Winter's Wonders

We've had the most amazingly temperate weather this year and our climbing rose was blooming right into December. Well, until two weeks ago when the frost arrived with a vengence. Our stunning roses were literally frozen in time. If you click on the photo, you can see the bits of ice on top of the flowers. Its beauty really takes my breath away:

The grass was covered in frost as well:

I do miss the long summer days where I pottered around the garden for hours: deadheading flowers, feeding and cutting back plants and just staring in wonder at how lush the garden looked.

But as I am discovering, winter brings its own pleasures as well. We are on a two-week break from work and have been doing bits and pieces around the house. We have plans to put shelves up in the living room on either side of the vintage mirror over my sofa and I have been slowly collecting items to put on them. The centrepiece will be a pair of old American tin ceiling tiles, one on each shelf. In front of these, I have decided on vintage pressed glass candlesticks, which I have been ordering online. They are being delivered one by one. I love the anticipation of receiving each package, opening it and placing the 'new' old items on my dining table, really for the big show once the shelves are up!

In the summer, it stays light until 10pm (my bedtime), so I never bother with candles. But one of the loveliest things about the nights coming early is that you can light candles to keep the house looking cosy. Not all of my candlesticks have arrived yet, but here are a few ready and waiting for tapered candles to complete the picture. The simple glass ones with the tea lights are vintage French jam jars.


I have also been busy trying new recipes, the lastest of which is a crumble-covered cherry cake. I plan on serving this on Christmas day when we may have some special guests for dinner. In anticipation, I have even bought a vintage footed glass cake stand. I purchased three of them this year to give as presents but have realised that I need/want one too! I even found a vintage cake knife to go with it. Isn't this just so pretty? I adore the fluted edge of the cake stand. It will look all the better on Christmas day with a cherry cake on it, warm from the oven and daintily dusted with icing sugar.

I hope that you are all enjoying the festive period as much as we are,
and we wish one and all a very

December's Delights

It is hard to believe that 2011 is almost over and we are less than two weeks away from Christmas. We have been busy with continually doing up bits around the house and with various social activities.

The highlight of the month is a surprise visit from my BFF Yellow Fever last week. He had a business trip to a nearby country and in cahoots with P, planned a secret visit to surprise me! We had a great time with lots of alcohol, day trips and as we say back home, 'talking c*ck'!

One of the things that P and YF did was drive around and pick up a few pieces of shabby chic furniture that I had bought online for my ongoing interior decorating of the house. We had a massive flat screen on the master bedroom dressing table which we haven't watched in the 1.5 years that we have lived here. All it did was collect dust. I decided to get shot of it, 'girlify' the space and it now looks like this:


The boys went to pick up the Italian mirror and re-furbished chair from a lovely lady who lives about 100 miles from us out in the countryside. I think P's white-knuckle driving down the narrow country lanes caused YF some concern but he lived to tell the tale (just!).

YF flew back to the Small Island on Friday and barely able to catch our breath, we had our annual Chrismast dinner for four sets of close friends last night. It gave all of us a chance to get together before the mad festive rush. Here is the kitchen diner all set for the gathering:



I cooked teriyaki chicken, pork loin in soy sauce, cabbage with dried shrimp and bok choy in oyster sauce, all served with steamed rice. For dessert, one of our friends made a dark chocolate tart with ice cream. Afterwards, everyone played cards. The sessions get very competitive with husbands destroying wives' games (and vice versa), lots of raucous laughter and much 'big talk' around the table. It was a loud and fun night with great friends.

P and I now have another week of work before we have a two-week break yahoo! We will be chilling out, going for long walks and seeing friends. Can't wait!

Vintage Heaven

With the dark afternoons and colder weather setting in, we have been spending a lot more time indoors. What that DOES mean is that I tend to do a lot of online shopping. And of course, we still visit antique markets whenever we can.

A couple of my more recent purchases include this vintage French bottle carrier which has been 'reborn' as a magazine holder. The wooden handle comes complete with long-dead woodworm holes. :-) And the woman's shoe lasts are a pretty pair from the past. I also have a man's pair but I will show those another time.


