in a nutshell...

Some things from the weekend...

a run

some crafting



a little sunshine



and some lazing



a bbq



and a homemade plum frangipane tart



recipe to follow



I would have posted this yesterday but we had a power cut yesterday evening for about 3 hours just as I was thinking of going online - grrrr! :)

polaroid love...

Following on from my last post,I forgot to say that when I was in Belgium we went to a flea market, which was fantastic.



I managed to pick up a sonar 5000 polaroid camera for 7 Euros which I was very happy about. It's pretty well loved, (for that read scratched lol!) and I don't actually know if the camera works and finding sx 70 film is proving a little tricky, as they stopped making it in 2006. I have found one place where I can get a film for £18.50 for 8 exposures - eek! I have to say I was actually considering this as a treat but the postage is £14 - yikes and it's only coming from Europe - so £32.50 for 8 exposures and I don't even know if my camera works - mmmm - I'm still pondering...

Still, there is hope in the form of the Impossible Project. A group of former workers are on a quest to produce film that can be used in vintage polaroids. They have exactly a year which ends at the end of 2009 and have signed a lease on the old polaroid factory for 10 years. The problem is that some of the components used in the film are no longer available so they are seeking experts with information The site gives a contdown and at this point in time there are 13,240,759 seconds to go...

So until then, this is the next best thing for now. I found this site called Poladroid which you can download and use to transform your photos into a polaroid style. It's cute and fun for playing around and best of all it's free!





Enjoy your weekend!

life on film...

Having been inspired by the fact that the lovely Catherine and also Martina have recently bought cameras to shoot film, before I went to Belgium I was checking out Etsy and ebay to see if I could pick up something to play with. We do have an Olympus camera but it's in need of repair and hasn't been used for years.

Then I remembered that M has a camera that belonged to his father, an Agfa Silette L.


- Yay, I'd totally forgotten about this and I think it's in working order, so now I'm back I've bought some film and need to start playing!!



Not sure how I'm going to reign myself in as I'm used to taking 100's of photos not just 36! Let the love begin...

hello again...

So here I am, back from the land of chocolates. We had a great time, though it passed too quickly. In truth I didn't indulge too much, though it would have been so easy as there are so many yummy looking things to eat!


I did actually eat this cake!


After being in Belgium I feel inspired to start baking delicious looking cakes...



The weather was gorgeous, the hotel fantastic and we managed to do some touristy things like eating Belgium waffles and visiting the Grand Place. So all in all a lovely trip!

So here I am back home again and before I forget, I said I would pick a comment from this post to do a little giveaway of the Zine from Sprouthead and some other bits and pieces. So without further ado the name I picked, (using a very scientific method of giving you all a number!) was number 8 which is the lovely Catherine. {Catherine if you email me your address I'll make sure a little package wings its way to you...}

fifty posts and some freebies...

Yay! today is my 50th post - so I decided to cheer you up with some freebies of sorts. Thanks to Ali from Domesticali I got this cute little box through the post from Graze full of yummy goodies to, well... graze on, free of charge, (yep you heard me correct...free of charge Woo Hoo!. The bad part is that you have to be in UK to qualify, {sorry all})



I want to share the foodie love and so if you use this code 8G1N2T6 and go to graze.com then you too can get a free box of nibbles through the post and there's not even any postage! My box came with chilli almonds, black pepper cashews, a dried fruit mix called apple strudel, (which was to die for - who knew dried fruit was this delicious) and 'rock the casbah' - a nut, seed a fruit mix -yum! There are about 130 choices of nibbles and you can either choose your own or pick a nutrition pack, (mine was a post workout pack). Also if any of you do take up this offer then the kind peeps at Graze give me a discount off my next box! (double yum!)

My other freebie is really thanks to the postal service. I ordered this lovely little zine from Sprouthead from Etsy and thanks to a postal hitch, she was worried I wouldn't receive it, so sent another out.

