Baskets

I love baskets.....

When my friend Caroline first started me thinking about baskets a couple of weeks ago, I had not given the topic much thought.  However most days since I have had little snippets come back to me.

It is most probable that my love for 'woven' things dates back to my childhood.  In the heat of the afternoon, the coolest places to sit and read or chat would be on the shady verandas on rattan chairs.  The older aunties and uncles we visited who had the old colonial style houses had wonderful lounger style mahogany chairs with finely woven cane work seats.  I remember one very old chair which had pull out leg rests and slots to hold drinks in the arms.  Almost everyone had them.  All hand made in small workshops and almost all different.  Visiting people was the main activity and many homes around the Island hosted get togethers where whole families would gather together, and I always was interested in the furnishings.  Floors too had woven mats in places.

In Rodrigues and Mauritius the hand made softer palm leaf basket was the standard.  We had little baskets with lids made from this soft material  in which we took our packed lunches to school. These kept the contents cool and kept the flies away, the sandwiches wrapped in a cotton serviette.   This was before the days of plastic and clingfilm.  A leather satchel for the books and 'panier tiffin' for lunch.  Every school girl and boy had one.  Larger ones were used for shopping and would double up to hold all the beach necessities. 

Some of my baskets hang from a rail in the utility room.  The middle square basket is well over 35 years old now and bought from a willow weaver in Totnes who had his shop just outside the old Castle Walls.  We were on holiday in the area, and my son who was just a little boy was amazed when the weaver jumped on the basket just to prove how strong it was!  As well as being used for harvesting fruit, and shopping...it has been used several times every week to convey wet washing to the line and then bring back the washing when it is dry.  To keep them nicely tight from time to time I leave then in light rain for an hour or so.  Then bring them back in to air dry.  The weaver wherever he is should breath safely the basket has outlived its 25 years guarantee! 

I've been planning a replacement at least for the washing role of the basket and have my eye on a similar one made from white willow.  I spied a lovely one during our visit to Coates Willow and Wetland Center, made from white Willow.

I've been hankering after a carpet beater for years......

Last time I had something to beat...I think it was just a rug, I used my tennis racket!  I just popped into the Wells Trading Post which sadly is closing down and bought this yesterday.  They had very little left and this one had my name on it!

Even the eggs are kept in a little basket...Happy Easter everyone.

Earliest Strawberry Jam

We are both self confessed preserve lovers.  Maybe we have different tastes...he loves Strawberry and Blackcurrant the most, I like all others....I particularly love chutneys and pickles, and have even set up another blog to talk about them.  

Mr S has had to revert to shop bought strawberry and blackcurrant preserves and has admitted that even my least successful batches are way better than the best we have bought.  When I walked into our local supermarket yesterday I was taken by a 1Kg 'crate' of strawberries.  They were the large imported ones but very fresh and in perfect condition.  Last year I made some successful batches using locally grown strawberries...but needs must.

Just in case you want to read what in on the Little Heart that my friend Jayne gave me it is

Happiness is time spent in the Kitchen...

Of course I also love to read, garden, spend time with friends, gallivant etc etc...

In a Vase on Monday - Sun and shade

A plant what does well in the shade, and another one that does well in the sun. are together in my little vase.  I love a little shade in the garden, and am planning to create some shade in order to grow some of my favourite shade loving plants.  I was going to use three stems of wild plum which my little Grand daughter had picked yesterday, however the blooms are a little worse for their long journey in the boot box in the car.

The three stems of Corydalis solida Beth Evans is the mainstay of the small arrangement. This is one of two corydalis I bought at the Bishops's Palace.  I like to see them in flower, and this one was a good pink colour.  The name Corydalis comes from korydalis, meaning crested lark in Greek– on account of the shape of the flowers. 

I love the foliage of corydalis but have not cut any leaves as they are needed to feed up the bulb.  This past week I have been reading The Knot by Jane Borodale.  The Knot alludes to the knot garden being planted by Henry Lyte of Lytes Cary Manor.

"The Honeysuckle is offering up tiers of new greyish-purple leaves along its stem."

When I read this last weekend, I picked my way through th snow to the honeysuckle and indeed it had just started to shoot.  This Monday the purple leaves are already unfurling after two days of sunny weather.

Cathy who hosts this meme is 'testing' us with ideas coming thick and fast.  Do go over to her post then if you have a vase why not join in too.

As a' postscript' here is one of the Corydalis for foliage:  Blue Heron first seen in Alison's Garden last autumn where just the leaves were sufficient for me to stop and admire it.  This is number one on my list.

                                 
I am hoping that Alison will feature its blooms soon as they are the most magnificent blue.....

The Morville Year by Katherine Swift

A couple of year ago my gardening friend Liz lent me a lovely book.  It was The Book of Hours by Katherine Swift.  I was going to order myself a copy,  but ended up buying her other book:  The Morville Year.  Its been unopened on my shelf for nearly two years.  It was only when I was holed up during the dire weather over the last couple of months, that I searched the shelves.

I am reading it in sequence, and read an entry or two most days.  I laugh and empathise, write notes in the margin, and go back and reread beautifully crafted descriptions of weather, plants, friends etc.  I look up plants she mentions, and make notes...and dream...but my little patch is far too small to accommodate all my wishes.  Before the garden springs into growth, there is time to read and dream of possibilities.

Crocus Spring Beauty

At the Bishop's Palace Rare Plant Fair I found a little pot of real beauties.  They were tightly in bud when I first saw them, with the long dark plum outer petals, lilac on the inside, are striped and edged with a creamy white,  giving a feathery look similar to some tulips.

The inner three petals are a pale lilac.  The fine green leaves have a white central stripe.
The deep golden anthers contrast well.  The flowers last two or three days and each corn appears to be yielding several blooms in succession.

It certainly lives up to its name!