flowers on my table

Blue and White

2012-03-05T17:03:00.000-08:00

I thought you might like to see a couple more of my little collages, on the theme of blue and white this time. I love blue in all it's varieties, and never seem to tire of it, especially blue and white china. I am a little busy with work at the moment, so I do apologise for such a short post. Wishing you all a very happy and productive week, love Linda x

Flowers in the House

2012-02-27T08:55:00.000-08:00

I knew I was going to be linking to Flower Jane's 'Flowers in the House post today, but didn't think I would have any fresh flowers to show you, so I decided to go around my home and photograph things with a flowery theme. I then messed about on Picnik to achieve my little mosaic. I must admit I was quite taken by surprise, that all these lovely things are mine! I f I had seen these on someone else's blog I would have been lusting after them, so I am rather pleased that I did this little exercise.

As it turns out I do have some flowers in the house to show you as well. I picked up this little planter at Tesco's supermarket. I just love that it has Muscari written on it.

I also had some little miniature daffodils, which I displayed in my husbands empty beer bottles.

Although they look pretty they do smell pretty awful. I made marmalade at the weekend and the smell of it cooking was glorious, and masked the flower smell! Have you ever made marmalade? It is quite laborious but I do think you just cannot beat home made marmalade. I adapted a recipe from Ina Garten and made mine into 4 fruit marmalade, and reduced the sugar a little as I like mine with a bit of a kick!

Wishing you all a productive and happy week! Love Linda x

Breakfast in Blue

2012-02-21T04:59:00.000-08:00

Do you eat like a King at breakfast time? What do you like? I think breakfast is my favourite meal of the day, probably because it is an excuse for me to have 'pudding' and get away with it. I love all the bread based lovelies, toast, scones, croissants, pancakes (oh happy pancake tuesday),waffles, brioche,etcetera, etcetera, etcetera! I do apologise to anyone planning to give up these things for Lent, I did think about it, for a brief second, but no, no, no self control, sorry.

My daughter isn't very keen on breakfast at all, and if I do manage to get her to eat, she likes very peculiar things (in my eyes), like tuna and mayonnaise, olives, or chocolate spread on toast.

My husband loves a fry-up, an Irish fry, with a big long list of ingredients, such as, sausages, bacon, black and white pudding,tomatoes, mushrooms,fried egg, potato bread,pancakes, soda bread. (Have I missed anything?) Needless to say he doesn't get this very often (heart attacks and all that!)

We normally have pancakes on a Sunday morning, but recently I bought a waffle maker and we are very partial to these, with maple syrup and a few blueberries.

Croissants always go down rather well too with a little butter and jam. I never warmed to the French way of dipping them in your coffee. For Valentine's Day, my husband and I bought each other a pear tree, to add to our growing but tiny orchard. I must confess to being more excited about the fact that the trees came in little burlap (as our American friend's call it) sacks.(How sad am I?) See the above photo. I will have to think of a creative project for these.

I have scones occasionally for breakfast, but generally prefer to keep some freshly baked scones in the freezer, in case someone should unexpectedly call. I really do not understand anyone buying these, unless you really are a hazard at baking, or you have a particularly good supplier. They are so easy to make yourself, and can be done from start to finish in 20 minutes. Because I am bad, I like mine filled with fresh raspberries and chocolate and all kinds of yummy stuff, but Mr. OK prefers his plain.

Porridge is very popular too in our household, again I like to add fresh raspberries, honey and almonds, or apple puree with cinnamon (pudding...I told you), but Mr. OK is plain again. Coffee is a must, or occasionally I like hot water with a slice of lemon and a shaving of fresh ginger. I would love to know, what sets you up for the day, do pop in and tell us what float's your boat! Love Linda x

Oh yes I nearly forgot, my daughter Lois asked if she could borrow my camera for a 'project', and look what I found......

Poor Sparky!!

Dusty Violet

2012-02-15T08:08:00.000-08:00

I love colours that aren't true, that have been' dirtied' with a little ochre or umber or black. I very often like to mix my own colours when painting furniture as you can arrive at something a little more interesting. Even more than that, I love to add washes and layers to the finished colour to achieve something more complex.Here are some images from Pinterest to show you what I mean.

So soft and easy to live with all these dusky, dusty shades I find.

I hope you enjoyed my selection. Have a merry midweek. Love Linda x

Little Houses

2012-02-11T05:34:00.000-08:00

I just love them in all their various guises. So when I found the above pattern for a knitted dishcloth on Pinterest, I was delighted. I am not the world's best knitter though and not one of mine ended up like the pattern, but who cares, I still have the prettiest dishcloths ever. You can find the pattern here.

I used two different cottons and preferred the one that was a bit thicker as it made a slightly larger and chunkier cloth. It was very easy and quick to do.

I also rather admired the first picture of little red houses that I also found on Pinterest, and decided to have a little go at making some tags. Here's my efforts.........

They are very crude and simple but remind me of German or Swiss houses, and would do rather well for adorning Christmas presents. I used one or two on some food gifts for a friend.

I made some Apricot and Almond Macaroons, which are quite soft and sticky, but quite delicious. I also made Amaretti biscuits, which are flavoured with lemon and cinnamon and don't have that marzipan taste which I am not mad about. I am extremely pleased with these, as they taste and smell really good and are just the thing to serve with coffee. If anyone would like the recipes, just let me know.

I received in the post this week a most gorgeous giveaway from my friend Zuzu at A Cottage In The Woods. These little tags are copies of her original art printed unto tags that are only about an inch in size. They came in a little lacy envelope that Zuzu had made herself. They are so delightful and so special I shall have to think long and hard about how I can best use them. On her latest post Zuzu has found a very clever way to display hers, click on the link to see. I made an enlargement of the bee, so that you can see how adorable he is. Thankyou Zuzu!

Zuzu's lovely envelope gave me an idea for making a little pocket to put my tissue hearts in for Valentine's day.

I filled the hears with love hearts, with suitable messages for each of us. I will probably slip in some chocolate, as there is a bit of room in the pocket.

I do apologise for my very blurry pics of the other hearts I made. I stained some with coffee and I am not too sure if I prefer them clean and bright. The toile tissue paper looks like old toile fabric now though. Which do you prefer? I am not sure yet how I will use these. I might just scatter them over the table, or put them in a jar 'jar of hearts!' Or sew them into a garland. We don't really go in for Valentine's day in a big red rosey way, but we shall have a cosy little romantic dinner at home (for three!) I think it is good to make a little space for some romance, without going O.T.T. What do you think about it?

Hoping you all have a lovely weekend, love Linda x (p.s. my larder cupboard isn't finished yet!)

The photographs are from Pinterest or my own.

Doing stuff!

2012-02-08T04:39:00.000-08:00

My work has gone unusually quiet these last couple of months. I put it down to the economic climate. Although I am slightly worried, I have decided to focus on other things and make the most of the free time I have. Money is tight so it forces me to re-use, recycle and restore, which is good! I have loved this image above which I found in Tumblr, so I have been making some of these little paper hearts to decorate the place for Valentine's day. I made some from tissue paper and they feel like little packets of sugar, which gave me the idea to make larger ones for place settings, and to fill them with an individual love message and sweets. I will let you see the pics in a day or two.

I have also been knitting dishcloths in the shape of houses, they are really cute. I will let you see the pics of those in a day or two! You will think I am spoofing, and haven't done anything at all...honest I have. Remember my biscuit disaster, well I couldn't let a batch of biscuits get the better of me, so I tried again! This time success..................................................................................................................................

I am useless at piping, so I just used some ready made fondant icing and painted on the little bunny features with a fine paintbrush and food colouring. The square ones, you can't see very well, but I stamped them with a rubber stamp that has a little girl and a dog on, and says 'I love my dog'.So these have gone down pretty well.

This is my terribly messy larder cupboard which has been moved to a different spot in the kitchen and is getting a bit of a facelift. (In a couple of days, I hear you mutter.) Yes! So I will love you and leave you, and see you soon. Wishing you all a merry midweek, love Linda x

Tales of the Riverbank

2012-02-02T06:26:00.000-08:00

It was a very cold but lovely morning in Antrim today. I decided to take a walk and take my camera with me, so that you can see where I live. I love to see where people live, so that I can picture them there, in my mind's eye. First things first though! I would like to thank you all so much for your kind and thoughtful comments on yesterdays post. You really are the most uplifting bunch of people to be around, and I love you for it! Things didn't turn out too badly for Lois, her best friend's granny took Lois under her wing, which was lovely and made her feel included. As for my being a 'domestic goddess'.....it went sadly wrong! I decided to make biscuits (which I have made many times before), and something made them spread out in the tin and all join together to make one very large, very crisp biscuit! At least we got a laugh out of it. Just as well I had the malteser bunnies in reserve! (Have you tried these, by the way?)

