Seeds and Stitches

So, life.

2012-01-28T11:20:00.000Z

A 50th birthday and my Grandad's funeral in one weekend; leaving me reeling with mixed emotions. Flying high in the whoosh of a ceilidh, hysterically laughing, blinking away tears during honest, heart wrenching speeches. Feeling full of love for my lovely auntie.

My auntie; the Birthday girl. Rocking 50.

Me, ceilidhing, unimpressed, apparently!

Then the funeral. Hearing the stories of my Pompa's life; his determination to woo my nanna, and build his business from scratch, in having five children when they really couldn't afford it (!) How he wove music into the very fabric of my family. Old ladies with purple hair, long hugs, old wrinkly hands squeezing mine. Hearing his best friend's respect for him and his heart- breaking grief. Story after story, open mic style, of his life from so many people that loved him.

Leaving me feeling sad and happy and incredibly grateful all at once.

A couple of my Grandad's favourite pieces of music, played at his funeral. Pretty beautiful.

Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves from Giuseppe Verdi's "Nabucco."

Sung by the Westminster Choir directed by John Finlay with the NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini. Recorded for January 31, 1943 NBC Radio broadcast.

1950 recording of The Pearl Fishers Duet sung by Jussi Björling and Robert Merrill. Conducted by Renato Cellini leading the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra.

Lionheart Magazine

2012-01-17T22:09:00.000Z

I've been a little tardy with this post, but before Christmas my copy of Lionheart, the brain child of Hels Martin, arrived on my doorstep. I contributed a couple of pieces back in the summer, one is a quilt tutorial and one is piece on cake bunting.

The theme of the first issue is bravery, and its full of inspirational writing, illustrations and images. One of my favourite features is a piece on Freya Hardy called '7 steps to utter fearlessness' which lists 7 things which really scare her and the ways she beat those challenges. I also really like Fritha's piece on being pregnant, and Jessica's piece about leaving Norway (I always love Jessica's writing)

So, of course I'm going to say the magazine is wonderful; i'm in it. ahem. You'll just have to buy yourself a copy to see if I'm right...

P.s apologies for the short blogging absence, my Grandad died last week so I've been having a bit of unplanned down time from the internet. Normal service will resume soon.

Merry and Bright: Home made Christmas

2012-01-10T16:10:00.000Z

December bustled by in a flurry of crafting, baking and Christmas cooking. Evenings were spent making batches of biscotti, stamping labels, crocheting and making big batches of mincemeat. Instead of rushing our cooking, as we usually do, we spent time over it; planning meals, testing recipe's, taking time to enjoy the process, to allow flavours to properly mingle, to taste as we go (lots), to experiment. Weekends were spent holed up in our flat with the sewing machine a-whirring and the oven a-pinging and lots of plan hatching over countless cups of tea. Some of the results of our crafting and baking below...

Corsages, which I learnt to make at a Craft class at Liberty for a Grazia article

Turban headbands (I combined a few different tutorials to make these, I can show you how if you like)

Friendship bracelets, thanks to this very useful tutorial

Button Necklace using this Martha tutorial

Leather iPhone cases made by my mister thanks to this Instructables tutorial .Made from the leather of a favourite pair of boots that salvaged before I had to throw them away! They were also stamped with the recipients names too, using the letters from my type writer.

Home made mince Pies

Home made chocolates (recipe coming up)

Bags of biscotti

A hamper we gave to Ray and Phil to thank them for hosting Christmas (containing home made breadsticks, cinder toffee, biscotti, chocolates, and real hot chocolate etc)

A kitchen garland- part of the hamper

And our wrapping. This year I went with a 'Merry and Bright' theme. I used recycled tissue paper potato stamped with colourful tree shapes. I then used washi tape and ribbon to prettify the packages, and hand stamped some matching tags. I spent far too long on my wrapping but I happen to find these things thoroughly enjoyable, much to my families bemusement!

Busy? definitely, but very satisfying, and most importantly budget friendly too (big tick). Between us, my mister and I can be pretty handy which I am very grateful for. Presents were made using items I already had in the house (the benefits of being a hoarder) which was great for the pennies, and we love making stuff so really enjoyed it too. I find the more I bake, cook and craft the more confident in my skills I become and the more I am likely to experiment. My mister always says that creativity is like a muscle; the more you use it the stronger it becomes. So true.

Ok, that's it with the Christmas posts now! Hello 2012...

P.S This song was my Christmas crafting theme tune. "Pretty paper, pretty ribbons of blue, pretty pencils to write I love you..." Roy Orbison is a legend, no?!

Recipe's: Home made cleaning supplies

2012-01-05T13:28:00.000Z

My kit*

One of the things we manged to tick off our list during those inbetweeny days after Christmas and before New Year was to make up large batches of our cleaning supplies. We've been making our own for a couple of years now and couldn't be happier with the results. We save a lot (seriously loads) of money, we eliminate harmful chemicals in our home, we're sure of what exactly we're sloshing around, and we get to pretend we're scientists mixing up potions.... ahem.

I've honed my recipe's over the last couple of years and here's a few of my current favourites.

Washing powder
This is my recipe, which began with Soule Mama's but has been refined for my hard water, budget and scent preference.
2 1/2 bars of pure olive oil soap (much cheaper than Dr Bronners)
1 1/4 cups borax
1 1/4 cups washing soda
2 1/4 cups of bicarbonate of soda
30 drops of lemon essential oil which has antibacterial properties and smells lovely (just drop it on the surface of the powder and mix it in) I've also used tea tree, peppermint and grapefruit oil with great results.

We add a small capful (see image above) which is about a table spoon,to each wash. This will last ages- approx 30 washes.

Fabric conditioner
Vinegar with 30 drops of lemon oil.

I add a small capful (see image above) to each wash. This will also last ages approx 15-20 washes.

Dishwasher rinse aid
Vinegar with 30 drops of lemon oil
(we haven't yet cracked a dishwasher powder recipe so for now we use Ecover tablets)

Floor cleaner concentrate
I put the following In a 1 litre bottle:
1/2 cup borax
2 cups vinegar
1/2 cup of Dr Bronners liquid castille soap (I'm currently looking for a cheaper liquid castille soap, do you know of one?)
Essential oil of choice
Then I top it up with warm water to help it dissolve. A kebab skewer can be useful to mix it if the powder has settled to the bottom. I glug approx half a cup in the bottom of a bucket then fill with very hot water.

Surface spray:
1/2 a cup water
1/2 cup Vodka (bought as cheaply as possible from the local off-license)
1/4 cup Vinegar
1/4 cup Dr Bronners liquid soap
15ish drops Teatree oil (has antiseptic qualities)

I buy all of my home made cleaning supplies from the wonderful Summer Naturals web shop, which sells bulk quantities of essential oil, vinegar, borax, bicarb and lots more besides, at very reasonable prices.

For the rest, we use BioD toilet cleaner which is reassuringly nostril stinging (with natural chemicals) Wheelers beeswax furniture spray, and Earth Friendly cream cleaner. By the way I receive no sponsorship or any other incentive for recommending these products! One day we'll see if we can make our own versions of these but for now we really love these products and have them in bulk (Oh how I love bulk buying...)

If you've been thinking about making your own but haven't yet, I strongly encourage you to give it a try (a good new years resolution?), and if you already do I'd love to hear your experiences below; what are your favourite recipe's? Have you cracked a good dishwasher powder? Know of a cheaper liquid castille soaps? Any disasters?!

*My kit, clockwise from left: A range of essential oils, Dr Bronners liquid castille soap, a grater for the soap bars, cheap vodka (a great antiseptic for surface sprays), Borax in a jar as it goes hard otherwise, White vinegar, Soda crystals, Bicarbonate of soda in a jar, recycled Ecover containers for our washing powder and fabric conditioner, a glass bottle for our floor cleaner, a spray bottle for our surface cleaner, a large bowl for mixing powders, a spoon, a plastic funnel, bars of olive oil soap, cup measures and a steel kebab skewer (for helping to get powder lumps through the funnel, and for stirring up powders that have settled at the bottom of their jars!)

On New Years Dieting...

2012-01-04T13:02:00.003Z

Source: championdontstop.com via Hannah Seeds and Stitches on Pinterest

I've seen it splashed across most of January's magazines, talk shows and websites, I've overheard it on the train, between colleagues at work, and amongst friends. To make a real effort to get slim, to ditch the flab, drop the pounds, get a body like so and so, to 'sort it out' so to speak. I hate the term 'diet' because it so often comes with self- hatred, and at its core its about conforming to unrealistic celebrity beauty standards set by the diet and cosmetics industry. In fact, most women hanker after a body shape that is clinically underweight. My take on it? Aim to eat healthily, to eat intuitively and have more energy, by all means, but lets give the self hatred a rest.

I recently discovered the blog of Lisa Lynch, who has Cancer for the second time, this time incurable. A recent post of hers had me ranting to my friends and mister in agreement. She begins by saying that despite her prognosis, she has no regrets so far, apart from one;

"There is something, however, that I have, very recently, felt shamefacedly defeated into having to class as a regret; something that, to anyone not staring down the barrel of the most bullshitty of Bullshit prognoses, might seem pretty insignificant. Petty, even. But – having not just admitted to it ... but found myself noisily sobbing at the confession – let me assure you that it’s far from trivial. In fact, even as I write about this, I’m getting progressively more angry with myself. Furious, in fact, at all the time – all the precious, precious time – that I’ve squandered worrying myself into a frenzy about what I look like. Because now – in a place where, coof, am I fast realising what’s important – nothing seems like more of a criminal misuse of a life than the minutes, hours, days, weeks, months (dare I say even years?) spent fretting about my weight, my skin, the size of my arse, the circumference of my thighs, the thickness of my ankles, the shape of my belly button, the shovel-like span of my hands, the inward slant of my left knee, the… well, you get the picture. Doubtless because, in your own way, you’ve probably done it too...What a fucking drag. It’s shameful, really: if you add it all up, I’d be willing to bet my flat that I’ve spent more minutes worrying about what the outside of my body looks like than worrying about the preposterously vile things that havebeen happening within it. And what a stupendously idiotic waste of time."

