Rainbows Over The British Countryside
August has been much more autumnal than summer for most of us but oh the gift of rainbows over the barns and other country sites!
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Countryside Connection, barns, rainbows, British Summertime, August, Autumn, joy, rain | Leave a Comment »
As we continue to create our new site, please bear with us in our desire to bring you lots of new and exciting products. For information about purchasing any of the items shown above, please send an email to alan.saxby@gmail.com. Tell us about item(s) desired and we will provide full purchasing information. Thank you for your patience, Alan and Heléne
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Round School House in Brookline Vermont built in 1822 - believed to be the only round school house ever built in America
In today’s current world economy, few are spared from having to find as many ways to save as possible. As a former education specialist, I have noticed that it is virtually impossible to access any form of media without coming upon at least one of the new 3 R’s mentioned above. Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic (the original ‘three ars’) were the 3 which related to the main subjects taught at the elementary school level; but today, in addition to Reclaimed, Recycled and Renovated, we are all (hopefully) looking for new ways to Reuse and Reduce in an effort to save our environment.
Whether you are supporting products that use materials such as our reclaimed wood items which bring a sense of history and warmth with them, or vintage and collectible items which do the same, it is vital that we all reassess the way we live and consume. The importance of the way we conduct our lives and how we impact the world we inhabit and which our children and all future generations will inherit, cannot be overstated.
Last week’s Sunday Times Style Magazine, was filled with articles about the NEW current ? ( I thought it had been in vogue for decades but what do I know?) trend for Vintage Fashions. The main sections of the newspaper, several of them in fact, carried articles about the extraordinary amount of food wastage that goes on in this country – would you believe that one out of every four bags of groceries purchased ends up in the bin?
If we do not find ways to honour and support the New 3 R’s where will we end up? The thought of being surrounded by giant landfills should raise terror and plans of action in all of us as should the fact that so much of our unnecessary waste is presently being sent to other countries where disease and danger is spread from these sites to the children and adults who inhabit these countries.
Here’s to the New 3 R’s and all who support them and the others mentioned! I would love to hear your ideas and anything you are currently involved in that will offer new ideas and plans for action, individually and collectively.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged vintage, The Sunday Times Style Section, The 3 R's, Reclaimed, Recycled, Renovated, Reuse, Reduce, Food Waste, Landfills | Leave a Comment »
Countryside Connection - www.countrysideconnection.com
Things I have especially enjoyed whilst exploring my members sites and blogs recently:
On Artist Penny Lindop’s Website http://www.pennylindop.com/ in the top upper-right hand corner you can link directly to her blog http://pennylindopdesigns.blogspot.com/ and I was delighted to discover that she has recently begun adding some wonderful insights into her past – a recent post was all about her time in 1981 when she was working on an archaeological excavation in France where hunter-gatherers set up camp about 12,000 years ago to ambush reindeer. In addition to a fascinating read, you have a chance to see inside Penny’s sketch book with drawings of the site, the director and another Roman site in Germany where she worked in 1972.
Penny has also added some new items that I am sure will have great appeal – Boxed Sets of her cards, Postcards, Special Discount for 4 or more cards and the chance to add tiny gift bags filled with handmade chocolate sticks to any order.
On Sandra Morton’s site, www.perilla.co.uk I discovered Perilla’s exquisite 100% Linen Stoles/Scarves that are available in 14 colours – some are one colour, others are available in thin or wide stripes. Large enough to be worn as a sarong, these are an incredible bargain at only £12.00 each. In her new Summer Hats Category you can select from a fabulous Belize Cowboy Hat or a Bermuda Sun Hat. Both are made from Raffia and you can also order great St. Croix Cornhusk Summer Bags with faux leather straps. The strap and buckle that goes across has a magnetic clasp. They have a matching coloured cotton interior with a zip running across the top with zipped pocket, cards and phone pockets. A perfect compliment to the Bermuda hats, they come in the same choice of brown, green and natural.
A look at Wendy Blair’s Rose Hill B&B website calendar www.bandbrosehill.com in Roanoke, Virginia, and you discover that every Saturday night this month Roanoke offers Music and on one Friday night there is a Theatre Production, another a Movie in the Park and another the Opening Ceremonies of The Coventry Commonwealth Games of Virginia.
