Secret Gardens

Another movie I recently watched is The Secret Garden.

How did I forget how visually lovely and heart-warming this movie is?

 

And some recent photos from my own not-so-secret garden.

 

Dresses & Tresses series

From Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Mostly a focus on Lady Marian's gowns and the lovely forest wedding scene.

Behold the pretty!

I do love a man with a crossbow.

This reminds me so much of a favorite Walter Crane illustration (right).

I read in the movie guide that this gown is made of silk organza, boiled for 10 hours to achieve a softer, draping fabric.

 Love the twig cathedral window.

The details on the clothing is amazing!

Prints from the Codex Manesse

Last winter, traveling near Boston, I found these lovely medieval prints - already framed - in an antique store. Always one to succumb to impulse purchases of this sort, I simply had to have them although toting them home on the plane was a bit of a challenge. From the Codex Manesse or "large Heidelberg Lieder Manuscript", these are only three from a much larger collection of images, all depicting Kings, Lords, Ladies, monastic life, hunting and similar themes. 

Summer blahs

First, let me just say that I'm experiencing one technical difficulty after another with blogger. It seems they removed the "follow" feature and urge one to add urls. I get an error message when I attempt that, some old ones don't work, and now it says my browser is no longer supported. I really dislike upgrades and "fixes" when things are working fine for me. So, forgive me for not keeping in touch with you all; I'll try to remedy that and vow to not let another month slip by.

We've had a major heat wave in NC topping out at 107 or so - like many parts of the country;  but I did manage to get out and about to enjoy nature the week before. It was cool and lovely for about 2 days. I now have a rabbit who visits and is often side-by-side with the squirrels eating beneath the bird feeder. Such magical creatures.