#brambleys

[blogjaneeyre]

[c-kiddo]

sudden memory of being a kid and pretending i was dead by lying in the garden with bluebells and things arranged around me in the grass by this pile of mud from a hole we were trying to dig to australia . .. 

[brandochunderdarkseas]

I believe this is from Brambley Hedge by Jill Barklem

[embroideryhannah]

apologies in advance, entering brambley hedge era

[llovelymoonn]

the longing is killing me

lucille clifton the book of light: “climbing” \\ pia brambley

buy me a turmeric latte

[blogjaneeyre]

b

[slocotion]

Rumbaba, Bubble Bath, Sugar Hiccup, Boysenberry, Brambley, Miracle & Oracle

(All around 4.5 inches tall)

The seven Dreaming Clown miniatures going up in my patreon shop this Thursday, 25th of May 20:00 GMT+1

This shop is visible to patrons at any tier; Link

[dearmouse]

Brambley Hedge Figurine Set

[pacifymebby]

Hello! 1-3 and 5 for the book ask. If you’ve already answered those numbers, feel free to choose a different number. 🙂

Eek thank you xxx

How many books did you read this year?

Every year I set out to read loads every year I fail miserably!!!

25, if I'd finished half the ones I wanted to it would be closer to about 35 but I get distracted easily and my moods or interests change too quickly at the moment.

I might really start trying to read again though

Did you reread anything? What?

The dear green place / Archie Hind, God's Silence and Kindertotenwold both by Franz Wright. I also reread a few Daisy Johnston short stories and some Mariana Enriquez too!

I reread the birds by Daphne Du Maurier, Pride and Prejudice and also the faraway tree books and brambley hedge haha.

What were your top five books of the year?

Eat Or We Both Starve - Victoria kenefick

Eating disorder poetry at the peak of my relapse it was comforting to read someone who understood

Pine - Francine Toon (honestly wasn't ground breaking literature but it gripped me, it spooked me, it made me long to live in a little Scottish village, it featured the term peely wally)

The Story of a New Name - Elena Ferrante

I fucking love everything this womans ever written I think she's a fucking genius

Slowness - Milan Kundera

Kind of gorgeous, beautiful lyrical prose made me love writing again felt like I was reading something genuinely profound and thoughtful.

Gods Silence - Franz Wright

I reread this again this year his poetry speaks to me on such a spiritual level I adore adore adore him

What genre did you read the most of?

I got very into horror this year I think that's mostly what I read, folk horror specifically that's really my jam

[blogjaneeyre]

[themidnightcleric]

sometimes I worry that I don't know how to love. then I go out to an open field or forest or to the seaside and my heart remembers how to rejoice, it dances at the very sight of the land and feels no fear. are there things in here that could hurt me? spiders, brambles snakes, breakers crashing on the rocks? yes, but I love the place all the same. it's beauty cancels out any fear. and I learn to make a comfortable spot, nestle in, and listen, to play or brood or rest.

my spirit has been broken and crushed by humans, or rather by the weight of my own expectations and desires falling flat into the chasm between what we are to each other and what we could be.

but someday I believe I will find people to love like the land, people whose storms I can weather, whose fruits are abundant - but even the spidery, brambley, desert places, once you know them, are so lovable. I didn't want to live in constant danger or without water, so I left them, but love is a thing you can carry forever. perhaps the only thing there is.

[cealtrachs]

Brambley Hedge teacup acquisition.

[light-lanterne]

i don't know if it's the same for everyone or if it's just me, but because of my layout and pinned post tumblr automatically shows the cutest cottagecore / children's books illustrations next to my profile and it makes me really happy :D

just look at them !! winnie pooh, moomin, peter rabbit, more brambley hedge (the illustrations i use) and other pretty drawings and little critters :]

idk, it makes me smile to see them all there <3

[mirrorstone]

Today’s tea is blackberry sage, from republic of tea. It’s a black tea, but a rather delicate one, that doesn’t have the robust body of say, a cup of assam or english breakfast. That delicacy is good though, because the blackberry and white sage are also delicate flavors. Not weak, they come through very nicely, but subtle. The blackberry captures that nice juicy, brambley flavor of the berry and the white sage is fresh, like the leafy scent of the woods on a cool dewy morning, with just a little bit of coolness on the tongue like a very gentle fresh mint leaf. (Not dried mint or peppermint. Fresh mint has a subtle sweetness and a much gentler minty flavor.) To be honest, it’s best without milk, since the sharper notes of blackberry and the subtle fresh notes of the white sage would come though better and the milk flavor kind of overpowers the subtleties, but I’m creature of habit and I poured it without really thinking. Still good with or without though. Republic of tea is one of the pricier brands of teabags, at $12-$15 for a can of 36 or 50 teabags, but if you’re going to splurge they’re usually a good bet. (Some pricier tea bags, I think, are just fancier packaging and better marketing rather than better flavor.) Their teabags are definitely a big step up in quality from a cheaper bagged tea, and the flavors always come through. They also sell a number of their flavors as looseleaf teas as well, but I haven’t had the chance to try any yet, though I hope to do so.