Whoa. I know that at times I've been guilty of fretting about my body like this (although much less as I get older) and I know that most of my female friends and family members are guilty of it too. She goes on to talk about how important it is to not make food the enemy but to find joy in it, to revel in it, and appreciate the small things in life. Inspired. Read the full post here.

P.s I have one or two more Christmas posts coming up, including my home made presents, but I need to finish giving them out first!

*And the picture?! Apart from the fact that its brilliant, I'm not entirely sure why. Be proud of your body? or something?!

Boxing Day

2011-12-31T10:23:00.000Z

We wake late with full tummies but I still manage porridge topped with chunks of home made Christmas pudding, drizzled in cream, which is utterly divine. After lazing around in our pj's for most of the morning, we spend the rest of the afternoon walking around Faversham's glorious countryside. Over stiles and railway tracks, through hops and strawberry fields, along muddy paths and wide open fields, popping into old churches and pubs as we pass them. Clouds loom but thankfully do not break, instead releasing occasional shafts of dusky golden sunlight on to the Kentish countryside below.

My mister made a time lapse video to capture it, and added a sweeeet grade. Below are some stills from the video and the video itself.

Me, chilly

This Christmas was a good one. My mister and I wanted to remember its details as it will be the last one involving only adults; the last food centric, boozy, slobby Christmas, the last before babies. And we couldn't have asked for more. Yes, there were stresses and strains, as there always are with family gatherings, but this one just happened to be particularly full of comfort and joy and good stuff, and for that we are extremely grateful.

Christmas Day

2011-12-30T20:42:00.000Z

We awake too early, outside the sky is still inky black and the birds remained silent. We hear the others stirring, coffee is ground and brewed; its bitter nutty fragrance reaching our nostrils and calling us downstairs. Platters of lemony smoked salmon and creamy scrambled eggs are laid on the table. We drink ice cold furiously fizzing Prosecco in elegant glasses and toast Christmas in our pyjama's.

We pass presents around, gasp, laugh, cringe, smile. Christmas outfits are proudly shown off and the champers flows.

Then; Arbroath smokey fish cakes to start, followed by a divine three bird roast with sweet braised fennel, crunchy roast potatoes and sprouts with pancetta and chestnuts. We sit, chins propped, and talk of past and present plans. We play a surprisingly competitive game of Extreme Uno, toast a flaming pudding, then heave ourselves onto the sofa's to watch Dr Who. Perfecto.

The presents under the tree

The chef

A very busy Kitchen

Rays cranberry relish

Arbroath Smokey Fish cakes- gorgeous.

The birds! Duck, Goose and Turkey. So so good.

Christmas dress!

Sprouts with pancetta and chestnuts

Braised Fennel

And a gratuitous cheesy Christmas day bump photo...

Christmas Eve

2011-12-28T14:24:00.000Z

Just a short luggage-laden train journey to Ray and Phil's house for Christmas this year. Five days of long walks, long talks and exceedingly good food awaited us.

On Christmas eve we stock up on Christmas essentials at Faversham's farmers markets before heading home for a fresh Crab feast. Newspaper covers the table, candles are lit and champagne is supped, as we learn messily how to eat fresh crab. We drink wine (just a wee bit for me) and sit talking at the table for hours. Christmas records play in the background and the scent of the clove studded oranges wafts around the room. We go to bed with very happy tummy's.

Ray's Christmas decorations are amazing, aren't they?

Christmas dinner party

2011-12-27T18:30:00.000Z

A recipe. Take 14 friends that have known each other for a decade; five courses including a whole belly of pork; a tea-urn of mulled wine, cocktails and a few rounds of silly games and cook in a two bedroom flat for 6 hours or so. You'll need utensils, serving dishes and crockery borrowed from elsewhere, masses of candles and all the tables and chairs you can muster. Serve warm, with Christmas seasoning. The result should be pretty perfect.

The benefit of planning in advance: I had time to make table runners using the last of my liberty fabric scraps and also a ribbon canopy.

A chance to use my vintage nut tray!

Soup in teacups- perfect starter size.

Mmmmm

Cheers!

Candy Cane Martini's...yep.

A few of our lovliest

A rather dapper gent

____________________________________________________________

The full menu- with recipe's

Canapes

Prosciutto, Goats cheese and Fig

Smoked Salmon and caper on pumpernickel

Goats cheese and home made tomato tapenade on sourdough toasts

Starter

Parsnip and Sherry Soup with Hazelenut Pesto,
served with Ciabatta toasts
(the pesto is divine and made this soup sing)

Main

Roasted Belly of Pork with Orange and Star Anise
(An amazing Ottolenghi recipe; so full of flavour)

Christmas spiced red cabbage (simple but oh so sexual)

Honey steamed carrot and swede batons

Roasted Courgette

Cocktail Course (ooh err)

Candy Cane Martini's
(This almost made me weep for joy)

Dessert

Christmas Creme Brulee's
(my own concoction; basically Delia with an added dollop
of home made mincemeat at the bottom of the Ramekin)

Cheese Course

Coffee and Petit Four course
with homemade chocolates and mince pies
(Delia all the way for the mince pies. I love her. Chocs recipe in a separate post)

____________________________________________________________

This is the fourth year we've hosted this Christmas dinner party. It has traditionally been quite cobbled together, a little last minute, a tad disorganised and quite messy but always thoroughly enjoyable. But this year, given the fact that it'll be our last before we're parents, we wanted it to be a much more relaxed and prepared soiree. Mince pies, soup, pesto and chocolates were made the week before, invitations sent out, recipe's tested in advance. Two courses became five, canapes were concocted, a cocktail course was introduced. Plates vaguely matched, they were warmed, food was plated in the kitchen and we both felt, well, relaxed. We are now evangelical about preparing in advance.

Most importantly it was so good to have our nearest and dearest sat round the same table, clinking glasses, gasping at funny stories, gossipping and catching up with everyone's news, telling stupid jokes, whooping, cackling, becoming misty eyed and happily slurring. Just... perfect.

A few more Christmas posts are coming up, there's lots to catch up on. I've been in a happy food coma for the last few days. I hope the season is treating you decently, cherries.

Ethical gift guide and Liberty Christmas craft class: Grazia

2011-12-23T17:54:00.000Z

Ho ho!

Just popping in to say that a couple of my pieces went up on the Grazia site today. The first is about a brilliant craft class I did in Liberty's private wood panelled craft room. (By the way a Spring craft class at Liberty would be am amazing last minute Christmas present- £30) The other piece contains my top 10 picks of the seasons best ethical gifts, from recycled rubber to sumptuous cashmere. I had fun pulling this together! Price tags range from £12 to £2800- I try to be inclusive?!

There have been some changes to the site at Grazia hence both are up a wee bit later than intended but better late than never eh?! I hope you like them.

Happy Christmas Eve Eve to you, lovely lovely readers. x

Porridge...

2011-12-20T21:56:00.000Z

Is there anything nicer on these bitter windy days? I'm already looking forward to my bowl in the morning.

Apple and cinnamon porridge, our favourite weekend breakfast

Whats your favourite porridge topping?

P.s I've been lost in a sea of fabric, buttons, jars, ribbon and thread in preparation for Christmas (as well as the day job and writing work- equal parts stressful and pleasurable), but I hope to blog about our crafting, cooking and Christmas dinner party soon. Just as soon as I've finished everything and laid on the floor for a while....

Christmas with the Beach Boys

2011-12-15T13:33:00.000Z

How awesome is that album cover? Imagine finding this in vinyl?!

We are currently obsessed with this 'Christmas from the Beach Boys' album (only £4 from the Amazon MP3 store!) There are some surprisingly beautiful barber shop melodies on there, as well as the more poppy uplifting stuff they're more well known for.

As much as I like the 'Magic FM' Christmas classics, they become irritating when every radio station and shop plays them incessantly, so I love finding slightly lesser known Christmas music. As well as our recent Beach Boys find, our Christmas music loves are the Sufjan Stevens Christmas Album (beautiful chilled music, everything you'd expect from Sufjan), A Charlie Brown Christmas (melodic, jazzy, cool) and Vintage Christmas Tree (hits from the 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's). All come highly recommended.

Found any new Christmas music this year? What are your all time favourites? Do share below!

Christmas round ours

2011-12-14T11:04:00.000Z

Christmas around our place this year looks a little like this: vintage doilies strung across pictures, washi tape Christmas trees, fabric scrap garlands, treasures from the garden, and the flickering shapes thrown on the wall from candle lanterns...

The tree is decorated in my patchwork Baubles, lengths of folkie ribbon and long garlands made of paper circles, cut out by hand (in bed no less, much to my misters disapproval...) None of the teacups you all seemed to love last year have made it on to the tree this year as I needed them all for a dinner party, but I may add them yet.

Lots (/most) of my Christmas presents still need making (rising panic!) so there will be lots more crafting round these parts yet.

Both my mister and I are swamped at the moment. Juggling my day job with my writing job, a pregnancy, a dinner party for 14 (it was perfect, more on that in another post) and everything else that Christmas entails has been amazingly rewarding but pretty challenging and I am really looking forward to having an honest-to-goodness proper break over Christmas.

But whilst it lasts, we're taking any opportunity we can to be indoors with the Christmas tree and candles, curtains shut against the raging weather outside, revelling in all things Christmas because it will all be over so quickly.

So, happy Christmas revelling to you!

Christmas crafting- it begins... Berry wreath

2011-12-06T12:23:00.001Z

To say I was excited about last weekend would be rather an understatement. Friday crawled by interminably slowly and as the clock struck five I darted out of the office like an overexcited school child. You see, over the weekend, Christmas came to our little flat. Old Christmas songs played, dust was blown off Christmas boxes, woollens worn, candles lit. As the intoxicating smell of the apples, cloves, sultana's and fig from our mince pies cooked in the oven (made from scratch. From scratch!) filled our home, we assembled the tree, lovingly adorned it with the fairy lights and set about making decorations. So twee it almost hurts, I know. But undeniably satisfying.

