Poppy's Babies by Jill Barklem

I am on vacation this week. And while I planned on being wildly accomplished this week (Take that college final projects!) I have so far accomplished nothing. I seriously mean nothing. I have meandered through the past three days, taking long walks, refreshing myself afterward with naps and a book a day. 

SO LOVELY.

But why? When school is in session, I am quite adept at getting every drop of time from the day used to the max. I have dreamed of this vacation--all I would get done when I had time to focus! And... nope. I think it is the busyness paradox--the busier you are, the more you get done. So weird.

Anyway, in all my not doing, I also haven't been doing anything with the blog. Not a single Easter book. Sad. 

I had some cute books! But they will keep until later. 

For now, Poppy's Babies! 

By now you probably know of my love affair with Jill Barklem's books. So cozy! So sweet! So detailed! Poppy's Babies was the last book of the set I needed to buy. So I bought it.

And do you see how perfectly adorable that bunny is? Last May I went to visit my sister in Fargo. Since my aunt and uncle were at home that week, we went to supper at their house. Twice. Because they are nice. The second night, I saw this bunny dish. I thought it was perfectly adorable, so I  gushed about it's cuteness to my aunt. "I thought you might like it!" she said. "I put it out here because it seemed like something you would use in your blog pictures. I decided if you said anything about it, I was going to give it to you. So here it is." Just like that, I was the possessor of a green bunny dish. 

I love it! But I also love that my aunt knows me so well. And supports my blog. 

Spring and flowers. Oh joy!

Last time we saw Poppy and Dusty in Summer Story they had just been married in the cutest wedding possible. They now are the proud parents of triplets living above Dusty's mill. 

Life is difficult with triplets and living in a 92 step walk up.

Neighbors pop in to see the cute babies

This page is why you should own these books! I love cross sections of houses. And an apple tree in bloom! Imagine apple blossoms as your roof!

In Brambly Hedge, they just happen to come across a dear little cottage that is used for storing random things. So they do it up for a surprise for Poppy. 

The first time I read this, when I was a teen, I thought how perfectly delightful to live in a place where a perfectly suitable house or two is quickly found. For free of course. 

I still am looking for that place.

Oh apple blossoms, handsewing, babies, poofy skirts. The happiness!

Back at Poppy and Dusty's house, things are crowded, covered in flour dust from the mill and a little stressed.

Jill Barklem does food pictures up proper. I just want to dive in there!

In order to keep the surpise, they send Poppy to stay with the Old Oak Palace so they could move all the Miller's belongings to their new home. 

I think part of the delight of this book is the sheer marvelousness of the surprise! Not having to move things! Having a perfect house provided without having to search for it and discuss unpleasant things like damp basements, mortgages, and commutes! 

Of course, if my husband pulled a trick like this I would be disconcerted because I WANT TO CHOOSE OUR HOUSE TOO. But still. If I was a mouse with triplets, I am sure I would be delighted by the entire thing. 

Nighttime at the palace

The babies christening is presided over by the old Vole. 

And then! The unveiling! The perfectness of the nursery! The convenient rainbow! 

Daisy chains on the ceiling! Friends by the boatload! Charming food! 

And best of all, three sleeping triplets!

Winter Story by Jill Barklem

Oh, we love Jill Barklem so. 

This was my mother's tea set when she was a girl. Not sure where the teapot is. So I used a creamer from my Great Aunt's table set that matched. 

Nothing says winter cozy quite like steaming cups. And yes, I had a little too much fun with props on this one!

Brambly Hedge books always begin with a map of their world.

The middle of a snowless winter. Little lights winking out all over the hedge as the sun sets. 

I love Brambly Hedge!

Snowflakes begin to fall. Mr. Apple goes home to a warm supper by a roaring fire. I often wish I had a roaring fire. It seems like a necessity in a Northern clime. 

We will just look at that picture again because we love it so. 

Happy sigh....

The Toadflax kids watched the snow falling with great excitement!

It was a white world when they woke up.

Fortunately for mice, they can just tunnel under the snow rather than wander around up on top. 

Mr. Apple's store where they all gather to discuss tradition, which involves a winter ball. 

They construct an Ice Hall for the dance by hollowing out a snowbank and making sure the roof was secure. 

While the ice hall was being constructed; Hot soups, punches, and puddings bubbled and in the ovens pies browned and sizzled. 

Here, the Toadflax kids help string crabapples to roast over the fire.

The ice palace in all its finished splendor. Quite impressive for one day's work. 

The Ice Ball in full swing!

Desert

I love the ladies in their garden party hats at an ice palace. 

Tucking tired mousies into bed.

After kids were asleep, parents went back to the Ice Ball for more dancing. 

CPS would have had a field day with this crowd. But they are so cute, how could anyone really be upset? 

And finally, as the morning broke and snow started falling again, even the adults were danced out. Home to cozy beds! 

Summer Story by Jill Barklem

Do you know Brambly Hedge? Totally and incredibly sweet. Jill Barklem created a world of mice living in a hedgerow at the edge of Blackthorn Wood. The mice are all very community minded and slightly old fashioned. They live wholly and completely off what they gather from the hedgerow and are very seasonally attuned. And they are totally adorable. 

In short. they are marvelous!

Summer Story, published in 1980 is the story of Dusty and Poppy's wedding. 

Take a moment to admire my fairy rose.

And these thingies which I picked from beside the road that I can't figure out a name for. 

Each Brambly Hedge book starts with a map of the hedgerow's world.

And a little blurb about Brambly Hedge mice to set the scene. 

Lazy days of summer.

Little mousies trying to bug their elders.

These pictures are in every book. Well almost every book. It is always of a different stump or place, but the detailed and intricate drawings are incredible. Barklem researched extensively before she began any work on these books, so there are a lot of technical details of bygone agricultural processes that are simply fascinating. I could spend hours wandering through these stumps in my imagination. 

This particular picture is of the Dairy Stump, which was overseen by Poppy Eyebright, the bride-to-be.

Dusty miller, the groom-to-be looked after the flour mill stump.

Dusty popping the question.

Ohmyword! Furtively embroidering her wedding dress in the shade of tall kingcups. Oh the delight! 

All of Brambly Hedge was in on the preparations. Here the wedding cake is being constructed. I swoon over every page of cooking/food pictures in Brambly Hedge. They are so delightfully yummy and elegant looking!

Gathering huge baskets of wild strawberries. 

Primrose, meadowsweet, and elderflower wines and hanging them in the water to cool....

Poppy getting ready for the big day.

And another picture of my rose because I was distracted by its loveliness.

The wedding party approaching.

The ceremony. Do you see how magnificent the wedding barge is? 

The wedding guests in their best suits and hats.

The detail, people! The detail!

Then in the name of the flowers and the fields, the stars in the sky, and the streams that flow down to the sea, and the mystery that breathes wonder into all these things, I pronounce you mouse and wife. 

Lyrical and poetical. 

They danced and feasted on the barge. The enthusiastic dancing wore away at the ropes Dusty had made to keep the barge in place. 

The raft/barge floated gently past fields of buttercups and meadowsweet, and the voles tending the fires in the pottery came out to wave as the wedding party drifted by.

#thebestweddingpartyever

Finally they were caught in a clump of rushes and forget-me-nots. They tied the ropes and the dancing resumed. 

At last, the party had to come to an end. Sleepy kids were helped home by their tired parents as the sun set.

The honeymooning couple. 

Wasn't that perfectly marvelous? Yes, yes it was. 

Also, I found Jill Barklem's perfectly adorable website this morning.