This tiny (it's about 8cm by 8cm) French glass and brass jewellery box holds my Alex Monroe bird necklace. I think it's exquisite.


One of my colleagues is moving to a different business unit and I've bought her this little dish and rose soap as a farewell present.


And these two vintage glass cake stands (filled with home made carrot cake) will be given to other friends.


I do love finding a bargain. The shoe lasts were only £6 whereas even online, they sell for around £25 or more. What I love about vintage is that every piece is unique and things made in the years of old tend to be longer-lasting and better quality. My dream is to one day run my own business sourcing items for clients and helping them put shabby chic looks together. But at the moment, the security of a job at a bank still holds me in its thrall. Even if I do dislike most of the people I work with!

Busy Busy Busy!

We have done so much in the last month or so: our trees were cut back for the winter, my stepmum's nephew Dr J came to stay for five days (he has moved here for the year to do a MSc) and we got a few new items for the house!

If you scroll down the page, you can see what our garden was like at the height of the summer...and this is what it looks like after the tree surgeon got going with the chainsaw. It allows so much more light in.


Last Friday, Dr J flew in just past midnight and P went to pick him up. I had been out with my colleagues earlier in the evening, so stayed home to sleep off the excess consumption of alcohol! After a hearty breakfast the following morning, Dr J went to central Blundon to look for property and found a great little one-bedroom apartment in a fab part of town, but more about that later.

As predicted in my last blog, we had a bit of an Indian Summer and on Sunday, it was blazing hot so we drove down to Brighton to show Dr J a little bit of Brrrringland. We walked all along the promenade and ate oysters, freshly made donuts and fish and chips. We also ran into these amazing Great Danes. The blue (that is what those grey coats are called) Dane is just a year old and already 168lbs. In comparison, Georgia Rose is 8lbs. Isn't nature amazing?


During the few days after that, Dr J did all the necessary things like opening a bank account, getting a mobile, finding his way around his new college, etc. Finally on Wednesday, he was ready to move into his own place so we drove round to his new pad for a nosey. It's in a gated development and is similar to my apartment on the Small Island: stylish and in a great location. There is even a balcony just like I used to have and reminded me of those lovely mornings when I sat out and enjoy my coffee. It's very central but on a quiet street, so the best of both worlds. I must admit that both P and I were extremely envious. We love our little surburban house and the peaceful area where we live...but there is nothing like having a pied a terre in the middle of a vibrant and exciting city!

Afterwards, we went for a drink with Dr J to his local pub (great buzzy place with lots of character) and he looked like the cat that got the cream. I think he is going to have an amazing year here and we are really happy for him. I must admit it was a bit sad when he left our house. We didn't know him very well before he came so this was a great opportunity to make a new friend.

We've also managed to make a few new purchases for the house. I got a very early wedding anniversary present from P in the shape of a vintage leather Finnegan's hat box and I bought myself an ornate framed picture of antique botanical prints. I just love them:


The guest room also has a new addition with this pine chest. It probably came from a big old house as it has "Down Stairs 1862" painted on the front. How cool that it is dated!



Our little coffee corner also has had a makeover with a vintage Tate & Lyle sugar crate, now turned into a shelf for my gardening books and magazines.


Work has been extremely busy as well so I can't wait for our two-week break over Christmas. Before that though, P and I have our four-year anniversary (is it diamond?!!) and his birthday to celebrate. We have quite a few lunches and dinners planned with friends over the next two months so lots of lovely days to look forward to!

In the mean time everyone, keep well and be happy!

Autumn - Hazards and Happiness

We spent most of today outdoors in the garden getting rid of the summer bedding plants and putting in bulbs for next year's spring colour. We even got some time on the deck chairs!

It has been really cold for the last month but there is meant to be an Indian Summer for at least the next week, hopefully longer. We didn't think we would be sitting out on the patio again this year but as usual, Mother Nature dictates and we are left surprised.

