A day in the life of a Poppy dog!
07 Mar in Brush Cottage | Comments (6)My name is Poppy, and I live with a little family in rural Hampshire. I am an extraordinarily well bred Cairn Terrier! This is Labrador land – so I am a bit of a novelty around here…. My proper name is “Elite Charm Angels Delight”, but please feel free to call me “Poppy”. My mum calls me all kinds of other names – “Gorgeousness”, “The Popster”, “Poplet”….sometimes she calls me “Bad Dog” but I don’t take much notice when she does.
Mum and I walk every day (sometimes we skip it if it’s raining – rain is sure to bring on a “Bad Hair Day” – to which both of us are susceptible!). My best walks are when Dad and T come with us.
More often than not, we walk up our road, which is a really pretty road.
At the top of our road is The Park. It’s where I often meet some of my buddies. There is some cool stuff for T to play on as well. Sometimes on a Saturday afternoon, the Upham Harriers come and play football here – I wish I could play with them, but I’m not allowed to. I get my lead taken off here!
And I’m free!
After we’ve crossed the football pitch, we head out into the fields. My family love to admire the view.
Upham is built on the top of a hill, so you can see for miles.
During World War 2, there was an observation point in this copse of trees. Soldiers were permanently stationed here to keep watch for planes coming over the channel from Europe.
My Mum loves the red berries on these trees, I don’t really care about them, because I can’t eat them…
I love this section of the walk – it’s often where we come across pheasants – and I chase them! I’m not really supposed to……Mum is a bit scared of the gamekeeper …..but that’s her problem, not mine!
A little later on, we turn up and walk adjacent to the pigs. They are much, much bigger than me, so I generally leave them alone.
Next is the really scary part we have to walk through – there’s a massive bull…..
Did you see him? Did you see him? He’s enormous! But whew, we do manage to get past him ……
And then we head back up our road – almost home….
The rest of my day is spent lounging around, sleeping, chasing the squirrels or pigeons that dare to enter my garden and hoping that Mum might leave a pair of her leather boots around for me to chew on….!
Snow!
07 Jan in Brush Cottage | Comments (0)I’ve just heard that my daughters school is going to be closed again tomorrow. I’m so pleased that I work from home right now, I would hate to have to get in the car and drive anywhere, so I do sympathise with those who do have to ………but I do really LOVE the snow!
We’ve had loads, and what else can you do but enjoy it! I’ve taken Poppy out for a walk today. At some places she has barely been able to walk and has bounded her way through – it’s been an adventure.
Tessa and Charlotte have built a massive snowman.
Brush Cottage looks magical!
Christmas Eve
24 Dec in Brush Cottage | Comments (2)The tree is decorated…….
It’s cold outside, but warm and toasty in here……
The cake is made and decorated…..
Presents have been wrapped……
The Wreath is made and is on the door…..
Sleeping dogs have been left to lie…..
I think I’m ready for Christmas……
Come On!
2009 Christmas Decorations
15 Dec in Brush Cottage, Christmas Decorations | Comments (2)Every year I buy myself a couple of new decorations – that I delight in seeing year after year at Christmas time. I am not in favour of buying completely new decorations every year!
This year, in Cologne, I came across this beautiful shell pearl bauble (Note the Twinkleberry pink and brown colours…)
I could not resist this delicate little felt Pansy Fairy…..
But the star of the show has to be this glamorous reindeer!
Cologne Christmas Market Trip
10 Dec in Brush Cottage | Comments (8)We’ve just come back from a marvellous trip to Cologne! I love Christmas – I think I might have already told you that…? And I had heard about the German Christmas Markets, so when my Aunt told me she was coming to stay for December I started looking around for something special for us to do. Cologne is apparently one of the best places for the markets – there are 7 dotted around the city. We travelled over by Eurostar and ICE. The first thing you see when you leave the train station is Cologne Cathedral.
The Cathedral is one of the world’s largest, took over 600 years to build and is the biggest Gothic church in Northern Europe. It dominates the city and I was astounded that is still stands after the pounding that Cologne took during the second world war.
While the outside of the building is dark and brooding, the interior is architectural perfection, with light streaming though the myriad of windows.
There is a market right beside the cathedral, as you walk through the stalls you are tempted by the most wonderful things to eat and drink, Gluhwein and traditional German foods, French crepes and Belgian waffles – for us – the caramalised nuts were irresistable!
You could skate under the sparkling lights……..
Or have a wonderful, wacky hairdo!
You could watch a sculptor carve an owl, out of a chunk of wood, sparks flying and the scent of pine filling your nose ( no Health and Safety here!)
The gnomes and other magical creatures keep an eye on you………don’t forget to look up to catch a glimpse of them!
You can buy the most delicious Stollen from this lovely lady:
and even meet a handsome man!
No, you can’t have that one – he’s already been taken!
Cologne is a wonderful city to wander through. It was devastated by the bombing during the war, but every now and then you come across beautiful buildings, full of architectural detail that holds the eye. The people are friendly and welcoming – the climbing frames are great!
We came across this little library, that borders a huge park and play area – what a cool place for a library!
Saw ancient jewels, that make your heart skip a beat……….
