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The first picture above was taken in the garden of Tom's family home. That lavender row, in full sunlight, was quite something to behold. It was swarming with bees and smelled divine. While we stayed there, Clare let me use a wooden watercolour paint box that had belonged to her parents who were both artists. I mooched around in the garden, painting a few of the plants for as long as I could handle the sun. Needless to say, it was a very good way to spend a morning. 

Back in Wellington, I found I had a little dried lavender left although it's not from Clare's plants, it's from the Marlborough Sounds. I made it into a pair of drawer sachets, in honour of our lavendery holiday and those busy bees.

I found this photo on Pinterest recently- do you think it could be real? I think it would make a calming place to walk, if so.

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21 responses to “sight and scent”

  1. Ella Avatar

    I adore lavender. Wouldn’t it be lovely to walk through field and fields of it like that? The sun umbrella is a good idea too…

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  2. selena Avatar

    If you follow the links down the rabbit hole, you can find the original photo on flickr – the photographer says it’s Sussex!
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/28119819@N07/5945764406/
    We also have fields like this in Hokkaido
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/daveb_za/2827193489/
    Now I want to go!

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  3. paper friday Avatar

    Your paintings are beautiful, as it that paintbox. I adore the smell of lavender. Even though it is deepest darkest winter up here in England, a few sprinkles of lavender oil brings lovely, uplifting thoughts of summer. There is nothing quite like a bunch of the fresh flowers though!

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  4. Lou Avatar
    Lou

    Lovely lavender sachets! Did you hand-stamp that linen?

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  5. Jacqui Avatar
    Jacqui

    About 12 years ago we visited http://www.norfolk-lavender.co.uk/ which was delicious. They have lots of different varieties of lavender so it wasn’t as uniformly purple.
    Thanks for a lovely blog, now I must go dig out my watercolour set, and plant some winter flowering plants for next year. Our garden is a bit lacking at the moment, the spring bulbs are only just starting to show here in the uk.

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  6. Hello Sandwich Avatar

    That is such a beautiful watercolour set! I love it!

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  7. margie Avatar

    i think the smell is coming right through my computer screen 🙂

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  8. Amanda Avatar

    That paint box is BEAUTIFUL! I’ve never seen anything like it!

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  9. christy Avatar

    paint box, lavendar fields, time to sew and paint and smell the flowers…..divine!
    wintery cold here in Canada, but lavendar in my bath reminds me summer will come again
    xo

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  10. Ginny Avatar

    I am amazed if that is Sussex, though I do have some photos of me and my husband in lavender fields in the south of France that were just as dramatic. We went to a paper mill, where they made paper with the lavender sort of pressed in.

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  11. ally Avatar

    all I can think right now is, I want that watercolor box. It’s all lovely, but THAT box.

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  12. Mar Avatar
    Mar

    I love the smell of lavander.
    The lavander field looks magic
    and quite evocative…
    Beautiful sachets!!
    -mar-

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  13. Marzipan Avatar
    Marzipan

    Love the pinterest photo, it makes me think of the lavender fields in France. Perhaps the colour has been enhanced or a filter used?
    Love, love, love the watercolour box, it is fabulous. Lovely paintings too :o)

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  14. Shary Avatar

    Is that a stamp you used on your little pouches? Where did you purchase yours?
    Lavender is one of my favorites.

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  15. Clare Avatar
    Clare

    Kiera calls the lavender in the first picture the bumble bee mall because its mostly laden with bumble bees! The old paintbox looks good too. Cx

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  16. tinyhappy Avatar

    great investigating! love the hokkaido field, too.

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  17. tinyhappy Avatar

    thanks lou- yes, i did- i used an indian woodblock stamp and some fabric ink.

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  18. tinyhappy Avatar

    hi shary,
    yes- i used an indian woodblock stamp to print them. i bought it at a fair trade store here in wellington called ‘trade aid.’ 🙂

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  19. tinyhappy Avatar

    ‘bee mall’- i like it.
    thank YOU clare, for making this post possible!

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  20. Denise | Chez Danisse Avatar

    I just adore your middle image, Melissa.
    I wonder if that Pinterest image is real. If so, wow, the scent while strolling through would be so amazing.

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  21. jay Avatar

    I’ve been to a lavender field while in France and it is beautiful but they aren’t perfectly compact as the pinterest image.

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