daffodils | Topaz Magpie Jewellery

Mother’s Day Treats

on March 5, 2013

A short post today, and you don’t need to try and guess the topic! This weekend is Mother’s Day. Of course, our Mums deserve treats all year round, but as this day is reserved for them especially, it seems churlish not to send a little something.

And so I thought I’d make it a little easier, should you want to send your Mum a little silver token. These earrings, with their tiny pearls, are particularly pretty; but there are lots of other delights available in my shop. And until 9am on Friday 8th March, you can use the code “MOTHERSDAY” at the checkout to get free P&P!

Of course, you may not want to buy your Mum jewellery (I do understand!); I recently sent daffodils which I picked here to my Mum, aunts and my husband’s step mother. They were *very* well received.

And I know that not all of you have daffodils growing in such abundance in your gardens just yet, but Fentongollan is a company here in Cornwall which sends out beautiful flowers. I’ve used them myself in the past, and have been delighted – and if you’re quick you’ll be in time for Sunday!

A Host of Dancing Daffodils

on April 16, 2012

Trevarno Gardens near Helston, Cornwall.

In one large(ish) field in Cornwall there is a bewildering variety of daffodils. 2500 to be precise – although the lady at the entrance to the garden told us 2800. Either way, that’s a lot of daffodils. Many were as you might expect: a burst of bright yellow like a flash of sunshine in the gloom; a pale papery white with a delicate apricot centre; a bold orange centre which should clash with the almost luminous yellow outside… But there was more. So much more.

I truly didn’t imagine that there could be so many shapes and colours in what is possibly the most common flower we see each year. Spring in this country is nothing without daffodils, but I don’t think I’ll ever feel so complacent about their familiarity again. Our visit took place on a typically Cornish spring day; heavy grey skies one minute, blazing sunshine the next, a stiff breeze gusting occasionally and waving the flowers gently to catch the light. It really was beautiful, and this collection of photographs can only begin to capture some of it for you.

I wrote about our lovely day out here, and mentioned that the garden may be closing. Unfortunately that is now happening, this Sunday 22nd April. If you do happen to be in Cornwall this week, I highly recommend a trip to this beautiful valley with its daffodils, reindeer, lake, peacocks… it would be a real shame to miss it.

And with that, whilst not being a huge Wordsworth fan, I thought there really wasn’t any other way to end this post.

I wandered lonely as a Cloud
That floats on high o’er Vales and Hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd
A host of dancing Daffodils;
Along the Lake, beneath the trees,
Ten thousand dancing in the breeze.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee: —
A poet could not but be gay
In such a laughing company:
I gazed — and gazed — but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude,
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the Daffodils.

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Inspiration: Trevarno Gardens

on March 19, 2012

On Mother’s Day this weekend I had a wonderful trip to Trevarno Gardens near Helston with my family. It really is a beautiful place to visit; you could easily spend the entire day wandering around the various glades, fields, ponds, museums – gardening, soap or toys, take your pick. Oh, and not forgetting the divine cafe.

The first path (after hiding under a tree from a typical Cornish shower) took us to the National Daffodil Collection. It was stunning – who knew there were so many varieties? More on this in another post though. After our meander through the 2,800 types of daffodils we greeted the reindeer; there can’t be many herds of reindeer in Cornwall, and the dogs weren’t best pleased, but they are lovely. And apparently the first reindeer born in the UK was born here.

A quick look at the old railway carriages which make up part of the Helston Railway Preservation Society, a group dedicated to opening the old Helston branch line as a heritage railway, and we headed back to the main house and it’s cafe for lunch. With the peacocks. Again, not-so-happy dogs!

We spent the rest of the afternoon with the delights of the boat house, the lake, the grotto, the camellias, beautiful tall trees and giggling children.

Trevarno has herbal workshops; they make fabulous soaps. There are bees. A yew tunnel. A Victorian boathouse. My children even took part in an opera here a few years ago, on one lovely summer’s evening. It is also possible that the gardens will close sometime soon; it was likely to happen before Christmas, but there’s been a reprieve.