In Wales at Jinsy and David’s Penyrallt Farm www.penyrallt.co.uk their Availability Calendar reveals that their comfortable cottage, with its wonderful wood enhanced interior and stone exterior, with furnishings built by David and decorated by Jinsy, is completely booked through the 3rd of September with lots of other periods already reserved after that. It shows that when great accommodations and farm hospitality are on offer, people will come and return again and again.
More than six thousand miles away, at Dottie Musser’s Bradford Place Inn and Gardens in Northern California (Sonora) www.bradfordplaceinn.com they are celebrating their Tenth Anniversary of offering the finest hospitality and accommodations. The local Ironstone Winery Concert Series has an amazing array of diverse talent on offer during the next few months – Faith Hill, REO Speedwagon with Pat Benatar, a BB King Blues Festival, Willie Nelson with LeAnn Rimes and Sheryl Crow. This arena is one of a wealth of entertainment and nature offerings in the surrounding area. To top it off, Dottie is offering a 25% Savings on all rooms through the 31st of August! Why not combine a trip to both Southern and Northern California with a stay both with Dottie and Liz Clarke at Kate Stanton Inn in the beach city of Encinitas in Southern California www.katestantoninn.com where their location description says it all: Come rest where the sea meets the sky, and ocean breezes cast their spell on you. Walk to Carlsbad State Beach, cruise to Moonlight Beach & downtown Encinitas. The inn is located only 3 miles from La Costa Resort and Spa, home to golf and tennis tournaments, The Chopra Center and 10 miles from San Diego County Fairgrounds and Del Mar Race Track. San Diego which is an extraordinary city and renowned Coronado Island are both only half an hour away.
It is always a good time to visit Glastonbury and Tordown www.tordown.com where Cheryl and Michael are ready to welcome you with warmth, local knowledge and lore and the chance to explore many healing experiences. The summer months are always filled with exciting events and there are many I found fascinating that are being held this month and next. From the 22nd to the 26th of July The Glastonbury Symposium will be Investigating Crop Circles and Signs of our Times; from the 25th of July through the 1st of August The Glastonbury Goddess Conference will be held – ‘International Fun and Research into the Goddess and then in early August on the 7th and 8th is the renowned Glastonbury Extravaganza on the Abbey Grounds with evening performances and often wonderful fireworks as well. Why not contact Cheryl and Michael for more information and give yourself a break that will be sure to raise your spirits and calm the soul.
Also in the southwest of England are the ancient cathedral city of Salisbury and Karen and Mark Rogers beautifully elegant Edwardian Rokeby Guest House. They are located just outside the city in a charming countryside garden setting www.rokebyguesthouse.co.uk and are a perfect place to stay for your visit to the area which has so much to offer. In addition to Salisbury Cathedral begun in 1220 and finished in 1258, you will enjoy Old Sarum the original site of the cathedral which was first occupied over 5,000 years ago. A stay with Karen and Mark also places you only eight miles from Stonehenge one of the oldest and well know megalithic sites in the country. Please Note: Karen recently mentioned that she often keeps rooms back from her online reservations and that I should ask anyone wanting to visit to call her directly if the online reservation shows Full, so please call her and don’t miss your opportunity to stay in this enchanting home. Many of these offerings in and around Salisbury take us full circle to the first mention of Penny’s European excavation sites on her blog!
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Countryside Connection, Crop Circles, Cathedrals, cowboy hats, Penny Lindop, Perilla, Rose Hill B&B Roanoke Virginia, Penyrallt Home Farm Wales, Organic, Bradford Place Inn Sonora California, Kate Stanton Inn Encinitas California, Tordown B&B Glastonbury, Glastonbury Goddess Conference, Glastonbury Abbey, Salisbury Cathedral, Rokeby Guest House Salisbury Wiltshire, Old Sarum, Stonehenge | Leave a Comment »
Mother Goose from Once Upon a Pine
At Once Upon a Pine we have just added our latest item created from reclaimed wood; our ‘Mother Goose’ as shown above. You will find her in our New England and also The Reclaimed Wood Furnishing and Accessories Categories. In our home, Mother Goose usually lives on the window ledge, but has been known to jump to the top of the refrigerator when it suits her or to the middle of the table to feature as the centrepiece. She rarely fails to cause exclamations of delight from children and adults.
