So many drab, wet, grey days here lately, so pardon me if I’m keeping an eye for sparks of brightness wherever they may appear. Magical crepe-paper-strip flowers on the witchhazel (Hamamelis) in a boulevard garden I walk past on my way to buy yarn. . .
And speaking of yarn. . .
Yellow socks I knit myself a couple of years ago; I’ve just mended their worn patches, so they can keep brightening my day for a few more years. . .
Also brightening my view when I look footward. . .
The yellow boots have been cheering me up through the dreary season for three years now (featured in this post, a few months after purchase).
Sometimes I wear them as the only point of colour in an otherwise fairly sombre OOTD, but sometimes more cheer is required. . . .a colourful skirt, a mustard-toned beret, a blue corduroy dress with pockets that make me happy, a gold-navy-dusky-pink scarf I bought in Paris (so that the memory also lifts my spirit). . .
My husband has no yellow boots, although I did knit him a pair of yellow socks (mended even more colourfully and much more extensively than mine). Perhaps that’s why he was inspired to pick up this heart-warming clutch of roses a few days ago. . . (there should be a few of these bouquets this year, I think, given we’re heading toward our Golden Anniversary, right?)
Finally, yesterday’s sunshine came from my attempt to sketch the cover of a picture-book my mom bought our oldest over 45 years ago! (she had great taste in children’s books, my mom did.) I’ve easily read this book at least a hundred times — to my four and their friends and children of my friends and to nephews and nieces . . . and over the last fifteen years, to grandchildren. . .
Our youngest grand is almost 6 now, so my days of reading this to him are either over or severely numbered, and I don’t know what other kids might show up within reach of my armchair — but I’ll keep this taped-together copy in the basket of kids’ books just in case. And probably pick it up to read to myself occasionally — for nostalgia’s sake.
(A propos of our discussion on ageing, when my mother’s cognitive abilities decreased enough that she found reading a challenge, she kept up her visits to the library — a three-minute walk across the street from her condo — and brought home stacks of picture books instead. She said she was embarrassed about it at first, but then would just say they were for great-grandkids. I love remembering this, tucking the memory away where it might be useful to me in years to come. Not too soon, I hope, but perhaps I, too, might be resilient and adaptable and find joy in creative ways. Thanks, Mom!)
Interestingly, when I checked to see if the book is still in print, I found that the yellow cover is a much less common alternative to a cover with a blue sky, green pastoral landscape as background to the image of the elephant holding the “Bad Baby.” (and yes, I know, no baby is really a Bad Baby. . . but this one’s manners need improving 😉
And I do love a pastoral landscape, particularly when it features a talking pachyderm, but Oh My!, This day, this month (pretty much every February, in fact!) I need the yellow!
And perhaps you did as well.
Happy Weekend, whatever the weather,
Leave me a comment should you feel so inclined — you could tell me, for example, what yellow item is cheering you today. Or what other colour does that trick for you. Or let me know what you’re up to . . . or just wave a cheery wave (I want to leave you the option to wave a despondent wave as well, if that’s your current state, but I find it hard to imagine waving despondently. Surely that arm would just remain limply at your despondent side. . . Hmmm. In which case I’m sending you a hug. A sincere hug xo)
xo,
f
Rumpeta rumpeta rumpeta all down the road.
A great favourite but I think I may have read it for the last time. The Five is into Pokemon now.
Author
Yes! Those rumpetas! All the repetition in that book for Littles to join in on!
We moved quickly through the Pokemon stage — just as well for me, who found it all baffling 😉
That was me digging back into your patio garden posts while you released this post to the wind. Beautiful yellows are lighting up your life right now! I wish I could add a photo of the brilliant yellow daffodils wilding in our back yard these days. I find yellow to be a real joy on grey days, and well, a joy everyday!
Author
I can’t believe there are 7+ years of terrace garden posts now . . . I need to go back through them myself!
I’d love to see those daffodils “wilding” in your back yard (what a great use of the word!)
Hello Frances, the notice in my inbox of your new post was a welcome surprise. Your OOTDs are splendid. I love your yellow, mustard and gold pieces that lift the darker skirts and brighten the dull days. I especially love the yellow and navy scarf.
