Life With A Happy Dog - The Best Kind of Life in the World - A Spring List

Life With a Happy Dog, the Best Kind of Life in the World

A Spring List

Perhaps it’s the way the light has changed.  No longer the thin grey light of winter, it bursts pink and gold through the windows these mornings like laughter in church - startling, unexpected, and hard to resist.   I would think it only another of my eccentricities to be so affected by this brand-new season if it weren’t for the bubbling happiness of Edward - the spring in his step so pronounced these days, he practically bounces round the garden.  I laugh at the way his ears bob up and down as I try to keep up with him on our afternoon walks; his unabashed grins make me respond in kind.  We spend these breezy days between the just-departed cold and the soon-to-be swelter reacquainting ourselves with the infinite magic of Spring.  The sound of a fat robin, splashing about in the birdbath reaches us from an open window, we breathe in the fragrance of newly mown grass.  Like life itself, Spring days are short, and we know it. 

The evident joys of being a big, furry white dog are delicious reminders to me:  

It is Spring.

There is Beauty.

Life is Sweet.

Here’s a list of good things for Springtime.

Enjoy!

1.  The Best Spring Shirt

Linen is my go to fabric for both Spring and Summer.  

Yes, it wrinkles.

Beautifully.

I couldn’t resist this shirt, in pink.

Find it HERE.

2.  The Best Little Broom

The lure of Spring Cleaning is no mystery to me.  It follows the throwing open of windows and doors - suddenly we want to shake off the dust of the season of hibernation, delightful though it may be, and clean and polish till everything is as fresh and new.  After all, isn’t that what Mother Nature is busy doing just outside our door?  With our new stone courtyard, I find myself sweeping a bit more than usual.  

And isn’t this broom the most wonderful thing ever?

Straight out of Oz.

Find it HERE.

3.  The Best Brand New Antique Pillows

I cannot seem to keep these glorious pillows in my shop.  As soon as they appear, they disappear.  I can easily see why.  They add a bit of beauty and mystery to every room they adorn.  Some have been a wrench to part with, but I have many throughout my home.  I don’t find them that often, and I only choose the ones most special.

There are a few new large ones in the shop now.

Find them HERE.

4. The Best New Take on Toile

There are few fabrics as charming as toile.  I love a completely toile covered bedroom, for instance- beds, curtains, walls, ceiling.  Punctuated by wooden moldings and beams, that sort of room can be enchanting, particularly looking out on a bucolic view.  This new toile from Timorous Beasties takes that old pattern and turns it on its head a bit.  But I love it.

Gone are the milkmaids and sheep.  New, all scenes of London. 

Also designs for Glasgow and New York. 

Contemporary toile.

Marvelous.

Find it HERE.

5.  The Best Spring Bracelet

Rows of hydrangeas line our front garden.  They march down the drive and stand protectively, shoulder to shoulder, along the street.  They are just waking up from their winter’s nap and will soon explode into cotton-candy blues.

  I’ll soon cut masses of them for the house.  

Naturally, I am in love with this Hydrangea Petals bracelet.

Find it HERE.

6.  The Best Fairy House

In the garden.

Beside the pink foxglove, halfway hidden by a chartreuse Hosta.

Magic.

Find it HERE.

7.  The Best Costumes, Ever!

I know from the letters I’m getting,  a lot of us are watching Outlander.Originally enticed by the oh, so, accurate scenes of Scotland, I am now thoroughly besotted with it all. And not least for the amazingly beautiful costumes. (I’ve already knitted one of Claire’s fetching cowls, though mine was done in the color of the sea instead of the earth like hers.) 

 The costume designer for Outlander is Terry Dresbach and all her costumes for this show are intricate, authentic and jaw-dropping.  I thought you all might enjoy reading how these gorgeous outfits are created.

I loved this.

(And I want that Gathering dress, above,  for myself!)

Find all about it, HERE.

8.  The Best Video Ever

I’m not strictly a vegetarian, 

and I often feel guilty about it.

This video doesn’t help me feel a bit better.

You?

9. The Best New English Mystery

If, like me, you were utterly charmed by Granchester, the latest cozy mystery to cross the pond and land on our televisions as a delightful series this past winter, then you might be surprised to know that the books from which this production is taken are current ones, with a new book being published every May, according to the author’s website.  Perfect for those Spring evenings on the screened porch with only the wind chimes and hoot owls for a soundtrack.

Find the Books, HERE.

and, if you missed the recent BBC production, 

you must see it.

Find it HERE.

10.  The Best Colouring Book

Yes, Colouring Book

 A colouring book for adults.

 I know, I thought I misheard when I was informed about this, too. 

But no, it’s real, and it sounds like so much fun to me. 

One could, I suppose, say it fosters creativity, that it teaches a person about colour and form.  But who are we kidding?

It’s fun.

It’s just fun.

Find it HERE.

11.  Whiskeyknitters
Throughout time, knitting has been a congenial group activity.  Women, and occasionally men, have gathered together to knit and talk, to share and, well… occasionally, to drink whisky.  My knitting group is such a clan.  We meet once a month, though our schedule is loose, in an atmospheric pub.  We knit, we laugh, we talk about wildly divergent topics, and some of us drink whisky.  I myself rarely indulge - I have the longest drive and am loathe to drop stitches, something that I’ve noticed tends to happen when one imbibes that particular elixir.  
A few weeks ago, some members of the Whiskeyknitters took a field trip to my side of the city where there just happens to be the world’s most tempting yarn shop.  We shopped, had lunch, and then everyone came to The House of Edward for a visit.
Now the founding members of Whiskeyknitters have started a blog. 
They are fun, witty women.   It was bound to happen.
  I thought you might enjoy their account of our visit. 
Fun was had by all.
Read all about it HERE.

Hope you all are enjoying a Happy Spring.
Just like Edward!
Just like me.
xoxo,
p