{Such lovely drawings and the poem is sweet}

She very generously said that if both turned up I could keep them. Amazingly they did both turn up and so I emailed and said that as they were so lovely I thought someone else should benefit from her work and that I would do a giveaway on my blog. So...leave a comment, no matter how random on this post and I'll pick a name on Friday (31st) and send you the zine, (I'll also put in some other random goodies). Enjoy your weekend - I am probably sampling Belgiums finest chocolates at the moment! ;)

celebrations and packing...

Today is M's Birthday and so we are spending the day partly doing lovely things and partly rushing around like mad people, as we are off to Belgium tomorrow to have a few days enjoying a city break, (also combined with helping a relative move from Belgium to London - we are helping to bring some boxes back).




As we are super busy today we will be continuing the birthday fun over the next few days - after all as the land of chocolate beckons, it would be rude not to partake don't you think?!

I'll be away until about Friday next week but have {fingers crossed} scheduled a post for Saturday which will have a give away of sorts! I'll see you when I get back as I don't think I'll have time to go online, as I'll be too busy sampling the chocolates! ;)

pata, homemade sunshine and a run...

Well, for a first attempt at homemade pasta over the weekend, (see here)it wasn't the worst in the world but I think it may need a little refining! The pasta was just a bit too thick but still, it tasted ok with my homemade pesto! (Now I understand why people have pasta machines lol, instead of just rolling it out!)



On the plus side, although it's been raining and grey today,(almost like a winters day) I cheered myself up with some homemade sunshine in the form of granola and juicy English strawberries - yum!



Now I'm about to go for a run in the mist and drizzle, as over the weekend I entered a 10k run which is on the 6th September - yikes! Enjoy your evening!

I've been tagged!

Thanks to the lovely Hanna from Craftykin who tagged me, so here goes...

What is your current obsession?
mmm I think that would be wanting to try and shoot some film instead of digital just to have a play around really...

What are you wearing today?
Um a pair of black linen trousers a blue top and my converse.

What's for dinner?
Ha! Well, it's supposed to be fresh pasta,with pesto,(both homemade)but this will be my first time making fresh pasta so let's just wait and see. On the plus side I've just made the pesto, so worse case scenorio we're having it with dried pasta!



What would you eat for your last meal?
Wow, this is difficult, I think if it really was my last meal then I'd want to be somewhere lovely like the beach, eating hot salty fish and chips.



What's the last thing you bought?
A banjo case for M's birthday

What are you listening to right now?
Right now? As in this second? Nothing actually but I'm totally loving the sound of Keren Ann at the moment

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
If I've only got an hour then probably to see the Grand canyon - it looks so amazing when I've seen it in films - I can't get over how amazing and huge it looks!

What do you love most about where you currently live?
I live in a rural area, so just the fact that I'm surrounded by hills and greenery and it's so lovely to get out and about in nature - very relaxing.



What is your favorite colour?
Mmmm I think I would have to say blue, though this changes all the time I do have a soft spot for blues.



What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
Probably the little black dress that I got married in, it was a pretty laid back affair!

Describe your personal style?
Pretty relaxed, usually with converse or flip flops! Oh and I love vintage clothing as well.

What were you doing ten years ago?
Living at the seaside and training to be a homeopath. I did work as a self employed homeopath for a while but couldn't get enough business as I live out in the sticks. I still use it though for friends and family.

If you had £100 now, what would you spend it on?
As I've just recently got into running, I think the Garmin Forerunner looks pretty neat. It measures your pace, distance and heart rate and you upload it to your computer to see pretty graphs on what's going on when you're running!


What are you going to do after this?
Maybe potter around the garden if the rain holds off.



What are your favourite films?
I love films that are a little quirky or inspiring, I loved Juno, Son of Rambow, Marie Antoinette for the look, oh and I've recently watched Man on Wire which was totally 100% amazing.

What inspires you?
Wow, so many things - nature, patterns, creativity in all forms, the little things that other people don't always notice.



Your favourite books?
So many I'm not sure how to choose. I loved Audrey Niffeneggers - The Time Traveler's Wife, I love Miranda July's collection of short stories - No One Belongs Here More Than You for their quirky charm. I have a soft spot for Benedicta Leigh - Unlock, And Remind Me Of The Sea - for the lovely title and the fact that it was the book I was reading when I met M. So many others, I could go on all day...



