Monday, 28 February 2011

It's Here!

"To the women of America..."no, make it to the women everywhere: "banish the black, burn the blue, and bury the beige! From now on girls...think pink! Think pink! When you shop for summer clothes." - Funny Face


1st March today and although it's not the Equinox I couldn't resist waving goodbye to the coldness and welcoming back the sunshine! The film 'Funny Face' reminded me of the start of spring so I added the quote of the 'Think Pink!' song. 


Happy wanderings, 


Nell x



Saturday, 26 February 2011

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: The Cavern

He was about to descend into the dark chasm. His destination was unknown, his thoughts were jumbled with anticipation and dread. With astonished eyes he looked down at his legs that were already being consumed by the inky blackness below. Somewhere down there he heard the sound of water rushing over rocks. Was there a subterranean river? 


The faint sound of the river mixed with a raucous chattering of the brightly coloured parrots as they flew to and fro, feeding their young in their cliffside nests. It was cold in the shadow of the cavern's mouth; a welcome change from the heat and humidity of the surrounding jungle.


He checked his ropes and safety clips for the final time before pushing off the last lip-like edge of the vast cavern. It sloped diagonally away from him into the parrot's cliff home. His feet left the smooth rock. He was fully sitting in the gathering blackness with nothingness all around him...   

I'm sorry that I've been very quiet recently. I was on weheartit (again) and found this image and thought of a short story about it. Hopefully this makes up for the past few days of silence!

Happy wanderings, 

Nell x

Sunday, 20 February 2011

Stars

This was one of the poems that my Mother used to read to me when I was tiny - ahh nostalgia :)


The lights from the parlour and kitchen shone out
   Through the blinds and the curtains and bars;
And high overhead all moving about, 
   There were thousands of millions of stars.
There ne'er were such thousands of leaves on a tree,
   Nor of people in church or the Park,
As the crowds of the stars that looked down upon me,
   And that glittered and winked in the dark.

The Dog, and the Plough, and the Hunter, and all, 
   And the star of the sailor, and Mars, 
These shown in the sky, and the pail by the wall
   Would be half full of water and stars.
They saw me at last, and they chased me with cries,
   And they soon had me packed into bed;
But the glory kept shining and bright in my eyes,
   And the stars going round in my head.    

'Escape at Bedtime' by Robert Louis Stevenson


- images from
weheartit

Saturday, 19 February 2011

Lessons from Old Friends

Today I was exploring my many bookshelves and found my collection of childhood fairytales. Among the battered old copies of Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz and Cinderella there was also a large book of fairytales and fables including disney and non-disney stories. Each of them had a lesson or a moral to share so I picked out my favourites (over-indulgent posts again- sorry!) and wrote them out here:
Dorothy taught me to appreciate home more.


Cinderella taught me that hard work pays off


Alice taught me to try six impossible things before breakfast.
Ariel taught me to follow my heart whatever happens.
Belle taught me that appearances shouldn't matter.
Mulan taught me to fight for what's right.
Who are your favourite heroines and what did they teach you? Why do you like them? Hope you like mine! ;)

Leave a comment!  :)

Until the next time: happy wanderings,

Nell x
- images from weheartit

Friday, 18 February 2011

Shoe Art ♥

"I like Cinderella, I really do. She has a good work ethic. I appreciate a good, hard-working gal. And she likes shoes. The fairy tale is all about the shoe at the end, and I'm a big shoe girl." - Amy Adams







Warning: this post appears to have become entirely superficial!
Happy wanderings, 

Nell x
- weheartit

Thursday, 17 February 2011

Be Green: Eco and Literally!

For some reason this month I seem to have developed a new love for green. Maybe it's because the Spring is nearly here and green is associated with freshness. I'm getting increasingly more impatient for a new start. Winter is lovely in its own way but I'm beginning to feel that it's time for a change. Enjoy and welcome the green-ness! :)





- images from weheartit -

Monday, 14 February 2011

To be away with the Raggle Taggle Gypsies

It's funny because my great-grandmother made a patchwork blanket that's very similar to the one in the picture!

"There were three old gypsies came to our hall door,

They came brave and boldly-o,
One sang high and the other sang low,
And the Lady sang the raggle taggle gypsy-o."