A favourite yellow item of mine is an Oroton shoulder bag. It’s small but cleverly designed with 2 compartments and a couple of slim pockets. It has accompanied me most days since I bought it 6 years ago (a talented bookmaker “reconditioned” it for me a few years ago) and has garnered more compliments than anything else I’ve owned. Previously, I only ever carried black or tan bags and I’ve been amazed how well the chartreuse-like colour works with so many other colours.
What a beautiful illustration you’ve made of the Bad Baby book! I used to read the book (with the blue and green cover) to my daughter, about 20 years ago. It was her favourite of a selection available at a cafe we often visited. In fact, we took to calling the venue the Bad Baby cafe. She was a sweet, kind child (now a sweet, kind adult) and was fascinated and amused by the baby’s antics. She especially loved that the story ended with the baby’s desire to return to its mum. Oh, the memories!
I’m pleased that you have some happy memories and a valuable lesson to take from your mum’s resilience during her illness. I’ll have to think back to see if I can find any silver linings from my mum’s dementia years.
Author
Thank you! I’m surprising myself, tbh, with this recent more frequent posting. No idea how long it will last, but the rhythm’s suiting me for now and I’m glad to know it’s welcome to at least one reader 😉
I love the sound of that shoulder bag — I didn’t know the brand, but just peeked at their website, and I like what I see, including some small bags that seem well designed.
Another with happy memories of reading about the Bad Baby — and you even had a Bad Baby cafe!
My mother continued to live independently until her last months and recognized us all by name, although there were incidents of her needing re-direction to get back from her walks, etc. It would be harder to find happy memories from a deeper dementia, I’m sure, especially if it was prolonged.
It’s originally an Australian brand but is more widespread now. For me, bags are like shoes, and I prefer to buy them from a physical store, preferably at sale times. So, next time you’re in Sydney I’ll meet you an Oroton store and we can have tea or coffee afterwards 😉
Author
You’re on! Next time I’m in Sydney! 😊
Yes , we are needing the yellow today too . There’s been so much rain , wind & gloom here recently . This morning we woke to a lovely sunrise & the weather man promised a nice , clear day . My washing line was flapping by 9 am & I was admiring our first few daffodils nodding their heads in the breezy sunshine . By 11am there were black clouds gathering & then came the rain again . A quick scrabble to rescue the sheets then back to my soup making . Red Lentil this time & I added a good dollop of turmeric for yellowness . Max arrived home from town later having joined his friends in the pub & brought a custard tart as a treat . So I agree , there’s something very cheering about yellow .
Author
Yikes! I can imagine you pulling that line in, the sheets flapping, the rain pelting. Turmeric in a red lentil soup the perfect antidote. And then a custard tart! Job done, yellow! Bravo!
I love your yellow boots and the beautiful yellow roses! Personally, I can’t think of a single yellow item in my wardrobe or even around the house, but we’re fortunate to be blessed with many days of bright sunshine here on the prairie, so I guess yellow is needed a little less.
Author
I’m such a moderate-climate Coastie (all my life in grey, rainy, but moderate temperatures) that I’d have limited appreciation for that bright sunshine, those blue skies, when it’s -20C. But I can imagine that once you’re used to it, it’s very good for the spirit. Enjoy!
Not yellow for me, but PINK! I know exactly what you mean about the lift that a cheerful colour can give you and pink is doing it for me this year. A new fuchsia pink t-shirt, pink gloves and some pretty, bow-bedecked pink leather sandals are cheering me immensely this February and giving me hope for a pretty, pink spring. Winter is long and can feel dreary after so many months of very little sunshine. Colour almost works like light doesn’t it?
Author
Oh, yes! Pink definitely works! Are you able to wear those leather sandals yet or is it just the prospect of wearing them that has you smiling in February?
Oh, just the prospect right now! But the utter delight when I look at them will carry me through!
From chilly Ontario, (with weather advisories and goodness knows what else looming for us this roller coaster of a winter)
I don’t have any yellow in my wardrove but I have been wearing the bright pink cashmere sweater I treated myself to this fall on repeat, my go to these darker days. When I made my last trip to the local supermarket I noticed small pots of mini daffodils. I passed them by at the time, I was in a hurry, but next time they will come home with me.
