Saturday 28 August 2010

Little treasures

Whilst digging in the garden last week I found this.....it appears to be some sort of buckle. I am keeping it to show the historian when he next visits.
Another find is this ornate bowl from a ladies antique clay smoking pipe. I believe it to be dated somewhere between 1790 - 1820. I do not think it would have belonged to a peasant because it is far too pretty........

I do love these finds.....so interesting.
Tiny blooms in the lawn make me smile. No bees today, their numbers are slowly decreasing.......the weather is cold and damp.

Butterflies are hiding. Swallows are gathering over my garden. They are growing in numbers. It seems too early for them to leave..........
I can smell autumn. I can see the light changing. Plums are ripe......the starlings, wasps and I are sharing. There was a very slight frost this morning......only slight but it was there. Has autumn come early I wonder.

27 comments:

  1. I do hope not - I can't bear to think that winter might also be early though of course then perhaps spring might follow suit mightn't it?! Let's think positive.

    Lovely photos as always Cheryl.

    Jane

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  2. Hi Cheryl,

    The season has come later this year, it's just we had such a bad winter we're not ready for it yet. Berries such as Blackberries have been weeks behind across the country... Not complaining, personally.

    Love the little Violas, most of mine have died. Next year I will not bother with them. I just don't understand, they do fine and one by one the plants just flop over and die in their pots. So much for cheering up the front door/decking in the back garden.

    I was thrilled to see Small Copper around on the Verbena still (my blog photos were taken last weekend).

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  3. Wow, what wonderful historic finds. Have you found other similarly old things in the garden before now? The people who lived in my house before me buried stuff in the garden instead of using the trash service... I can't tell you how many off-brand "Lego" I've found. :) (Not quite the same. I wouldn't actually mind real Lego at all!)

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  4. What wonderful finds, Cheryl. It is like a bridge to the past and all the people that have lived there before you. I don't find anything but limestone rocks when I dig here. When I was a girl, and would spend summers on my great grandmother's farm, we would find arrowheads by the riverbank. I still have one even though it is chipped and almost unrecognizable. I hold it and imagine what the person that made it was like. Imagine living that close to nature.

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  5. A few days ago I suddenly realised summer was over, I could "sense" autumn; nothing I could put my finger on - maybe the temperature, maybe a smell, but I knew the season was changing.

    Our rowan trees are loaded with berries, is this a sign we are heading for another hard winter?

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  6. Hi Jane, I almost feel your anxiety. Could you not look upon winter as a time to rest? The short days give us time to restore our energy levels for the seasons ahead. All seasons have meaning.....and have an infinite beauty of their own. Perhaps more time for you to write?? BTW I will pop over soon, having the grandchildren has given me very limited time for blogging, love them to bits though.......

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  7. Hi Liz, our spring was so cold nothing really got going until the end of May. I do not think the blackberries will ripen in my garden. The weather this morning is so cold.......and gales are expected this afternoon with heavy rain. I am without doubt touching autumn.....

    I did not plant the viola, they have appeared in the lawn, which is very kind of them. They look so pretty dotted amongst the grass. I am surprised the rabbits havn't found them (in whispers) they love them.

    I love your copper.....butterflies are not around at the moment....too chilly, too windy......

    Have collected some seeds for you. Will pop them in the post when I have a chance.

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  8. Hi Monica....these are not the first finds.
    Have found pieces of old pots and china.....I live in hope of gold coins....lol

    Lego.....such fun. I think Riley and Poppi would be more impressed with lego!!

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  9. Jenny, how wonderful....arrowheads. I do the same, hold them in my hands and close my eyes. I feel connected to the past.

    Limestone rock....love it. I have a thing about walls, rocks, etc...not quite sure why but I am always drawn to them. Must be a meaning somewhere, I just havn't found it!!

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  10. Hi Bilbo......tku for asking about country ways....they are becoming a thing of the past, but they are often more accurate than the predicted weather forecasts we see on TV.

    My parents and grandparents taught me how to watch the birds etc and note the changes. Everything I do in the garden is based on the ways of time gone by.

    My garden is laden with berries....I normally wait until around the end of October to decide.
    If the trees and hedgerow are still full then, the birds and other creatures are sensing bad weather to come. If they eat the berries before that time, generally the winter is not too bad. Although of course we will get the odd spell of bad weather during that period.

    I have a book on country ways. Would you like it??

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  11. I am so looking forward to the cooler weather. Finding such treasures in your garden would make me want to get out there and dig more. What fun.

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  12. Great finds in your garden! The buckle certainly looks very old. Gosh, I'm stunned you have had frost already! We don't see much frost here, being so close to the sea. I have a feeling it might be a rather different story over at the cottage...
    Lovely pictures of cheery viola faces!
    Dan
    -x-

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  13. Hi Lisa.....I do not personally need an excuse to dig. I find it great therapy.....
    I am loving the cooler weather.