Each year our home is always indebted to our garden for providing many of our decorations. Decorating from the garden started with student poverty but has became a christmas staple. Evergreens, holly bushes, dark red leaves, branches and ivy all look beautiful adorning a mantelpiece or as the centre piece of a table. Inspired by an idea I spied in Which? Gardening, I decided this year to make more use of the winterberries that bloom at this time of year to make a garland.

Bundled up in coasts, gloves and scarves, breath misting before us, we braved the freezing weather to visit our garden and walk around our neighbourhood to collect berries of all shapes, colours and sizes. Once we tuned into them we realised how very many varieties there are. From large juicy orange berries, to tiny bunches of small red berries, rose hips, holly berries, black berries and green ones.

Once home and de-frosted (brrr), I then carefully threaded them on to a piece of thread to create my garland.

Ta daaa! I am rather taken with it, I have to say. So, don't forget your garden (or your neighbours gardens, ahem) when thinking about decorating this year. Happy Christmas crafting!

Are your decorations out? Feeling Christmassy? Or....meh?

P.S Thank you for your kind comments about my Guardian Article too. Still slightly pinching myself.

Home made patchwork baubles for The Guardian

2011-12-06T12:07:00.001Z

I have lots to blog from my Christmas crafty glut of a weekend, but for now I have just seen that a project I submitted to the Guardian a while ago is up on their site*. It is a tutorial on how to make home made patchwork baubles, one of my favourite Christmas craft projects. For more information and a full tutorial, click here, and do let me know what you think...

*I am of course super excited to be in one of my favourite publications (eeeee!), but also ever so slightly poop-my-pants nervous too...gulp. Anway, I hope you like it.

Feeling Space-y

2011-12-02T12:00:00.000Z

Currently loving all things Space. (An outer expression of my inner mental state perhaps?)

Christopher Kane Resort 2011, via Currently Misplaced

Constellations by Jordan Sondler via Where the Lovely Things Are.

Silk Scarf from Your Eyes Lie

La Lune Poster by Double Merrick, via The Beat That My Heart Skipped. My heart did indeed skip a beat when I saw this.

Star Projector, found via Cup of Jo.

How amazing would this be in a babies room?

Update: my mister reminded me that he actually sent this to me a while back, as an idea for the babies room, sweet eh? But I totally forgot. My bad.

Happy Friday cherries! Any nice weekend plans? Christmas is coming to house Seeds and Stitches this weekend, and I am planning on making mince pies from scratch *salivates*. We'll also be preparing for our Christmas dinner party the following weekend (14 people, gulp...), decorating the tree and generally indulging in all things OTT Christmas. Bring it.

Recently

2011-11-29T14:18:00.001Z

Autumn flowers for a friend, goats cheese and tomatoes from the market, collecting teeny tiny baby clothes from generous friends and strangers, our first experience of selling at a Car boot sale (success!), baking chocolate gluten free birthday cake, long walks through crunchy leaves, soups, curries and stews, warm pubs, cosy cafe's and early nights. Not a huge amount to report really. Just plodding by on our merry way.

Our car boot stall.

Home made curry feast, with all the trimmings. Apologies for the crap iPhone pic

Happy Birthday Em!

Blanket Progress

2011-11-23T13:00:00.000Z

396 squares for baby blanket done, 20 to go. Then the wee task of crocheting it all together...

Leaf love

2011-11-16T12:00:00.000Z

I am still revelling in all things Autumn. Still eating pumpkin at least once a day, still collecting pretty leaves and seeds each time I go outside, still taking photo's of the golden morning light on my phone for no particular reason. The last of the leaves on the huge tree at the end of the garden twinkle and twist in the breeze hypnotically. When it gets dark at 5pm (5pm!) I draw the curtains smugly and hunker down, candles lit, with one of my current obsessions (the new Feist album, Game of Thrones, Frozen Planet or Downton Abbey...) I know that by January its likely that I wont be so chipper about these dark drizzly days, but right now, I'm loving them, with all their new winter season, pre-Christmas promise.

I made my annual leaf garland to celebrate this 'golden' (/drey, drizzly depending on how you look at it...) season. I love collecting Autumnal bits and pieces to make these each year, and stringing them up around the house. They bring a bit of Autumn loveliness indoors, meaning all the lovliness, and none of the grey or drizzle. Winner.

(If you want to make one too: I just pressed the leaves in a stack of magazines to flatten them for a few days, then threaded them with a needle. Its super easy; I cant wait to do this with my future kidlets.)

Happiest of autumn's to you!

Half way

2011-11-15T18:00:00.000Z

In the imortal words of Bon Jovi; "we're half way there..." or, as the Grand Old Duke of York once noted; 'when they were only halfway up they were neither up nor down...'

We made it half way. Two weeks ago, we saw our baby. The midwife put a jelly covered plastic probe on my stomach and we saw a granular, slowly morphing, black and white image of our baby. Seeing it, and hearing its heart beat, is the most amazing humbling experience. It is also decidedly odd. I am growing a human being in my stomach. My body consists of 2 brains, 4 arms, 4 legs and two sets of genitalia. Pregnancy is weird.

We didnt find out the gender at the scan for numerous reasons. We like the idea of it being a surprise, but it will also encourage us to prepare for our baby in a less 'Pink' or 'Blue' way (much more on that in another post)

Hmm, what else...

My bump is finally starting to show.
I am loving my early nights and am still rapturously in love with my bed.
We have definite fetal movement, guys.
I have an unusally healthy blood count.
The baby is currently about 28cm long, almost the size of a 30 cm ruler! Whoa.
My always constant vinegar love is reaching new heights.
Tea and toast brought to me every morning makes me think I should get knocked up more often.
My mister has taken to calling me Wolverine, on account of my freakish sense of smell and weirdly fast growing hair and nails.
I dreamed I gave birth to a seal. (Thank you Frozen Planet)

I think that is all...

That was probably very boring for you all. But it's here for posterity. For posterity!

Buggy bother

2011-11-11T13:00:00.000Z

I'm trying... Image from The Love Shop, Etsy

Yes, really. Angst. About a buggy.

You see we live in a lovely flat. A lovely flat that happens to be three storey's up, with a total of four flights of stairs. In other words, stepsville. So the thought of a buggy? Grim. Carriers, cots, changing mats and mobiles are all being gleefully gathered (made or second hand of course) but a buggy? The thought makes me clench my teeth and hyperventilate slightly. I am relying on the baby liking slings and carriers, more than is healthy which I know is a little silly.

So, please lovely people, help me. I need something light weight, very easily foldable, and preferably usable from birth. It would also be nice if it could face both ways, and handle rough terrain- but these things are not as essential as the light weight, foldable thing. So. Does anyone know of any?!

Smoky bonfires, foggy fireworks, soup

2011-11-08T13:17:00.000Z

Bonfire night; A group of friends, smoky fires, piles of leaves, foggy fireworks, and benches and chairs dragged close to the fire. Scout the hyper dog, drizzle-speckled coats, lanterns and the whizzing popping and banging of nearby fireworks. Rays Poppy seed Birthday cake, chestnut and pumpkin soup with dippers, home-made brownie's and hot spiced cider...

Indoor's I went a wee bit Autumn mad with my decorations, whilst Ray and Phil cooked in the kitchen...(ahem) Rows of mini pumpkins and candles, leaf garlands, jars of poppies (a lovely present), piles of acorns, and leaves stuck to walls and doors.

This was the second part of my now very belated Birthday celebrations, plus Rays birthday celebrations and of course Bonfire night. A drizzly bonfire in the garden has become a bit of a tradition now, and becomes slightly more refined (and a lot less dangerous....!) each year. I ended up going to bed at midnight on Saturday which is unfeasibly late for me at the moment and I'm still tired, but it was totally, completely worth it. Happy Birthday me and Ray!

Grazia; Manolo Blahnik's new Eco Shoes

2011-11-06T20:27:00.003Z

Happy bonfire weekend! We've had a celebratory, firework and pumpkin filled weekend here, but more on that later, once I've had chance to upload the photos. I didn't realise but my latest piece for Grazia went up on the site on Friday; its about Manolo Blahnik's sustainable (fish skin...yep) shoes. I'm loving my 'green correspondent' duties and being able to rant about ethical fashion for Grazia, I'm a lucky gal. Anyhow, read it here.

I love my hood.

2011-10-31T21:13:00.001Z

My mister and I have spent a lot more time hanging out locally since I've been pregnant, as the prospect of central London is just so, well tiring. And it seems I have timed this very well.

Firstly, there's our favourite local cafe, Browns of Brockley which has started opening late. Connoisseurs of artisan coffee, bakers of extraordinary cakes, creators of yummy home made food (including home made butter!) and also lovely friends of ours. At night the cafe is lit by candlelight; posh beers, cheeses and breads are sold as well as a very good soya hot chocolate for the likes of preggers me.

Then there's the new Brockley Market which has just opened practically on our doorstep. The tantalising smell of busy food stalls wafts over traders selling organic veg, bread, locally roasted coffee, Brockley honey and cheeses. Lovely but dangerous for ones wallet...

Of course there is always Deptford Market, my favourite local market which is always topped off by the train carriage for breakfast afterwards.

And the other night we went to the new Big Red Bus in Deptford, a Pizzeria and bar in a double decker bus (oh to own my own bus). You can either eat in the bus itself, or outside under a red sail wrapped in blankets. Tuck into the wood-fired pizza and sip a cocktail or a Meantime (local) beer. Or apple juice, if you're me. Sigh.

So all that is perfect really, for bumming around in our neighborhood and making very little effort to be able to do nice things 10 minutes walk away.

In other news, next weekend part two of my belated birthday celebrations are taking place, which has become a joint birthday bash with Ray and a celebration for bonfire night. So I have Pumpkins, soup, chestnuts, toffee apples, and hot spiced cider on the brain. Mmmm...

I hope you all had wonderful weekends.

Thoughts from early pregnancy

2011-10-26T13:50:00.000+01:00

Tired, by one of my favourite artists, Joetta Maue.

Thefirst 3 months of this pregnancy have been some of the toughest but most surreal andamazing of my life so far.

