my little-old-lady-in-training is coming along nicely. i’m on my 3rd rosamunde pilcher book and am floating about on a cloud of enchantement. these are quiet reads that feature strong female gentlewomen in their 60’s and 70’s keeping house in homey cottages near idyllic villages scattered throughout the moors, highlands, and coasts of england & scotland. i have to press pause rewind frequently so i can revel in the deliciousness of certain passages. the characters are delightful and complex. gentle reads for winter nights that have me dreaming of remote cornish cottages like this one.
i think a month in such a location would be perfect. imagine the idleness! the thinking! the long walks on the beach! the shell gathering!
alas, this particular cottage is v.v.v. pricey so it’s out of the question, but provides excellent fuel for the imagination.
in other news, i have a jasmine plant resting near a sunny window. waves of heady floral fragrance greet me the second i walk through the door after a long day in the classroom. when it is finished blooming i will plant it on the patio.
i was doing such a good job of posting daily on IG, but i’m afraid the constancy and diligence that requires is difficult for a scatterbrain like myself. 
nevertheless here are a few of my daily studies.
onward! upward!
the korean pots of opaque poster paint i ordered on ebay finally arrived the other day.
i’d been wanting to try them for the longest time and finally did when pam came up a few weeks ago. opaque creamy liquid paint. yum.
i only had 8 kids this week in the classroom. the rest were off on a 3-day island adventure/science camp. i chose to stay behind with the 5th graders who couldn’t go.
we did a bit of drawing.
and stuff.
So thrilled to read this post about my most beloved author R Pilcher – I have multiple copies that I find at tag sales that I give to my friends when they are in need of a good escape. An artist friend of mine told me many years ago that R.P.’s books are grand canvases and the short stories are wonderful sketches… I adore the sense of place she paints.
I had forgotten how much I loved Rosamunde Pilcher’s books – thanks for the reminder. You might also enjoy this take on Virginia Woolf’s Cornwall – and how idyllic childhood summers spent by the sea went on to inspire Woolf’s future writing:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/26/travel/virginia-woolf-cornwall.html
mmmmm great article thanks!!
Read those books about 25 years ago, then went on a huge Cornwall binge, Daphne du Maurier ‘s autobiography stands out as very memorable, gorgeous pictures! Have been thinking of rereading, picked up September at a tag sale last summer, your post confirms it! 😉
You HAVE feasted on the BBC series Doc Martin, yes? Cornwall and smart and snarky and HIGHlarious. Pace yourself!
Shell Seekers is one of the most wonderful, warm and enchanting books I have ever read. It was many years ago but my heart leaped to see it on your reading table. Do enjoy every page. Nancy Carollo
I was so sad when Rosamund died. I lust for her Aga-heated kitchens and cosy wisdom.
As for regular instagrams, I, too, am a failure. I did great for a while, but then…youhav motivated me to post this very day!
Honey buns! Best post ever! New reads, a cottage to make my tummy clench with desire and kid art. All rolled in to one delicious post. Linked here from Carol’s blog which also offered a smidge of delicious reading. You guys are the best. If you decide on Cornwall as a destination, email me. I have a relative with a cottage there. Not ON the beach but down a lovely country lane. Retire already!
Cornwall is running with streams of water in all the lanes. Never had such a wet winter in all our years of living here. So, if and when you come, make sure you don’t pick a dodgy month like March. My blog shows.
How thrilling if you really did come here (lots of pretty cottages to let: Cornwall has become THE place in the UK for holidays)!
If you do visit, be sure to bring Carol as well!
PS Have you discovered Poldark yet? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poldark
Set in the 18th century in Cornwall and a BIG hit in the UK. Some strong women in that too.
I think I have all of Rosamunde Pilchers books. I pull them out from time to time to re-read. I want to go to England and follow Susan Branchs’ journey as well, but can’t talk my husband into going with me. I guess I will continue to go in my imagination…
Love and adore your paintings, and glompses of your own cozy cottage.
I can’t spell yet this morning… I meant glimpses!
I had mentioned that the cottage aforementioned was in a movie, and I found the link. I don’t know how good the movie was or wasn’t, but I would watch it just for the cottage and atmosphere. I think you can watch the movie on YouTube. Here’s one link about it. https://hookedonhouses.net/2012/08/13/the-cornish-cottage-in-the-demi-moore-movie-half-light/
I keep my tattered paperbacks of Shell Seekers, September, and Coming Home on my ‘permanent bookshelf’ – other books may come and eventually go but those are keepers! Are you now adding Cornwall to the travel list? My visit there probably 20 years ago was definitely influenced by her books; I remember reading something that said which villages had inspired the fictional locations in the books, so of course had to visit them! More recently, when I fell in love with Scotland, I actually became more interested in the Scottish settings, though not as much associated with her. To think she didn’t write her biggest success until she was much older too! I also really like your shabby chic t.v. stand; your sense of effortlessly charming home décor remains supreme.