Oh I must tell you too, that Santa was a very good boy and brought me my desired red (well burnt orange to be exact) Nespresso 'Pixie' coffee machine for Christmas. It is completely fabulous and makes the best coffee. So I am on my way to achieving my coffee counter a la Martha Stewart, but I need some new cups and a tray, so watch this space! Anyway, back to my walk.........

At the end of the street where we live, you cross over the road and you are into the Castle Grounds (or the park as we call it). It really is a delightful place, so full of history with old buildings, castle ruins, a river, Lough Neagh, and wonderful wildlife. We are so lucky to have it on our doorstep. It is owned by Antrim Council, who seem quite forward thinking, for a council, and have received grants to improve and restore it. There has been a lot of work going on there and you will see signs of it in the photographs, but it will be very exciting when work is completed.

Can you see, the Heron? I saw three this morning, they always give me a thrill I don't know why, they seem so pre-historic or something!

I always love this part of the river where it bends and is overhung with trees, so peaceful.

There is a lovely geometric garden which is very old. It all looks rather grey today.

This is something new, I am not quite sure what this will be used for. It looks like something you would see in Europe with it's canvas roof. Don't they know it never stops raining here?

Ducks and Swans, and this other little fellow, not quite sure what he is, and he rather rudely turned his back on me, and you can't see his very pointy little beak!

Then I met two very friendly Robin's who made me smile, it was almost as if they were posing for the photographs.

Then as you come up to the lough, there are all the little boats huddled together, and I loved the weathered and worn green paint on an old boat shed.

I was very aware of all the different textures, the moss, the lichen, the frosty grass, the bark on the trees....wonderful!

I have some more, but I think I will save them for another post. I wouldn't want you falling asleep.

I would just like to share something before I go. I am sure you are all like me, and you follow too many blogs, and can't keep up with them all. However, here is one, that you may have missed that is totally fascinating. My sister stumbled upon it and told me about it. It is called Spitalfields Life and the author writes about this part of London where he lives and the characters who live and work there. It is a totally enthralling piece of social history. I have only just subscribed and so have only read a little of what there is to read, but I found it, as did my sister, totally absorbing and interesting. He has written a book, which will be out in March, under the same name. Wishing you all a very happy midweek, love Linda x

Life is a song....

2012-02-01T06:20:00.000-08:00

and my song is a little sad today. Why? Because my little chick is sad. And when her little heart is blue, then mine is too.

Today is Grandparents day, and in her school they hold a special mass for the Grandparents, who get to go.
Unfortunately for Lois she has only one living grandparent left, her granny Cassie, who she loves to bits, but she has Dementia. It is too difficult to get her granny up and ready in time for mass so Lois has no-one to represent her. It is difficult at nine years of age to cope with being different from the rest of your class, so we have had a few teary nights this week.

Needless to say it has made me think of my lost loved ones and of the passing of time. So I am sorry I am not my usual cheery self. However, I won't stay sad, because at 3 o'clock, my daughter needs me . So I am off to bake something lovely for her coming out of school, to have the house tidy and warm, to get ready to wrap my arms around her and let her know ....THAT SHE IS LOVED!! To change my song to a happy one!

She will get a big sloppy kiss from 'Sparky' the dog too! Love, Linda x

Secret Garden

2012-01-30T06:51:00.000-08:00

picture from Graphics Fairy

Vignette is a word that Bloggers seem to like, to describe a little still-life area in a room or on a table. I rather like the word myself so I looked it up in the dictionary. Mine is quite old so it didn't refer at all to the modern meaning of it, but rather talked about art or decorative illustration on a page, and this bit appealed to me ' to make a vignette of, by softening away the edges'. I thought I would soften away the edges by making a little display under my stairs, on top of a chest of drawers with a 'secret garden' theme.

It is really a bit too wet and miserable to go out into the garden at the moment, so I thought a little display would keep me going until I can get out.

I have a lovely pop-up book of 'The Secret Garden', illustrated by the Artist and Muralist Graham Rust, the detail in it is superb and it is a joy to look at. The magnetic calendar at the back was a present from a friend as was the little bird in the nest. If you take the bird out, there are tiny eggs inside. I usually keep this by the side of my bed, as it reminds me of my dear friend who just loves everything to do with nature. The paper fairy, you may have seen before, is from my fellow blogger Lynn at Sea Angels. Mr. O.K. made the birdhouse, which I love and it normally lives outside. The wreath of eucalyptus is left over from Christmas, as are the toadstools which I made from papier mache (and rather cunningly I thought, garlic stalks!!) So there it is, I hope you like it?

I am also planning to plant some tulips for inside, and I loved these ideas I saw for Terrariums.......

Martha Stewart magazine has a tutorial on how to make a Terrarium here.

The above image is from Martha Stewart, all the rest, apart from my own are from Pinterest.

Wishing you all a happy and productive week. With love, Linda x.

A Rosy Glow

2012-01-23T04:15:00.000-08:00

My bathroom has recently had a slight makeover. I had previously painted the walls 'slate grey' and I loved the colour but when I made the roman blind (which was black) it did make the room quite dark.Mr.O.K. wasn't happy, he couldn't see to his ablutions properly! He doesn't usually complain about my paint choices, so I rather reluctantly set out to rectify it.

I remembered that I had a tin of 'Persian Rose' by Craig and Rose. Having previously had a bold colour on the walls I was quite confident that this colour would look well. However it was still a little nerve wrecking until the slate grey was totally obliterated.

I had some old Laura Ashley curtains belonging to my mum, that I was able to recycle into a blind and a cover for the side of the bath and the shower. The room feels several degrees warmer now, and everyone is happy. Oh, and it didn't cost any money, just a little time!

I even managed to fit in a drawing of our daughter, that was done by a street Artist in Monmartre. He really managed to catch the essence of her, even though he did it in ten minutes, and she didn't stop talking!

Some roses to go with my new bathroom. They have lasted extremely well, I have had them for 10 days.

Whilst the sewing machine was out I made a plastic bag holder from a lovely old linen cloth that came from Parna.

Lastly, this is my attempt at a still-life style photograph, to show off my flowers for Jane's 'Flower's in the house party'.Visit Jane here if you would like to see some lovely flowers.
I saw a rainbow when I left my daughter to school this morning, and it has brightened up into a lovely sunny day. So I would like to wish you all a lovely rosy, sunny rainbowey day, love Linda x

Would you like to swing on a star?

2012-01-18T09:17:00.000-08:00

Carry moonbeams home in a jar, and be better off than what you are?
You guessed it, I've been daydreaming again, it is such fun......do join me. I have left the fancy Paris apartment and have moved here.....

Gorgeous isn't it? Don't worry I have plenty of room for you to stay, in the Guest Cottage.

The gardens are looking particularly lovely at the moment, perhaps we can have lunch out there?

Drinks anyone? The local baker delivers bread daily, so it's always so fresh.

If it is a bit chilly we can come inside for something to eat, or a nice hot cup of tea.

If you are tired after your travelling perhaps you would like to take a little nap or have a long hot soak in the bath?

Now that's better isn't it. The fire is lit and I have lots of good books. So why don't you stay a while?

So whether you believe in magic or not, thankyou for taking the time to read my fairytale nonsense, and I hope you have enjoyed my little story?

Love Linda x

pictures taken from here and here.

Still Life

2012-01-16T06:49:00.000-08:00

There are some things in life that make your soul do a little leap for joy. Still Life paintings and Dutch Interior paintings do that to me. I love the way everyday life and things are somehow magnified to be noticed and seen for the first time, with new eyes. I love the design element to the still life paintings how a group of related or sometimes unrelated items are grouped and arranged. The different textures of the linen, the fruit, the lead crystal and the pewter vying for attention, it really does please my eye.

The above images are from www.tate.org.uk and www.essentialvermeer.com.

What also pleases my eye are the many wonderful still life style photographs taken by clever bloggers and photographers. They may not be able to paint like Jan Vermeer but with digital technology and a bit of creative flair, they can certainly make my heart sing! I have put together some wonderful examples that I found on tumblr. See if you agree with me.

