Recurring themes

Have you ever noticed you have recurring themes? Things that keep coming up over and over? The things that you love, that appeal to you, that whisper to you, that demand your attention or sing to your soul?

I have been building this post for awhile now. A whim. Something I do when I'm in the mood. My own magpie collection...

So, a challenge to you fellow bloggers! Write a post on YOUR recurring themes and add a comment and link to it! I'd love to see what yours are!

These are my recurring themes...

Colors, oh so many colors in their many combinations and moods and iterations, painted on my nails and toes, crocheted into granny squares

*via Aurorawine

Patterns and Prints, the bigger and bolder the better, clashing and smashing together and making me dream of technicolor and Auntie Mame and mumus and tropical islands and tropical drinks, of little old ladies and curtains of chintz, of mod 60s dresses and paisley and flour sack quilts

Frippery, feathers, frosting, glitter, glimmer, pearl and gilt

Quirkiness, the whimsical and unexplained, the odd, cheery and unexpected

Boho fantasies, rich with bangles up the arms, exotic carpets,  incense, dangles, fringe, maxi dresses, camel rides, painted elephants, and eccentric collections

Feminine airs, layers of tulle and chiffon, fat english roses, parasols, ruffles, eyelet, kimonos, fluffy little baby animals, raspberry tarts and strawberries with cream

*via Honey and Jam

Yummies, bakery cases, neat rows, enticing labels, pretty pictures, crumbling bites, melting spoonfuls

Magpie tendencies

*via From Me to You

Bicycles with baskets, painted blue or pink or green, with crocheted wheel dress guards and tiny little dogs perched in front, and girls riding them in tutus and Hunter rain boots

Butterflies, in books and cases, floating in the wind, specimens, collected from so far away, so many colors and shapes, reminding me of how far even the tiniest creature might travel in a lifetime

Books, the smell of bookstores new and old, the promises they offer, the stacks and stacks of words waiting to be read

Old Hollywood, Audrey and Cary, Grace, Marilyn, Gary, Rita, Fred, Liz, Ava, Gene, Natalie, Clark, and Vivienne, ballgowns and tuxedoes, day dresses with matching hats and gloves, witty dialogue, romantic comedy when it was still new

*via aicanariel

Fairytales and dreams, alice in wonderland sorts of things

*via Hyoni Kang by Chris Nicholls for Flare December 2011

Drama, surprises, black on white, contrast, the inability to look away, magical grandeur

Secrets, feelings, deep thoughts, the sorts of things I used to scribble in journals and now write in blog posts and debate over publishing. I whisper to the wind...

Fragile shells, the one I have around my heart that breaks so easily, leaving me open to the world, sometimes when I don't want to be

Ocean waves, the moon's reflection, the chilly breeze, the salty mystery, the line between shore and sea, that dark body where the whales sing and things live we can't imagine

*via Anna Aden

Still, quiet, can we just stop and BE for a moment?

Tea for two (or perhaps you prefer coffee?)

Domestications, frilly aprons, clotheslines, homemade chicken pot pie, lavender oil, and piles of afghans waiting to be crawled under

Yarn, piles of it, oodles, in oh so many colors, waiting to be made into something beautiful or perhaps something misshapen and unfinished but something made by gentle, loving hands

Jane Austen and her heirs - other assorted other historical fictions, regency romps and bonnet flicks, Masterpiece Theaters, Downton Abbeys, et al. Darcy, Elizabeth, Emma, Knightley, love stories of such simple sweetness and grandeur that they make moderns pine.

French chic, history is thick here on these walks by the Seine, over the many bridges, where you stop and kiss and then watch bateaux full of tourists pass. History thick in mouthfuls of macarons, cheeses, croissants and crepes. Impossibly scenic with pretty window boxes of red geraniums overlooking market streets of pedestrians with bicyclettes and tiny cars zooming by.

British cheek, Agatha Christie and Agatha Raisin, CS Lewis and Tolkien, Barbara Pym and . All making me wish I was a little bit British. Dame Judy Dench, Maggie Smith and other stalwart ladies make me hope to be a formidable woman in my mature years. British slang and twang, high teas, moors, wellies, jolly red phone booths, double deckers, fairy cakes and fish and chips make me smile.

What are your recurring themes? Do share.