Home at last -- and gifts from across the globe!

I'm sitting at my computer trying to compose this post while my darling cat, Edmund, is attempting to wash my face with his incredibly scratchy tongue :) (Apparently he doesn't think I did a very good job of grooming myself while I was away ...)

It's so good to be home!  Yes, my home is a mess, yes it's chaotic, but it's my mess and my chaos and it's marvellous to be wrapped in it again.

And I came home to presents, galore!  When I picked up our post this morning, there were about 12 packages waiting for us, many of them with minis in them.  Very self indulgent of me, but I did a little shopping before I went to England, too! 

This post is about the two best packages -- the ones with gifts from friends I've met online in the mini world.

Darling Flora sent me the most beautiful package from Italy.  (Flora is one of the kindest and most generous bloggers I know :)  Inside were four tiny packages, perfectly wrapped:

Inside was a treasure trove of delights for our Tudor castle -- elegant, sparkling and beautiful:

I photographed them on Flora's elegant letter because the paper and her exquisite hand-writing just set the tone for it all :) Look at them!   The silver jug and goblets (I love the detail on them!); the portrait of Elizabeth I as a young woman (the frame is gorgeous too), the two lamé cushions and the tiny perfect necklace and bracelet all make me so happy!  Like Flora, they are elegant, feminine and refined :)  Thank you, thank you Flora, for your friendship and your generosity to me.  These will all have special homes in the castle!

The second very special parcel was from Glenda of Peppercorn Miniatures in New Zealand.  Glenda is a very special person -- an extraordinarily talented miniaturist and someone who (like Flora) spreads positive energy and sunlight whereever she goes in the blogosphere.  Part of this parcel was my order from her Etsy shop, but most of it was a series of gifts that just bowled me over.

I ordered a mat and the tiny little green journal from her, and received a multitude!  Look!  Two more mats (thank you SO much Glenda, they're so beautifully made and perfect for the castle and the William and Mary house!), a little basket (which I had been longing for), three wonderful pieces of Tudor leather work that just left me speechless, and the most perfect mini book. 

You can see from the photo above that it's bound in green leather and has a red leather maple leaf on the cover! 

I wish you could all touch this book because it's a tiny masterpiece.  It's bound just like a real book, and has endpapers and very thin pages -- the next photo is my lame attempt to show a bit of what I mean:

It's stunning and it gives me so much pleasure, Glenda!  Thank you for the time and skill it took to make it.

Just before I left for England my copy of the dolls house magazine that published Glenda's article on making Tudor leather crafts in 1:12 scale arrived -- I'm going to give them a shot, but having the pieces made by the author is at once an inspiration and a bit overwhelming :)


Thank you, both of you, for your great kindness.

Love,


Nina