Just stunning aren't they! There are some very talented people in this blogland of ours. I am so grateful for the constant inspiration and joy that I find. I have been like a little squirrel hoarding and collecting and gathering my 'nuts' my nuggets of inspiration and beauty and ideas, and now is the time to start putting some of these ideas, projects and schemes into action. I plan to be busy over the coming months, decorating, cooking, crafting, making plans to move my business on. I will keep you posted. I know you are all busy with plans of your own. Have a great week, and a warm welcome to my new followers and my old ones too! Love Linda x

A Blank Canvas

2012-01-04T09:47:00.001-08:00

Wouldn't it be a bit of fun to imagine you had a room like this to decorate.....a blank canvas. Although it is obviously a Period room, with the wooden floor, neutral paint colour, you could go really modern, or fill it with Geogian antiques, or have a mix of old and new. How would you decorate it? (Oh by the way, money is no object!) Picture from here.

I think if it were mine, the first thing I would do is find a lovely antique dog grate to bring the fireplace to life. Next would be to install a pair of bookcases either side of the fireplace to make it cosy.

Perhaps a pair of reproduction Regency style bookcases. (I would have to paint them of course!) source

Perhaps some built-in bookcases would be better? Photo from here.

Photos from here and here.

I would need a lovely piece of art for above the fireplace and rather like this painting by Jane Swanston called Still Spaces 13, and to be found here.

An antique rug for the centre of the room, or perhaps a new one ?

Rugs are from here and here. Of course I will need something lovely to sit on. I am leaning towards a relaxed French style, so I think this gorgeous sofa from Restoration Hardware,will do the trick.

The coffee table is also from Restoration Hardware. I couldn't resist this wonderful painted plinth to use as side tables from here or perhaps the lovely garden stools and graceful chairs from www.guinevere.co.uk.

I absolutely love these light fittings I found here and the fabulous modern chandelier from Pottery Barn, which when viewed close-up looks like a branch with water or ice droplets hanging from it.

In front of the window I would love a large french style table to be used as a desk, rather like this one..... from here.And I thought these wire urns I found at a place new to me called Layla Grace, it has some fab stuff for the home, although some things are a little pricey.

These large en grisaille panels from the same store, would just add the finishing touch. Oh and I almost forgot, mirrors for a bit of light reflecting loveliness, and flowers to add colour and life!

This pair of gilt Pier glasses are from here I know they are quite formal but I love the little squirrels on them!

Gorgeous full-blown roses from here.I love the bit of gilt decoration on the table also.

And just because I can, I am going to add a painted Armoire as a drinks cabinet, after all, I will need something when I am entertaining! Photo from Pinterest.

Soft muted fabrics from here.

I am hoping for an elegant yet cosy and friendly room like the ones above and below.

A touch of colour, grey/blue or duckegg in the painted furniture, to add a little warmth and some heavenly scented candles for a touch of luxury. Above photo from here and below picture from here.

It is fun to dream! I have had a ball putting this together. I hope you have enjoyed it too? Let me know what you would do differently. Enjoy the rest of your week, love Linda x. (above photo from here.)

New Year, New Beginnings!

2012-01-01T12:38:00.000-08:00

A very happy and healthy and productive New Year to all my lovely blogging friends. We have had a really lovely Christmas and New Year. I have missed blogging though, and I am keen to get started! The Christmas decorations will be coming down tomorrow and that always makes me feel a little glum. The sparkle has gone! So I reckon I need to find some new ways to add a little winter sparkle to my home.

Don't these glamorous lights look wonderful, especially when grouped? Or what about a beautiful French painted mirror, for a little sparkle?

Then of course there is the chandelier in the reflection, two for the price of one!

A floral headboard could add a touch of glamour and a fresh look to an otherwise neutral scheme.

Fresh flowers always do it for me! I love the jars with the vintage labels added.

Polished silver for that light reflecting lustre. I love the garland of seashells on the fireplace and the charming lamp.

I made one of these seashell mirrors once. (I am not quite sure what happened to it!). I think they look lovely in the right place.

I haven't made a resolution this year. I always make them and never stick to them, so this year I am abstaining! I have been blogging for just over a year now, and apart from the beginning when I was trying to learn everything ,(very stressful), it has been an absolute joy. I have met so many wonderful, kind, talented people. It is definitely an atmoshpere in which to thrive! Most of all I have learned so much about myself, who I am and what I want from life. I intended to simplify my home, pare it down, even go a little bit modern.

I have discovered though that pared down a little is fine, but really pared down and industrial is not me. I like 'pretty', I like old and new mixed together and a certain amount of clutter makes me happy. I am pleased with the progress that I have made this year and if I can keep learning and growing in the year to come, I will be more than happy. I hope too that I can pass on a little of what I am learning to anyone who is interested, and that way, everyone wins!

Thankyou to all who follow my blog, call in and visit, and very sweetly leave comments. I hope that I will continue to keep it interesting and fresh, so that you want to return. With much love, Linda x

All images from http://www.pinterest.com/.

Flowers in the House

2011-12-11T16:07:00.000-08:00

I posted a little while back about a book called 'Vintage Flowers' by Vic Brotherson. I wanted to make a ball of Hydrangea as featured in the book. Unfortunately, I ran out of dried flowers and didn't get the ball completed, so I set it on top of an urn and turned it into an arrangement. It really was just as well, as I do not have high ceilings and don't know where I would have hung the ball! I added my own little touch also, by adding a little glitter to the edge of some of the petals, and I think the effect is very pretty. See the closeup image below.

A gorgeous little fairy I purchased from Lynn at http://sea-angels.blogspot.com/.

Lovely pink tulips curving inside the fishbowl for a change.

I made a wreath from oak leaves and added a folk art angel,purchased from Flossie Limejuice on Etsy.

I am linking with Jane from Small but Charming for her monthly 'Flowers in the House' post. Love Linda x

Christmas Decorating

2011-12-11T02:55:00.000-08:00

Kitchen with a traditional red colour scheme. The Danish pixie on the wall is an advent calendar.

A few years ago I bought this cream tree, which I find very difficult to decorate, when colour is added it doesn't look right and when it is all white or cream it can look drab. I saw this idea to make it into a snowman on Pinterest and thought it would be fun.

The mantle in the living room will be decorated with a swag of greenery and some flowers and candles when it gets nearer to Christmas. I bought this lovely little guardian angel bear from Flossie Limejuice on Etsy.

I painted a chalkboard in the hall and added some childlike merchants houses and snow, and I must say I really love it.

The Christmas decorating has begun in our home. I have to admit it is a bit of a palaver, getting everything out of the garage, changing my mind about which tree to have where and how to decorate them, and I absolutely hate having to put it all away again. Once they are up I do love them so.

I do love a real tree, but they don't seem to love me. I have had so many disasters with them, that I have decided to give up and just go for the artificial ones. When it gets close to Christmas I will make garlands from pine for the staircase and the fireplace, so that we get that wonderful smell, and the vibrancy you get from fresh greenery. I will also have lots of berries, holly, mistletoe, viburnum and snowberries, if I can get them. I love to have hyacinths everywhere, for the heavenly scent and of course loads of candles, for atmosphere.
I wanted to put a few more photographs on but my camera is playing up. Instead I will put on some inspiration from Pinterest. I hope you are all enjoying the time before Christmas and I apologise in advance if I am not posting as regularly as normal, but you know how it is! Love Linda x

To keep this sense of wonder, is the secret of staying young! All above images from here.

Something old, something new!

2011-11-30T15:20:00.000-08:00

Image from Pinterest. I am linking to Laura's post of the month club. Click on her button on the sidebar if you wouls like to take a look.

Sparky, our Westie, has to approve of everything that enters!

My daughter has caused a little bit of chaos around here as she decided she would like more room in her bedroom , and would like the single bed from the guest room instead of her double bed. After much hauling about and shoving and a little dismantling, I managed it...solo.. I hasten to add! Now though, the guest room has one large bed in it and not much room for anything else, so virtually every piece in the house has been moved to accomodate this change. It has been a bit of a marathon. I can't really complain though, as my daughter knows that furniture can be moved, because I am always doing it!!! Anyway, the bathroom cupboard was moved to Lois's room to house her clothes and I needed something rather desperately for the bathroom. I headed off to one of the many charity shops and found this little number for £10. I snapped it up, and set about it's transformation.