My thoughts ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous: From "Hurray, Idon't feel like shit...oh wait- have I hurt the baby?"(oh that gnawing anxiety) and wonderingwhat the the affects of eating three whole grapefruits in one go are(answer: pleasure, then pain) to wondering if hormones will make me growa beard and a hairy belly (no comment). I spent quite long periods of time pondering whether itwould be acceptable to walk down the street with my arms outstretched in front of me, forming a protective barrier, and seeing how many paddedbra's I could wear at once. I also genuinely weighed up the pro's and consof wearing my yellow ear plugs in my nostrils: Pro's: I will no longerhave to ensure the smell of smoke, bacon, drains, and allthe other abhorrant smells that offend my nostrils on a daily basis. Cons:I'd have bright yellow earplugs up my nostrils. And nobody told me about the joys of pelvic girdle ache...

But, as well as some of the predictable and the unexpected mishaps of early pregnancy, its been brilliant too. I really do feel likepregnancy has put me in some sort of subtly magic third dimension as I mentioned before. I am unbelievably excited, even when I feel crappy. And actually I've felt nowhere near as crappy as I thought I would. It seems that the pregnancy cliché of constant vomiting, uncontrollable weeping, insatiable junk foodeating and losing all intelligent thought, is not apre-determined certainty. New symptoms come and go (urg, headaches), tiredness persists, but I am undoubtably feeling better, slowly but surely.

Whilst this pregnancy was not strictly planned, it would also be a lie to say it was an accident. 'A temporary loss of our senses' would be a more accurate description. Although we are over-the-moon about the baby, the timing, in lots of ways, is not ideal and the ol pennies have been a source of troublesome thoughts. But things are really and truly working out in a way we never thought they would. Perhaps they always do. So, reagardless of the lingering physical bits and pieces, I'm feeling good. Great, in fact.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this post. Perhaps nowhere. Just rambling reflections of early pregnancy so far.

P.S These thoughts were originally written down a couple of months ago, and published after so many of you said that you did want to hear some of my pregnancy ramblings, so here you go...

P.P.S Back to the present; the big news this week is that my bump seems to have sort of popped out. I still dont look very pregnant initially but there is definitely a bump now. Its sort of facinating, I cant stop prodding and poking it, and everytime I walk past a mirror I cant resist a glance; 'look! A bump! Bumpy bump bump!' (ahem...)

New DIY cable-drum coffee table

2011-10-24T13:13:00.002+01:00

We are still finishing the house after re-decorating a few months ago. Pictures are yet to be hung, decorative fiddly bits are yet to find a home, lampshades are yet to be fitted, and cupboards have yet to be sorted through. Before we finished the house, we embarked on the holy mother of all clear outs- to get rid of as much stuff as possible before the baby comes too, so the house just seems like one unending to-do list.

One thing we have managed to finish however is our coffee table. My mister found this cable drum in a skip near his workshop back in February and proudly rolled it home to me. I greeted it initially with scepticism, as he has a habit of bringing home 'treasure' for me from the street, not all of it very hygienic or usable (old soggy suitcases, mouldy wallpaper, small ornaments, but the occasional gem too). But once he told me his plan to turn it into a coffee table, I warmed to it. We cleaned it, sanded all the rough edges back and then put about a trillion layers of varnish on it. Dave then attached 4 industrial size rubber wheels to the bottom. We love it, and it also serves as a book shelf which is doubly useful.

There is a similar project being pinned around Pinterest, from Design Sponge if you want further inspiration (I cant find the original post on Design Sponge though-grr Pinterest...) But I think I prefer ours. ( I would say that though, wouldn't I?!)

Anyway- Hurray for rescuing junk off the street! Anyone else found any gems on the street lately?

Autumn felt garland

2011-10-20T13:00:00.000+01:00

London experienced its first few really chilly days this week. The cold crisp air and bright blue skies have been beautiful; my favourite weather in fact, and signal for me that we are well and truly into Autumn. I haven't had as much time as I'd like recently to make anything, as my evenings are now so much shorter (my new bed time is 9pm. RocknRoll). I've been steadily working on the baby blanket and I also found some time recently to make this little Autumn felt garland. It is inspired by Elsie's felt garland, but I altered the idea a bit by using my machine to stitch the leaves together and using free-machine embroidery to add the veins to the leaves...

I already had a stash of felt, so I simply used a template to cut out my leaves (nice to do in front of the telly) then ran a straight stitch through the centre on my machine to connect them all (make sure you leave enough thread at the start and end to hang it somewhere). I then went back over the straight stitch adding the veining. And voila. The beginnings of lots more seasonal crafty goodness, I hope.

Birthday, double breakfasts, afternoon tea

2011-10-11T20:17:00.000+01:00

I woke to the first of two breakfasts. Warm croissants and coffee, with Roses and a handmade card, brought to me on my favourite tray, in bed. After quickly sending off the final copy of my Grazia article we packed the camera and headed off in to town. The Riding House Cafe in Fitzrovia was our first stop, somewhere I have wanted to visit for months. A full hearty fry up (him), avocado piled on toast (me), coffee and a (sadly) non alcoholic cocktail called Ginger Passion, in honour of my hubs, of course. The recycled wooden panelled walls were adorned with taxidermy squirrel lights, there were long wooden tables, large expanses of glass, bright orange leather furniture. Perfection.

A much needed haircut for the both of us followed, then a stroll to Liberty's to pick my favourite perfume and scented candle, spending hours sniffing the myriad of different scents. In need of restoration, we then went for afternoon tea at the Dean Street Townhouse. It was warm and cosy inside, heavily draped and wallpapered, with deep armchairs around each table and a fire crackling in the fireplace. I fell in love, both with the interior but also with the atmosphere; it was quiet but not pretentious; relaxing but not scruffy. High tea was perfect. Served on a three tier stand, with finger sandwiches, warm glazed scones and a gorgeous selection of cakes. I hope the fact that Timeout named it one of the best value afternoon teas in London doesn't alter the feel of it too much.

The evening was rounded off with Toad in the Hole made for me by my mister. I fell asleep feeling very spoiled indeed.

Riding House Cafe

Dean Street Townhouse

Grazia article: H&M's new Conscious Collection

2011-10-10T20:00:00.002+01:00

My next piece for Grazia went up on their site today. Its about their new Conscious collection and their wider ethical claims.

You can see it, and a few of the best pieces over on the Grazia site here, and as always I'd appreciate your thoughts, dearies.

It felt really great to to do this because over the last few months pregnancy sickness has drained any energy for writing work completely away. I was also pleased to be asked to write a second eco fashion piece for Grazia as one can never be sure if these things are just a one off. But, anyway, I am starting to feel better, and more motivated again so watch this space (Fingers crossed).

P.S I had part one of a lovely belated birthday today, but more on that later.

Birthday and Autumn/winter apparel lust list...

2011-10-09T18:14:00.002+01:00

I turned 27 yesterday. Hurrah, etc. But unfortunately my birthday plans had to be postponed due to a rather violent tummy bug which hit rather suddenly at work on Friday. I vomited at the office a couple of times, which was somewhat embarrassing, but what was worse was vomiting twice in a taxi home, at the feet of a-lot of London's commuters on Aldwych during rush hour, which is both hideous and with hindsight hilarious too. So, my day was spent sitting on the sofa in my pyjamas, cancelling birthday plans, being pregnant, with food poisoning. ON MY BIRTHDAY (just in case you missed that bit). Woe was me. But the day was salvaged somewhat due to my husbands pampering, a perfectly made and perfectly timed Gammon Piccalilly sandwich and Downton Abbey on catch up, so all was not irrevocably lost.

I also had ample time to drool over new clothes and torture myself with thoughts about how if I was well I'd be birthday shopping. Because I had nothing better to do. Unless you count vomiting. Which I don't.

So, here is my winter neutrals lust list: (all ethical of course). Bejewelled blazers, retro Christmas woollies, large slouchy mid- sleeved tops (BFF's* of pregnant women everywhere), Victorian embellished blouses, tailored winter shorts, Aztec patterned leggings, white lacy dresses and love heart mittens. Oh, go on then...

Ethical winter neutrals

ReLuxe shiny dress, £59 FAIR true, £15 FAIR true printed legging, £35 Vivienne Westwood for Melissa flat heels, $121 Beaumont Organic cable hat, £30 Ladies | H&M US, $70 Reluxe Vintage Brown Cream Knit Sweater, £65 Burnout Slouch Top - Annie Greenabelle, £32 Orla Kiely - Orla Kiely Belted Cardigan, £160 Jonathan Aston Sweet Roses Lace Tights available from Tights Please, £15 Conscious Collection | H&M DE
H&M's Autumn 2011 Conscious collection

And secondly, my ethical winter brights lust list: More slouchy tops, clashing patterned dresses, mustard slinky tops, Jewell toned floral skirts, baby blue cords, a bright yellow trench, floral kimono tops (another friend of pregnant women), and cheery woolly socks. Yes please.

Ethical winter bright and bold

Mary Katrantzou multi colored dress, £550 Komodo peacock dress, £50 Go Green M by M long top, £45 Skin and Threads long top, £59 Go Green M by m, £45 FAIR true, £55 FAIR true knee length pencil skirt, £49 Melissa ribbon shoes, £83 Reluxe Fair Trade Knitted Chunky Socks, £18 Monkee Genes Organic Skinny Baby Cords Jeans, £55 Conscious Collection | H&M GB, £35 Urban Outfitters - O&O Kimono Jacket, £45 Polka Slouch Top - Annie Greenabelle, £39 Orla Kiely - Orla Kiely Trench Coat, £150 Orla Kiely - Orla Kiely Teacup Skirt, £70

Its highly unlikely that I will buy even a fraction from the attached clothes porn galleries, but I may treat myself to a little birthday something. Maybe....

*What does BFF even mean? Best best friend? Best buddies forever? Or butt buddies forever? My mister and I do not agree.

