Awhile back a stray tabby started showing up at the apple farm. As this is how most of the cats that have cycled through the farm over the years are adopted, they left food out for it, started petting it when it would let them, and eventually named it Tilly. Now Tilly is fully ensconced in the farm; a regular as much as the dog Jack, the Bramley apples, and the starlings that come to the sheds every year. Not too long ago Tilly started to look a bit heavier and stopped wandering quite as far. Before we knew it there was an adorable litter of kittens hiding in one of the sheds. And I do mean hiding as they almost went undiscovered as we scoured all of the sheds, moving boxes and crates trying to find where they might be hiding. Once found, they and Tilly were transitioned into a safer apple crate and have been steadily growing there into adorableness. Lately, they've started to climb around a bit more and we've been cuddling them every so often. Tilly is a classic tabby but her litter is a real variety pack of cuteness; there's a wee ginger, two very different calicos, and even a little black one with white paws. We borrowed the ginger for a few minutes for these pictures because she (or he, who knows!) was such a perfect match for my new jewelry set from GoodAfterNine. I got the ginger cat set because I love orange, but now that I've been playing with the kittens I kind of want every set and perhaps especially the calico one. The calico kitten has stolen my heart a little, although despite everyone's urgings I am attempting to remain strong and not adopt one for our home! Still they're very hard to resist when they look this sweet and seem to love cuddling in your arms. 

I grew up reading fairytales, now I occasionally pretend to be in one in photographs. I never planned on moving to Ireland (or even visiting Ireland for that matter!) but now it seems like the perfect place for me--a green country filled with epic castles and stunning coastlines that suits my fantasy-inclined preferences. As for fairytale characters I don't usually reference a specific one, but due to my pale skin and penchant for apple orchards Snow White does come up often enough. I've always erred on the side of imitating the character in the book or story in style rather than wearing a tee with their face on it, in a subtle fashion anyway. Costume reproductions and cosplay always seem to take a bit too much dedication for me, whereas I just want to seem a bit ambiguously fairytale-like (fairytale-lite if you will). Clothes a character in a story would wear, maybe in an updated way some days. These new pieces from Cath Kidston hit that sweet spot of wearable and referential; an apple print shirtdress that reminds you of the classic story but probably more practical for daily life than Snow White's indelible duds...and of course I'm always a fool for a novelty purse. I feel like this apple purse might be my most apt one yet with my in-law's apple farm I seem to haunt come autumn-time when the trees are laden with fruit. This Snow White collection isn't online yet, but will be available at Cath Kidston on the 20th!