Thursday 11 September 2014

A la recherche du temps perdu

I was the type of child who didn't say all that much, but on the inside I was quite fanciful and spent a lot of time daydreaming and imagining.

I had my future planned out in quite some detail. I was going to be a famous ballerina to begin with, like my heroine, Dame Margot Fonteyn. Then, after a tragic love affair, I was going to retire from public life to live in a tiny cottage in the forest with my faithful dancing bear, Angelina. We would live off berries and fruits which we were able to forage in the forest and hedgerows. I was also very certain that I was going to grow up to be a Princess (Curtise will love this). My full title? Princess Proserpina, after the ancient Roman Goddess.

Precocious? Moi?
So anyway, when we went out brambling at the weekend, I thought about Princess Proserpina with her cottage in the forest and her foraging ways. I thought about the bear too. Big, hairy and partial to sweet treats. 

Hmmm....sounds familiar.
I still love a bit of nature's bounty and forests are my favourite habitat, along with mountains.
























That's a cheap and cheerful 60s shift dress there, home made by someone 50 years ago. It's been lurking in my wardrobe for some of them. Nothing special, just one of those wardrobe staples. 

He suggested it was impractical for brambling because I wouldn't be able to get right in the bushes. 

I told him not to worry, I'd be using my superior managerial skills to do some delegating.
You see this old man on the right here?  Well it's him we're after next. Sweet chestnuts are my absolute favourites. We'll be back for them next month. Apparently you can tell them from that distinctive bark pattern.
He laughed when I said I had brought four tubs along. Said there was no way we'd fill them. Well, Princess Proserpina knows a challenge when she hears one. As soon as the first blackberry went in that fourth tub, she said, 'Phew, thank goodness we brought four tubs'.

I know what you're thinking. Bet he wishes she'd grown up into the type of adult who doesn't say much. 

Well, I've only got two more things to say. Firstly, thanks to Q for the crumble. It was delicious.
Finally, thank you so much to lovely Krista for sending me this amazing embroidered folk handbag all the way from Portland Oregon. It is gorgeous. Fit for a Princess!


12 comments:

Connie said...

Oh Princess Prosperpina. You look quite beautiful in your royal thrifted shift. This story really got to me because I was also a dreamy child and I was convinced that I was part fairy based upon some story I had read about fairies stealing human babies from their cribs and replacing them with fairy children. I was pretty certain that had happened to me. My particular fairy occupation was dew fairy so I would get up early and scamper around the garden in my nightgown misting the grass using a discarded spray-on hair conditioner bottle while my cat watched from the sidelines. I have never before confessed this to anyone. Wow. Your post has been a bit of a Proustian madeleine for me!

Curtise said...

You are quite right, of course - I am most appreciative of the fact that you intended to be a Princess! Proserpina sounds a little more refined and elegant than Tan-Tan, it's true, but you'll always be Princess T-T to me!
I bet little day-dreaming Tania didn't look all that different to the grown-up foraging version, sweet frock, plaits and all! You may have swapped Angelina the bear for Q, but apart from that, what's changed? I bet he's better at making crumble than a bear would be (it looks delicious!)
And wow, that handbag from Krista is perfect for you - yes indeed, fit for Princess Tan-Tan! xxxx

Krista said...

Your imagination took me away and I think that is a world every kid or grown up would love to play in, ok bears I'm a little scared of but all the rest! You have quite a bounty there and the dessert has me drooling! We have wild black berries everywhere in Portland Oregon:). I love making tarts with them and am shocked I haven't made this summer, I better squeeze one in.

The bag looks at home in your colorful little lair, I was so happy to find it for you!
Lots of love
Xxxooo

Vix said...

Princess Prosperina and the bar, I love it!
Looking gorgeous picking the blackberries. Those sunglasses are fabulous and so's the impractical (pah!) frock.
Mmmm, chestnut stuffing. The only bit of Xmas fare I've really liked.
Q's done a splendid job of the crumble, did you eat it all in one go?
The bag! Its the first time I've seen it, despite it spending a fortnight sitting in the kitchen! xxxxxxx

Ivy Black said...

You are a princess, darling! I like the idea of your bear companion. Especially useful during blackberry picking as he could hold back all the nettles and such. You do ook very elegant foraging away there and that frock is a cracker. i do love a Sixtties cotton frock. Can't beat 'em.
That bag from Krista is gorgeous.
That tree has a face.
See you soon.
xxxxxx

Miss Magpie said...

My Granddad had a black bear, he brought it home from Canada I should tell the tale on my blog one day!
That bag from Krista is absolutely gorgeous.

Anonymous said...

You look v stylish in that frock and sunglasses. Xx

Lally said...

Blackberry picking is one of Autumn's true delights. I can't believe how many you found!! I think my usual picking spot has been found by others and been plundered. That bag is so beautiful what a lovely thing to get in the post XX

Fiona said...

That's some imagination you've got Princess Pros. Tell me, in your daydream did you train your bear to dance?...you being a ballerina and all. I can just see your bear doing a pirouette in a pink tulle tutu and of course he would have been called Simon....what else?
Bloody gorgeous bag from Krista.

Helga said...

MMMMMM, crumble is one of the few sweets I rather love!
I REALLY love the new handbag, it;s divoon! And the shift frock! Home made is best!
O, how adorable your childish fancies were, and indeed, are! SO detailed! Mine weren't very detailed. In fact, I don't really remember them, but I spent a great deal of time alone, being an only child and living rurally, so I must ahve been full of them!
You're still a Princess, and I suspect Q wouldn't have you any other way! LOVE! XXXXXXXXXXX

Kylie said...

I'd expect nothing less than little you dreaming of being a famous Ballerina, or a Princess (or a fairy for that matter) Tan. And the dancing bear bit is just the icing on the cake x

p.s. love your frock and those sunnies!

mispapelicos said...

You warm my heart
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