Firstly I gave it a jolly good clean with an abrasive cleaner, then sanded it lightly. It has glass panels in the door of the cupboard, but I didn't want that, so rather than take it out, I painted it with blackboard paint. I painted the whole thing with a primer first, then the blacboard panels, 2 coats. When that was dry, I masked it off and painted the rest in Farrow and Ball's Pavillion Grey.I then varnished the grey with 2 coats of matt varnish. I drew numbers on the glass panels and drawer with chalk and then sprayed them with hairspray to stop it rubbing off. Finally I lined the drawer with a cute pirate's map paper. So. what do you think of it?

Last week I won a giveaway on lovely Abby's blog my spotty pony, it was a gorgeous flower arranging book by the late Jane Packer. I was so delighted to receive this on several levels, because it was Jane's and she so sadly left us recently, and I have always been an admirer. Because I have seen it featured in magazines and had wanted to own it, and also because it was Abby's giveaway! So what a lucky duck I was to actually win it. Now if you don't know Abby's blog you must go and visit, she is a most charming and kind person, who does a marvellous job, helping people with disability's overcome them ,by learning to ride a horse. She owns a gorgeous horse called 'Spotty', hence her blog name.Her blog is not all about horses though, it is most varied and interesting. She is so generous that she even sent a lovely chocolate owl for my daughter, who was most impressed. So thankyou Abby, from Lois and I xx.

Lois says thankyou!

I found some lovely Christmas decorating ideas at Martha Stewart,I thought you might like. This weekend Lois and I will put up our trees, so I am frantically making room and getting ready.

Add caption

Have a wonderful weekend. With love, Linda x

Lovely gingerbread houses. (One year I put gingerbread men on the tree in the kitchen, when we came down the next morning, we found all these little wires lying on the floor, and the gingerbread missing from the lower branches. Sparky (our Westie) had had a lovely little midnight feast!

Count Your Blessings!

2011-11-24T03:50:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all who partake in it! I have a lot to be thankful for, apart from my lovely family, I think the thing that I am most thankful for, is my home. My Mum was a great homemaker, she moved homes many many times in her life and she always said 'your home is in your consciousness', and because of that she could pick up and start again,wherever she happened to be.At this time of year I often think what it would be like to be a homeless person, living in a cardbord box, sleeping on the street. My heart goes out to all who find themselves in that situation.

I could go on and write a long list of all the blessings I'm counting, but instead I will show you some lovely images to represent them.

Sparky, our West Highland Terrier.

Paul and Lois.

Looks like butter wouldn't melt doen't it?

Happy Thanksgiving! Love Linda x Images which are not my own are from pinterest and Tumblr, for which I also give thanks.

Vintage Christmas.

2011-11-18T10:46:00.000-08:00

I have been having a little fun making corsages to adorn Christmas presents. It all came about when I bought a book called 'Homemade Gifts Vintage Style' by Sarah Moore. I had actually gone out to get a biscuit decorating book by 'The Biscuiteers',it was out of stock and so whilst looking around I found this rather lovely book.

The funny thing is, that Sarah Moore, the author of this book is also co-author of the Biscuiteers book.....small world. I decided that the corasges would look lovely on presents and would be quick and easy to make. The author said that once you start you will find it hard to stop, and she was right! They are simply varying sizes of fabric circles stitched together and then a safety pin sewn in the back. I was thrilled to be able to use up some linen and lace doilies that have been hanging around for years! Old bits of broken jewellery and buttons come in handy too!

For the children in the family, I added these little felt animals that I made last year.

Lots of dogs for my daughter!

Normally I have a colour scheme and theme with my Christmas wrapping. Last year it was brown paper hand stamped with words and doves and wrapped with string. This year it will be more ecclectic to tie in with the corsages.

To keep me entertained whilst making, I listened to Christmas music. I know it's a bit early, but the truth is, and I know it's a bit sad, but I absolutely love it. Every year I buy Starbucks new Christmas cd, because they are usually a quirky mix of various artists, and I just adore the artwork. This year though, the whole cd is by' Pink Martini', and I am not so sure about it, but it's early days, I only bought it today! Then there is the lovely Michael Buble, his cd is fab, I will have it worn out by Christmas!

This will be my next project from the book, a fabric wreath covered with kitschy bits and baubles, it sooo takes me back to my childhood! So sorry if I've been boring you with Christmas stuff too early, but I just love Christmas, and I am beginning to get in the festive spirit.

Thankyou all so very much for your most touching and heartfelt remarks on my last post, it meant the world to me! Have a wonderful weekend, love Linda x

Angel of Thanksgiving

2011-11-14T18:33:00.000-08:00

Photo taken from Andy Scott's Website.

As American Thanksgiving day approaches, my thoughts enevitably turn to this piece of public art on the banks of the river Lagan in Belfast city centre, she is known locally as' Nuala with the Hula' or 'The Doll on the Ball'. Her real name though is 'The Angel of Thanksgiving,' and she is where she is, because of one woman.....my mother.

My lovely Mum, on the day the 'Angel' was erected.(photo taken by my brother Paul)

My Mum was a very spiritually minded person. She really believed that if a person, no matter how poor, or ill, or deprived could give thanks to God for the little good that was in their life, then God could turn their life around. On a visit to America, she visited Thanksgiving Square in Dallas, Texas. It is a building, where people of any denomination can go and pray and give thanks to their own Deity. My Mum was very impressed with this idea, and thought that Belfast was in need of such a place. She approached the Council, and local business leaders and presented her ideas. She had a real struggle on her hands, and it took her 16 years of blood, sweat and tears to bring it to fruition. The Council agreed to donate some land to the project, but it was too small to put a building on it, so the idea of a statue or monument was mooted. They decided to have a competition for someone to come up with a design, and it was won by a Scottish Sculptor and Engineer, Andy Scott. He is a wonderful man, who really supported my mum, and he was able to encapsulate all her hopes and dreams into his design of 'The Angel of Thanksgiving'.

I don't have my Mum's great faith, but I do know it is important to believe in something greater than yourself. I think too, that an attitude of grattitude is sadly lacking today. I am so grateful that my brave Mum fought for her beliefs, not for Belfast, or Ireland, but for us ,her family. She has left such a great legacy. I am so proud every time we cross the river to say to my daughter,' look there's your Nannie's statue.' It was such a comfort after her death to have such a beautiful reminder of her fighting spirit, her faith and her passion for her beloved country. She would have been so thrilled to know that it was voted as the No.1 piece of public art, by the people.It is used by all sorts of companies to represent hope, the new Belfast and it is photographed and drawn by artists. It is sad that she didn't get to enjoy the fruition of her work, but we her children and grandchildren are truly blessed by it. Thanks Mum!

Photo from Wikipedia.

Flowers on my table!

2011-11-09T18:01:00.000-08:00

I thought you might like to see some late bloomers from the garden. I rather love little tiny, unpretentious posies scattered around the place. They make you stop and look.

I am begging, borrowing and stealing Hydrangea at the moment to dry for Christmas. In Vic Brotherson's wonderful book 'Vintage Flowers' she makes a huge ball out of dried Hydrangea and hangs it from the ceiling, see below..... I plan to do the same.

I am having great success at drying some, but not all. The lovely lilac specimen below is from my own garden. I tried by having some stems in a small amount of water but they shrivelled up. I tried hanging them upside down, they did the same.

The white ones, also from my garden seem to be drying upside down but I am not sure what colour they will end up. That is the exciting thing about this process, seeing all the incredible variety of shades you can end up with. Gosh wouldn't the world be drab if it was only in black and white?

Wishing you all a fun-filled weekend, love Linda x

I'm lost in a daydream.....

2011-11-02T15:10:00.000-07:00

Image from Tumblr.

Today I just wanted to share some images that for one reason or another really excite, inspire or move me. I hope you like them too?

Image from Tumblr.

Image from Pinterest.

Image from Tumblr.

Image from Tumblr .

Image from Tumblr.

Image from Pinterest.

Image from Tumblr.

Image from Pinterest.

Image from Tumblr.

Image from Pinterest.

Image from Tumblr.

I could imagine a lovely romantic story could be formulated around these images. And the...there are the ones that make you laugh...

Image from Tumblr.

Oh yes, and the ones that make you cry....

Image from Pinterest.