Our Wooden Chicken on a Stick which also appears on the site has proven so popular and we are delighted to respond to requests to increase our farmyard collection for the interior of your home. If you have geese, chickens or other barnyard animals outside it is important that you remind Mother Goose that she really does not belong with them as she longs to join her friends and hates missing out on the daily gossip.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Chicken on a Stick, Country Accessories for your Home, Country Living, countryside, Farmyard Animals, Mother Goose, Once Upon a Pine, reclaimed wood | Leave a Comment »
England v United States, World Cup Group C, Match 5
Saturday, 12 June 2010
“They say you save the best to last and this game might very well be the best of the day. You have England on one side, who really should do better than they do and on the other, you’ve got the United States, who do a lot better than they should.
On paper, this is an easy game however, it is England every day, but the United States will fight for everything, as if their lives depended on it and that might very well frustrate England and if they do it long enough, there is a chance England will make a mistake or two”
Read more about The World Cup Matches here http://www.worldcup2010southafrica.com/world-cup-group-c/england/england-v-united-states-world-cup-group-c-match-5/http://www.worldcup2010southafrica.com/world-cup-group-c/england/england-v-united-states-world-cup-group-c-match-5/
Regular visitors to our blog will know that I am an American woman, married to an Englishman and we have lived between the two countries for more than 30 years. As we prepare to watch this match from our home in England, I can only make one comment ~ I think that if you try to guess which team we are cheering on, separately or together, you are likely to guess incorrectly.
Hope lots of you will be watching and that each of you enjoy the outcome that you are hoping for!
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged american, Englishman, South Africa, Sports, world cup 2010 America v. England | Leave a Comment »
Cows in a local field
'Lucille' my special door
I literally have hundreds of photographs of cows, many indistinguishable from dozens of others, individually standing and staring, or within a beautiful gentle herd. These have often been taken in a state of panic as we are preparing to move house and I fear that the local cows are the last I will see for a while. However, Lucille, my Cow Door has been a faithful companion since 1988 when my husband and daughter created her for me following a car accident which left me virtually housebound for a few months. Lucille has been with me in homes as diverse as a seaside house in California and a converted milk parlour in England (please know that I do not lie, even for affect!)
The birth of my beloved daughter was one of the greatest moments and enduring memories of my life. Earlier this spring whilst visiting the farm of family friends at Bolton Abbey, I witnessed the birth of a calf for the very first time and as it struggled to stand upon its wobbly legs, I admit to a similar feeling of my heart about to burst. This miraculous moment of the emergence of life was again shared with my daughter, only this time we stood side by side, arms entwined. Our eyes met and I knew words were unnecessary ~ she knows me so well and her eyes showed the same joy in the moment we had witnessed together.
The miracle of birth and the cycles of life never cease to amaze me.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged birth, calves, cows, cycles of life, Daughters, special doors | Leave a Comment »
Our Book Collection Travels With Us
Passionate About Our Teddy Bears
One of our many button jars holding memories from generations of our family
“Memory… is the diary that we all carry about with us.” ~ Oscar Wilde
My members and my website Countryside Connection are so much more than simply ‘my business’ they are a driving passion that I find very difficult to pull myself away from. If I am not corresponding and promoting members and their unique offerings, seeking new networking connections for them or working on the latest issue of our newsletter, there seems to be a hundred other things demanding attention at that very moment – the demands are only within the recesses of my own mind, as my wonderful members are always so supportive and send the most thoughtful email messages that, of course, I find impossible to delay responding to saying thank you and so on . . . My Inbox would astound most of you but I cannot part with any but the most mundane, or the dreaded Spam that manages to bypass my controls as they are filled with memories and bring joy when re-read.
