A touch of beach...

Last Saturday, when most of South-West England bowed under the sudden heat wave, we explored a few beaches in Wales, a first for me and a lovely new acquaintance indeed.

Ssschhhh, do not tell the man in the house, but the reason the beach bag seemed awfully heavy carrying back to the car, was a small number of beautiful stones, which - it turns out - are a lot heavier than shells...

This one, reddish and resembling a natural soap dish, has now settled into its new, dryer life style very well.

Oh, and today's second sssschhhh: the three clematis flowers were snipped off the newly planted climber, which the man so lovingly dug a hole for on Sunday...

Wishing you all a lovely week!

Three Cliff Beach, The Gower, near Swansea, Wales

And we ate the babies...

As I walked through the door, the man in the house came towards me, beaming with pride as he nodded at a colourful bowl he was holding out to me to appreciate.
- "Look", he said, immediately reminding me of our sons, when they hold a creepy-crawly from the garden right up under my nose to admire.
- "Look", he said again, "our first crop from the garden! Are you not going to take a picture?!?!?!?"

Indeed, it was a colourful sight. The garden-grown baby leaf spinach, together with the bought spring onions and red beetroot (both growing in our garden too, but not ready yet), all tossed in our pink Turkish bowl.

So I took a photo, tasted the colourful and mouth-watering symphony, and appropriately applauded the master gardener cum master chef.

And all was well in the Swenglish house.

A Great Lady...

Yes, she has figured on the Swenglish blog before...

... Mother Nature herself, who creates what human artists can only dream of...

See how gently she holds the Iris offspring, as if with two maternal, protective hands, until the newborn bud is ready to enter the world on its own and spread its petal wings...

And how human the delicate details of the adult flower look, the veins on the petals, the petals who in turn resemble tongues, or raised arms over an imaginary head, or body parts whose names are far too intimate to voice in a blog aimed at a family audience...

These irises (?) were picked on one of my recent evening walks. They grew by the side of the road, far away from any house or garden, and despite looking very tired, I could not resist bringing three stems with me home.

Even in their wilting stage, I find them breath-takingly stunning. In the photo above, some of the tired petals look like sleeping butterflies to me, with folded wings. Or am I just having a "Rothshield moment"? (The psychological test where you talk about what you see in a smeared-out ink blob, having folded a piece of paper in half after placing a blob of paint or ink in the middle.)

It does not matter what I may read into these blue babes, because what I see is beauty in its purest shape.

Mother Nature - my kind of artist...

Tinned token of love...

Dearest blog readers,

You remember the Swenglish blogger, having just promised you some peace and quiet...? Well, I will, I shall, I promise. But after all your kind, positive and absolutely heart-warming comments on my post yesterday, I just had to pop in today to give you all a small bunch of flowers. Just like that. Just for being you and for bringing me joy.

Sometimes less really is more, and with a bunch of wild flowers picked on my walk last night, stuck in a tin that used to contain sweet corn, resting on top of the ivy-clad stone wall separating our garden from our neighbour's - with this I wish you a splendid last week of May. I shall see you all soon again. Just not obnoxiously soon...

With love,

Helena

Time...

Dearest blogreaders,

Since I started blogging a few months ago, my ambition has been to post something every day, and with the exception of a few days when my laptop had crashed, The Swenglish Home has indeed made itself heard in the blog universe on a daily basis. The joy of reading lovely comments of old readers and new have fuelled my efforts, and some fellow bloggers have become friends, with whom the daily exchange of thoughts and kindness brings joy and positive energy.

Lately, especially with the glorious weather ushering young and old outside, and with the garden out-shouting the interior of the house in its need for attention, trying to keep up the daily blogging is proving rather tricky. Adding to that work, craft projects and a family, all moderately or profoundly neglected recently, well, a change is called for.

So, dear readers, from now on my blog entries might not appear every day, and my comments on your blogs may be found more scarcely, because I am taking some time to catch up with loved ones and with life, and to...

... blow dandelions!

( I am very fond of clocks, scruffy by time and neglect or scruffified to look the part, and the one above hangs at the top of the stairs to the first floor. The ocean of dandelions above could be found a few weeks ago just above the village of Castle Combe - whose church can be seen in the distance.)

Getting verbal with the vegetables...

Right at the back of our typically English long and narrow town house garden, is the vegetable section. A small green house, three vegetable beds and a very keen gardener can be found down there.

You might have been misled to think that yours truly is named gardener, but you would be mistaken. The man in the house, a former big city boy, has embraced country living, lock, stock and barrel (no, do not read into this metaphor any rifling hunting ambitions - not at all his cup of tea!), and I am now at the receiving end of endless borlotti bean concerns, or courgette conundrums. Personally, I am more for the finishing touches, like using the crops for photographs, decoration and - oh yes - eating...

Muttering complaints have been heard in previous years that I am not adequately involved in the growing process. Hints that I may not deserve to consume what he has nurtured so lovingly...This year I have a plan. There is one thing I might contribute rather well with, so I have started creating a small corner for this purpose.

This is where I will talk to the vegetables...

...and a thank you...

I would like to thank Beate with the lovely blog Husets Hjerte, who was kind enough to give me a Beautiful Blogger Award yesterday. However, as touched and honoured as I feel to be given kind awards, I would like to say again that to me, kind words and comments are all the gold dust I need.

Floral freebees...

The world is in bloom.

Every day when the boys and I walk to school, we discover new explosions of colour and seductive perfumes from nature's own scented donors.

The other day, our stroll back from school turned into a flower picking expedition, which for me brought on sweet memories of midsummer preparations in Sweden.

Oh, how I wish we did not have to wait until the end of July (!) for our school summer holiday here!

I suppose the grass is always greener where you can't pick it so easily, and from having craved English interior magazines when I lived in Sweden, I now dream of fingering the seductive pages of a "Lantliv" or "Drömhem och Trädgård", or...

A big thank you to my mother for being my personal Swedish magazine shopper. You are doing a grand job!

Come rain, come shine...

The man in the house likes to plant tulips in pots...

I approve.

This year, among the three different kinds of bulbs planted, were these gorgeous girls.

I think he has done rather well, my self-proclaimed gardener. Don't you think?

A special thank you today to Sally with the blog CountrySally's Living and Loving, who yesterday gave me an "I love your blog" award. As for passing the award on, I find it too difficult to choose only a few in the vast ocean of beautiful and inspiring blogs, so I will simply offer it to anyone and everyone who feels she or he could do with one.

On the subject of awards - as much as I appreciate receiving an award and feel touched that someone would feel that my blog deserves one, I am equally happy just to receive a nice comment instead. Kind words are the only gold dust I need...

To Bangkok with love...

Yesterday a very kind neighbour brought me

these exquisite orchids from Bangkok...

Today, as I admire their beauty,...

... I can't help but feel that my turning them this way and that...

... feels a little like an insult to the people of Bangkok,

whose worries are on a different scale...

So today, I will take a moment...

...to really appreciate what I have got...

Today, I will take two moments or three...

... to think about the people of Bangkok, with love...

(The vase is wrapped in pages from an old Turkish book.)

Eat that, Laura Ashley!

Cath Kidston, Laura Ashley, Greengate - I am sorry, but no matter how hard you try...

...you can never live up to Mother Nature's own floral perfection!

On two sides of the local cricket ground, are long rows of pink prettiness.

It is breathtaking. It makes passers-by smile and think happy, fluffy thoughts. It is pink and it is bliss by the bunch.