Mini-break,Kent

2011-10-04T12:42:00.001+01:00

A couple of weekends ago, we popped over to Kent to stay with soon-to-be-an-auntie-Ray and her hubs. It was lovely to revel in their new-home nesting, and it was also lovely to be away from the noise and smog of London, to wonder around cobbled lanes, to ogle jealously at old houses and to sleep peacefully at night. We visited very old pubs, rummaged through car boot sales and picked our way through antique fairs. It felt goood to get my rummage on. We bought our first baby clothes (eep), a lovely very old lined wicker picnic basket, some records and some plates, all for under £10. The excitement evidently proved too much for me though as I was in bed at 8.45pm on Saturday night, having beleived it was at least 9.30pm and fighting to keep my eyes open for the previous 30 mins. Ah pregnancy. Rock and roll eh? We were joined by a group of friends and Scout the hyper-dog on Sunday and together we took a long country walk to a pub. This took us through farms, marsh land and slanting golden grasses, near creeks, and over fences and stiles. The more I visit Kent, the more I fall in love with it.

Faversham's tiny independent cinema.

Wonky old buildings

Ship yard

Scout the dog

Lovely pub

Walk

Lovely old buildings

Boot fair. Hell yeah.

Roast. Mmmm

We have slightly over-done it on the travelling recently, having gotten a bit over-excited about the baby news and wanting to see everyone to squeal about it with them. Our weekend gallivanting has so far taken us to friends and family's sofa's, air-beds and spare room's in Bolton, Birmingham, Jersey, Liverpool and Faversham. We have loved each and every trip but man do we need some weekends at home. Thankfully we have some time at home ahead and I'll have some much-needed time to catch up with myself, my husband, the housework, my blog and all of you a bit.

Having just said that (!), Dave and I are currently attempting to book a pre-baby break in November. But just for the two of us, for some time to talk and think and probably freak out a bit and squeal about all things baby. And probably about all things definitely not baby too. We are looking for a quirky cottage or posh tent (yes, even in winter!) in England preferably or possibly Wales (trying to keep travel time down). Also preferably not too expensive (ie under £300 for three nights). We already know Under the Thatch well, having been on some gorgeous holidays with them before and we have been browsing Canopy & Stars too, but we'd be very grateful for any further suggestions. Thank you in advance lovelies!

Lately, pregnancy.

2011-09-28T18:30:00.000+01:00

Well here I am. Knocked up. In the pudding club. Up duffed. Bun in the oven.

Feeling giddily excited.

There's been disbelief, excitement, a bit of feeling scared-shitless. Sleep; lots of it. Crawling into heavenly, soft, warm bed at 8.45. Toast, for too many meals a day. Tablets, taken grumpily twice a day, even when I thought I'd vomit them up again (I never did, thankfully). Constant sickiness, although mercifully not too severe. Lots of walking to relieve pelvic-ache (yup) and lots and lots of talking.

Rows of blue plastic chairs in waiting rooms, where we've waited impatiently. Painful blood tests; collapsed veins; and finally vials of blood. Then there was the scan; the relief, the wonder. Our wriggling, waving baby, crystal clear on the screen. Right there in front of us. Our baby. Squeezing my misters hand very tightly. And more recently, there's been the nerves (weird?) and exhilaration of telling our friends and families, whose reactions have ranged from the sublime to the hilarious (but that's for another post). The relief of my employers very understanding reaction. And my slowly expanding tummy which is examined eagerly at least four times a day by my mister and I. Just to check.

But mostly, there's been magic. In my tummy. All around me. Like the almost perceptible electricity in the air around Christmas.

Bed.

Toast.

Crochet.

The beginnings of a baby blanket.

Scan.

Tablets.

Belly.

I learned this trick from Peonies, so thank you Cara!

Cleverly snapped by my mister whilst we were walking.

Tiny bump! Look closely, its there somewhere.

I don't want to wear anything apart from this dress. I need a hundred of them. Its so soft and comfortable. Where can I buy more? (this ones vintage, dammit)

So there'll probably a bit more baby talk on my blog from now on. Lord knows I have so much to talk about. But I promise not too much. Promise.

Thank you again for all the comments on my last post. Really and truly, you're the best.

Baby Time...

2011-09-20T11:18:00.002+01:00

I'm very excited to say that I am pregnant!

I'm manically busy at work (and feeling a bit sicky) but will tell you lots more soon. Thank you for all your very lovely comments so far.

P.S Whoa!

P.P.S Polaroid snapped by my sister whilst camping in Wales. Before we knew for sure. But we knew.

Papermash stopframe animation love and my famous junk!

2011-09-15T19:52:00.000+01:00

I love this stop frame animation, although I am rather biased. It's for Papermash, one of the loveliest shops on the internet, owned by Lynne, one of the loveliest bloggers on the internet, directed by a lovely friend of my hubs and I, and, most importantly, featuring some of my junk! I think Lynne may have been a little overwhelmed when, after she asked to borrow about 6 things, I sent over an enormous suitcase full of junk.... Anyway I can't help feeling ever so proud of my books and typewriter and tins. Hurrah!

Happy Birthday Roald

2011-09-13T11:01:00.000+01:00

One of my favourite Roals Dahl quotes

I grew up with Roald Dahl’s stories. They were the fuel to my already rather overactive imagination. We passed long car journeys immersed in his audio books, lost in giant Peaches and Chocolate factories, George’s crazy concoctions, the horrible tales of the Twits, the terrifying vision of Miss Trunchball and Matilda’s deeply enviable magic. I read way beyond my bedtime, devouring Roald Dahl’s revolting Rhymes, Dirty Beasts, and The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me (I can still recite the song), amongst others. In fact I owe an awful lot to Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake, two of my hero’s, and cannot wait to tell their stories to my own future kidlets.

So, Happy Birthday dear Roald. And a very heart felt thank you.

What's your favourite Roald Dahl story?

So long summer.

2011-09-12T21:25:00.000+01:00

I know that summer is over. That for some it never really began. But allow me to indulge in one final goodbye.

So. Back to Wales. Back to warm sun and canvas and barbecues and suncream and the tingle of water on slightly sunburned skin...

On the first day, he fell asleep in the car, a deep, red cheeked, deep breathing slumber. We carefully lifted him from the car, walked to the beach and lay him down on a blanket.

This toddler, who is usually a bit grumpy when he wakes up, looked around and did this:

My baby half brother (the dude) and step mum - "Big sandpit!"

Pure beach joy. I doubt I will ever forget his reaction.

Ok. It's out of my system now. I'm ready for you, Autumn.

P.S, Our camera lenses have broken and there's been lots happening recently, including decorating, feeling sick and a funeral with a dramatic entrance, hence my recent lack of posts, apologies.

Nice prints and Friday

2011-09-02T12:33:00.001+01:00

Some nice prints for you on a Friday;

Firstly this London map print by Abigail Daker from her Etsy shop:

I think it has a rather 70's look, which I love. It is also very reasonably priced too.

We gave this print to Fay and family when we visited them over the bank holiday weekend. (There were also tea rooms and lie-ins and pub lunches and home cooked pies, and orchards and animals and cider and our adorable goddaughter, Florence. It was a lovely trip.)

The second print is by Paul Neicho from Print Club London. 'Ceremonial Counties of England'

A group of us gave this to Ray and her hubs to mark their move from one county to another. I love the graphic shapes of all the differnet counties and I love that its partly educational too! But then again i'm a huge big geek.They seemed to like it anyway.

Lastly, happy Friday to you! I'm so so happy it's nearly the weekend.*butt wiggle desk dance*

Hand made book tutorial

2011-09-01T13:34:00.000+01:00

Having now made up how to make a note book, I can foresee plenty of other excuses to make more. To congratulate someone, to wish someone a happy birthday, to deposit advice for mums-to-be or perhaps to contain family recipe's. Or they could be given plain as notebooks for Christmas and birthday presents.

You will need

A range of different paper, cut to A5 ish size.
Very thick card (I used mount board)
Fabric for your cover (I used a blue floral linen fabric from my stash)
Embroidery thread to hold it all together
Things to decorate pages (optional)

A drill
A strong needle
Clamps
Guillotine or sharp scissors and ruler to cut the paper straight
PVA glue
Scraper (or credit card)

Firstly get together your paper. I used old envelopes, old posters, floral wrapping paper, brown paper etc. I love the look of the different papers but you might choose to use more uniform papers. Cut the pieces roughly the same size, A5ish. Then decorate your pages, if you want too.I doodled on them and used my Japanese masking tape.

Next, make your cover. Cut out two thick pieces of card, 3cm's bigger than your paper.

Find a piece of fabric large enough to easily accommodate your card (see image below). Cut corners off fabric. It doesn't matter at this stage what the edges look like as they will be covered.

Using PVA glue, stick the card to the fabric. Its important to leave a gap between the card as this will form the spine of the book. Depending on how many pages your book will have you will need to leave more or less space between the card. Starting from the middle, use the scraper to push out any air bubbles and evenly spread the glue. The scraping bit is important otherwise it will dry with air bubbles under the fabric.

Now cut out two pieces of thick paper, the size of your paper. I used some vintage wallpaper from my stash. Stick this in the inside cover using PVA glue and the same scraping technique from earlier. Let it dry.

Now secure it all together. Annoyingly we were running late by this point (!) so didn't take photo's of this next stage but I will try to explain it in detail.

Knock your paper together neatly so that the left hand long edge is together and straight. Carefully insert it in your cover, making sure the left hand edge is sitting snugly in the spine of the book.

Clamp the book together against a table top, making sure the clamps are holding the top and bottom edges against the table, rather than the side edges (the left hand edge needs to be free). Also ensure that the left hand (spine) edge of your book is hanging off the table by about a quarter. This is so that the drill can easily make it through the pages without ruining your table. Mark 4 equal holes down the left hand edge about 2 Cm's from the edge with a pencil. Using your slimmest drill bit, drill 4 holes through the whole book.

Whilst it is still clamped, thread your needle with some thick embroidery thread. Pass the needle up from back to front and weave it in and out of the holes to hold it together. Do not pull the thread too tightly, its important to let the thread be a little loose as it means the pages are better able to open.Once your done the spine should look like this:

And that's it. You're done. Enjoy!

I'm happy to answer any questions below.

Also thank you for your sweet comments on my last post. I should clarify that Ray has only moved an hour and a half away, so I'm being a tad dramatic. But its quite a change as we're used to them being so close. Moving day went well, their house (a whole house!) is gorgeous and spacious and I'm more than a tad jealous.