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  14. Hi Dan

    It was 6.00 am when I walked out to the garden. It felt more than chilly and to be honest I thought it was dew on the tips of the grass.
    As I bent down to touch the grass, I thought it looked more like frost. The tips of the grass were icy. I still cannot believe it. We do live in a frost pocket, and do have fairly hard winters but frost in August, so weird. I don't understand the weather at the moment, it is all over the place.

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  15. Hi Cheryl, it is lovely to be back :) What absolutely fascinating things you have dug up, I would love to make discoveries like that. When I was a little girl I loved digging in our garden for pieces of china and amassed a large collection, the more colourful the pieces were the more I liked them.

    I have always noticed the change in light which heralds the end of Summer. I'm sure years ago it was well into August but in recent years I noticed it just after my birthday at the end of July, last year it changed a day or so before my birthday and this year I noticed it changed about a week before which seemed incredibly early to me. We seem to have such short Summers now and like Mr P I do not greatly look forward to the short dark days. I don't need the heat but I do need the sun and light...

    Beautiful flower photos!

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  16. Hi Cheryl...I always love it when I dig some thing up and I am always looking for a glit of something !!
    You have found some interesting things!!
    I have found quite a few old clay marbles and regular ones!! Pieces of old dishes that make me wonder what did it look like and how old is it...things like that!!!
    Weather has changed back to hot and muggy ..probably will not last only a few days..it was 60 degrees last night and right now 12:00 noon it is 84 degrees!!

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  17. Hi Jan....good to have you back.
    I also like finding old pieces of crockery.....especially the blue and white.
    I often find things here....no matter what they are, they always fascinate me.

    The seasons are changing without a doubt. We have years of experience, as far as the weather is concerned and I personally have seen huge changes. Autumn is definately in my garden, I don't care what the weathermen say!!!!
    Mr P is already mumbling about the short days ahead....going to work in the dark, coming home in the dark etc etc.....bless him.

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  18. Hi Grammie, clay marbles how interesting. I loved playing marbles as a child, I loved the pretty colours.

    I do hope you cool down soon.......the constant heat is just not fun.....

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  19. Hi Cheryl, I can't even imagine it being fall yet. But I can hope as it will be such a relief. The flowers are so pretty. How amazing the things you found. I would love to know what the historian says about the buckle as it sure looks like a buckle to me too.
    I'm sure you can buy coconut water in the UK if you really wanted it. Here are a couple of sites I found for you: http://vitacoco.com/#/findvitacoco/ and then of course there is amazon.com.
    I'm off to see more of your site to try to catch up.
    hugggs and blessings

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  20. How fun to find these artifacts in your garden, Cheryl! I'm curious about the origin of the belt buckle--it certainly looks very old. I've never found anything of interest digging in the garden here, but my father has found arrowheads and even an ax-head when he used to plow the fields. This reminds me of the book you gave me, where the writer finds so many links to the past in her garden.

    Although I'm ready for autumn, I'm not ready for the cold you seem to be having. It's still definitely summer here.

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  21. Carolina Moon tku re coconut drink....I shall investigate and purchase for sure.

    Will do a post re buckle if there are any exciting conclusions.

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  22. Hi Rose.....how wonderful arrow heads and an ax-head. Fascinating.....i love these finds, that link us to the past.
    It is sunny today with a north wind. It is gusting so it is very chilly. I am wearing a roll neck which is so strange for this time of year. We plan to take the children to the seaside today, I just hope we do not get blown away....lol

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  23. what delights you have found - a treasure trove. My fave finds were a couple of vintage flower pots still intact and least fave was a builders cement pile! Autumn is definitely nipping at our heels

    Laura

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  24. Cheryl, I can only think how excited your granss must be with these discoveries~I loved to find little pieces of broken pottery when I was little. Autumn hints are indeed in the air around here, too~especially the smells~it's marvelous and i think I am ready~ gail

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  25. Hi Laura...how wonderful to find a vintage flower pot and still in tact. I would just love that, not so keen on the builders cement pile though.......

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  26. Hi Gail, most of us seem to love broken pottery. I expect it is the colours that make them more attractive.

    Our temperatures are dropping to 8C tonight......autumn appears to have arrived.

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  27. Dear Cheryl,
    How very exciting to find buried treasures....one never knows. The buckle is interesting and the ladies pipe very cool...your house is Historic and gracious. Her story must be very interesting.
    So chilly....how very nice. It is cooler here today but summer is still going strong. We had a rain storm which was nice. The caterpillars are growing fast now. I think one more brood before frost. I am so surprised you had a frost.. We do not have first frost until middle to late October.
    I love all the berries. It is that time of year.
    I too follow the ways of the birds and the bugs. They let me know just what to expect.
    Always a delight to be in your gardens.
    Sherry

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