carry umbrellas to protect ourselves from the sun.....just in case.

Can you feel my excitement.

  

I could not begin to count how many stalls there were.  The stall holders in this photograph had finished laying out their materials and were just waiting for their customers to arrive......us!



As you can see, there is nothing fancy about these stalls, but what they are, is jam-packed with different sorts of materials.  There are silks and cottons. There are beautiful upholstery materials. There are patterned materials and plain materials. You could buy material by the bolt or by the yard.....the stall holders preferred you to buy by the bolt, but I had to think about the weight of my suitcase when flying home.

I think I shall let you into a little secret.  Natasha has a large box which she has labelled "Mum's Box", so that anything which I cannot pack into my suitcase is left in this box, either for Natasha to bring to England or for me to collect when we return.  I think if I remember correctly, I left a lot of clothes and fitted in the material....well you would do the same wouldn't you???

......and no there is not a "Dad's Box", as he shares my box, except he never puts anything in it! I think I shall leave it at that!

The one thing we had to learn how to do, was to haggle.

As we were walking along the street, a lady who had been at a previous stall buying material, walked up to us and whispered, yes whispered, that whatever the stall holder quoted as a price, you halved the price and added 20 per cent.  It was very kind of her to help us and this was a useful piece of advice, but I have to say we were both more than happy with the prices on offer.

Here is Natasha buying material. She is holding on to her own handbag, as well as mine, I was supposed to be browsing at another stall, as Natasha had taken my handbag, to allow me to look more freely, but I crept up behind her and took this photograph.

Are you counting the carrier bags in the photograph?

You are aren't you. 

You will never guess how much material we bought, as the bags were filled with different types of material and they were also lined up in front of Natasha..... I know.....exciting!

Would you like to see a couple of pieces of material which I bought?

Well, this material did have my name on it.....didn't it.

......and this piece was just calling out to me. You know my love affair with hearts.

The plan had been to stroll down Cotton Street, to look at each of the stalls and then to decide what we would buy.  We were very good, we passed Stall number one, mmm, yes very nice, then onto Stall number two.....yes extremely nice, by the time we had reached Stall number three.....well we were bursting at the seams to buy some material.... no I have to be truthful....I WAS BURSTING AT THE SEAMS TO BUY SOME MATERIAL.  I know, I know, I should have stuck to the plan, but honestly I couldn't, the excitement was just welling up inside of me.

I was like a child in a sweet shop. 

Do you know, this was only about the 8th stall, there were so many more further along the road, but we were so happy with the material that we had bought, we decided not to go any further.

We could not wait to take the materials from the carrier bags to "show and tell". 

We did not even stop for a coffee, we drove straight home. Trust me, we were so excited about our purchases, we discussed each piece of material in the back of the car on our way home.

When we arrived home, we showed George and do you know he just rolled his eyes and said "Oh no, not more material!"

I just don't know what he means!

This week I shall be joining,

Kathryn at The Dedicated House

and

Natasha for Say G'Day

(I think I should mention, this is not my daughter, Natasha)

Take care and I will see you later in the week.

A 1950'S COMPACT

Good Morning to you,

If I were to ask you, which era you thought the most elegant for women, I wonder what your answer would be. For myself, it would have to be the 1940's and early 1950's. 

For me, the cut and style of the dresses, jackets and coats were beautiful.  I love the fitted designs which enhanced a woman's shape. 

How exciting it must have been, dressing-up on a Saturday night, to go dancing at the local ballroom. The first decision, would be choosing a dress to wear, then you would choose the stockings, after that, you would decide which pair of  shoes to wear and  which handbag went with the outfit.  In the 1940's and 1950's a woman would choose matching shoes and handbag. Then the fun would be adding the jewellery to  enhance the outfit......but there is something missing.

Think about the contents of your handbag, you would have a small purse, a handkerchief, a lipstick and can you think of anything else a women would need? Have, you guessed it, something just as important as a lipstick......a compact.

This compact I am going to show you is a vintage, early 1950's compact, and I know Pam from Pamluvspink is going to adore it.

Have you ever watched a 1940's film, to see a woman reach inside her handbag and bring out a beautiful compact to powder her nose.

Alas, the time of compacts has disappeared as face powder for women has radically changed.

This compact is beautiful. The compact has been made into a shell design, which is gorgeous, with the added bonus of the rhinestones decorating the centre of the lid of the compact.

This is the reverse side of the powder compact. I would have expected a plain back, but no it is as exquisite as the front.

Press the catch, to see the beautiful interior.

The mirror has a couple of slight marks, but this can be forgiven because of it's age and after all it was   used and loved.  

Again, look at the detail, this powder lid could have so easily been plain, but no, again the pattern is exquisite.

Press the little clip down and the compact opens to reveal,

a gauze sifter, which was used if loose powder was added to the compact.  

....and what does every woman need to go with her compact.....a beautiful lipstick of course. The lipstick is not a 1950's lipstick, but an Estee Lauder lipstick which I bought in the 1980's.  I do not use it, but I kept the lipstick because I loved the container and if I was ever to use powder, this is a lovely little duo.

I remember both Ivy and Phyllis using compacts and Phyllis said, you always had a beautiful compact, to take out of your handbag, when you were going somewhere special. 

Have you guessed who owned this compact.  No not Ivy, but Phyllis.  This compact was given to Phyllis when she was a young married women and she used it when she went out on a Saturday night.

.....and can you guess who gave Phyllis the gift? Yes you are right, it was Ivy and Gramps. Phyllis said it was a very generous gift to be given and one which she treasured.  She also said she loved taking the compact out of her handbag and using it to powder her nose on a Saturday night.

This week I shall be joining,

Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesdays

and

Claudia for My Favourite Thing

and

The Honeysuckle Bus Stop

Take care and I will see you later in the week.