And at the end of the day, when you are tired, cold and your feet ache, a beer hall is the perfect place to recharge your batteries! For traditional food and Kolsch – served in uncharacteristically delicate glasses!
Wonderful!
What my patient daughter eventually asked……
10 Sep in Brush Cottage | Comments (0)After our 5th hour of walking The Louvre, Tessa turned to me and asked “Mummy, do you and Daddy ever get tired of looking at paintings?” We don’t really, David and I both love museums and galleries and we have always tried to instill in Tessa a love of art and things creative, but I think that after another full day of art the poor child had had enough!
We had started our day at The Orangerie, which is where Monet’s Waterlilly paintings are housed, 8 massive paintings hang in 2 specially built oval rooms, with natural light from skylights – it is the most incredible sight. I love the waterlilly collection, the colours and story behind them are inspirational and when you are in this space, surrounded by the paintings, you feel as though you are almost in them. Absolutely worth going to see!
After The Ogangerie, we walked up the Champs Elysees to see the Arc d Triomphe, and watch the seemingly chaotic traffic which whizzes around it. And then – on to The Louvre. We went to see Michaelangelo’s Slaves, all the Leonardo’s and of course, the Mona Lisa, the Rembrandt’s, it’s a real who’s who of art ! and impossible to see everything…..
I LOVE I.M. Pei’s glass pyramid, the juxtuposition of the modern glass and steel structure and the incredible architecture of the old buildings is inspired! As we were leaving The Louvre at 10pm ( they stay open late on a friday night) the moon was rising over the building – it was magical.
Paris – an art lovers dream city
09 Sep in Brush Cottage | Comments (2)On our second day in Paris we used the Batobus to get around, it’s a great way to travel the city. You can either buy a ticket to wherever you are going or a hop on hop off day pass. Our first stop was the D’ Orsay Museum. What an amazing space – a former railway station provides a home to an incredible collection of impressionist and post impressionist paintings and sculpture.
The massive roof is constructed entirely of glass, so the light coming into the main central space is wonderful. One of my all time , most favorite scultures is this one by Camille Claudel, I first saw it 20 years ago and so it was very special for me to see it again.
I also love the Degas Ballerina paintings and bronze scultures, This one I think is particularly beautiful.
After the D’ Orsay we went to the Rodin Museum. The collection is housed in what was originally Rodin’s Paris home and the light open rooms and gardens are the ideal space for what are some of his best and most important works. Once again, it was very moving for me to be here again after 20 years. The Burghers of Calais still brings tears to my eyes.
And one cannot help standing in awe of his sculpture of Balzac.
Our day ended with a trip to the Eiffel Tower. David doesn’t like heights, so we walked up to the second platform and then the fearless thing that is my daughter co-erced me to take her up to the very top – some 324 meters from the gound…………
Paris – Day One
07 Sep in Brush Cottage | Comments (2)David, Tessa and I went off to Paris last week. We’ve never used the Eurostar before, so it was a bit of an adventure! We loved the new St Pancras station, what a sleek, elegant and modern station – Gare du Nord pales in comparison – Yay! 1 to the U.K.
Our little hotel was in the Latin Quarter, we were a bit nervous as we thought that it might only have play play stars….. and it was an old building and a bit run down, but they would allow Tessa in the room with us and were such very nice people and most importantly- it was wonderfully situated – literally 5 minutes walk from Notre Dame. We left our baggage in our room and wondered down to the Cathedral. What an amazing building, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture, which took over 2 centuries to finish with a sense of lightness and grace that comes from it’s flying buttresses and remarkable filigree work. We climbed the 400 steps of the bell towers for the view over the City – and what a view! Paris is a breathtakingly beautiful city!
Then we went off onto the other island, to Berthillion, for what is renowned as being the best ice-cream in France, and it certainly earns it’s reputation – I had a scoop of coffee and a scoop of chocolate and it was delicious.
We wandered up through the Latin Quarter, to the Jardin du Luxembourg , passed the beautiful Pantheon and then went for dinner at Les Fontaines, where we had a delicious meal – I know David and I both had fish, but my french is non existant, so who knows what fish it actually was! Our waitress was very kind and tried to explain the menu as best she could, but a lot of it was down to sign language and animal sounds……..
During the day, Tessa and I did get up close to one of those gorgeous frenchmen you hear all about……..
The Illusionist
18 Aug in Brush Cottage, Links | Comments (1)We’ve just finished watching the DVD of The Illusionist
A Fine Balance
14 Aug in Brush Cottage, Links | Comments (0)
I’ve just finished reading a book that I think is fantastic and so would love to recommend. It’s called A Fine Balance
by Rohinton Mistry. I found it quite daunting initially, but quickly found myself entirely engrossed and unable to put it down.
The book weaves the story of 4 individuals from the indian caste system during the 70′s. I felt that I was given insight into the political and social situation affecting the characters as well as the minutae of their daily life.
I’t's an incredibly sad narrative, but I also found it moving and uplifting that people who live in such appalling conditions can still find happiness and joy in their circumstances and surroundings.
If you read it or have read it please let me know what you thought.
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