Author
Another fan of pink — and in cashmere. Like a hug, all day, every day!
And those mini daffodils — definitely pick up a pot!
I’ve got a bright yellow double-gauze button up shirt in my cart at L.L.Bean…I always thought yellow was a difficult color to wear, but changed my mind after buying a neon yellow down jacket a few years ago in the end-of-season sales. I joke that it will come in handy if I ever have to flag down drivers on the two-lane road we drive down the mountain, but I’ve come to really appreciate its brightness and cheer!
Thanks for the pic of the witch hazel tree. I’d never seen one before. Hope you get some sunshine and warm temps soon!
Author
Oh, you’re set! Sunshine in your cart to get you through until the real thing shows up.
I wish I could have posted the fragrance of the witch hazel as well — they’re such a treat in the winter, these ones!
I’m going to stretch the search for yellow a bit to include…ochre?…golden beige? Things you might colour yellow if you were limited to the small box of crayons. As I sit, I have bananas (definitely yellow); sunshine on a palazzino across from me; and last but by no means least ceci boiling in a pot. I love the smell of beans cooking. The reasoning behind doing that on this Saturday morning is it holds me at home for two hours, in theory ‘cleaning’…in reality lollygagging and reading blogs lol
Re: the despondent wave…I think the hand comes to roughly waist-height and then falls weakly back.
Author
Yes, I will allow those “other yellows” — you might even include the very good olive oil you’ve added to your kitchen in Firenze. Perhaps a glass of straw (or amber)-coloured wine . . .
Enjoy the lollygagging — Cleaning and cooking and nesting in your own little home in Italy sounds a very good way to make the most of your time there.
And thank you — credible despondency! (although the description also brings to mind the Joe Clark wave that Alan Fotheringham ridiculed to disproportionate effect in the polls #canadiansofacertainage reference)
As I read this, I am sitting in bed and looking out at a bright and frosty morning – something of a surprise – and admiring my yellow bedroom curtains. I made them a few years ago especially so they would catch the morning sunshine and cast a golden glow. They are just a simple linen panel but they bring huge pleasure on tricky mornings.
Author
Oh, very clever those curtains! I want!
What a beautiful photo of witch hazel! And your yellow boots make me wish I had a pair. What I do have is a yellow cashmere beanie that I bring out when winter weather becomes oppressive.
Author
The yellow cashmere beanie! That’s exactly the spirit! I bet you get the occasional comment from passers-by, to whose day your beanie has also brought a bit of sunshine.
Yellow roses are my favourite roses (or any yellow flowers,like a bunch of yellow tulips I’ve got last week)
You are right,we need yellow….but we have high temperatures,so,so early…
Love your mothers visits to library…and your boots make me smile
Dottoressa
Author
I just checked your weather and I see what you mean — mid-teens already . . . Here, we can’t help be concerned because there’s almost no snowpack at all on the mountains, and for all this rain, that won’t serve us during another summer drought. . . And my SIL just sent me a photo of our little Roman skiing on an Italian slope of artificial snow — they’d given up waiting for the real thing and she was desperate to ski at least once this season. . .
xo
About three weeks ago I cut budding stems from my forsythia bush. Now I have a large vase full of yellow blooms! ~ in SW Virginia
Author
Oh, wonderful! Nothing like those first forced blooms, the bouquets from pruned branches brought inside — forsythia in February might be the most glorious!
I have a bright yellow linen dress! Used to have a yellow raincoat…very cheerful on a rainy grey day.
I enjoyed this post…felt very upbeat.
Nice roses…we grow quite a few yellow roses!
Author
Yes, I thought of our beloved Graham Thomas when Paul brought these yellow roses home — sadly, the ones in the vase have very little fragrance, which makes them a pale imitation in my opinion. . . 😉
Donna
Just the title of that book makes me smile. “Bad Baby”… love that. Probably wouldn’t be the title now? I just bought a kids’ book for our young friends and former neighbours’s son …from the banned book table at Indigo. We visited them for dinner recently. They were thrilled. “We approve of banned books,” they relied. They are such a lovely couple. Their son, almost two, kept running around with his sippy cup, shouting “cheers” and clinking with Stu’s and my wine glasses. That evening cheered me right up. February blahs are hard to shake sometimes.
