Sweet Violets

Snipped from the history books The violet has a fragrant breath.(Emily Jane Brontë) In our current culture, you don’t see or hear much about violets. But I’ve always loved them. When I was a child on Vancouver Island, we lived near a creek. I loved to crawl under creekside boughs to sit and study yellow… Continue reading Sweet Violets

Creative, tough, tenacious – Freya Stark

Freya Stark

Zest for life I might never have learned about Freya but for a book sale where I stumbled on her autobiography, Traveller’s Prelude 1893-1927.  It’s an astonishing document of her experiences up to her mid thirties. Freya Stark had a fascinating life. She was an explorer and wrote more than two dozen travel books about… Continue reading Creative, tough, tenacious – Freya Stark

Art meets craft meets science ca. 1770’s – Meet Mary Delany

Life can be hard Transport yourself back to England, early 1700’s.  You’re growing up in a fairly well-off family and getting an education, which was huge then.  You’re bright – a natural with needlework, scissor work and painting.  There’s an expectation that you will become a ‘maid of honour’ in the royal household…. but the… Continue reading Art meets craft meets science ca. 1770’s – Meet Mary Delany