Goodbye 2018 ... hello 2019!

It's a cliche I know, but another year has almost flown by.

One of the privileges of having an Instagram account is that it isn't hard to look back.

This is a collage of my Best Nine of 2018 on my Instagram 

Although it's nice when so many people like your photos, 

they not always represent that precious personal memories, 

or those little moments to treasure. 

So I picked my personal favourites of each month.

January

One of my good intentions for this past year was to get more out and about and enjoying nature.

Sadly I haven't made so many walks as I intend to, but I started well in January.

  

 February

But luckily there was enough to enjoy in my garden, 

like this still life when we had a dust of Snow in February.

And of course my favourite bird.

March

In this month we had a little trip to the province Zeeland where we 

also visited the lovely town Domburg and its wonderful beach. 

April

A month of which I'd rather forget the first weeks.

Our middle son came back very ill from Guatemala which ultimately 

required hospital admission.

I took this photo when he made his first walk outdoors (feeling a bit better already) 

visiting the Cherry Blossom not far from our village.

May

The month of our annual escape to the English country, where we spent the first week

 in the beautiful Shropshire Hills

A real gem was this spot .... Lyth Hill 

The second week we celebrated (with almost all our loved ones) my
 husband's 60th Birthday in West Sussex.

It was so lovely to show them the places that feels like a second

 home to me, wonderful memories were made.

June

Was a month where ideas for the future started to take on more serious forms.

Now all our boys have flown the nest, the house feels a bit empty.

The next photo shows our annexe where we hope to receive our guests,

 somewhere in the second half of 2019  

A new business will arise next to the Webshop, our holiday let ... 'Stay at the Reed Warbler'! 

July

This year I finally got round to saw my own cutting flowers.

I felt so inspired by Emma Connolly and still picking flowers now, 

can you believe it in December!

This is one of the lovely bunches I picked at the end of July.

August

In August we went for a family holiday to the Provence and 

I had the most wonderful time with this lot.

September

Still picking flowers ....

October

And yes, these were also still from my garden, I'm planning to sow more varieties next year.

November

The month we celebrated our second anniversary of the Reed Warbler Shop 

 and so very grateful for the support for our small business.

We celebrated it with a giveaway of our best-selling brand Hogben Pottery 

December

It has been a good year and I consider myself very privileged with a lovely family
 and running a small business that I love.

This year's Christmas card was again a bit of a project,
which got a bit out of hand in terms of time 🙈

But in the end I delivered the last ones just in time at our neighbours yesterday evening
and now the only thing that's left is to share my good wishes with you ....

So from me to you ...

Wishing you sparkle,

wishing you cheer.

For a bright merry Christmas

and happy New Year!

Anita

~xo~

Home is where the heart is .....

This years escape was a much needed one. 

With all the care and concern around my mother-in-law, 

we both longed for the peace and tranquillity England always brings us.

At the beginning of this year I had subscribed to a monthly embroidery kit of the Stitchery 

from the lovely Nicki. 

Sadly there hasn't been much time to finish even the one of January, 

so this was the first thing to pack and a good excuse to take this lovely Basket along with me 

A sunny crossing brought us from Hoek van Holland to Harwich

After some detours (wrong directions from Airbnb) 

we arrived at our first cottage greeted by my favourite flower 

And this was our stunning view for a whole week at the Barn in the wonderful Shropshire Hills   

With at the back 'our own Bluebell Wood'

Having beautiful nature on our doorstep, we didn't have to go far for the stunning views

 I often see on the many Instagram accounts I love to follow.

So after a very short drive, we arrived at Cording Mill Valley to take in the lovely scenery

 and its inhabitants on our walk to Long Mynd

The next day we went to the lovely market town Shrewsbury 

After some shopping we had a lovely walk at The Quarry Park

And ended our visit with a drink with a view on the river Severn at the river bar The Boathouse Inn

We were so very lucky with the weather, so perfect conditions to unwind at the cottage

 that really felt like home. 

Mugs and Hanging Bottles both available on our Website

Enjoying the lovely garden

All the blossom in the orchard 

Accompanied by this one

We also made a tour through the beautiful landscape 

and visited some little towns in the area 

Including the lovely small market town Bishops Castle where 

we had such a lovely conversation with 

a very friendly gentleman about the love for England.

I couldn't have said it better as he did .... 'it gets into your soul'

On our last day in the Shropshire Hills, I saw this beautiful photo on the account of the lovely Nicola and 

just had to visit this spot, especially as it happened to be very near to us

It appeared to be the perfect place after some distressing news from the home front.

 We had a lovely walk and eventually sat down and soak up the 

wonderful views at Lyth Hill

After a fabulous week in this beautiful area we left for our next stay

 in West Sussex escorted by this one

On our way we had a stop at Hogben Pottery to collect new stock for the Shop and

took some lovely new designs home with us.

Personally I'm in love with this gorgeous Rosebud Mug 

Always looking for a rural location often makes it quite a task to find the cottage, 

but after (again) another detour we found our second 'home from home' .... Post Office Cottage

Which happened to be a real home to spend time with the rest of the family

who would arrive the next day

And with some lovely old features, like this hatch in the door 

which is the entry to the utility room

The very large but cosy kitchen where we spent most of our time 

And had celebrations, with my husband and middle son both 

having their birthday during our holiday 

And again a wonderful view, this time on the South Downs

Living the dream with my 'own Stove' for a week and doesn't seem my Basket 

also completely at home 

With the arrival of two of our boys and my sister-in-law and husband the sight seeing had begun,

with first the lovely city Brighton

Because already being here a few years ago, of which you can read all about here  

I had several spots in mind I wanted to show my family.

One of them was the Royal Pavilion

One very happy mum, showing these two around in this wonderful city 

Being so near, a walk at beautiful Petworth Park was also 'a real must',

 loved being the guide of the day again

Making the most of this one still likes to be in a photograph with his mum

Next stop was the lovely village Tillington

To celebrate the sixtieth Birthday of my husband with a meal at The Horse Guards Inn

Being so often in this beautiful area it already feels like home. So a walk at Black Down was 

something I really wanted to share with my family. 

It's already such a happy place and now even more being there with them, more happy memories made ....

Introducing them to my 'favourite bench'

Boys will be boys

Admiring the view of the Temple of the Winds

Time really flies when you're having fun, because before we knew, it was

already time to go home again. 

I really tried to save this view on our way back to Dover 

At home, not quite ready to face real life again, the garden gave us such a lovely welcome.

This is my favourite spot at this time of the year with the Mock Orange in full bloom, 

of which the scent is really divine 

You can find the Tablecloth Lace Crochet on here

Since we've been back the temperatures are wonderful and 

we're living outdoors the most of the day

You can find the Jane Hogben Strawberry Bowl on our Website

And like every time when there's new stock, I couldn't help myself, and just had

 to keep some of these lovely Mugs with the gorgeous new design to myself

Trying to keep that holiday feeling alive with a recipe from the Country Living Magazine 

I made for the first time while being on holiday

You can find the Embroidered Tea Towel here

Another lovely new item I took home with me and you can also find 

on our website, Jane Hogben Greeting Cards

Having still a few days off after returning from our break, I also had

 some time to do some 'faffing' inspired by this image I found on Pinterest 

With an abundance of flowering Alchemilla I had enough material to make this wreath

As long as you don't bind it to tightly and don't hang it in full sun, 

it will take some time before it will dry nicely

I love how it turned out in this heart shape, because isn't it just home where the heart is.
I think I've got two homes by now ....

Enjoy the weekend!

Anita

~xo~