Sweetbriar Dreams

So where shall we go on our journey today?

Saturday 20 February 2016

A Bottle of Springtime


Even though grey and dark outside today, there are little hints that spring is very much on its way for a stay.  The tell tale signs surround our Lincolnshire village, one being the vans parked up on muddy verges with hundreds of workers with their backs bent and moving across the fields, and the other is the swaying yellow daffodils shouting out pick me, ready for the Mother's Day bouquet for 6 March.   I would have taken some photos of this swaying sunshine but with the skies being grey the photos would have been quite depressing, so instead I went around the garden and collected some happy springtime for you.

But first, we had to go into a neighbouring town to get some essentials and a couple of things caught my eye.  Kilner bottles.  "I know", I thought to myself, "let's have a couple of bottles of springtime".  With two bottles purchased at a very reasonable price, I thoroughly enjoyed the lackadaisical way of just popping in the stems and letting springtime make its own display.


Cherry blossom blushed its way into my line of vision as I get out of the car and so that was the first sprigs to be cut.  So beautiful and dainty, freshly burst from the cold twigs and screaming spring.


The shy hellebores always give me a little surprise when I come across them.  I don't like cutting them so only a couple were going to join us in the house.


I was surprised at just how many spring flowers were saying hello and how it made my heart sing when I put them into the Kilner bottles.


Daffodils ready to unfurl, hyacinths that had been hidden away, cherry blossom and snowdrops.


I don't usually cut snowdrops, but I just had to see them at my leisure on the windowsill.  I love their clean colour and fine lines.  And, oh yes, in the background that is rain on the windowpane.  Here we go again!


My hyacinths in their pots have become very heavy so they were added too, well, a case of necessity as their stems broke as soon as I touched them.


My kitchen windowsill is looking more spring like now with the two bottles and my bay tree (a gift from my parents).  It won't be long before the kitchen window baskets outside will give me a show of blooming bulbs to enjoy from inside.


And my mantelpiece has the glorious hyacinths and hellebores to look at and enjoy their scent during the evenings.


The living room is now beginning to get its touch of spring with the brighter colours going in, especially from the newly finished blanket.  Tia decided to make an appearance in this photo!


While pruning the hydrangeas, I came across ladybirds who are beginning to wake up and escape from their winter hideaway.  I plan on planting quite a few hydrangeas this year, I enjoy their different stages throughout the seasons and the colour changes - a new favourite shrub!


Springtime in a bottle.  Isn't it glorious?!


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41 comments:

  1. Oh I guess we all need springtime in this period of the year.
    Have a lovely evening

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  2. Just beautiful. Love your arrangements. Here in California spring has come early. We need more rain, but I an enjoying the sun. Have a wonderful weekend.

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  3. Superb photographs, especially that first one of the blossom. I have oodles of hellebores but find they are not very good as cut flowers and droop almost immediately.

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  4. Your photos are gorgeous, Chel. :o)

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  5. Wonderful to see the lovely blossoms! We'll have to wait for another two months or more to see such blooming.

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  6. Yes, it is perfect! I'm envying those glorious blossoms. Love your window and that rooster. Have a great weekend.

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  7. Love all your colorful flowers!

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  8. Of course it is, it's stunning to bring at home a little of our garden, always, but as for the first flowers of the year, it's such a blessing !

    Thank you for sharing your first flowers in bloom, dearest Chel, have a wonderful end of your week,
    with so much love
    Dany

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  9. Such nice photos. It's good to see Tia enjoying the fire. Hope she, and you, are both feeling well. Have a blessed day. ~:)

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  10. Beautiful photos and post . It was like spring here today all our snow is gone the sun was shining and temps hit 55F or 12C I am now waiting for the Robins return and I noticed my Daffodils are above ground now but my Hyacinths not so much yet in the gardens but it is all a start to spring . Your window and room look lovely . Thanks for sharing , Have a good day !

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  11. I don't know what's going on with my computer, but your posts have suddenly begun to appear in miniature. I will have to get some help with this! I enjoy your photos so much, and would like to see them as large as I know you are posting them.

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  12. Your photos are spectacular!
    Brenda

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  14. I love your bottles of spring :)

    Diana

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  15. Lovely flowers and I love the ladybird photo

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  16. This lovely post is indeed full of springtime happiness. <3
    As one interested in photographing flowers, I admire especially your fabulous photos of flowers, and in particular those of cherry blossoms and hellebores. Thank you for sharing!
    Happy Sunlit Sunday!

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  17. lovely photos - very uplifting - and your living room looks so welcoming!