Leaving, the book

2011-08-30T08:56:00.001+01:00

Ray, my sister in law, and her hubs, are leaving London. They that have lived 10 doors down on the same street for the last 18 months. They that have made our neighbourhood feel like home. They that have become our closest friends and family. We have fed each other, nicked bottles of wine from each other, borrowed dresses and tools and baking stuff and kitchen chairs and bedding and beer brewing equipment from each other.

It's Ray that inspired me to move to London in the first place, when she was just my boyfriends intimidatingly cool big sister, nearly 10 years ago. She that became my best friend in my first year of uni, watching Sex and the City and eating chocolate. We dyed our hair the same colour (I probably copied her) dressed the same, got matching bar jobs, practically lived together and graduated on the same day.

It truly is the end of an era. I feel like one of my London anchors has just gone.

Anyway, enough of the cheese. I made them a book. Well it started out as a card, but turned into a book.

I took it to their leaving do so that each guest could leave a message in it. I also took our polaroid camera so we could snap a picture of each guest looking sad and stick it in the book with their message. It turned out really well, and they both loved it.

(I'll do a quick tutorial in another post. For now I'm too busy feeling sad!)

Home made bagels, Leila Lindholm

2011-08-24T13:15:00.000+01:00

I love the soft chewy texture of bagels. I'd go as far as to say that its bordering on obsessive, so its a wonder that we haven't attempted to make them at home before. But funds are a little tight of late which has left us more time to pursue such efforts. In fact, one of our more inspired ideas to deal with being skint was to plan baking days. We cant afford to go to a restaurant, but we can bake things! The ingredients for most baked goods are mercifully cheap and easy to come by, and unendlingly rewarding (well, until it gets scoffed, which happens quite quickly in our house). On Saturday we made bagels using a lovely book was sent to me a while ago, Leila Lindholm's 'One More Slice', The bagels were a success (as my twitter followers know) and surprisingly easy. We need to work on making them look a little prettier but they tasted amazing.

The rest of the book looks equally as promising, I cant wait to try the birdie num num bread (purely because of its name) and the beetroot baguette (because, err, its purple) on our next baking days.

Our finished bagels

Look- purple baguettes!

And here is the recipe, with a few addendums from me

Ingredients

25 g yeast
5 cups warm water
2.5 tsp salt
2 tablespoons liquid honey
5.13 cup plain flour
Water for boiling

Brushing
1 whipped egg white

1 ) Crumble the yeast into a bowl and dissolve with the warm water, salt, honey.
2) Spoon the flour in slowly, with the mixer on slow.
3) Work the dough in the machine for about 5 minutes. The dough should be pretty hard.
4) Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let it rise until doubled in size for about 60 minutes.

5) Turn out dough onto a floured surface and divide into 12 pieces.(Note- I reckon this recipe is easily enough for 14 - ours were monsters)

6) Shape each piece into a round bun and push a hole in the middle with your forefinger. Spin them around your finger to form the ring (I wish I'd made mine smoother at this point)
7) Leave bagels on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper for about 45 minutes.(Cover with tea towel)
8) Boil water in a large saucepan and Preheat the oven to 175 degrees.
9) Boil each bagel in the water, a few at a time, for about 2-3 minutes on each side.

10) Let them dry on a clean kitchen towel.
11) Place them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and brush with beaten egg white
12) Bake bagels in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes until they are golden.

13) Slather with butter whilst they are still warm and enjoy the warm, chewy goodness. Mmmmmm....

Recipe from One More Slice by Leila Lindholm

London, lately

2011-08-22T21:11:00.000+01:00

In amongst the re-decorating, the riots, working and a bit of writing, there has been time for some London days. Some walks, some food, some new places and some old.

A couple of weekends ago, with an unexpectedly free day before us, my mister and I packed the camera and headed out into London. We just walked and walked for miles and miles. Talking, stopping for coffee, sloping in and out of pretty shops, strolling through parks, past pretty buildings. We dropped by Bea's of Bloomsbury, and ended up in Inn the Park in the evening. It was lovely, and why I love living in London so much.

I finally visited Spuntino with a friend last week. I loved it. It was all brick walls, dangling bulbs, scrubbed wooden work surfaces and chipped tiles. Free chilli popcorn and water when we walked in, followed by a crushed pea and radish crostini which was divine. Handily located on my walk to the station, meaning I shall be frequenting.

I've also made it to Franks Bar in Peckham a couple of times recently. A pop up bar on top of a multi storey carpark, with incredible views across London and gorgeous food, it is a must if you are in London. Yesterday I took my mister here on a date (followed by the Inbetweeners film- I'm nice like that) and bumped into not one but two sets of friends. I love when this happens in London.

Berwick st

Inn the Park

Spuntino's

Franks

Sex and Power

2011-08-17T12:35:00.000+01:00

An alert from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) popped into my inbox this morning announcing a new report, Sex and Power, which measures the number of women in positions of power and influence across 27 occupational categories in the public and private sectors. I am increasingly passionate about womens rights and gender issues as I see their reach and influence in more and areas of both my private life and in the world around me (as I laid out in this post on International Womens day). The report made me sad and angry and before I knew it I was bashing out the following rant on my keyboard on my lunch break. The EHRC have been dogged by scandal lately, but I have overlooked that to focus on the contents of this very interesting, though thoroughly depressing report.

The report concludes that More than 5,400 women are missing from Britain’s 26,000 most powerful posts, and that at the current rate of change it will take70 years to reach an equal number of men and women directors of FTSE 100 companies and women MPs in parliament – another 14 general elections. It goes on to list some depressing facts and figures showing the pitiful percentages of women in top jobs across lots of different industries.

It says,however, that women are graduating from university in increasing numbers, do better than boys at school, achieve better degree results than men, and are level with men in their twenties. But then something happens. From that point on, they are not entering management ranks at the same rate, and many remain trapped in the layer below senior management.

That something, although not stated explicitly in the report, is in lots of cases children. I feel frustrated and angry, although sadly unsurprised, about the findings of this report, and the fact that things have remained unchanged since 2008. It states:

"Studies have shown that outdated working patterns where long hours are the norm, inflexible organisations and the unequal division of domestic responsibilities are major barriers to women’s participation in positions of authority."

It frustratingly doesn't really elaborate on this, and no solutions are given. It also says, interestingly, that men are losing out too, that many of them wish to be able to spend more time at home with their families.

In my opinion (and please disagree with me below if you think I'm wrong) women wont enjoy greater equality in the workplace until there are better rights for men. I know that sounds odd, but until men have equal right to paid paternity leave, women will continue to shoulder the majority of the child rearing (I hate that term!) and domestic responsibilities. And working culture in the UK needs to change. If all employees were able to enjoy more flexible working, if part time work was valued more (if I had a pound for the amount of grumbles I've heard about part time workers in my past work places I'd be a rich woman), if both parents were able to take responsibility for raising kids then I believe that women will be far more tempted to stay in the workforce and progress their careers. Lots of my friends don't want to return to work after they have children. I'm undecided if I'm one of them. But perhaps more of them would be tempted if they could look forward to flexible part time work that was properly valued and if they knew that their partners would be more available to help them...

GAH. Sorry for that long rant!

The report is short and easy to read, find it here. And I I would love to hear your thoughts on the report, on your views of shared domestic responsibilities, on parental leave, on how to achieve greater equality in the workplace.. anything really.

Happy Wednesday!

(and breathe...)

Give every man your ear, but few thy voice...

2011-08-15T22:43:00.000+01:00

Image by Ky Olsen

I had to attend a work course recently called 'Effective Communication'. Compulsory, run by an external company, taking up a whole day and involving actors; my insides seemed to wither and die as I read the email. But, as it turned out, I had to eat my words. It was actually ok. It's true that there were some horrifically embarrassing moments involving fake crying but I actually learned stuff. Stuff that is as equally applicable outside my office as it is within it.

It reminded me how very easy it is to not listen to other people properly, to be waiting to speak rather than really listening to them. It also made me appreciate how great it is when someone really, I mean really, listens to you, you know? And conversely, how crap it is when the person you're with doesn't ask you a single question or drifts off. Or they somehow turn everything you're telling them into something that they have experienced or have an opinion about, and all of a sudden it's all about them.

In fact it made a pretty effective catalogue of all the crap things I do to my friends, and the crap things that I sometimes experience in return. I have a bad habit of drifting off mid way through other peoples stories. I get it from my Dad (along with an inability to remember names, a total lack of control when it comes to food and a horrific toe stubbing habbit. Thanks Dad). I'm really sorry about this, dear friends, I am trying to work on it.

The course also talked about judgement i.e, when one person listens to the other and then promptly makes a judgement or gives their opinion. I do this sometimes along with pretty much all of my friends, it's tricky as we think were being helpful. But I learned how much nicer it is to ask a few questions before wading on in there with my opinion/judgement. We even did role play. And I didn't completely hate it.

Its sparked some interesting conversation with my mister and friends. Am I alone in my bad listening habits? What irks you? Am I the only one willing to confess to finding a corporate training course not hell-ish?! (please say no)

P.S The re-decorating continues. And oh how it stinks- figuratively and literally. But we have some exciting ideas for our walls. Hence my recent fervent activity on Pinterest

Two things...

2011-08-11T21:23:00.000+01:00

This:

Constant screeching sirens, thumping helicopter blades through the night, fire, smoke, looting and violence, all happening frighteningly close by. Waking with a jump at every slight noise.

And this:

Re-decorating. A lot less productively than anticipated due to riots. We glossed over nicotine coloured skirting boards (not from us I hasten to add) and white washed grubby walls. Hubs and I keep opening the door to the lounge then dramatically covering up our eyes and feigning blindness from the dazzling white of the walls... It's very satisfying, although remains unfinished as yet.

Which is why I've been absent.

I'm heart-broken about the riots. Ashamed, angry, scared. But there are some amazing stories of hope too. Post-it covered walls in Peckham bearing messages of love, the riot wombles clearing up afterwards, bus drivers giving free journeys to people to help them get home safely, communities coming together to defend their shops, the handimen offering their services for free, etc. And its those actions that I choose to dwell on. It's easy to get whipped up in the hype, the hate, the rumour. So, with a deep breath and a cup of tea, with a bit of trust for my neighbours and local community, I will carry on as normal, smile at people, try to help with the clean up and have a little faith.

