Stephanie's swap.

I took part, again, in the cup and mug swap organised by Stephanie at The Enchanting Rose. It's a very pleasant swap, and I have enjoyed writing to and hearing from both my partners.

(You send to one person, and a different one sends to you)

This beautiful mug, with its little hat, came all the way from Kansas, sent by Allison who doesn't have a blog.

Such a pretty bird. I'm told it is a Blue Wren,which we don't have here.

With it came some lovely little parcels, chosen with care.

The scent of coffee wafted by as I opened the box, and there was a very generous bag of specially mixed ground coffee, to drink in my special mug, of course.

So many delightful things to discover...sent with a beautiful card also.
A pretty Tea towel, the coffee, and some lovely patchwork squares which I have designs upon. There was also a piece of fabric , covered in sunflowers with information about Kansas. I had no idea that the sunflower was the Kansas flower, and it reminded me so much of the golden fields we used to see in France, full of sunflowers.

One sweet little blue and white dish must have had a bump in the mail, but I have managed to glue it with strong glue and it sits prettily on my kitchen display shelf.

Thank you Allison for such a generous and thoughtful parcel.
Thank also to Stephanie who had over 200 ladies taking part, such a lot of organisation.

Bath time.

I took these photos through the glass door, so they are a bit hazy.

I couldn't resist. We have two ring doves who enjoy our garden.

This one felt it was time for a wash.

It fits comfortably into the bird bath.

Important to wash under the wing.

  .....and now, the other one.

Such a lovely sight.

My bird bath is at least 70 years old and has travelled with me wherever we have been.

Primrose wine.

One or two people asked about Primrose Wine. I wasn't sure, but I found this recipe for you.

I don't think I'll be picking 4 pints of primroses!

• Pick the heads – at least a couple of litres each (or 4 pints in total).
• Boil a gallon of  water and dissolve 1 kilo (2.2lbs) of sugar, the juice of a lemon, the juice of an orange and two teaspoons of cream of tartar.
• Place flower heads in large container  and pout on the water.
• Cover container with a clean tea-towel and leave for 3 days
• Strain juice from the heads into a sterile demi-john
• Add yeast and an airlock.
• Leave until fermentation has finished.
• You can either bottle it as is or I prefer a bit of a sparkle in all my country wine so add a small teaspoon of sugar to each bottle to prime it and then seal.
• The priming sugar will start a secondary fermentation and put a fizz into the bottle.
• Make sure you use bottles (like old sparkling wine bottles or plastic fizzy-pop bottles) that can stand the pressure.
• Leave for at least a further two weeks. Longer if possible.
• Serve chilled!

Around the garden

So lovely to see patches of colour and growth now.

A bowl of pale crocus has flowered for days, and will soon be over.

Arabis creeps over a border edge, almost covering the little Aubrietia on the corner.

Cushions of Primroses, soon I must split them I think.

(Lynn, can you see your Pulmonaria there?)

A single red Camellia covers the fence.

...and a Double Camellia is on the other side of the garden.

Those of you who read the Grey Rabbit stories as children would think she would approve of these beauties!

Little Grey Rabbit makes Primrose Wine.

Two very different books.

Two rather different books have been on my table lately.

This one was mentioned on NearlyMarthaAgain blog, and having read some of Pen Wilcock's books before, I was curious to read it.

It is a 'Lenten Journey', with a writing  for each day, short, but very telling.

The best way to describe them is from the back cover, where Gerard Kelly (author of Church Actually) says,

"She trades doctrine for delight and religion for relationship...."

I'm reading one a day as a sort of Lenten quiet moment, laughing sometimes at her prose, thinking deeply about her insights.

So glad to have that recommendation. Thank you.

You may think it very odd that I am probably the one person in the world who hasn't read Laura Ingalls Wilder.

My only excuse is that , being English, we were brought up on Winnie the Pooh (proper versions as of course it would be in those far off days), Grey Rabbit, and anything by Beatrix Potter. All very British.

So many references pepper the blog world that I felt it was time I did something about it.

I have to say that I am charmed by the stories of Laura's life with her patiently hard working mother, little sister and somewhat dotty father. Dare I say that? He did seem to up-sticks and move around just when they were nicely settled somewhere. I think I would have dug my heels in...but then, there were Indians involved which might have made a difference.

Now I am working my way through the books,often found on Amazon for pennies, and finding them delightful.

So, two books which , amongst many others recently read and reading, are both in their way , rather special.

Proper 'ansum?

I thought I would tell you a little more about the Cornish language

and particularly, Anglo-Cornish, which is what I have shown you on the bus slogans.

The words are derived from the Cornish and Celtic languages, which are in their turn similar to Breton and Welsh.

The  actual Cornish language has been revived in the last number of years. It is taught in some schools and there are Further Education classes in the language. Various childrens' books have been written in Cornish too.

However, the Anglo Cornish is, like all dialects in our regions, a class of its own!

Although not Cornish, I grew up here, so I'm used to listening carefully and 'translating'. When I first went to a village primary school here, being the only non Cornish child, I soon picked up all manner of expressions (which were not received too well at home). For example "She's some good". "I'll do un dreckly".

Dreckly has much the same meaning as Manana, and is a word highly prized by workmen.

 ('Be round to do yur garden dreckly, maid')

Maid is a common term for a child or even a young woman, often added to 'Ansum'

('Proper ansum liddle maid, ent she?')

Backalong (previously), upcountry (anywhere out of Cornwall), 

and the peculiar Flam (new) are much used words.

There are long lists of these slightly odd Anglo Cornish words, but you have to listen to them to realise how different they sound.

I believe that there are parts of Eastern America where a Cornish accent and dialect words can still be heard. 

Above is the Bible in Cornish, and the first line of the Lord's prayer is;

Agun Tas ny usy i'n neu,

benegys re bodha hanow'

That is the real Cornish language.

A Welsh friend of mine came to stay in our cottage in Brittany, and had no problem talking in Welsh to our Breton neighbour, who of course spoke Breton to her.

England, like all countries, has so many regional dialects and differences. It would be odd if we all spoke perfect Queenlike English, though maybe a little easier to understand?