What is no surprise is that Georgia Rose was up to no good yesterday when she was on a walk and got herself stung several times on the face by wasps. She has to sniff everything and chase anything that moves. She was already stung on the lip by a bee a couple of months ago. Does she ever learn? Obviously not, and this is the result:

Compare that to what she looks like normally:

We took her to the vet straight away and she was given antihistamines, which has luckily helped to reduce the swelling overnight. For a while there, I thought my miniature dachshund was turning into a bassett hound.

Even though we've had to compost a lot of the summer bedding plants that were turning brown, there have been some surprise performers in the garden.

To my delight, these foxgloves (they normally finish flowering by June) have just kept on giving:

This autumn bulb that I put in a few weeks ago has also popped up:

This plant called Scabiosa Miss Willmott has absolutely got me entraced. The petals open one at a time:

This is what it looks like in full bloom:

Our climbing rose seemed to be stagnating for a while, but has suddenly had a foilage spurt and is ready for the second rush of blooms. I look forward to seeing it all flowers again soon.

When we planted this hollyhock in June, it was less than 12 inches tall. Now, it is the same height as me:

And here's a selection of the 200+ bulbs we have recently put in the flower beds and pots:

I still have a whole box of different tulips to put in next month. Those go in later as they don't start to root until a month or two after daffodils. I can't wait to see what comes up next spring, hopefully lots!

I also had a lovely email a few days ago with some great news. My dad, stepmum and her sister are planning on coming to visit us in May!!!! You know what that means...yes, I don't have to cook for as long as they are here! I'm smiling already. My stepmum and her sister are both excellent cooks and I'm going to be cruising on yummy highway. P is also looking forward to it as it means a change from the dozen recipes I normally rotate. The fact that he gets on really well with them is a bonus too ha ha. I am hoping that they will stay for the entire month of May but let's see if they take my 'hint'.

They are all lovely company and I already have loads of places in mind to take them. We may go up to the Lake District for a long weekend and take day trips to the many lovely little towns a shot drive away. I am also planning a girls' day out to the world-famous Chelsea Flower Show. I have never been before so I am quite excited about that. Hopefully I will be lucky enough to meet some of the garden presenters I see on the BBC as I do have my favourites!

I also hope that we have beautifully warm and sunny weather so that we can spend time on the back patio in the deck chairs 'singing song and talking c*ck'! :-)

Anyway, the next 'to do' on the list is to start thinking about Christmas i.e. designing our card and sourcing presents. I still can't believe it's the end of September but as they say: time flies when you're having fun!

What Is That Old Chinese Proverb?

'May you live in interesting times'?

That seems to be the case with Brrrrrrringland at the moment. What with the riots last week and the flash floods in the north and south of the country today, there is just not a second's peace.

Fortunately, the looting has all blown over now and the people affected are slowly but surely getting back on their feet and starting over again. One positive thing to have come out of all the madness is that it showed the true gritty spirit of the Brrrrringlish and those who choose to live here. I think in recent years, this country has gone too far to the liberal left, with courts, police and parents not able or willing to punish those that do wrong. Hopefully the tide has turned and victims will now be protected and the guilty punished.

P and I were lucky not to have been affected as we live in a nice area and the incidents were mostly isolated in the poorer parts of the city. We have been blessed with a really lovely life with lots of green space. For example, this past Sunday morning before we participated in a charity car boot sale (more about that later), P and I took the dogs to a park and had breakfast at a cafe with a stunning conservatory. We sat outside in the sun surrounded by numerous trees and landscaped gardens. As I walked past the cafe's display cabinets showcasing the delicious sandwiches, cakes and pastries, I thought to myself how absolutely lucky we are.

However, we never take it for granted and do our part for those less fortunate than us as well. After breakfast, we joined my team from the office at a car boot sale to raise money for a charity that works with children who are at risk from poverty. The charity places children in family-based care and provides them with an education. We were there for five hours and in that time, sold everything from books to lawn mowers and all sorts in between. It was a long, hot and tiring day but also a lot of fun. All in all, we raised about £500 and our company will match that, making our donation a worthwhile £1,000!