Image: Oh Dearism

Wales, camping, and the sea, the sea! (I'm back!)

2011-08-03T20:10:00.000+01:00

I was a little nervous about camping in Wales, given that the last time involved hurricane like winds, horizontal rain, and retreating home early, but we needn't have worried. We woke up to bright blue skies and hot sunshine on all but one day. The Llyn peninsula is where, 12 years ago, I was first seduced by the sea which surrounds it on three sides, that I first fell in love with the windswept, wilderness beaches of Wales, that I first dreamed of living somewhere like this.

First though, we faced an 8 hour journey by train. It slowly snaked along the very edge of the coast, almost tipping into the sea at times (or so it seemed), and it stopped at every single small provincial Welsh town on the way (38 stops in all!) People waved at us continually; I waved back. A man fell asleep on his feet. The sea shimmered at us beautifully. Ancient dry stone walls formed wobbled lines across the countryside, like embroidery stitches. We ate delicious Iced buns...

Once we arrived, we eventually hauled up the tent, ate the first of many barbecue dinners, slumped around the fire with cups of hot chocolate then snuggled down in bed wrapped in hoodies, a big duvet and blankets.

There was fishing (my mister), flicking through magazines (me), lots and lots of sea swimming (I reckon I'm a pro now), sunbathing, playing with an excitable, articulate, dare devil of a two year old. Running with my Dad and brother along breathtakingly beautiful coastal paths, Barra Brith in a local tea room, beach fires, walking. Waking up in the middle of the night to go to the loo with a cold nose; being greeted by bright stars and hundreds of bunny tails, yep, bunny tails. The campsite is home to hundreds of wild rabbits!

It was so lovely, so relaxing.

My brother and sisters boyfriend

Coming in on the waves after a swim

Me and hubs. I love the difference in our skin colour!

Drying off

The dude wearing one of my sisters wellies, and his mums swimming costume as a scarf, whilst holding a tractor. Classic

Campsite bunny! Apologies for the crap photo, those bunnies are nifty little movers, even when you've stalked them with the camera for 20 minutes...

We stopped for lots of locally grown food whenever we saw these signs.

Last night celebration; beach fire.

We Brits are so lucky to have such beautiful British coast and countryside on our doorstep, I'm already planning our next couple of trips.

Its good to be back, though.

x

Friday, next week and Lev Tokmakov; vintage illustration crush

2011-07-22T12:48:00.002+01:00

Really loving these soviet illustrations by Lev Tokmakov from 1973...

Lev Tokmakov

Found on Where the Lovely Things Are. Originally uploaded by 50 Watts.

I'm also loving the fact that its Friday, that this very busy week is nearly over, that I sent three articles off late last night after spending all my evenings working on them. That the sun finally came out this morning making my recently grey and drizzly walk through Soho bright and lovely. That I had a coffee from Kaffeine that felt free (I'd paid for weeks ago). That tomorrow I'll be heading off on holiday for a week, that I'll be seeing my family and baby brother, that I'll be camping (wish us luck!) and reading and walking and crocheting. Yes.

I hope you all have lovely weekends cherries.

P.S When the bride and groom return from their honeymoon (see post below) i'll speak to them about putting more of the photo's I took of their wedding on my blog, it really was lovely!

Lately; wedding, walks, writing

2011-07-20T21:06:00.002+01:00

Lately; A wonderful, colourful, wedding in a lighthouse; dancing in bare feet until the second we had to leave, feeling full of love for our friends.

Ice lollies and long walks. Hammering rain followed moments later by dazzling sunshine. Playing with fabric in my hair. Baking French baguette with roasted red pepper and tomato tapenade on one night, on another; leek fritter and smashed roasted potatoes with greek yogurt and garden peas. Busy days at work. Spending all my evenings tapping away at my laptop on a couple of writing projects, Bossa Nova on the stereo.

Life is good. Busy and a little on the skint side, but we're wearing it well, I think

Cendrillon The opera; Free London adventures

2011-07-17T20:57:00.000+01:00

Nelson's Column and the big screen

On Wednesday we saw the Opera Cendrillon (Cinderella), streamed directly from the Royal Opera House to a huge screen in Trafalgar Square. An excited hubbub hung in the air as people drank wine and laughed and spread out food on blankets and a cool, slightly exhilarating breeze blustered around the square. It was much more relaxed, and infinitely more preferable to going to the actual opera, in my humble opinion.

My mister arrived, we briefly queued, were given a plastic poncho and inflatable cushion each (which we were ridiculously excited about) and found a space in the already heaving square. We unpacked our blankets and extra layers and ate a delicious dinner of French baguette with chorizo and feta cheese. Then the screen flickered and it started. The powerful voices of the singers reverberated around the nearby buildings, the spine tingling was frequent and we were amazed at some of the range in the voices. We hadn't reckoned on the skill of the acting involved either, it was engaging and funny, quite camp at times too. The performance was only heightened, in our opinion, by the frequent farting noises emitted from the movement of inflatable cushions against the concrete...

I liked this colourful outfit

"Art not Oil". It is a shame that BP sponsors these events.

Snug as a bug in a rug; wrapped in my favourite National Trust recycled wool blanket (only £12!)

A Poignant moment.... Parp!

This is the beginning of our explorations of free things to do in London this summer. I was a student here so Free London is an old friend, really, it's just that I haven't had to call on her for a while.

I'll be visiting the 'Watch This Space' festival on the Southbank which I've visited many times before and seen some incredible live performances (One year I found myself roaming down the Southbank amongst hundreds of people, acrobats, moving wooden sculptures, actors in rotating cages and flaming torches: Truly amazing) I'll be frequenting The Scoop too for free film screenings and theatre, and visiting some of my favourite free museums and galleries too. I'm gutted that I'll be missing the Barbican Weekender and the Trans Siberian Marching band- go if you can, it sounds brilliant.

If you know of any other free festivals, talks or events happening in London this summer, I'd be ever so grateful if you could let me know.

Thanks lovelies

Picnic, cupcakes, Blognic

2011-07-12T21:25:00.000+01:00

Lots of lovely patterned skirts

Blognic bicuits baked by Rob and Andrea of Lotus Events (whom I regretfully did not meet)

Sparkly Cupcakes baked by Tori

Me, Ray, Lynne and Becky

Blognic, on Sunday was wonderful. It was lovely to meet Michelle, Alexis, Katie, Tori, Lisa, Marianne and also Lynne and Becky who'm ive conversed with online for quite a while now so it was so nice to finally meet them both properly. I wasn't feeling very well (Thank the Lord for Ibuprofen) so didn't get round to speaking with as many people as I wanted too, but I still loved meeting some familiar and not so familiar blog friends. Thanks Lynne and Ellie for putting on a lovely event.

I was also struck by how brilliant this blogging community is. I'm so grateful to be a part of it, and appreciate each and every one of you for coming to say hi, so thank you.... Ok, enough of the mush...

Wooed: Mexican patterns, bright colours.

2011-07-12T08:00:00.000+01:00

Currently being drawn to really bright colours, and particularly Aztec and Mexican prints....

Image: Lena Corwin's Aunts Huipulls, pinned to my 'Homestead' Pinterest

Image: Painted wall by Bonnie Tsang, pinned to my 'Homestead' Pinterest

Image: Rugs by Maya Hayuk

Art by Alexander Kori Girard pinned to my 'Homestead' Pinterest

Image: Painted furniture from Hus&Hem, found on Pinterest

Gorgeous room from Sixth Street Design found on Pinterest (Pinterest doesn't link to the actual post so I cant credit the image- sorry)

Image The Good Hood Store, pinned to my 'Homestead' Pinterest

Painted logs, from the Artful Parent, found on Pinterest

Image from 30 Media Tmblr found on Pinterest

Zing, pop, whizz, bam!

These patterns cheered me up yesterday (Feeling much better, thanks for your well wishes.)

Life and a Home made Birthday present

2011-07-11T13:06:00.001+01:00

Coming home from the sea last week was tougher than I thought it would be. I returned to an incredibly busy and stressful week, both at work and home, as well as the prospect of a skint few months (ah the joys of husbands freelance work). All of this managed to manifest itself in another bout of Tonsillitis, which I tried to deny, in vain. Waking up at 2am unable to swallow my own saliva kind of sealed the deal (gross, sorry).

London can seem cruel when you don't spend money on her, and our lack of funds had me moping for a couple of days. But, whilst cocktails, Gin Palaces, roof bars and new restaurants are off the cards for the time being, I can however visit free museums and galleries with a packed-lunch and a flask of Tea; we can attend some of the hundreds of free events in London this summer and we can explore more of London's green spaces. I can spend more time crafting and writing and we can pay some attention to some little DIY projects for our flat. I am making the most of it. I am.

So, rather than going out on Friday, we cooked dinner for friends. My mister and I made a Turkish feast which we cooked over a couple of days and gobbled up at our tiny table with 4 of our bestest. It was lovely, much cheaper than going out and probably nicer too as we were really able to talk and our friends faced only a short stumble home afterwards.

It was one of my best friends birthdays on Saturday, but rather than buy presents I made them instead. I spent most of the day crafting away in our spare room, nursing my sore throat and listening to the radio whilst I played with tissue paper, masking tape and embroidery thread. Heavenly.

My makings resulted in this stack of presents...

...which contained these goodies...

More specifically; home made toasted Cumin bread (Birthday bread!) in a an embroidered floral bread bag, which can be reused.

...a colourful mini pompom garland using left over tissue paper which I put into a box that I re-covered with vintage wallpaper.

...and of course cake. I made two cakes, in fact, on Thursday evening; one for Fridays dinner party and one for my friends Birthday. I chose a Yogurt and Pistachio recipe which went down a storm and has become my new favourite cake. Although, due to getting ill and being over tired, the cake making was somewhat dramatic. I finished them eventually around 11.30 pm after using every single bowl in the house, wailing at my mister about the lack of STIFF PEAKS, almost crying over eggs, and laughing hysterically, in a sticky mess, at my impressive am dram....anyway...