I picked today’s teacup because the mushroom pattern called to me today, and it’s a nice match for the foresty notes of the tea. I got this one when a friend came to visit, and I took her to pike place market (because you can’t visit Washington without going). She lives out of state and I don’t get to see her as often as I wish I did, so I wanted to make sure she got the full experience, as much as a pair of easily tired introverts can manage anyway. There’s a shop at pike place that sells Polish pottery that’s always a lot of fun to browse, so of course we ducked in. Most of my teacups come from thrift shops, but this is one of the handful that I bought new. I fell in love with the pattern as soon as I saw it, and where was I ever going to find something else like it? I’m usually pretty careful about money, so I always second and third and fourth guess before I splurge, and sometimes I talk myself out of things I wish I’d gone for. I’m glad I was there with my friend that day, because she encouraged me to buy it. It makes me happy every time I use it, looking at the cute pattern and remembering spending time together. No other teacup would have been the one I found with her that day.

[fugengulsen]

Antique gold nose rings, Afghanistan and Central Asia. Also used as earrings Karun Thakar Collection Photo by Des Brambley

[softlyspun]

Costuming Research: Bramley Nubbins

Time to give some outfits to the last of the boys for @ginger-and-mint. Bramley Nubbins (I keep wanting to spell it Brambley, I assume because it sounds like brambles) is probably the most well-adjusted and best-dressed of the boys. Let's look at the reason why under the cut.

See, Bramley is from a large family of shepherds. Now, around the turn of the century, you did sometimes have the raw materials being processed somewhere other than the area where they were produced, but, practically speaking, it makes a lot more sense to have wool produced, washed, carded, spun, and woven/knit all in one area. Bramley, as far as I can tell, worked as a shepherd before he was summoned to be a di-mage, and his parents and siblings would likely have been in the same industry. I'm not sure how far industrialization has gotten in this world, but it seems likely that his mother and sisters are involved in spinning or weaving cloth on a professional scale.

We tend to think of wool as a winter fiber, but it's possible, with the right breed of sheep, and the right thickness of thread, to make lightweight, breathable woolen garments suitable for summer.

(Tangent time! Synthetic fibers robbed us of so many fantastic developments in natural fibers. Wool is a fantastic material! It drinks up dye like a dream! It'll keep you warm, even when wet! It's self-extinguishing! You can make entirely non-woven fabrics from it! If oil-based fibers hasn't taken over, I think we'd see a lot more cool variations in felted garments in the modern day.)

Back on topic. Annoyingly, a lot of daily-wear clothing doesn't survive to the modern day, so I'm frustratingly short on primary examples of farmer's shirts from the turn of the century. I picture Bramley wearing somewhat old-fashioned clothes for the period - not because they're actually old, but because they were made by his mother, and she's using the same mental shirt pattern that was fashionable when she was a girl, or made by his sisters, who learned to sew from his mother. Fashions may change slowly out in the countryside, but his clothes would absolutely be well-made and new, with any damage carefully (and possibly decoratively) mended (His character sheet describes him as "neat and well-groomed"). I would picture him wearing something similar to this 1850's shirt, and high-wasted pants, held up with suspenders.

Alternatively, he might wear something similar to this shirt from 1871. This is formal wear (the blog, witness2fashion, suggests that it's a wedding shirt), so it's fancier than he'd wear in the day-to-day, but it might be appropriate for the midwinter ball. Notice the pretty eyelet embroidery

The suspenders bring us to the fun part of his costume, though. See, while there's always something that needs doing on a farm, there's also quite a lot of downtime. Lambing and shearing season would be extremely busy, but otherwise, you have a lot of long hours of just making sure the sheep don't wander off. And downtime gives people time to be creative. Bored people doodle, and what is embroidery if not doodling with string?

Let's look at some extant examples.

This pair of suspenders came from an auction site, and are attributed to 1873. It's a little early for our time period, but just look at that embroidery! And the beautiful shade of red!

This pair is from the Victoria and Albert museum. If you're not in the mood to doodle your pattern free-hand, you can always follow a cross-stitch chart.

This one is also from the Victoria and Albert museum, and also from the 1850's. I just love the little blue flowers and the swirling, two-toned leaves!

So, while all the examples I threw out here were of suspenders, this kind of embroidery could go just as easily on cuffs and collars, to tack down facings, or to hide darning and mending.

Now, I'm not actually sure if Bramley would embroider himself. His poor eyesight might make it difficult (though certainly not impossible.) However, there are plenty of other people in his household who might take up a needle and doodle on his clothes for him as well.

In the winter, I can just about guarantee that he'd have intricately made home-knit sweaters to wear. Fiber arts are addictive, and if you have the time, you

To close off, I'm going to share a link to an absolute treasure trove of charted embroidery/crochet patterns from early 20th century newspapers. If you're at all into embroidery, crochet, or pixel art, it's worth a browse!

Next time, we'll take a look at some of the girls! Probably Malia Pikolt, who'll give us a chance to look at both practical and fashionable women's clothing!