This weekend, we are definitely looking forward to just relaxing on the patio. I don't know how many more weekends we will have as the temperature has suddenly dropped to the low teens today and there is definitely a chill in the air. I feel like we haven't really enjoyed this summer as we were so focused on doing the garden. Fingers crossed that we will have a temperature autumn like we did last year when it was still warm right into early October. Well, we can but hope!

Outside In and Inside Out

Over the last few months, my focus has solely been on the garden. However, once I reached the end of our summer planting, I realised that our bedroom was missing some warmth due to the bare walls.

As plants and flowers are my 'new loves', I wanted to bring that into the house. I found these two hand-stitched seven-inch framed embroideries to go over the bed. The artist, who is based in Lincolnshire, hand dyes all her own threads and fabric. The detail in each piece is exquisite when you see it up close in person.

Tomorrow (click on photo to enlarge):

The Proposal:

We have a large bare wall running the length of the room and to fill this space, I have gone with vintage botanical prints from the French artist Pierre-Joseph Redouté. This set of four from 1955 are still in their original frames with the framer's stamp and date on the reverse.

The summer bedroom:

Not content with all the hard work we've done in the garden, we also spent a couple of weeks tackling the outdoor furniture by painting eight garden chairs. I really dislike dark external wood and wanted to bring some shabby chic charm to our patio. I also recovered the seats of two of them in hard-wearing oilcloth. The only down side is that the furniture cannot be left out in inclement weather, but I am fine with that since it's P who has to set it up and then later store it all again!

Table about to be set for dinner:

The table and chairs including paint and fabric cost us around £120. A nice wooden set would set you back at least £800 so we've really done well. *Pat on back*. :-)

Our garden shed has also been 'improved'. I found some vintage Laura Ashley fabric from 1991 called Winter Lily, which is more in keeping with our garden design. The planters have been rearranged and P hung up the vintage French pot holder on the door.


After all this hard work, it's time for a restful day. We had some friends round yesterday for a night of card games and the 'gamblers' stayed out until just past 10pm playing by candle light! It was rather loud and competitive but everyone had a great time. Later today, I am going to chill out on my deck chair with a magazine and snooze away the afternoon...ah, bliss!

Welcome to Our

After an exhausting three months, our garden is now finally at the stage we want it to be. All the hard work is done, the beds are planted and we can now sit back and enjoy it. Roll on summer 2011!

Come this way....

And here it is:

I am really too tired to write anything more. It's not even 9pm and I'm yawning non-stop. So intead, I will post a photo of Chynna and Georgia Rose and close ups of some of my favourite plants.

Baby Girls:

Fuchsia:

Snapdragon:

Foxglove or Digitalis (very poisonous):

Am going to keep this short and sweet so until next time.....zzzzzzzzzzzzz....

The Path to a New Patio

Often doesn't run smoothly and ours certainly didn't!

On Friday, I left P in charge of overseeing the patio extension which a local builder was helping us to sort out. I got regular texts and calls during the day about how quickly they were progressing, so was really looking forward to seeing how much they had done when I got home from work.

I knew something was wrong when P picked me up from the station and I asked him how the patio looked. He said, "It is fine." Now, we all know that when someone says 'fine', it usually means that it isn't. And it was so in this case.

When we got back to the house, I saw that the builder had put an ugly black plastic drain right across the entire width of the patio in between where the current slabs stopped and where the new slabs were to begin. He had already laid down one-and-a-half rows (out of six) of slabs.


I stood there, looked at it and said, "I don't like it." He explained that due to the unevenness of our garden and the angle of the current patio, the drain was there to ensure that water did not pool when it rained. After the builder went home, I looked at the it again and had a major meltdown. I told P that it was his responsibility to discuss options with the builder and that the drain was NOT an acceptable solution. P of course went on the defensive and we had a massave blow out. In order to avoid washing our dirty laundry on the www and to cut a long story short, our friends came over and helped him lift up the drain and slabs off the concrete so that it didn't set overnight.

When the builder arrived the next morning, he was not happy to see his hard work undone. However, after some discussion, we came to an agreement that the patio would have a slight angle in order to have adequate drainage so that the drain would not be necessary. They raked out the concrete and by lunch time, finished laying all the slabs.