Do you collect anything?
Um no!

What makes you follow a blog?
Lovely photography and a sense of somethng inspiring or creative.

What was the most enjoyable thing you did today?
Well it's only just after lunch so there's plenty of the day left! Maybe chilling out this morning reading the Sunday papers.

What is your favourite smell?
I love the smell of fresh oranges, sweet peas, new books, cut grass, oh and I love the smell of fresh laundry...



What is on the top of your to do list?
So many things! Sort out my photographs is pretty much at the top, as I need to get some printed.


Tell me a random fact about yourself.
I don't own a TV and haven't had one for the last 8 years, ever since we moved to a rural area. Firstly because we were decorating and the reception around here is rubbish and then we realised we'd gone nearly 4 months without a tv and hadn't missed it. We always said we'd go out and buy one as soon as we missed it and here we are 8 years later!

The rules:
1. Respond and rework; answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your invention, add one more question of your own.
2. Tag eight other people.

So anyone who would like to play...consider yourself tagged!

weeds and wonders...

Since my last blog offering things have been pretty busy... The weather has been crazy, one minute lovely and hot, the next thundery showers and so everything in the garden has been growing like crazy including the weeds! Actually I have a bit of a soft spot for weeding as I find it quite therapeutic, (a bit like vacuuming which is my favourite household chore lol!) and some weeds just look really lovely!



I also did my 5k run on Sunday for Cancer Research and amazingly it didn't rain, though it would have been quite welcome at one point! The funny thing is I've discovered that I really enjoy running, (not that I'm super fast)- just being outdoors and running is a great way to just be in the moment, without a thousand things filling your head.

I also watched this incredible documentary called man on wire. Really - you need to go check out the trailer, it was amazing, breath taking, poignant and awe inspiring and is about a young frenchman who in 1974 planned to do a high wire walk between the Twin Towers. Wow...

simple things that make the heart sing...

Yay! Once again the lovely christina of Soul Aperture is hosting a simple things day today, go and take a peek! Here are mine...



* Walking in the garden after the rain when everything is still
* Ordinary love - you know the day to day stuff rather than grand gestures
* Sitting somewhere comfy with my embroidery and just going with the flow...
* Baking - especially making cupcakes at the moment! (coconut ones - yum!)
* The fairy lights around my bed which shine like stars in the night
* Dreams of flying when you can float and swoop to your hearts content!
* The view at dusk from my sitting room window with my clematis silhouette
* Bubbles! Hands up who doesn't smile when they see them!
* The moment you go through the sand dunes and finally see the sea - yipeee!

what are yours?...

a little bit of madness and baking...

For the past week here in the UK we've been lucky enough to have some really nice weather, the flipside of this has meant I haven't spent much time in front of the computer and so haven't been blogging - ooops! It couldn't last though and now we have humid and showery weather - so I'm back again!

One thing which has been driving me mad this week, is trying to get to grips with colour profiles - (* insert loud scream here*) as I've been doing some tester photo prints, (from a lab) to put in my Etsy shop and they're not turning out the same as what I can see on my screen, so I'm having to keep tweaking. I know the answer is to have my monitor profiled but the idea of spending money on software to do this when I keep reading conflicting reports about how good this is, is driving me nuts! Truthfully my brain is fried with all this knowledge - who knew that I would become so geeky as to want to try and understand this stuff!



Never mind, I'm sure it will all become clear, (at some point!) and I guess I'll just have to keep tweaking! After filling my brain with monitor profiles etc etc... I managed to soothe my frazzled brain with some baking - cupcakes to be precise. It's just as well I'm doing more running these days, as I have a thing for cupcakes at the moment!



Oh and bread also. Delicious bread that smells so comforting...



For those who asked about a recipe - here it is in a nutshell - it really is so easy.
Firstly, let me say I have no problem with doing things the easy way if it tastes good, which is why I use dried yeast as it's so quick, (as only one kneading and proving is required). Makes one large loaf.