A warm welcome to my new followers, and a big thankyou to all who are so kind as to comment. To those who just like to look, ...hello, do please call again. I appreciate every last one of you. I wish you all a happy week, in which you may find a little time for daydreaming. Love Linda x

Image from Tumblr.

Whoops I nearly forgot, this is for Claudia, who asked for the recipe for the poached pears. I am afraid I don't know where I originally got it from, it has been on a hand-written note in my Dessert file for many's a long year!

LEMON POACHED PEARS WITH BLACKBERRY SAUCE.
4 ripe pears
1 lemon
300ml. dry white wine (I often use red).
100g caster sugar
1 cinnamon stick (or I sometimes use star anise)
200g fresh blackberries.

peel, core and slice pears. (It looks nicer if you leave them whole, but for children or elderly I slice them)
take peel from lemon with zester.
squeeze juice from lemon.
place juice and zest in pan with wine, sugar and cinnamon stick (or star anise). bring gently to boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved, then increase heat and boil until thickened (about 5 mins.)
add pears, cover and poach gently for 10 mins.
remove pears to a bowl and cool.
boil wine mixture until reduced and pour over blackberries and cool. (I tend to put blackberries in with pears and poach them too, but they do break down a bit).
mix with pears, serve chilled in glass dishes and garnish with lemon peel.
that's all folks!

Watch out for the Witching Hour!

2011-10-30T22:07:00.000-07:00

I made a Halloween wreath for the door using orange roses, chinese lanterns, crabapple, eucalyptus, hydrangea, and even some green tomatoes! The spiky bits around the edge, I don't know what it's called, but if you look up close, they look like little teeny weeny pumpkins. Unfortunately the weather is wet and windy and I thought this may get a little too battered outside, so I decided to use it as a table decoration.

Sadly my husband won't be sharing Halloween with us, as he is taking care of his mum.So I decided that we would have a lovely meal this evening instead and go mad with the table decorations!

I made Rioja-braised lambshanks with garlic and chorizo. Absolutely delicious, but not for the faint-hearted, the sauce contained 250ml. of Balsamic vinegar as well as the red wine. The recipe is by TV chef Lorraine Pascale and if you would like to check it out, here's the link. We had Poached Pears with Blackberries for dessert, but everyone was too full to eat it! Oh well there's always breakfast!

I wish you all a Happy Halloween, with much love, Linda x. I am linking to Small But Charming, the lovely Jane for her 'Flowers in the House of Horror' post. If you like to nosey at what flowers people have in their homes, then this is the spot for you!

A touch of red, does the trick!

2011-10-26T03:53:00.000-07:00

This time last year my kitchen was a deep cream colour with some of the cupboards in a dark pink. I loved it, it was warm and cosy. When the Spring came I found it too dark, I wanted light, and so I painted the cupboards white, and the walls an off-white. It was such a contrast, and so bright, i loved it too.

However, as the sun goes lower in the sky and the weather has been very wet and windy, I found that I wasn't liking it quite so much, it seemed dull and cold. My daughter and I had been making some papier mache toadstools, and this was my inspiration......of course.....a touch of red was what was needed. Those clever Scandinavians know that, their mostly white interiors do almost always have a little red somewhere, and it really does draw the eye in. So I set to and made a little corner where I could display red things. My daughter is so excited, she thinks Christmas has come early!

We have a little 'toadstool' mania in this house at the moment. This rather lovely glass treee ornament was unearthed at T.K.Maxx.

I had originally intended for these toadstools to look natural, but then my daughter suggested we put a bit of glitter on them, so they are now 1950's kitcsh, but that's ok, we like that!

I found the red sign 'Eat drink and be merry' at a local garden cente. I decided it was a bit small by itself and painted a blackboard around it. I am thinking in the future (after Christmas perhaps), if Santa is good to me, and brings me a little red Nespresso machine, that this can be my longed for coffee counter.I can then write the specials on the board. I don't think I've grown up, I still like to play 'shops'. The toadstools were gathered under the cloche. and some Ilex berries added for a little height. Oh and the lamp makes my kitchen extra cosy at night. I also made some Swedish blinds from some vintage ticking that I bought from Julie at The Cloth Shed. I lined them with a black bedcover from Ikea and tied them up with some black cotton tape.

I was asked to do a dried flower arrangement for a client, in her own antique planter. I dried everything myself, apart from the chillies, so Iam rather pleased with it. I managed to incorporate my dried artichokes.

A little bit of chutney, for the festive season. Delia Smith's recipe, it's rather good!

Some more touches of red from Tumblr.

Finishing off with two little red santa's that I made last year, can't wait to get them out again. With lots of love to all my readers, followers, commentators, I appreciate you all so much. Love Linda x

Halloween is Coming!

2011-10-17T06:29:00.000-07:00

I found the above images on Etsy. They are the work of Susan Templin at Firstlight Photography. I think they are wonderfully evocative and atmospheric. How do you feel about Halloween? I have to admit, I am not a big fan. I love the autumn, the harvest, the pumpkins, fires, cosy blankets, apples and all. I am just not too keen on the scary, spooky stuff. I have to make an effort to decorate for my daughters sake, but I try to keep it to cute cats, pumpkins and friendly witches. Neither of us are too enthusiastic about bats, spiders, snakes and de-capitated things....uuuurrgghh!

So with this in mind I will show you some of the more pleasant Halloween things I have found.

All the above images are from Pinterest.

Look at these adorable Folk Art patterns for cute creatures you can make.....I love them!

The three above are from The Cheswick Company on Etsy.

The above images are from http://www.countrystitchesonline.com/. Brenda also has a lovely blog http://withthyneedleandthread.blogspot.com/.

Wishing you all the joys of the season, with love Linda x.

The Circle of Life

2011-10-10T17:29:00.000-07:00

Image from Tumblr.

Wreaths, are one of my most favourite types of flower arrangements. They are so uplifting when you see them on someone's front door. I have never been to America on Thanksgiving weekend, but I know I would just love to see all those beautiful door wreaths.

This is my own image, I apolagize for the quality!

In Ireland, they tend to be only used at Christmas time, and usually they are either artificial or made from holly with a plastic decoration here and there. I would love to see people be a little more adventurous, and make their own. Depending on what you use, and the weather, they can sometimes last for quite a long time. I have known mine , made with fir, eucalyptus and roses last for a month, with perhaps only the odd rose needing replaced.

I would love to see people have a different one for each different season. I do try to do that in my own home. When I drive or walk towards my home, it really gives me a little lift to see it there. I also love them as a table decoration, either on its own, or with a hurricane lamp or candle inside.

Above images from Pinterest.

A creepy one for Halloween from Martha Stewart.

A gorgeous simple wreath via Tumblr.

It is the symbolism of the wreath that I love too. Some think that they are only connected with death and funerals, but they do actually represent, the 'circle of life', birth, marriage, death. I have been thinking about this recently as a friends mother died, and my youngest sister had a little baby girl.....life goes on, and so it should.

Little lamb viaTumblr.

Welcome to the new little one Florence Ellie, she's as cute as this little lamb!

It's amazing what you see....when you open your eyes!

2011-10-03T17:18:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I was having a good old moan (yes me, I am afraid I was), about the lack of Farmer's Markets, locally grown produce, quality food sellers in Northern Ireland. Well I feel a bit of a tit now, because there are places, wonderful places, and I just wasn't looking properly. One such place is Slemish Market Garden, which is only down the road from me, in Ballymena, has been going for 4 years, and I was oblivious to it all! A friend introduced me a few weeks ago and I have been going as often as I can ever since.

You will find all sorts of produce growing here, in the fields and polytunnels from tomatoes, potatoes, apples, plums, kale, broccoli,garlic,pumpkins to all kinds of cottage garden plants. You are given a basket and invited to pick your own , or you can call in at the shop, to see what's on offer. They have a resident jam maker, who is putting the produce to good use. The roof of the shop is hung with bunches of garlic at the moment and the smell is intoxicating. The couple who own the business are extremely obliging and helpful and always take time to chat. (Actually you can't just nip in and out, it takes time at this place, which to me adds to it's charm. They have three resident sheepdogs, which entices my daughter to come along, and a field full of very healthy looking free range chickens.

It's wonderful. I am totally sold on it, and everything I have bought has been delicious. My daughter even managed to eat half a bag of cherry tomatoes on the way home, (that's a first).They have a lovely blog on Tumblr,slemishmarketgarden.tumblr and a Facebook page.