After that, the hard work really began for P and me. Starting yesterday and continuing into today, he dug up the two beds along the patio and put up the metal arch. He also put in some edging to prevent the soil from spilling over onto the patio. He and I then composted the beds in order to get them ready for planting next weekend.

I've re-arranged all the pots and this is the end result:

The view from the upstairs bedroom:

I must admit that we both have garden fatique and after we plant next week, I plan on enjoying the garden for the rest of the summer. We have to design the front garden as well but I am leaving that for spring 2012. I do have a few ideas but need to think carefully about what would work best. With the back garden, it took me months of drawing up plans, discussing them with friends, listening to their advice, then starting all over again. I'm sure the same will happen with the front garden. Because it is such a huge financial and physical commitment, I want to make sure it is absolutely right before we get started.

I'll post some more photos in the next few weeks once the two beds are planted up. In the mean time, I need a drink!

The Neverending Garden

Just when you think that the work in the garden is completed, an idea pops into your head and there is more to be done!

In the last couple of weeks, we have extended the border on the left side of the fence and put more shrubs, perennials and bedding plants in.

In the few weeks, we are hoping that the hard landscaping will be finished and the rest of the beds dug out. We plan on extending the patio and putting an arch in. We have just purchased a very pretty pale grey metal arch which is now residing in the shed. :-)


I have also bought a plant terrace, which I am currently using as shelves next to the tap. I may use it for potted plants but I am not sure what I will do yet.


One of my favourite flowers is the rose and we have a particularly beautiful variety at the end of the garden. This particular bud was about to bloom when I broke it while playing 'fetch the ball' with the dogs! Ha ha. But I saved it and put it in some water on the window sill. It has since given me a lot of viewing pleasure when I do the washing up.


I will post more photos in a few weeks time once the work in the garden is close to completed. I never commit to the word 'completed' now!

The Blooming Garden!

I have not written much over the last few weeks as we've been busy in the garden (surprise surprise) every weekend and most evenings after work as well. There is just so much to do! Taking care of a garden is a never-ending task which includes watering, weeding, pruning and mowing the lawn, to name a few. You also have to look out for plant diseases and insects that might damage the new shoots. There is an endless amount to learn so I am on gardening websites and forums most evenings! Sad, right?

With a combination of sunshine and rain over the last month or so, the flowers have really started blooming.

Our rhododendren (a housewarming present from a close friend):


Petunias in pots (on the left) by the shed:


Various bedding plants and violas on one side of the patio (how cute is that bird table?!):


Planters and the wheelbarrow on the other side of the patio:


A white viola in the planter, and you can see the trailing geraniums in the pot just about to open:


One evening last week, the sun looked incredible setting on the trees:

The garden doesn't just take effort but also costs a lot of money. A trip to the nursery often runs into three figures, even though beforehand, I tell P we are going to buy bedding plants worth no more than £20.

My new little alba perennial costs £3.99. The designer watering can costs £32.99.
But to be fair, it IS manufactured by the oldest watering can company in the UK ha ha.

A close up of the alba. I love how delicate it looks:

Sometimes, I think I'm more about the accessories for the garden than the plants themselves. For example, even before the season started, I was already fully kitted up with handmade trug, traditional fork and trowel, rose print garden kneeler, gloves with a cute bird pattern, etc. :-)

I've also made a few new friends on a gardening forum, mostly ladies who are about 20 years older than me! They are sooooooooooo sweet and very willingly share their knowledge, of which they have loads. One of them knows that I will be needing more plants next year when we dig up two more beds and has already started rooting some cuttings for me. They ask for nothing back. They consider me a 'young' gardener and are happy that I take such an interest.

To be honest, you can read as much as you want on the internet, but there is nothing like advice from an experienced gardener. I feel really fortunate to have come across these lovely ladies (and gents too).

We have a long weekend next week (yeay!) and are having friends over to stay as well as a BBQ for 10 people on Saturday. Fingers crossed for beautiful, sunny and warm weather! Keep well everyone and I'll be in touch again soon with more photos and updates on the garden.