500g / 1lb 2oz strong bread flour (I use half white, half wholemeal)
25g/1 oz butter (I never weigh this, I just guess and scoop some with a teaspoon)
1 and 1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 and a half teaspoons fast action yeast or 7 g sachet (check on the yeast you are using, you may have to adjust the flour amount a little)
300ml/ 10 fl oz warm water

I use a food processor with a dough hook and put the flour, sugar, salt and butter in and whiz for a few seconds, (if you are doing this by hand you rub in butter to the flour then add salt and sugar) then add the yeast (and whiz) then add *** the water until it comes together into a dough, ( about 4 mins in the machine) and voila!

***Usually at this point I add extras such as pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds - whatever I have really, in whatever quantity - usually a handful of each but this means you need to increase the water so you can mix it into a dough.

I then take it out and knead it by hand for a couple of minutes and then pop it into a greased tin, shake a little flour over the top, cover it with a tea towel and leave it to double in size.

Once this is ready I pop it into a pre heated oven, (removing the tea towel!) at 230c (450 F, gas mark 8) for roughly 30-35 mins. The loaf should sound hollow when tapped underneath. Remove from tin, (resisting urge to gobble up) and leave to cool.

As I said, so super easy - it usually takes me about 15 mins from the start point, (ie weighing out) to the point when it is in the tin ready to be doubled in size. Sometimes I ring the changes with herbs, sundried tomatoes, seeds etc - just remember that if you add anything to the basic recipe you may need more water.
Result yum! - fresh baked bread and it smells so delicious when it's baking. Eat and enjoy :)

sending you a cupcake!

Happy friday! As you can see cupcakes were finally made! I used this recipe from Dan Lepard which worked out pretty easy. (I think I may have a cupcake obsession - so it's just as well I'm doing more exercise these days! ;)



I am sending a virtual cupcake to you all, but especially to those who asked about the bread recipe I use - as it sounded so delicious. Well, a confession - I think I may have accidently 'bigged up' the sound of my bread by not explaining it was just a straightforward pumpkin SEED and sunflower SEED bread. I think not putting the word seed in, meant people thought there was actual pumpkin in there, (sadly not the case!). If anyone does want my, (not very interesting but easy ;) ) recipe, let me know and I'll post it! Enjoy the weekend!

sadly no cupcakes...

I had planned on making cupcakes this weekend after being smitten looking at all the gorgeous cupcake photos there are, floating around the net, but what can I say? It just didn't happen! Instead there was bread...



Pumpkin and sunflower to be precise, and no sooner was it made than it became part of a scratch lunch with cheese and olives and tomatoes, (there was also avocado but it turned out not to be ripe enough - grrr - I hate that when it happens!)



There was also gardening, well weeding really, as the garden has started to have a mind of it's own with all the damp and warm weather. The garden also gave me the first swet peas of the summer. I wish you could smell how fragrant they are.



As you can see my approach to flower arranging is a little informal, with a few heads of grasses and even a seed head from my parsley plants to add a little something. I love, love, adding random bits of the garden to my flowers and making something unexpected pretty.
(Also I think it's nice for the rest of my garden to have a chance to take centre stage and not just the flowers lol!)



Hope your weekend was lovely whatever you got up to!

starting to enjoy...

So far this week I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself as since we last spoke, I've been out running two more times and my legs are getting, (slightly) more used to it, even if my lungs are not! It's a little strange but I'm starting to enjoy myself and think maybe I could grow to like this running lark!



I took this on the drive back home after my run, (I was the passenger!) it reminded me of a picture you would find in a story book...

This weekend I have nothing organised but plan to include bread baking, some crafty fun, another run, some decluttering and making cupcakes in there somewhere...I guess we'll see what happens! Have a lovely weekend!

running, walking and standing still...

It was one of those funny weekends where you feel as if you've been busy but haven't actually done anything!

Some things from this weekend...
A nearly, (I was about 300m short but didn't know it!) 5 k run in these lovely surroundings, (which are about 20mins drive from where I live)


{these were taken last year, even I'm not crazy enough to take my camera on a run!}



I'm doing the Race for Life in 4 weeks time for Cancer Research so am needing to do a little training. I have to say I am not a natural runner by any stretch of the imagination but it wasn't too bad on Saturday. (When I say not bad, I mean I was still able to speak afterwards even if I did look in need of medical attention - the problem with being a redhead is that I tend to go very red in the face when I exercise!)