Author
Yes! Banned books for the win! Sippy-cup cheers to you!
I have an ocher linen dress bought at the Campo de Fiori market in Rome and a similar color bag bought in Florence on another trip. I feel fully at odds with my closet right now. So warm here (Texas, U S) that nothing I have within easy reach is suitable for this sudden rush to 89f. And part of me is thinking, “If I break out the linen now, what will I do in May??” I thought I was in “one more wear before the laundry season” territory but apparently not. It will be high in the 50s later this week but one day only. Getting dressed has a new complexity.
Author
I love ochre as a sophisticated way to wear yellow! But oh, I can’t imagine the weather you’re going through now, so suddenly!
That coup de coeur feeling when you know something is just right and will make your heart sing every time you wear it. Have been listening to a podcast on fashion on French radio – “how to dress with style in 2024”. Predictably, les grands classiques of a good pair of jeans (not skinny), a white shirt and navy jacket came up! https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/podcasts/grand-bien-vous-fasse/grand-bien-vous-fasse-du-jeudi-22-fevrier-2024-7427407
My cheering yellow items today are the pot of dwarf narcissi on my kitchen windowsill, and the un-“eco-responsable” vase of yellow roses and cream freesias which my husband bought to take to a sea kayaking soirée at a club member’s house last week, forgot to take them, and so I gleefully inherited them. I always tell him not to buy me imported flowers, but I have to confess these are bringing me joy every time I pass them.
Author
Ah yes, “les grands classiques”! The navy jacket and the jeans, fine (although I’m long over the notion of “a good pair” — what happens with them as they show the wear that jeans were designed for, originally. Also, they’re not so comfortable as one ages, imho 😉
Yes, I too try to be eco-responsible in the cut flowers ’round here, but Pater is not as careful . . . and even I would make an exception for freesias . . . I love the scent! Haven’t had that fragrance in our place for at least a decade and now I’m craving . . . Enjoy yours!
What a cheerful post! Perfect for February.
I’m glad to be back after months of being too busy with a contract job. I just managed to do the full-time work, maintain my blog posts, cook a few dinners a week, and keep the surface of essential rooms in the house clean. Reading other blogs rarely happened and I missed reading your wonderful posts. It’s nice to come back to a post with a yellow theme.
As I noted on your Instagram post, my weekend post this week has a photo of yellow witch hazel blossoms. What a coincidence. They are the first blooms I’ve seen as temperatures start to rise and the sun gets a little stronger. Two days later, I saw snowdrops and one crocus. Slowly, every slowly we creep towards spring.
I’ve been thinking of cutting some forsythia sprigs and forcing the blooms inside. That will bring more cheerful yellow into my life. BTW, those yellow roses are lovely! I’m sure that you are enjoying them.
I drink my coffee from a yellow mug every morning. We bought two of them at a yard sale many years ago. One remains and somehow it became my morning mug. The color does brighten the morning.
Yellow is not a color that works with my skin tone, so I wear very little of it. A bright blue or pink is a cheerful color to wear as an alternative. I’m terrible about being creative with my wardrobe and tend to put on the same jeans and tee shirts every day. On the one day that I went into the office during this latest gig, I wore dark slacks and a simple top. I got a little wild with a bright red sweater sometimes, but usually it was a neutral top and a dark blazer.
Your post is reminding me to select a few colorful tops that will make the days brighter. Thank you!
Author
I just checked your blog — I guess that witch hazel photo post goes up a bit later — I’ll have to check back.
Yes, do, with the forsythia forcing — they’re so cheerful, those early blooms. We had to get rid of an under-performing forsythia the former owners had left on our terrace — just took up too much real estate — and I miss those few blooms we did get.
Enjoy your coffee from that yellow mug — a good way to start your day with cheer!
Yes, my post went up later on Friday.
I will head out to pick forsythia soon. Perhaps you can find some wild branches somewhere and enjoy them. In the meantime, you have those wonderful boots to brighten your days. While we won’t rush things, before you know it you will be wearing your equally cheerful gold sandals.