oh i could squeeze you for mentioning my “effortlessly charming home decor”. i’m so bad at keeping things tippy top. shabby is just a byproduct of my wayward personality. xoxo you are my inspiration for my eventual trip to scotland. loved SEPTEMBER
I am reading this same series and loving the weaving of lives in such a great setting. So happy there is more than one book in the series, so there will be long nights of immersing myself into a whole different world. One day, I am traveling to that area and taking my travel sketching along!!! Just need a travel buddy that wants to do the same!
maybe you’re also following susan branch’s trip to england? she’s getting ready to board the queen victoria and head off across the ocean. so exciting!
You better believe I am!! I read her series 3 times already, and I am sure that I could follow her English countryside itinerary exactly, and be pretty happy!
I’m another huge Pilcher fan from way back. And Elizabeth Jane Howard’s Cazelot Chronicles series as another gal mentioned. Your students are so fortunate to have such a fun teacher! And they’re all so good at drawing. Still lots of deep snow here in NW Montana, it some will melt this week. Puppy needs out, again, so I will close. Love your posts!
dying to start the EJH books!! oh that dear puppy of yours. i can see him figuring prominently in a pilcher book. wuf wuf
Rosamunde Pilcher has been a favorite author for many years as well as Marcia Willett. Both provide a wonderful escape when you just want a vacation at home! Rosamunde’s son, Robin, has also written some nice books.
Love your blog – I always look forward to reading about your thoughts and adventures. Thanks for sharing what you are watching and reading! I have enjoyed many
new books and especially loved “Vera”.
hi elizabeth! thanks for mentioning marcia willett. don’t know her! excited to find someone new. these days i just want to listen to atmospheric stories involving simple good people doing ordinary things in extraordinary ways. a gorgeous setting is also fab!
P.S. I can’t remember if I ever recommended the Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard. I loved all of them except the very last one.
i have them in my audible cart!!! they’re next
Loved this series too!
Oh, how I adore Pilcher’s books! As Mary Boyer says, check out “Coming Home.” “Shell Seekers” is still my favorite.
Have you ever read any Joanna Trollope?
NO! thanks for mentioning her i will check her out for sure!
I love the colors you chose to paint the potted plant! I can always count on you for great book recommendations, too!
oh thanks carol!
I forgot to say, that if that is the cottage I think it is, I believe a movie was filmed there. Sitting here trying to think of the title and the actress, but it escapes me. It was a love story, I do remember that.
Be still my heart @that beautiful cottage! That would be like a dream come true. And your jasmine plant and the painting you did…sigh. Their fragrance is so heady. I think the only flower whose smell I love more is the gardenia, my favorite flower.
I am going to have to check out those books. They sound like a wonderful escape. I love the covers even. How come some of the class didn’t get to go on the outing?
I just got a DNA test to find out what I probably already know, but with any luck I will find out something unexpected and exotic. Probably not, but you never know if there were some frisky skallywags in my family. Fun just to have things confirmed. I’m a mutt, and I already know that. Have a wonderful rest of your week!
the kids who didn’t go either didn’t want to, or were new arrivals to the school and there was no more room. 1 had a broken arm. some parents didn’t want their kids away for 2 nights.
I am a HARD core Rosamunde Pilcher fan… ‘The Shell Seekers’ is my ultimate fave, with ‘Coming Home’ close second, ‘Winter Solstice’ next… And her short stories are SO charming ~
No other author can make you feel so “There” ~
yes yes yes! pure comfort reading. so lovely and perfect
Love your paintings, and all your posts. You may just get me to paint again someday!
oh thanks sharon. i’ll be here. lemme know when you pick up your brush again 🙂
I’m so glad you’re enjoying Rosamunde as much as so many of us have. I haven’t listened to them yet but all my books are dog eared on the pages I love the most with her lovely descriptions of places and the simple foods the characters prepare. I forgot about her book Coming Home. That’s another big fat one but Audible doesn’t have it.
Enjoy
YET…but it’s coming! cannot wait.
Gah! I got so sucked into the cottage, I forgot to say how much I’ve loved each of those books!
Oooh that cottage…maybe a bunch of us could rent it, take a vow of silence, and arrange sleeping shifts. For a month – or two. Sigh.
Such a tempting idea!
can you imagine walking on that beach?! oyvey
Count me among the gazillion womenfolk who love your posts!
from a fellow old-woman-in-training.
hi lyn! thank you🤗
Have you read, COMING HOME? My absolute favorite R. Pilcher book. It gives me great comfort, I think I have read it six times.
saving it for last!!! can’t wait.