Wednesday, September 25, 2013

A Tea Cup Full of Autumn



If only I could distill autumn days like this - the arching blue sky, the sun's warmth on my back, the softening colours in the landscape - if only.


I'd bottle it up and seal it tightly, an elixir to be brought out on the darker, wetter days to come.
 

Instead, like a magpie, I collect a piece of arbutus bark, a few leaves, a soft feather, hawthorn berries (now that I know what they are), some acorns and pinecones and tumble them into a tea cup - a still life to enjoy now and later.

Are there collections from nature in your home? I like a bit in each room - a plant, a glass dish of shells, a vase of stones. What do you do with yours?

20 comments:

  1. I love your teacup full of Autumn delights.
    I have a dish of rocks and seashells from the beach sitting in my kitchen.
    On a plate by my desk sits acorns and the maple wings, please a speckled egg.
    In my living room are hydrangeas in shades of blue and magenta, they came from the garden.

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  2. I'm glad you got a beautiful sunny day to enjoy the outdoors. I love your teacup full of treasures from nature. It's sweet and perfect for fall. I have 2 jars in the bathroom which has a beach theme. One jar has rocks and the other shells. All collected from different places over the years. I just don't know what came from where now. :) I also have an old enamel cup with 3 small pieces of driftwood shaped by the water and sand. One I've had for over 40 years.

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  3. I love your cup full of autumn!! What a great idea and the colors perfect! Thanks for stopping by the country today as well, always appreciate your visit!

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  4. I like the way you combined your fall treasures from nature in the sweet tea cup.
    I seem to collect bird feathers. Some of them are tucked into a little nest. My collection of heart shaped coral from Hawaii reminds me of the wonderful trip we took there and now I have one lone piece of sea glass on my kitchen counter reminding me of my time spent at Stanley Park.

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  5. Love love the teacup idea for showing collections. I have polished and cut stones on a wide windowsill - small vases collected in a high sided tray that is sectioned off, marbles in a jar, and seashells in milk glass dishes. I love little nature collections too. Wasn't today just grand?

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  6. I do that too...bits of light turquoise moss, branches pine cones...it's bringing in nature for the winter.

    Jen

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  7. Beautiful photos. Love your collections. I usually have bowls of pine cones and nuts collected from outside in the fall. Sea shells in the summer, and vases of flowers year round. Sometimes I have had stones out in the past.... kind of depends on age of visitors! ha!

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  8. A lovely autumn teacup. I just love the blue of the skies this time of year. You captured it beautifully.

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  9. I am really feeling Autumn in the air. The sunshine makes me want to go outdoors and get warm, but the breeze is cool on my face, and turning into wind more often now. The garden is somehow so lovely, even though it is fading. Thank you for sharing your Fall.

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  10. Oh but you can bottle it - you have the photos to remind you and it will be there in your mental photo album to bring out on cold grey days! I like to go back through my blog for a reminder of summer days during winter months and to take a virtual mini break!! Love the idea of having something of nature in the home - I am always picking up bits of this and that but hadn't thought of making a mini display with them - you have inspired me to do the same in future. I do have a windowsill in the bathroom with a display of shells and sea glass on it but that is static I like the idea of an ever changing display especially in a teacup like yours!

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  11. Your writing read like a poem, Lorrie.
    In England they say that if the hips and haws are thick on the branch , it will be a hard Winter. (Haws from Hawthorn and Hips from Rosehips)

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  12. Love your teacup full of autumn. I've been known to fill them full of flower petals, but I love your idea better. I do like to collect the seasons to bring into the house. Around here, we don't have the beautiful colors of foliage, but I like pine cones and twiggy things. I would bring in the gorgeous goldenrod but I don't for obvious reasons.

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  13. I have a little bowl with feathers, bits of a wasp nest, shells, shiny chestnuts, maple-leaf whirlygigs . . .your arrangement is really pretty in that teacup.

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  14. Bits and pieces that bring back a happy memory. Feathers for book marks!

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  15. It looks very sweet and your photos speak of fall. Such wonderful color.

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  16. That is one sweet autumnal bouquet in your tea cup. You are enjoying some glory days for sure.

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  17. If it wasn't dark outside, I'd run out and collect a little cup of autumn right now. Love it!

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  18. I'm collecting too.............and I think I'm becoming a bowerbird, the Australian bird who builds an amazing nest and actually is an interior designer!
    I have a large transferware teacup just calling out for a Fall collection - today I will scour the garden for sure. Love yours Lorrie - your cup is definitely full!

    Happy weekend - sunny and bright I hope.
    Mary

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Thank you for your comment. I read and value each one, cherishing the connections we can make although far apart. Usually, I visit your blog in return, although if you ask a question I try to contact you directly.

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