Monday, August 9, 2010

Under a sign named Sanders: Various Thoughtful spots


We all have special, "Thoughtful Spots," like Pooh, where we like to go...and...sit....and...think....and humm...and tiddley..  Thoughtful gardeners provide such refuges amongst their "bits of earth." As my friend, Margaret, from Envie Recipes was departing for the Midwest, I asked her to record all the "spots" she found during her garden tour. She is a wonderful photographer, a spectacular cook, not to mention--friend. So, she went on a bench stalk, instead of a heffalump hunt. Follow her footsteps through her expedition and on her blog, as well! 


If I was a little girl again, I would make a fort here. I would invite my girl friends in, and kick my 4 little brothers out! After various entreaties, I would make a grand show of letting them in, but they would have to do Everything I asked, for the rest of the day and let me watch whatever I wanted on T.V.!   This bench by John Makepeace, is a magic circle at the edge of a wonderful allee. It takes me back in time, as I regress and digress...maybe, if we sat there on the Solstice....


Following Margaret...Who is not a Wozzle or a heffalump!!


Going even farther back in time.

“Poetry and Hums aren't things which you get, they're things which get you. And all you can do is go where they can find you.” 
A. A. Milne

This sacred niche in Margaret's hunt, is far away from our mental Woozles.  A perfect spot for poetry and hums to whisper in your ear. The creation of "thoughtful spots" within and around your home is the gift of love, memories, and growth for all those who surround your family. It is not personal statement. It is more of a series of fall-our shelters and chapels.


Margaret is a moody cook--she cooks what captures her mood. Another book has tumbled out of her moody, photo essay. She has found the rusty key, and unlocked the vast forest of English literary imagination,  beyond the 100 Acre Wood--"The Secret Garden." Here is where Mary and Dickon rescue the occupants of Misselthwaite Manor.




"To speak robin to a robin is like speaking French to a Frenchman"
Frances Hodgson Burnett (The Secret Garden)



Perusing our English imaginary landscapes and shores. Margaret has taken us down this garden path, where Elizabeth Bennet tells Mr. Darcy: 

"No! No. You may only call me "Mrs. Darcy"... when you are completely, and perfectly, and incandescently happy."
-Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)


Following moody Margaret, we've discovered a willow, wattle bench, perfect for the moody Badger.





"Badger hates Society, and invitations, and dinner, and all that sort of thing."
- Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, Ch. 3

A little hidey hole bench behind a fence is perfect for craving solitude. 




“Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering.”
-Winnie the Pooh (A. A. Milne)

Milne's rediscovery of childhood, through his son, joyfully reminded him of the imaginary, thoughtful and thoughtless world. 




"Wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.”
-A. A. Milne

Margaret brings us back to the magic circle. We can always arrive where we began.

19 comments:

  1. Absolutely delightful took me careening into long forgotten childhood memories of some wonderful Tennessee landscapes and all therein...

    ReplyDelete
  2. So THAT's where the heffalump's come from.. Winnie the Pooh!! I heard it like 10 years ago (true story), and it stuck with me, thank you for clearing that one for me!

    All the benches your friend photographed are so pretty, I've never seen a bench nearly as beautiful as any of them!

    --> And I'm so happy you agree with my turquoise and white theory lol ;)

    xo Linda

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh my...I think you have just posted the perfect post! Lovely pictures paired with beautiful prose...well done...thanks for sharing K

    ReplyDelete
  4. Being more of a Tigger myself, I rarely find time to just sit and think, think, think like Pooh but when I do, I sit on a garden swing we have under the old maple trees in the back yard. Beautiful images and an inspiring post!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, so gorgeous! Love the circular benches in the first one! If I keep on eating like I've been eating I'm going to turn into a heffalump myself, and I will sit down on one of these benches and a crane will be required to pull me up! XO!

    ReplyDelete
  6. How lovely! The circular benches are in the most perfect setting! Thank you for taking me there..

    ReplyDelete
  7. The hedges, the roses and the lawn carpet...sigh :) The bench and I can feel the breeze from those BIG oaks trees!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I don't know what I love more...Jane Austen or The Secret Garden, but I do know that last spot with the circular benches and tree house is divine...like out of a dream!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dear Pooh is such a wise old bear, isn't he?

    Thanks so much for your visit and sweet comment. And thank you for leading me here to your beautiful blog. I am now a follower!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Looking at this post was like visiting an enchanted garden! I am nuts about that circular bench.

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a different and lovely post. I truly enjoyed it! And those semi-circular benches. So simple and beautiful.

    And I am memorizing your last sentence about the magic circle. "We can always arrive where we began". Love it!

    ox, Mon

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank you for visiting 24C...it's nice to meet others who appreciate and "know" the PNW.

    I'm looking forward to exploring your blog...I've already explored your furniture website a bit and you have some very beautiful items, it was fun to browse.

    Off to become a follower...xo Jessica~

    ReplyDelete
  13. Goosebumps.
    Yep, I have them,
    all right....
    Lovely post, lovely
    words and images, all!
    You've woven a magical
    tale and I'm so glad
    to have experienced it,
    right before I'm off
    to Dream Land...perhaps
    I'll dream of one of
    these special little
    spots? Thank you for
    the inspiration!!
    xx Suzanne

    ReplyDelete
  14. it is all so lovely....so peaceful

    happy to see you at Farmhouse today and happy to follow, my friend

    kary and teddy
    xxx

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh so nice to meet you friend..and yes, my poor husband, I too pity him.

    PS: We are neighbors. I too spend much of my time scouring High Point ;)

    ReplyDelete
  16. What a charming post! I love creating secret, thoughtful places in all of the gardens I design. My life can get so hectic sometimes, that it's important to remember to carve out a little time to sit in a beautiful place and enjoy a quiet moment.

    Thank you for all of these relaxing images.

    xo
    Brooke

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thanks for the comment Liz. You blog is great!

    Those curved benches and treehouse is a little piece of heaven.

    This is my "Thoughful Spot"
    http://styleandcentsability.wordpress.com/2010/05/10/from-the-garden/

    Now I just need my carpenter husband to build that treehouse!!

    ReplyDelete

We love your comments and hope you will join the conversation! Please do not use this forum for advertising.