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  18. Until I read all these blogs, i never really realized how different the seasons are around the world at our latitude. We're still deep in a crummy winter without enough snow, and you (and people on the west coast of Canada) have cherry blossoms and daffodils! We'll get those in late April or early May! And yet you're well north of us.

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  19. So glad to see your happy photos. No flowers in Nixa, Missouri, yet - just green leaves of tulips and daffodils poking through. But no one grows flowers like the Ladies of England. Our Southern Ladies are great at arranging flowers from their yards, but you have such variety and your love of flowers always comes through.

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  20. A clever idea - I love the photos of everything - your house and flowers are simply delightful.

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  21. Great photos, I love that touch of spring in your house: Flowers from the garden! Your living room looks so cosy with your just finished beautiful blanket.

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  22. Dear Chel, your springtime in a bottle photos are so beautiful and lovely to see! It's a long way off for us here although the weather has been spring-like the past week but won't last. Thank you for sharing your spring blooms with us. Enjoy! xx Pam

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  23. Such lovely images that do capture Spring. Hope you have a wonderful week ahead!

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  24. Beautiful spring in a bottle! Your living room looks beautiful! xx

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  25. All those blooms already? That is crazy. Even though we are having warmer weather those are a while away. I love your living room!

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  26. Lovely closeups, Chel. Those blossoms are just so delicate and you have captured them perfectly! So much spring in your neck of the woods. We expecting a ton of snow this week so the only spring here are the tulips I bought at the market yesterday!

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  27. Oh Chel, such wonderful, beautiful photos of blossoms and flowers, and that very last one with the ladybird (ladybug over here) on dried hydrangeas blooms is awesome. We've seen a few crawling here in the house lately, so yes, they're waking up, I just don't want dozens of them inside which happened a few years back!

    I love unconstructed floral displays, just natural, no formal things around here. Your living room looks so comfy and welcoming - the blanket is glorious in design and colors. I'm even adding some color to my room for Spring - and you know me, such a neutral person when it comes to decor and clothes, haha!

    Warm thoughts and hugs - Mary

    P.S. I just got a waft of fragrance from your hyacinths - blue ones are my favorite!

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  28. They are so lovely your photos, love them all.I would love your bottle of Spring any time of the year..
    Amanda xx

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  29. What a stunning photo, Chel. Spring really is on its way.
    Amalia
    xo

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  30. It's cold here this morning and spring is still a dream, so opening your blog and seeing your beautiful blooms was a joy. The arrangement on your mantel is charming. And what a gorgeous vase! I like your kitchen windowsill. It reminds me of my own behind my sink, where I notice my Geraniums are finally getting ready to bloom. My Begonia has gentle blooms on it and that brings a smile during these dreary late winter days. Enjoy your springtime beauty, Chel, and thanks for sharing it with us. xo ~ Nancy

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  31. Beautiful photos, love the blast of Spring! We have snowdrops and crocus out but the only daffs and tulips here are supermarket-bought on my windowsill xx

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  32. Hi Chel! Cute photos! I especially like the one with your dog in the corner! It is looking VERY elegant here! Sending heaps of friendly wishes your way!

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  33. Your collection of stems in bottles makes for such a pretty, deconstructed floral display. I love using odd bottles and jars on my windowsills or lined up in a marching band down the center of a table. The cherry blossoms are so very pretty. What wonderful photos you've taken.
    Our climate is at about the same stage as yours, and this post is inspiring me to see what I can find in my own garden (or along the pathways).

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  34. Such lovely bouquets, Chel! Just the thing to brighten up a gray day! The bottles are wonderful (I have a 'thing' for bottles), and I must say, your crochet blanket is so special! The colors are so bright and pretty and doesn't it look nice in your bright living room! Sweet little Tia looks so cozy amidst all the spring beauty. x Karen

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  35. You have captured Springtime so very well. Gorgeous photos, have a lovely day :)

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  36. Gorgeous photos.. love Spring :o) x

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  37. Beautiful touch of spring in your pictures, I can see why you want to bring some of that inside, you have a lovely home, the blanket is just beautiful too!

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  38. It is indeed bloomin glorious :-) beautiful photos x

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  39. I would have to agree that springtime in a bottle is glorious, Chel. It's lovely to see everything coming back to life in your part of the world. I'm not familiar with the bottles you mentioned, but they are beautiful with the new blossoms in them, especially with light coming through.

    Karen



    Karen

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  40. Oh, there's that glorious and beautiful blanket again! It's such a stunning piece, my friend.

    Your photos are simply lovely and so charming for welcoming in spring. Thank you for sharing with Roses of Inspiration. Love and hugs to you!

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