Some of the produce I brought home on my last visit. The potatoes were particularly good.

What was left of the tomatoes after Lois demolished them!

I do love homemade marmalade.

I was also re-acquainted with a couple of other good places, but I will tel you about those another day.

My friend Lynne from the blog Dreams on 34th Strreet,http://dreamson34thstreet.blogspot.com/ has been growing Artichokes in her garden in America. I am so impressed with them, they are growing in pots, and she was inspired to grow them after she read about my love of them on one of my posts. She has very kindly dedicated her post today to me, in honour of her Artichokes, and here thy are....

Don't they look terrific? Thankyou Lynne!

Wishing you all a wonderful week, full of good wholesome produce. Love Linda x

Are you a sucker for packaging?

2011-09-28T08:58:00.000-07:00

Image from here.

I most certainly am, beautifully packaged goods like those above make me drool. Simple packaging too, really does it for me. Take Bonne Mamman http://bonnemaman.us/ for example...it's those lovely checked lids for a start, then the wonderful black and white labels that look handwritten. It's not only that, what about all the clever things that people do with the jars, once the contents, (and they are none too shabby either), have been consumed.

I love the simple packaging on some of the items Jamie Oliver has for sale on his website.http://jamieoliver.com/.

It seems I am not alone in my appreciation of packaging and branding, as there is a mueseum of brands in London.http://www.museumofbrands.com/ Some more lovely packaging to entice you to part from your hard-earned cash....

Images from here.

I love these bottles, sometimes you see them in designer kitchens, all lined up, and although I think it's a bit stage set, I still like it.

Sometimes, it's the way a thing is worded that makes you want it, sometimes it's the illustration, sometimes the colour just leaps out at you. I adore the fabulous blue on Cafe Nero's cups. http://www.caffenero.com/.

Some vintage packaging re-invented.

some paint tins even have style. above 3 images from here.

Above images from Pinterest.

When someone goes to the trouble of presenting food or a gift in a beautiful and unique way, it really adds to the enjoyment of it, in my view. Sometimes though, even a totally plain box or package is enticing.

When my elder brother started work, he went to London and worked in the marvellous foodhalls of Fortnum and Mason. He would send my mum tins of tea, and we did feel terribly grand! I have included a little video from F&M, which , if you have a few minutes to spare, is wonderful. If you check out their website http://fortnumandmason.com/ they have another one on 'flowering tea' which would be a great gift for someone who has everything! Enjoy!

And finally a box of delights from Betty's of Harrogate.http://www.bettys.co.uk/ Have a wonderful day! I hope I haven't left you too hungry, my own tummy is rumbling! Love Linda x

Flowers in the Home

2011-09-26T03:36:00.000-07:00

I must be going through a bit of a 'peach' phase!

Dried green Hydrangeas in the hall.

I apologise for the glare. Sunflowers underneath my Blackbird print.

On Saturday I held a coffee morning at home. My sister is an agent for Phoenix Cards so she brought along her new Christmas stock so that we could have a look. It was a very pleasant morning and we had some sweet things to go with our coffee.

from the bottom up..... Mars bar and
P.eanut butter scones, Pumkin Cream Cheese Bread, White chocolate and |Mascarpone Tarts

Rosewater Meringues with Raspberry Cream

Chocolate chip cookies

Not a very good representation of what was on show!

The Pumpkin bread recipe is new to me. I have in truth been searching for a pumpkin bread recipe for many years that would taste something like the Pumpkin Bread an American friend of my Mother's made. This is the one, it's moist, delicious even without butter and has a cinnamon glaze on the top which I think just finishes it off. If anyone would like the recipe you will find it here. A lovely food and gardening blog, bursting with delicious recipes and gorgeous photographs. http://nancycreative.wordpress.com/.

I made a handtied bouquet of lavender for the bathroom.

I am linking to Janes lovely blog today. See it here. She is a Florist with a really interesting blog and she's full of fun. She has a monthly slot where you can post the photos of flowers in your home, it's lovely to have a look at what arrangements everyone has, and what products they have grown.

A big warm welcome to my new followers and thankyou to all who pop in and kindly leave comments. Wishing you all a happy and productive week. Love Linda x

Black and White (and shades of grey).

2011-09-23T04:37:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed that when your mind fixes on a thing, you see it everywhere? Mine is fixated on black and white. I am planning to re-decorate my living room, which at the moment is in stone and cream shades with splashes of raspberry pink. I want to change it to shades of grey and blue, sort of french looking, with touches of black and white. As soon as my mind was made up, I saw wonderful old ticking on Julies lovely blog The Cloth Shed, which of course was a 'sign' and I had to buy! Then I bought a book about the life of Grace Kelly, and there she was lounging on a fabulous Art Deco shaped sofa covered in black and white ticking, with wonderful frizzy black trim. Well.....that was going to be me!! I then went to the cinema with my 2 sisters and my neice to see Jane Eyre ( which we really enjoyed), and lo and behold there was the black and white ticking again in the form of a mattress cover at Jane's horrible school. Then the floodgates opened, Ican't help it I am seeing black and white lovliness everwhere I look. Here are just some lovely images from Pinterest.

Ticking how I love thee!

So smart!

Yum!

It's that black door again.

I know these as baseball boots! (Showing my age now).

These are biscuits with the icing stamped with food colouring would you believe!

gorgeous teatowel from Pottery Barn.

I adore these big clocks, inside and outside.

And a couple more from Tumblr.

A wonderfully retro looking desk from Restoration Hardware.

A bit wintry..sorry, but I love the basket on this door.

Simple but effective!

This is my favourite, so friendly and welcoming.

My kitchen smells wonderful at the moment as I have just taken some Pumpkin Bread out of the oven. I am having a little coffee morning tomorrow and have been making sweet treats. I will try to let you see what I made before it gets eaten. I made a wreath out of some of my apples. It weighs a ton so I didn't dare hang it on the nail on the front door, but I rather like how it looks on my courtyard door (even though my husband screwed the key hook, left of centre...say nothing!).

Thankyou so much to all who make the effort to read this, and a great big kiss to all who kindly comment, it means the world to me...thankyou. Wishing you a heavenly weekend, love Linda x

A rainbow I tried to capture a couple of days ago after torrential rain.

John Brown's Cottage

2011-09-20T05:56:00.000-07:00

I am feeling a little bit nostalgic and emotional about my past, these last few days. I have been harking back to when I was aged nineteen. My mum and Dad loved each other, of that I have no doubt, but they couldn't live together. They spent 20 years coming together and then splitting apart. One of these splits, involved us , (the kids) and my mum, moving lock , stock and barrel, away from Ireland, away from my Dad, to the Yorkshire Dales. My Mum had a friend in her church who had a cottage we could rent. So it was we set off, with trepidation and a little excitement to find 'John Brown's Cottage'!

It seemed like we would never get there as we went more and more into the back country roads of the Dales. Here it is, I do apologise for the quality of my photo...

My sister sits on the step a little overawed I think, my brother in the doorway. It was a shock, we came from a city, to the middle of nowhere. As I looked around, and took in the old doors and windows, the wooden floorboards, an old Aga in the kitchen, and an old ball and claw bath in a bathroom that had no curtains, but looked out over fields of green with nothing but trees and cows, I thought that I had died and gone to heaven. This was the life for me....I was in love. The rest of my family took a little longer to come around to the idea of country life, but I embraced it wholeheartedly.

Neighbours came to our door, not straight away, they kindly gave us time to settle, but they came and brought us gifts, apples from their trees, tomatoes from their greenhouses, flowers from their gardens. They made us things too, cakes and pies and bread. We were overwelmed.

We were invited to a Harvest Festival at Kirkby Malham Church. Never having been to such a thing we weren't quite sure what to expect. Here's the beautiful old church.....

The church was full of flowers and food, even tins of food I remember. Two things stand out in my memory, the first, a man stood up and started to aution off the food. He must have been an auctioneer of livestock. I remember we all got the giggles, we were having difficulty enough with the accents, but when he started going,' thert y fave, for ty fave '

at a rate of notts, we just couldn't believe our ears.

The second, I shall never forget as long as I live. A little girl stood up, she must have only been 5 or 6, and she began to recite a poem about a lamb. She had such a lovely little voice with a Yorkshire accent and she didn't falter at all. I now know the poem was by William Blake.....