On Saturday morning, after clearing up Friday's leftovers, I decided on a whim to cut the cake into 'cakelets', using a cookie cutter. This resulted in small, neat, easy to eat, super cute cakelets. Without the usual cupcake cases you can see the pretty green flecks of pistachio in the sponge, too. The yogurt makes this cake unbelievably moist and creamy. If you are looking for a slightly unusual but utterly delicious cake, this bad boy is your friend.

The presents were all little gestures really, made with love rather than pennies. But I think they were received well.

So. Here I am, off work sick (boo), forced by swollen tonsils to rest, read magazines, pin away on Pinterest, and gather myself together a little.

P.S. On Sunday I also attended Blognic, but more on that later

The town, the glass house... Jersey part two

2011-07-06T08:00:00.001+01:00

The days we spent on the beach were my favourite in Jersey. However, we also spent time visiting other places which were almost, almost as pleasurable.

We pootled around town, wondered in and out of bookshops, visited café’s, bistro’s and old pubs that sold local ale. Tea rooms, farm shops, a wonderful very old haberdashery; with old cabinets and high ceilings and that gentle slightly musty smell of old fabric. Lovely old fashioned staff too, it was like stepping back to Victorian Jersey. Garden centres with wonky, wooden glass houses; Rays dress was camouflaged against the flowers. Afterwards, pottering around the garden planting the flowers and plants we had chosen, (I’m now unable to recall a single variety!) then stepping back to admire our work.

Cereal in the garden on most days, reading for hours at a time on the sun loungers, happily nodding off for an hour or two. Slow cooked Jersey Bean Crock at my misters aunties house; hearty, surprisingly delicious. Fresh crab sandwiches at the beach shack, and on our last night, fresh lobster and white wine at a restaurant right on the sea front. I was schooled in lobster eating etiquette, and we were surprised to see fireworks over the bay- a farewell gift from the island just for us (or so I like to think…)

And now I’m back. Despite the backache from the airbed (my arch-enemy), despite the patches of sunburn, I feel tanned and totally rested; It feels as as though I absorbed enough sun to last a while; almost like it's still in my skin, and I plan to hold it there for as long as possible.

The beach, the sea...Jersey part one.

2011-07-04T13:29:00.000+01:00

I just got back from a sunny weeks holiday in Jersey. My mister and I were there with Ray and PD and my misters family.

I didn't expect it, so when the sunshine came, and stayed, it floored me. I'd forgotten the feeling of the sun touching your skin, glowing behind your eyelids and gradually warming your bones. It was glorious.

I happily wore the same clothes for days, lost patience with my make up bag, and sported increasingly chipped nail varnish. The cry of a sea gull was never far away, and my longing for the beach was well and truly satisfied. I began most days with a run along the sand, bidding the sea a 'good day' under my breath each morning. We went for strolls along the seafront, ate at restaurants overlooking the bay and cavorted like children on sandy beaches (I impressed myself by still being able to do handstands and cartwheels); We frequented a number of beach shacks too, my favourite being 'Mad Mary's' where we ate Jersey crab butties and devoured cones filled with Jersey Dairy ice cream.

On our last day, as my mister fished from the end of the harbour, I stole away to swim in the sea. Breathtakingly cold at first, my body soon accustomed, and the clear sea eventually felt gorgeous against my skin, warm even. After swimming a few laps of the cove, I stretched out to dry on a warm flat rock afterwards. The sea gulls were calling, the sea lapped by my side and the blue sky stretched out above me. My muscles were warm and relaxed, my mind calm and clear, spirit soothed. The sea was pure medicine. Later, after showering and liberally applying after-sun to our red bits (ouchie) we barbecued the mackerel that my mister caught that day. So fresh and delicious.

Mmmmm

Beach bum

Sandy trainers

The view from Mad Mary's

The lady herself...

The beach!

My mister fishing

Cove

Ray

Fresh fish on the barbecue

In bed the night after the fishing, the swimming, the warm flat rock, I realised that I have no choice; one day I must, must, live by the sea; in house or caravan, evn if its not till i'm in my eighties. One day.

I hope you all had a lovely week. Enjoyed the sunshine I hope?

Mending/ altering...

2011-06-27T08:00:00.013+01:00

I've been on a mending spree recently. I have an embarrassingly large pile of 'clothes to alter/mend' and due to dwindling funds and the recent crap weather, I found myself with some time in which to mend them. (Not yesterday, of course. I spent most of it outside turning pink along with the rest of London. Lovely) div>

I bought the top half of a wedding dress at a local fayre recently for £5. I loved the lace and the slightly flared sleeves, but didn't have much of an occasion to wear it having got hitched almost 6 years ago (6 years! Yikes)

So I turned it round and decided to make it into a little lace jacket. I had to adjust the neckline as it sat too high on my neck. To do this, I carefully unpicked the lace around the collar, folded over the fabric to lower the neckline, and then stitched it all back together. I also added a little popper to the top.

And voila! A lovely lace jacket that can be worn over pretty much anything, can be dressed up or down, and provides a tiny bit more warmth for summer evenings.

Poser. Jeans- Monkee jeans, vest American Apparel bought about 6 years ago. Its falling apart but I refuse to part with it.

Next; a skirt that has been sat in my 'to mend' pile for 5 years. I kid you not- 5 years. I bought this original 1950's skirt for 50p from a local junk market, but the zip broke a year after buying it. My mister helped me to unstitch and re-zip the zip on to its runners; this took a surprisingly long time. I also had to replace the button and fix a few little rips. A hot wash and a quick press later, and this skirt finds itself back on top of the 'Hannah's favourite item of clothing' charts.

Hm, I obviously didn't press for long enough!

The fixed button and zip

I also fixed three of my misters jumpers. All had increasingly conspicuous holes in the sleeves and/or arm pits (I'm not sure how he does it?!) so I machine stitched them all back together using a zig zag stitch (so there is some stretch). Cue happy hubs. I made myself some denim cut off shorts which took me all of 3 minutes- lop the bottoms off some old jeans and turn up the ends, and I am half way through turning a vintage dress into a skirt. The fabric on the top half of the dress has become too thin, fragile and full of rips but the skirt is fine.

If you have a similar pile I'd highly recommend you re-visit it. I have three and a half new items of clothing for free. Hurray!

Take me to the beach...

2011-06-25T14:04:00.002+01:00

Specifically- to this delightful shack. Cheers.

Turnkey Locations. Via Laura's Pinterest

House Porn....

Ethical Festival Fashion: Grazia

2011-06-24T19:41:00.000+01:00

Today my first article for Grazia went up on the site, which is super super exciting. It's about Ethical Festival Fashion and you can see it here.

In honour of the article, I also pulled together some choice festival pieces from some of my favourite ethical retailers below.

I've had a mentally busy week so will mostly be eating, vegetating and hunkering down this weekend.

For now though; A glass of cold white wine and some home made pizza at the table with my hubs....yum.

Happiest of Friday's to you.

Ethical Festival Fashion by Hannah Bullivant

FAIR true cocktail dress
£85 - fashion-conscience.com

Lalesso cotton dress
£63 - fashion-conscience.com

ReLuxe floral print dress
£90 - fashion-conscience.com

FAIR true long skirt
£49 - fashion-conscience.com

A line skirt
£48 - peopletree.co.uk

Belle & Dean Organic Skinny Ribbed Vest
£12 - fashion-conscience.com

FAIR true elastic waist skirt
£39 - fashion-conscience.com

FAIR+true cotton pants
£85 - fashion-conscience.com

ReLuxe christmas socks
£18 - fashion-conscience.com

ReLuxe checkered shorts
£32 - fashion-conscience.com

Beach bikini
£69 - fashion-conscience.com

Lalesso flat shoes
£30 - fashion-conscience.com

Aura Que summer handbag
£29 - fashion-conscience.com

Lalesso red coral jewelry
£54 - fashion-conscience.com

ReLuxe silk scarve
£49 - fashion-conscience.com

Livity High Grade Organic Fedora
£32 - fashion-conscience.com

Picnic, pizza, polaroids

2011-06-21T08:30:00.003+01:00

On Sunday, a group of us braved the unpredictable weather we've been experiencing of late, and set off for a picnic on Farthing Downs in the heady reaches of zone 6. I was again shocked at the feeling of wide green open space in London. Shady tree lined paths opened out on to rolling green fields and steep wooded valleys.

It was in part to wish farewell to a certain Mrs Dreaming of an Aga and family, who are moving one step closer to their aga (sob sob).

We made home made mushroom, sun dried tomato and caper pizza's, and cranberry and almond flapjacks, which we packed into rucksacks along with our waterproofs, sunglasses, blankets and umbrella's (prepared for every eventuality)

Once there dark clouds loomed, then passed quickly to reveal patches of blue sky and sunshine. We stretched out in the sun, and dived underneath the umbrella's, alternately throughout the afternoon. We sprawled on picnic blankets, ate delicious picnic food, took turns playing with my amazing God daughter, walked through 'Happy Valley', and ended up in a beer garden. A brilliant day.

Note the looming clouds...

And then the rain...

Florence and her strawbs!

Modelling our cagouls!

Evidence that the sun did show itself, albeit momentarily...

It was lovely, despite the pangs of melancholy that struck when I thought about our friends moving away. In typical English weather style, we got a little wet, a little windswept and a little sunburned all in one afternoon.

This summer, I refuse to let the weather ruin my mood, as it has done in previous years. So after pretending it was summer over the weekend, I have spent the following few days in jeans, and coats, eating roasted vegetables, soup and porridge, lighting the candles and crocheting. And actually sort of enjoying it.

We used a 'Polaroid Spectra System' with some out-of-date wide screen format film.

Fathers Day

2011-06-19T20:54:00.000+01:00

Me and Dad circa 87. Check out that jumper and glasses!

My Fathers day card

Happy Fathers Day Dad!

Thanks for being my confidante, cheerleader, and one of my best friends. Sorry my card is late, but there's a comfort in predictability, I find...

Love Hannah.