I have been wanting to add to my blog on a more regular basis and always wonder aloud late each night at where the time has gone ~ the answer frequently comes from my wonderfully supportive husband and it is always the same ~ you have not left your office unless it was unavoidable (meaning impossible to ignore) and to be fair, he is right. On the chillier days it is even easier as I have the excuse of wanting to stay snuggled against my hot water bottle which rests against the small of my back (my poor teddy bear bottle, a present about 20 years ago from same irreplaceable husband of 31 years, has a face that is threadbare below his lovely eyes and increasingly I notice yet another missing bit of fur on his patchy, worn body, but like a child with a beloved cuddly toy from childhood, I cannot bear-no pun intended-the thought of another one as he is truly irreplaceable and filled with memories and comfort.
My passion for teddy bears began in childhood and when I found out shortly after we started dating that my husband’s cherished childhood bear had been thrown away when someone in the family considered it to be too threadbare, I gave him one which was the start of a large collection. My daughter has a special bear given to her at age one, that I have had to make a special flannel sleeping bag for him to protect him as he too cannot be re-sewn too much longer. She understands my feelings perfectly as we share our passion for beloved items with their anthropomorphic qualities so filled with cherished memories ~ it is one of the reasons moving companies LOVE us so much as I feel certain the owners of each company we have used for our transatlantic moves have enjoyed a glorious holiday following yet another of our expensive moves back and forth between England and America.
In the Bookshop Category on my website, I describe our family passion for books, especially old ones and the inscriptions from those who have possessed them in the past, and our inability to part with them. Oh, if books were the only items we were sentimental about . . . memories of those I love who are no longer physically with me yet always in my heart and my thoughts are bound up in so many items that I cannot part with, ranging from large pieces of inherited furniture to bags of antique lace, a collection of buttons and treasures collected from sandy beaches I have explored.
I have saved almost every item my daughter has brought home from school or created at home since she first started at nursery; she and my husband have corresponded whenever they have been apart, whether he was working away from home at the time, or when she was at school, then university and now living and working a few hours from home. They have never resorted to emails, as she and I now exchange, and she recently revealed to his great astonishment, the boxes in which she has kept every letter he has ever written and all of the enclosures, from cartoons and drawings he created for her to articles and comics he searches through newspapers and magazines to include for her enjoyment in each weekly missive. We are a sentimental threesome, each in our own individual way and I would not change that or either of them for anything in the world.
“Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories” ~ a quote from the film An Affair to Remember. This is one of my favourite films of all times and never fails to require a box of tissues or a large handkerchief close at hand. I have a very sad worn tape and do not know what I will do if our old VCR ever dies and I cannot find this film on DVD. We finally joined the modern age and recently purchased a DVD machine! I wish that I could say this reaction was unusual for me, but as one of my brothers commented at an early age, I was the only person he knew who cried at commercials.
As you can see, my sentimentality really has no bounds.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged America, An Affair to Remember, Book Collections, Button Collections, Countryside Connection, england, Family, Memories, Oscar Wilde Quote, Sentimental, Teddy Bears, Transatlantic Moves | Leave a Comment »
Stream and Moorland Sheep in Centre of Hutton-le-Hole, Yorkshire
Hutton-le-Hole is one of North Yorkshire’s most popular villages and definitely a family favourite. We enjoyed a visit this week where I took the photograph shown above. The lush green grass is a perfect picnic spot in the summer months and the village provides a restful visit any time of year as well as inspiration for new products for us to create for Once Upon a Pine. It is somewhere we always recommend to those coming up north and never fail to take family and friends who come to visit.
The village is reached from the south by turning right from the Pickering to Helmsley road, just before Kirkbymoorside, at Beck Mills. The road goes north, climbing steadily for about three miles before the village is first glimpsed on the down hill run into the village.
You will be able to get a good look at the moorland sheep in the village as they are all over the place, hoping to pick up scraps from the many visitors that this beautiful village attracts.
The stream shown by the weir in my photo runs through the centre of the village. There isn’t always much water in the summer months but usually enough to have a paddle. There is a nice gift shop and pub with ice cream and sweet shops. There is also a good public car park at the top of the village, just turn right at the sign.
