Tuesday, 15 January 2013

Excitement there is none.......

 

Well, not a great deal of exciting stuff happening in this neck of the woods this last week, but plenty of good everyday things never the less.

Plenty of walks, sometimes wet, sometimes snowy


 

 

 

 

 

plenty of hanging around indoors with a good book or two

 
sitting and dreaming of warmer days.........

 

of being outside in the fresh air...............


relaxing in the garden..........................


in a favourite place.........


sigh...........

Where were we?  

Oh yes,hanging out in the warm kitchen, cooking and thinking about cooking

 

and the odd glass of wine - and oh look, the paint tins are out to remind me to finish painting the kitchen cupboards that I started a year ago.....(note to self - must get back on with the many half-finished painting jobs soon before spring....)

 
there have been lots of warm fires

 
and a trip to the sales - bought a few new bathroom towels, a lovely soft warm throw for the sofa and a letter rack for the hall

 

 

..........and outside, I've had a few cold afternoons pottering around the garden tidying and clearing.

A little bit of colour in the garden sends a hopeful message on these cold grey days, and there are signs of good things to come .......some colourful primulas, which have been flowering since autumn, are right by the front door to cheer me on my way

 

 

 
and I found some lovely bright cyclamens and some sweet blue violas at the garden centre (see above and below)

 

 

as well as some half-price herbs, which I have bought in the hope that they will survive the wait in the unheated greenhouse until it is a little less cold and I can put them in

 
thyme, rosemary, sage and parsley, marjoram and oregano - all of these waiting to be planted, and just typing the names make me dream of warm summers, and the scent of fragrant flowers and herbs in the garden.............




Despite the cold snap we had here a few weeks before Christmas, and the snow we've woken to the last two mornings (generally thawed by lunch time), a few summer plants have hung in there much to my surprise.

A lone, brave marigold in the border, looking a bit ragged but still blooming....



And the trailing lobelia and petunias, planted in hanging baskets in the early summer months



and then left,  in-situ, forlorn and forgotten throughout frosts and snow, are amazingly still green and alive - I wonder whether they will manage to flower again?



Marmalade making with a friend this week too - so lots of good everyday stuff happening.


Roll on Spring I say - that will be excitement enough for me!

 

Are you doing anything exciting????


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Tuesday, 8 January 2013

Bold Geometrics

 

As I suddenly can't bear to see any more Christmas tree photos on my blog, now that we've moved on and put it all behind us for another year, there was a sudden urgency to replace my last post with something a little more refreshing and new, as befits the beginning of a new year.

And as I can't seem to settle to anything today, following an unexpected and unpleasant start to the new school year yesterday which has somehow thrown me out (trust me, you don't want to know details - lets just say it involved drains, 30m of rods, and an outflow of cash 3 hours later :(   ..........) I decided that a visit to my favourite tumblr Vintage Home was needed to restore my equanimity today.

So here I share with you some beautiful interiors featuring bold, geometric patterned wallpapers and flooring with a retro feel, just the thing to kick start your decorating thoughts for this new year.


Walls.............


 


 


 


 


 


 

.....................and floors


 


 



 


 

And on the subject of boldness, look what you can get away with if you are brave enough and have a good eye for colour ........


 



 
all images from Vintage Home


Now this is where I would like to be just at the moment.............what a gorgeous, classic tiled terrace floor, and just look at the view!

I like these interiors, and think they look gorgeous, but I'm not sure I personally would have the nerve to go all out in my own home (except maybe in a small bathroom with the wallpaper!).

Bold tiled flooring would look great in the kitchen or bathroom where everything else is kept plain - as in these bathrooms - but I think maybe you could quickly tire of the wallpaper, however fantastic it looks, so unless you have a generous decorating budget which would allow for frequent re-decorating, it's probably safer to have a few geometric patterned cushions or rug that could be easily changed - but if money were no object, imagine the fun !!!!!!!

So would you, could you, HAVE you, been brave enough to go for bold wallpaper or flooring?????




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Thursday, 3 January 2013

Out with the old, in with the new

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Happy New Year to you all!

I hope you all had a joyful and peaceful Christmas, and are now refreshed and raring to go in 2013!

Thank you all for your visits and comments over the last year, and a very warm welcome to all my new followers!


 

 
 

 

 
photo by Bella

 
photo by Bella

Bella's photos from our walks - she's named these sheep Tea and Cookies!

 
photo by Bella

 
photo by Bella

 
photo by Bella

We've had lots of long and very muddy walks with Logan over the holidays, and it's making me long for the warm dry days of Spring already.

I just wish I'd got my act together in the autumn and planted lots more spring bulbs!




One of my Christmas presents was this gorgeous book "Gardenalia" by Sally Coulthard, which gives ideas on how to incorporate flea market finds and architectural salvage into the garden - it's packed with lots of beautiful and inspiring images, and is just what I need to kick start me into making some changes in my garden this year.

image from "Gardenalia" by Sally Coulthard 

image from "Gardenalia" by Sally Coulthard 


image from "Gardenalia" by Sally Coulthard 

The vegetable plot needs an overhaul as the wooden raised beds are rotting and in a state of collapse, the pond needs a makeover, and all the borders need tidying and re-planting, so there's lots to do outside this year.

Indoors there are various decorating projects that need finishing, and a very brave friend has asked me to paint her bedroom furniture - so lots of Annie Sloan paint is going to get sloshed around this year!

On the creative front I have lots of vintage fabric cushions and other goodies to put in my Etsy and Folksy shops, and I have been asked to write a guest post.

So there is plenty happening this year already.


What plans or new year resolutions do you have for 2013?

 
photo by Bella

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