On Sunday the weather couldn't make up its mind, one moment sunny, the next full on rain but still Sparky needed to be walked...(it got a whole lot wetter after I took this...)





I also managed to catch a little time to make granola,
listen to this - (how I love her voice, so mellow and relaxing) and I'm
still reading this book...Hope you had a good one!

more simply happy...

I had so much fun participating in the 'simple things' post over at Soul Aperture that I can't stop!



Funnily enough, today Christina also has a photo of a peony on show. Today I am simply happy that the peonies that I bought yesterday are just beginning to open - such simple beauty that I could just spend so long looking at their intricate petals



I could have sat playing with the camera all evening looking at their loveliness, if it wasn't for the small matter of needing to get other things done this evening - like eating! ;)

The other bit of news, is that I'm finally getting my Etsy shop on track - (look I even managed to add a widget to my sidebar - woo hoo!) maybe you'll pop over there and take a peek, even if it's just to give me a little feedback... :)

simple happiness...

Today the lovely Christina from Soul Aperture is hosting a 'simple things that make you happy day' today June the 10th, for no other reason than, well, just because... :) Here are my thoughts...




I had to reign myself in, as there as so many simple things which make me happy!

* things that are handmade, especially made with care and love
* fresh flowers, (especially in jam jars)
* books in any form but especially library books because they're free! (yippeee!)
* fresh bed linen and lie ins! (something so nice about a bed freshly made)
* home made granola, so tasty and just the thing to start the day
* string - because it's lovely to look at, (who doesn't love string?!)
* lovely, lovely light, (oh how I love the light!)
* the scent of washing drying outside
* seedheads - as much as I love the fresh flowers, there's something so beautiful about what comes next...

other things...*fairy lights*the magic of seedlings*fireworks*being brought tea in bed*nature in all forms*sunlight through leaves*the scent of oranges*daisy chains*eating outside*fresh bread*sunshine*blackbird song*taking photos*tattoos*wooden floors*art galleries*the seaside*plain paper journals...and the list goes on and on...what makes you happy?

a little bit of happiness and a winner!

Hello and happy Monday! It's been a busy week and sadly the sun has stopped shining but still things could be worse!


If you're interested in a little happiness at the beginning of the week, why not head over to Soul Aperture a lovely blog that I've come across recently, belonging to the lovely Christina. Tomorrow for no reason at all, (10th June) she wants us to celebrate the things that make us happy and post them on our blogs. I know I'm in, are you?
Talking of being happy remember this post when I promised i would do a giveaway if you left me a comment. In the interest of fairness if you left more than one comment, you still only went into the draw once, (lol! but I admire your trying!) also, even though I myself left a comment, I didn't enter my own name, (though I was tempted ;)


I was going to get Sparky to draw out a name but A. as you can see, he wasn't that interested and B. his paws are a bit too furry so in the end I got M to do it. I was going to do the whole random number generator thing but I prefer the low key version myself! Drumroll please...and the winner is Hanna - yay!


So Hanna if you email me your address, I'll send you a little gift in the next week!
Oh...and an update on my Etsy shop, I've only got one thing in there at the moment, (lol!) as it has taken me so long to sort the pics of the pouches as Etsy keeps desaturating my photos when I upload -grrr so I'm trying to get a handle on that. I should finish uploading the rest of my pouches tomorrow! Here's a little sneak peek of my first item! In there as we speak!

one down...

The weather was so fantastic and sunny this past weekend that all I wanted to do was lie on the grass and read and pretend that I was on my holidays. Sadly I was super busy on Saturday helping relatives move house so I had to wait until Sunday.


On Sunday the sky was sooo blue and the sun so hot that I could have been somewhere exotic, instead of in my back garden. All I did was read and laze and read and laze...and eat strawberries and cream and read a bit more.



...while explaining to Sparky that really, it was too hot to go on another dog walk and if he could read, he would understand why it wasn't wrong to be reading the same books as my 13year old niece.

So that's the first book finished and I'm already onto the second...