Hutton-le-Hole is home to The Ryedale Folk Museum Yorkshire’s leading open air museum. There are 13 historic buildings showing the lives of ordinary folk from earliest times to the present day. The Museum lies in the heart of the North York Moors. Set in 3 acres, there are rescued and reconstructed historic buildings including, shops, thatched cruck cottages, Elizabethan manor house, barns and workshops. The museum records the daily life of North Yorkshire people from the earliest inhabitants to 1953. There are also historic re-enactments held during the year.
The road out of the top of the village carries on over the moor to Castleton, and passes The Lion Inn on Blakey Ridge before dropping down again to the remote village. The Lion Inn is one of the most remote pubs in the country and is very popular with music fans who flock there to hear some of the best local and national bands to be heard.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged north yorkshire, Once Upon a Pine, Hutton-le-Hole, Moorland Sheep, Stream, Weir, The Ryedale Folk Museum, The Lion Inn on Blakely Ridge in North Yorkshire, Yorkshire Village, Country Life | Leave a Comment »
Field of Rape for Heart-Healthy Rapeseed Oil
I love this time of year when the countryside is filled with golden fields. I first began to notice them in the late 1990’s when we lived in Hampshire and the short drive from our home to Winchester took us passed an increasing number of former pastures now covered in an unknown yellow covering, similar in colour to dandelions. I found most people as mystified as I was at the time until I sought out a local farmer who explained it to me. A few days ago, as we drove north through Yorkshire to collect some reclaimed wood for our Upon a Pine products, we passed field after field of gold and I wondered how many readers have had the experience or knew about the purpose of this amazing crop which is the source of rapeseed oil.
As a nation we in Britain may have been slow to appreciate the flavour and health benefits of olive oil, but these days we can’t get enough of serious oils for cooking, dressing or drizzling. And it’s not just extra virgin olive oil, other high quality, cold-pressed oils such as hempseed, pumpkinseed, and particularly rapeseed, are all jostling for our attention.
What is special about cold-pressing?
This is the method used to produce the finest quality of oils . The raw material, ie, olives, seeds or nuts, is simply crushed in a press so that it releases its oil without any of the heat treatments, solvents or anti-frothing agents that may be used in the processing of refined oils and which can affect their goodness and taste.
Rapeseed oil wasn’t consumed by humans until the Seventies as it contained too much erucic acid, which can be mildly toxic in high doses. Now all rapeseed grown for culinary use is a strain containing very low levels of erucic acid (this was first bred in Canada, where, as in the US, it is known as canola). According to Richard Faulks, senior scientist at the Institute of Food Research, along with olive oil and walnut oil, rapeseed oil is one of the biggest sources of mono-unsaturated fats (better for the heart than saturated fats). It is also lower in saturated fats than olive oil or sunflower oil.
There are various well-known converts to the rapeseed revolution. Chefs James Martin, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Tristan Welch are devotees of its gentle, almost dusty flavours. It is the oil of choice in the kitchens of The Dorchester, Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons and the House of Lords. But where rapeseed oil was once only available in delis and Fortnum & Mason, it is now widely stocked in supermarkets.
Apart from its local provenance, rapeseed oil’s big selling point, say converts, is its health-giving properties. As with olive oil, rapeseed oil contains Omegas 3, 6 and 9, essential fatty acids known to reduce cholesterol and maintain heart health, joint mobility and brain function. It is also a rich, natural source of vitamin E. High in mono-unsaturated fats, it is one of the few unblended oils that can be heated to deep-frying temperature without its antioxidants, character, colour and flavour spoiling. In short, it is one of best “good” oils.
In some countries rapeseed oil is used for dressings and dips only, but many argue that it can be used in the same way as extra virgin olive oil. Because it’s got a high flash point, it’s good for roasting potatoes, vegetables, and as a butter replacement in crumble mixes, Yorkshire puddings and mashed potato. It heats well in a wok, and can be used as a table condiment for dipping bread.
Why not give it a try?
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged rape fields, rapeseed oil, cholesterol, cold-pressing, celebrity chefs, James Martin, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, excellent source of mono-unsaturated fats, Institute of Food Research | Leave a Comment »
