The morning after...

Next day dawned bright and hangover-less (that's the joy of tea!) and I wandered around taking more pictures of Helen and Dave's lovely house. I'd slept under a quilt she made, which is quite the loveliest thing. I couldn't quite get it stuffed into my overnight bag...

She has inherited some lovely things from her parents, including these two seats covered in 1970s fabric...

On the landing sits this little blue chair, and a beautiful cupboard, with three panels painted by Helen. Elsewhere, a cushion up-cycled by Helen from a tiny quilt she made...

One surprising addition to the decor was discovered in the shape of various heights recorded by some of the guests the night before, next to where the kids' heights have been noted...!

As the five of us sat around the table chatting, breakfast moved into brunch, with home-made sourdough bread, mushrooms and eggs  - Dave wandered out into the garden and came back with a couple of very fresh eggs which he placed in my hands. One was warm, the other was verging on hot - as if he'd had his hand under the chicken's back end, waiting for the egg to plop out! And it was a double-yolker!

The duo suggested that (if they really felt they couldn't come empty-handed) folk might bring a copy of their favourite book as a birthday gift  and my contribution was Four Hedges by Clare Leighton. It's a book filled with Leighton's own beautiful wood engravings, and is a gentle, and affectionate, account of a year in the life of her garden - which seemed appropriate for this pair. We headed out into their garden to say hello to the chickens. They are huge things, up close! But their feathers are soft and lovely, and their gentle calls are so sweet!

Into the studio for a last wistful look around (so much lovely stuff, so little money!) and to have my vase photographed and wrapped up for the journey.

Until next time! xxx

*******

The journey home was almost as long-winded as the journey there, with delays and crowded trains, but, as always, my 'creative' eyes were opened by spending time with these loveliest of friends, and I amused myself by taking all sorts of photographs while I waited at different stations...

And look, moiré fringes - which my brothers taught me about, using the net curtains on the kitchen door, when I was very young. At the same time, they also tried to get me to learn the lyrics to 'She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah!' by the Beatles, which appalled my mum, but that's another story!