'Little Lamb, who made thee?

Dost thou know who made thee?

Gave thee life, and bid thee feed,

By the stream and o'er the mead,

Gave thee clothing, wolly bright,

Gave thee such a tender voice,

Making all the Vales rejoice?

Little Lamb, who made thee?

Dost thou know who made me?

I ended up staying in Yorkshire when I met my first husband , and my family returned to Ireland. I will always love it, and the people in it.

I hope you don't mind me indulging in a little trip down memory lane, and I wish you all a.....

Love Linda x Images...my own, Pinterest, Google and Tumblr.

Roses, Runners & Raspberries

2011-09-16T10:29:00.000-07:00

Isn't this rose a lovely old fashioned shape? It reminds me of those 'kitchy' paintings of roses from the 50's. When I bought it, it was actually a lovely lilac shade, but the second year it turned peach, it must be something to do with the soil. I don't mind though as it reminds me of my mum, she was rather partial to peach roses, and peach nail varnish. She had bottles and bottles of the stuff, and almost all of it was pink or peach! Also, I'm thinking, she would give me, or one of my sisters, a castoff handbag, and always without fail, you would find a pink or peach lipstick in it, a paper hanky and some lifesavers (she travelled to America a lot!) Sorry I digress.

I am overwhelmed by the amount of apples we got this year from our two small trees. They are quite sour for eating apples, and last year when I tried making pies out of them, although they tasted alright the apples don't break down (which I like). So this year I am going to make a wreath or two out of them and then some chutney. The red ones are crabapples and I will be making jelly out of those. I have been delighted with the raspberries this year, for the last couple of weeks I have been able to go out in the mornings and pick some for my porridge...mmmm!

The Honeysuckle still has a few flowers on it, and the Clematis is flowering nicely. I have some photos to show you of the stairs, as you remember I lifted the carpet to make way for a stair runner. I painted the stairs first in a stone colour, it was then given an 'antique wash' to age it and then varnished.

My runner is a roll of antique linen from Grainsack at Etsy. Christina, the owner of the shop is from Austria, and she is a delight to deal with. If you don't know this site, check it out, she has a wonderful range of old grainsacks and linens. It is quite light in colour, so the family have been warned...NO SHOES! It is also quite thin, so I do hope that it will wear alright. I am delighted with the result, it gives the hall a bit more character, more of a 'country' vibe. However, as usual when you start these things, it kind of snowballs into a whole range of things that need to be done. The panelling , stair rails, walls, doors and skirting need to be painted. Also I would like to have the big wall, that goes up the stairs, papered. I am not normally a 'paper'sort of girl, but I love the 'fly fishing' paper from Lewis & Wood, and thought it might further add to my country feel. See below, what do you think? Every so often there are little 19th century fishermen, in amongst the trees.

Here he is, isn't he just lovely. A regular Mr. Darcy! The colours are soft blues and greens with a little bit of a stone or sand colour.

Wallpaper found here.

I had some spare linen, so I made some blinds for the windows, and door. My front door is horrible upvc and it is going to be painted like the stairs, so I will show you the photo of the blinds once the door is painted. I also think that I will paint the outside of the door black, and I found this fabulous painted doorstep on Pinterest. I have a rather dreary concrete step, so it is going to get this treatment. As you can see I am going to be busy this autumn!

I found a most wonderful book this week . I don't own it yet, but I will soon. For anyone who likes flowers or the vintage look it is a must. Every page is beautiful, even the words are beautiful. It is called 'Vintage Flowers' and is by a girl called Vic Brotherson. I think she is based in London, but I couldn't swear to it, but she was brought up in the Lake District. Some of the pages made me gasp out loud. I wanted to run out and buy a load of flowers and a load of vintage marmalade jars! Here are a couple of images form it.........

I think my new 'country' hall could have a fine dressing out this Christmas!

That's all folks! I hope you all have a fabulous, fun weekend. Love Linda x

Feeling Crafty?

2011-09-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

Does the change in the weather make you start to think of nights in by the fire, busily creating all manner of crafts? Well, if that's you and you haven't checked out Pinterest yet, let me tell you, it is the most wonderful place to find craft inspiration, ideas and tutorials. I had intended to let you see a few varied pics, but there are so many gorgeous ideas, I am afraid I have included rather a lot! However, even if you are not crafty, some of the images may inspire you for ideas for your home, or ideas of what presents to buy someone for Christmas. I am constantly surprised and amazed and thrilled by what I find. Only this evening I found a link to the original performance of 'Riverdance' when it was on the Eurovision Song Contest. My husband and I had been talking about it the day before, as my daughter has just started Irish Dance classes. We said how it made the hair on the back of our necks tingle, when we first saw it, and I was delighted to find that it still does. So without further ado, here's the picture show, I hope you enjoy it..........

There are some very talented people out there! I would love to know what craft projects you have 'on the go' or are planning to do over the winter. Do pop in and leave me a little note, I would love to hear from you. Wishing you all a very creative week, Love Linda x

A little Comfort for Autumn Days.

2011-09-07T16:45:00.000-07:00

Having spent a lot of time working on my garden and the outside of my home recently, as the nights draw in my thoughts are now turning to the inside.

Comforting, cosy casual creations are at the forefront of my mind. I need to do some nest-building before the winter comes. Do any of you feel this way?

For a long time now I have been wanting to replace the rather shabby stair carpet with a runner. I managed to track down a roll of wonderful vintage linen, woven in a herringbone design with a single stripe down the middle. I am in the process of painting the stairs and will post some photos of it soon. Here are a couple of inspiration photos that have been keeping me motivated.

And a little more loveliness for the home...........................................................................................................................................................

Isn't this a lovely spot to sit and read to your child, or even yourself?

I hope you enjoyed my gathered images of comfort? All the images were found here.

Rock 'n' Roll....Part 2

2011-08-30T07:10:00.000-07:00

Following on from my previous post, here are some more shots of the preparations for the party.

The door to the garage and window were painted Duckegg , more blue than the previous colour.

My very tatty fence had to be painted, which was quite tricky considering the weather we have been having.

Ta da! A lovely fresh Duckegg Blue.

At the side of our house, we had some gates made to section off the driveway, we added a fence and a pedestrian gate. I had already painted the fence black and had asked for the gate to be painted the same, needless to say it came 'Tango Orange'!!! I didn't get time to paint it properly, so you can still see the dlightful colour showing through. (These things are sent to TRY us!) Arrgh!

I managed to get the Wisteria for the side wall, so let's hope it survives the winter.

The side of the house is South facing and so now we have an area where we can enjoy the sun all day, as opposed to the back, where the sun goes in at about 4.30p.m.. I was able to use Wendy from 15Coast Road's lovely vintage bunting on the fence.

This is the door through to the little yard at the back, (where the Ice-cream Parlour is.)

Inside the garage I decorated with some paper records I made and some great images and words I found on the Internet.

I found some great free printables on the Internet.

Martha Stewart's Peanutbutter Ice-cream and Brownie sandwiches.

Stars and stripes.

Vintage posies.

Roses in ice-cream colours.

We had plenty of music from the 50's to get us in the mood, so there was a little bit of singing and dancing, much to the children's embarrassment! Everyone went to the trouble to dress up, which I really appreciated as it really helped create the atmosphere.

I had a bit of a drama with my outfit. I had ordered an original 1950's dress from the Internet. It didn,t quite fit, but I couldn't bear to send it back, I so loved the colour and the feel of it. I ended up making it into a skirt, then it was....eeek now what do I wear with it. I took my daughter for a rather frantic shopping trip and ended up with a little black top from Next, but it sort of looked right and I added a belt and a pink corsage. Sorry I have no pics of me wearing it, my sis took some so I will get one for you.

I loved the shoes, even though they killed me!

Lois wore a cute little dress that she got when she was 6, but it still fits!

I made her a petticoat so that the dress sat out. She loved it!

Paul was a little reluctant to dress up, but I found him this Hawaaian shirt and he was happy!

I loved the little planes saying Santa Barbara! Apologies for the crumpled clothes, these were taken the day after the party!

My (heavily pregnant) sister Tracey, with her partner James and 2 children, Lily and Nancy, all ready to party!

My kitchen. I have wanted to paint the wooden floor with this chequered pattern for some time now. I managed to get it done for the party and it really fitted well into the 50's theme.

