Pumpkins

Well, I've been away for a few days having a birthday and moving house (argh!) but I'm back again, and thought I'd do a bit of a Halloween theme this week. I know the actual day is not for another two weeks, but when better to order your Halloweeny tricks and treats?

I thought I'd start with pumpkins, that very Halloween decoration. I love food with pumpkin in it, in a stew or roasted with parsnips or as a soup or fried in fritters. It's a great vegetable that has a lovely flavour to it, which can stand by itself or as part of a medley. Argh, this is making me hungry. Anyway, I chose these items mostly because they really work with the orange colour of pumpkins, which can sometimes be difficult to work with artistically.

 ~♥~ PUMPKINS ~♥~ 

         

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Victoriana

The Victorian era is one of my favourite periods in history, being a fascinating mix of cultural repression, refinement, and subtle decadence. I can trace my love for it right back to my childhood, when I went on the school trip to St Fagans. St Fagans is a history-come-to-life sort of place, and is a fantastic place to go for the day. It was one of those school trips where you dress up. I wore a white pinny and a ruffled hat. We spent a whole day in costume, having Victorian lessons, playing Victorian games, having a very serious picture taken, etc. (I seemed to confuse being serious with being an aggressive owl). Wonderful stuff. I heartily recommend going, whatever your interest in history.

These pieces have been chosen in part for their authenticity, and in part for their innovation. You might have noticed that the theme is not "Victorian" but "Victoriana", which I think leaves a certain amount of leeway in terms of design and function. Victorian-inspired, then, instead of Victorian replicas. Victorian Victorian Victorian. Ooh, that word looks odd now.

 ~♥~ VICTORIANA ~♥~ 

         

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Trees

When I was little, my family and I would go walking up in the woods. It surprises me to this day how so many families don't think of this as being a great day out. We'd go up to Castell Coch, and tramp through the woods there. With a picnic of sandwiches, salty crisps, slices of veg, and hard-boiled eggs, it made the whole day really great. We would also take a pack of cards, so that if it began to rain too hard to go out, we could stay in the car and play rummy.

It might not seem like a particularly common choice for favourite things, but I chose to create a post on trees because there are actually a great deal of tree-based items that sell very well. It seems that trees can be incredibly pliable in the name of art, with so many different ways to design them.

 ~♥~TREES ~♥~ 

         

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