When I was little I was given a tiny toy caravan to play with. It made of girly pink and purple plastic and wasn't very realistic (the roof opened up) but it made me always dream about traveling around the country in my own gypsy caravan like the one above (looking again I don't think that picture is of a gypsy caravan but I like the warm colours of it).


Happy wanderings,


Nell x

Friday, 11 February 2011

Valentine's Day

So as you've guessed probably by the title of this post and the shocking amount of hearts that have sprung up everywhere that it's Valentine's Day on Monday. This year it isn't a such a big deal, for me anyway, and if I'm honest I'm looking forward to Valentine's Day being unattached and single. It makes a refreshing change to last year when Valentine's Day was a disappointment when the boy in question failed to remember or care.


Anyway I hope you all have a better Valentine's Day then I did last year!


Happy wanderings,


Nell x

Happy Valentine's Day! xx

Thursday, 10 February 2011

Character of the Month - Rose Mortmain from 'I Capture the Castle'

One day I would like to become an author and I have already started practising my writing. However I hope to get better at it soon! Though before I even thought of becoming an author I fell in love with reading - novels mostly. I just love reading about other worlds and other people's lives. I guess that's also why I like photography: you get a peek at someone else's thoughts and life. When I read the characters become almost like friends to me and the idea came to me whilst reading today: character of the month. So this is it, the first 'Character of the Month' post on 'Footsteps of a Fledgling'.

Rose Mortmain sitting with her sister Cassandra
"Rose looks particularly fetching by firelight because she is a pinkish person; her skin has a pink glow and her hair is pinkish gold, very light and feathery." 

I've read 'I Capture the Castle' by Dodie Smith countless times and seen the film and found the character of Rose Mortmain, the sister of the narrator, to be both selfless and selfish. I think to understand what I mean you have to read the book which, I promise you, isn't a arduous task! 

I first read 'I Capture the Castle' whilst on holiday in Wales. We stayed in a little cottage right underneath a privately-owned crumbling castle. It was built around the same time as the castle in the book and felt funny to read it in the garden whilst looking up at the real-life castle just across the lane! 

Rose Mortmain is the prettier older sister of Cassandra Mortmain who writes a journal in the 1920s-30s telling the story of her family living, virtually penniless, in a crumbling castle called Godsend Castle. Mr. Mortmain is a struggling writer who wrote one bestseller and now suffers from terrible writer's block. It is Rose's fantasy to marry a wealthy man and escaping the poverty of her family. She gets engaged later in the novel after a little help from Cassandra, her step-mother Topaz (not wicked!), Thomas her brother and Stephen who is the family servant. I don't want to give too much away if you haven't read the book because it is such a fantastic read. The piece 'Clair de Lune' is mentioned in the book and used in the film and whenever I hear it I always think of the Mortmains in their crumbling castle waiting for something or someone to help them.

Happy wanderings :)

Nell x

5 Things I Love About the Winter

These are only 5 things that I love about the Winter. I could go on listing but it would get a little repetitive! So here are my chosen five, what are yours? :)


Happy wanderings,


Nell x

1. The sights, sounds and smells of a traditional yuletime market in a town or country village
2. Wearing that special dress that you were saving for New Year.

3. How everything in December glows with thousands of lights.

4. When the snow turns England into Narnia.
5. All good things must come to an end and what better way to end Winter then with the beginning of Spring?


Wednesday, 9 February 2011

Into the Wardrobe & Through the Looking Glass

Welcome to 'Footsteps of a Fledgling', a safe haven from the harsh reality of the modern world that we live in.


My name's Nell or at least it's the name that seemed to find me. Not my real name - more of a variation of it. Once again I've missed the beginning of the year and the traditional time for new beginnings but it felt the right time to start this blog because a lot is and will be changing in the next few years.


The main aim of this blog is to improve my writing skill, something I really want to improve. I already have a storywrite account under the name 'wandering-wordsmith' so please feel free to check it out and comment on it. Every comment helps after all! Another aim is to improve my photography, both editing and taking pictures, so I hope to put some of my own work on here very soon. My final aim is that this blog be entertaining so I hope you do enjoy 'Footsteps of a Fledging'.


Happy wanderings :)


Nell x