I hope that I haven't bored you all with too many photos? It was a fun party and I am glad you persuaded me to have it! Have a great week. My daughter is back to school tomorrow,so I hope that I will have more time for blogging! Much love Linda x

'I know it's only Rock 'n' Roll......but I like it!

2011-08-30T05:15:00.000-07:00

So sorry, it's been so long since I posted! Saturday night was my 50th birthday party, and it was great fun!

After the last party I had at home I didn't know if I wanted to have another. I asked your advice and you kindkly encouraged me to have one but to take the strain off with the catering side of things. I decided as it was going to be a 1950's themed party, that I would make burgers, part cook them and then let my husband finish them off on the barbie. Good plan! It went a little wrong though. I found I didn't have the time to pre-cook them and my hubbie didn't get the barbie hot enough, soon enough, so I ended up in the kitchen anyway! Hey ho, I decided whatever happened I wasn't going to stress, and I am proud to say I didn't. I had found a Jamie Oliver recipe for 'Elvis Burgers', they contained chilli, mustard, tarragon, onion, and parmesan cheese, and I must say they were very good. I laid out all the different toppings, relishes etc., and people helped themselves and then held the burger together with a little american flag. I enlisted help from my two lovely sisters with the making of salads, and a friend brought a lovely vegetarian roulade. I got some salmon with a dressing on from M&S, for my brother, who doesn't eat meat, and that was wrapped in foil and popped in the oven for 10 minutes! There were sausage rolls, cocktail sausages and chicken for the children, so everyone was happy.

For dessert I made Peanut Butter Ice-cream and Brownie sandwiches in advance and they were just kept in the freezer until needed. These were a Martha Stewart recipe, and went down very well. There were little fairy cakes for the children also. So it wasn't fancy, but I think everyone enjoyed it.

As usual I forgot to take photos at the party, but here are some I took before and after to give you an idea of how it turned out.

You might remember, the garage was turned into the Lion's Head Pub, for our last party.

This time stripes were added to make it into 'The Ice-cream Parlour'.

View from the kitchen.

Images from Pinterest

I am having some difficulty uploading my photos, so I will love you and leave you for now and let you have some more photos later. I hope you all had a lovely Bank Holiday weekend? Love Linda x

A jolly good laugh!

2011-08-19T13:46:00.000-07:00

All images from Pinterest.

Isn't this the funniest picture? Image from here.

This is a very quick post , just to cheer up your weekend. I hope to do a proper post on Monday. I am having my 50th party next Saturday, so it's a little crazy around here! Have a great weekend everyone, Love Linda x

A pet hate of my sister's...(Starbuck speak!)

Powerscourt County Wicklow

2011-08-10T15:02:00.000-07:00

As promised, the rest of our holiday snapshots. We were very lucky with the weather and were able to spend a large part of the day in these wonderful gardens. Those Landscape Gardener's from days of yore had such vision didn't they? They knew how to put a scheme together! These gardens are really lovely and the scenery around is so lush and green and mountainous, truly spectacular. I especially loved the walled garden, with its wonderfully full borders, lilly ponds and gorgeous gates. We took several photos of the gates but my husband spoilt them all with silly poses, so sorry I am not including them.

Lois looks like a little Leprechaun in this! She took the 2 pics above which I think are rather good.

Afterwards we went to 'Johnny Foxes Pub', supposed to be the highest pub in Ireland. It really is geared for the American tourist and was a little O.T.T. in it's Irishness, we were tempted to run away before ordering but had been told on good authority that it was renowned for it's Seafood, so we stayed and it really was very good.

I adore my honeysuckle just outside the kitchen door, it smells so sweet and the standard rose is scented too and there is lavender underneath.

Now I am no Capability Brown and neither is ny husband, we aren't really gardeners at all, but we are triers, and we enjoy trying! I kind of view the garden as another room and so colour plays an important role, and I like the cottage garden style. Thats about as far as the knowledge extends, it's a case of the blind leading the blind, but it's fun, and we do get enormous stisfaction out of seeing things grow.

The Passion flower is new and so I don't expect it will do a lot this year, but hopefully next, if it doesn't get blown to bits!

Crabapples are early this year, I think it's jelly making time!

The first raspberry...yum!

A little cottage garden posy.

Hope you all are having a lovely summer. I hate to tell you this, but Autumn is coming, whilst out walking today I saw Hawthorn and Blackberries. I love Autumn, though, not at the start when the weather is still warmish and you don't know what to wear, but when there is that nip in the air and you have to get your tweed and woollies out of the closet,and you can wear boots . I love the freshness in the air, and I always get the feeling that I can acomplish great things, there is an energy about Autumn. All the seasons are wonderful in their own way and I would miss them if I went to live in a milder climate. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, love Linda x

Old Pine....New Life!

2011-08-09T03:36:00.000-07:00

Good day to you my bloggy friends! Sorry for my absence, it is a very busy time for me at the moment. I thought you may like to see something that I have been working on. I painted some old and new pine for a client, to give her Living/Dining Room a more cohesive look. You will need to have a little bit of vision as the photographs are not the best and the client has yet to decorate her walls and replace the carpet.

I used Farrow and Balls Skimming Stone on most of the furniture, the inside of the bookcase and corner cupboard and the chairs were painted with Elephant's Breath, a subtle shade deeper to add some contrast, without adding more colour. The client is papering her walls with a lovely linen look plain paper in a neutral colour, carpeting the floor in a donkey coloured plain carpet, and painting all the woodwork in Farrow and Balls All White eggshell. It is a little frustrating that I don't get to see the finished room, but I do have to return later to paint something else, so perhaps I will get a little snapshot then.

Painting old furniture is my favourite thing to paint. Because it has had a life and is cracked, dented and scored, it really suits being painted and then having an antique wash put on it to show up it's character lines. See what you think.......

Also as promised, some more photos from our Holiday in County Wicklow. Enniskerry is a really pretty village, full of the most gorgeous houses. The second one is actually a B&B! The last one, I just love so much, I want to replicate the Wisteria idea on the side of my own house.

And finally a little bit of colour from my own garden..........................................................................

I have never brought Geraniums into the house before, but I certainly will now, they last for a really long time and the Hot Pink colour of these I just adore. Wishing you all a very happy week, with love Linda x.

Travel...'broadens the mind'.

2011-07-31T13:35:00.000-07:00

The Walled Garden at Powerscourt, Wicklow.

Even if you travel in your own country! I am so glad we stayed in Ireland this year, if the weather had been awful I may have thought differently! It was so good to see Ireland through the eyes of a tourist, to take in its wild, romantic beauty and really appreciate it. Sometimes I get quite down on my own country, because it's not very sophisticated, because we don't seem to appreciate our history and heritage, and seem to favour new fangled and modern instead of old and worn. ( I am speaking of Northern Ireland here.) With my line of work, painting furniture and interiors, it is frustrating because it is really hard to find vintage and antique items here, and when you do they are generally heavy victorian and dark wood, not the kind of look I want! General cost of living is quite expensive here, everything seems to be brought in and so is more expensive than England. We have very little in the way of Farmers Markets, even though we have plenty of farmers. So, you can imagine, when I see the lovely Antique Fairs, Vintage Markets, Farmers Markets, Brocantes etc. on your lovely blogs, I jump up and down and cry with frustration. However, when I travel to Southern Ireland and see places like Avoca, with their wonderful cafes and deli's thriving, Artisan Bakers, French Vans selling local fruit, it gives me hope and I think yes, we will have these things in Nortern Ireland! I need to remember too, that it wasn't that long ago, when we had bombs going off, shootings, we were a country at war, and it takes time to recover from these things. I have forgotten what Belfast city centre used to be like, when no-one went out at night. There were no 'Cocktail Bars' and fancy Hotels, coffee houses and designer shops. We were really starved of culture and beauty! Things really have changed for the better when I think of it. My mind has been broadened, I have come to appreciate my country more and I am glad of it. So here are a few of our holiday snaps, to let you see how beautiful it is!

A wonderful Georgian door in Bray.

A pretty row of houses, in the seaside town of Bray.

I would so love one of these Citroen vans.

Entrance to Avoca shop, restaurant, deli and garden centre at Kilmacanagoue.

The photos above where taken at Avoca.

Down at the farm at Kilcoole.

I don't want to bore you with too many photos, so I will keep the one's from Powerscourt and Eniskerry for another day. Have a wonderful week. Thankyou so much to my new followers, welcome aboard! Love Linda x