A couple of days in Southwell

Well I've finally managed to edit the photo's from last week Southwell adventure. Thank you to Lydia for a lovely few days. Despite hayfever issues it was such a relaxing place to be. Just looking at the photos again is making me feel nice and calm. Summer in the English countryside - what could be better?

How elegantly beautiful are these carved birds?

But rust can be beautiful too and it's all about the random!

I loved the way these boots looked sat by the front door. So homely. Speaking of which I think it's about time I tried to stay at home for more than two weeks together.

Flowers for a Friday

Today's flowers come from Southwell where I have been visiting one of my oldest friends. Her house is in a lovely countryside setting so there were plenty of beautiful flowers to be seen but here are a few of my favorites.

A weekend in pictures (with a little explanation)

I've had quite a creative and inspiring few days this weekend. The Etsy birthday party was great fun down at the Make Lounge. There were lots of crafty activities to chose from but we got a little bit addicted to the badge making (with a badge maker now quite high on my list of things I'd like to invest in). So many possibilities!

I found this pot in the local charity shop, a bargain at 75p. Havn't quite decided what I'm going to do with it yet but it reminds me of all the pots I loved at the holiday cottage in Cornwall. Plus I can't really say no to something with the word Tea on it!

I also fell in love with this chair but unfortunately despite also being quite a bargain I have neither the money or the space for it. I think it would look great next to some great big bookshelves.

Which leads on nicely to the bookbinding demonstration I attended at Kirkdale bookshop, part of the Sydenham Arts Festival. It was absolutely fascinating and definitely got me inspired to get on and make some more books and maybe even to take a course to learn how to do traditional leather binding. How cute is this mini leather book?

We even found time to do a bit of clothes shopping and my new shoes make me smile. Sometimes it the simple things!

Baking

I'm really looking forward to the Etsy Party this evening over at The Make Lounge and have been using it as a perfect excuse to do a bit of baking. Here's a little peak.

And of course I couldn't leave my boyfriend out so I saved a bit of mixture so we have a chocolate orange cake each to enjoy tomorrow.

Flowers for a Friday

As a fair skinned hayfever sufferer nature is not currently my best friend. Much as I'd like to get out there and enjoy the sunshine and scenery it's just not quite worth the burnt skin and puffy eyes that would be the result. So today I've been exploring the house for florals instead and as I live with an 88 year old there are plenty to be found. Here's just a small selection.

Borough Market

I love Borough Market. I only discovered it back in February but I now need little excuse to go back. The excuse this time was that Dad hadn't been there before and it was about lunch time.

It's all about fresh bread. Love it!

There was so much cheese to chose from.

We decided to share one of these cute little chavignol cheese's.

It may only be lunch time but it's hard to say no to some quality cider (just 1/2 a pint though)

Lunch is served. Simple but oh so good. There is of course a lot more to borough then bread and cheese but that's for the next visit.

Details of a Cornish Farmhouse

For the bank holiday (I know I'm a bit behind the time but its taken me awhile to get the photos sorted) I was lucky enough to escape to a lovely farmhouse near Liskeard. It was so beautiful and so homely, well worth braving the bank holiday traffic for! I seem to have become a bit addicted to the telephoto lens and this place provided me with plenty of details to focus in on. The owners actually live in the house when its not being rented and they seem to have gathered together an amazing collection of objects to decorate the house. I even found time to put the camera down and bake some scones in the aga. The only downside was having to leave on Monday morning : (

Flowers for a Friday

Well its looking a bit grey out there today so to brighten things up a little here are some photos I took whilst down in Liskeard for bank holiday. A little belated perphaps but better late than never!

The second two are of the lovely bunch of wild flowers the owner of the house left on the table for us. Along with the freshly baked cake also put out for us they were such a beautiful homely touch!

Fresh air and Beauty

I've been enjoying some refreashing country living down in Cornwall this last week. We started off spending bank holiday in a lovely farmhouse near Liskeard, the photos of which I shall be posting shortly. Then it was off to Penzance to visit the parents. These photos are from our little trip out to greenborough mine. I was having to borrow Dads camera which I am not at all used to but I'm quite pleased with some of the results.

These windswept trees symbolise west cornwall to me.

Carn Galver took on an almost volcanic quality as the mist rolled over it.

This is my favorite shot of the evening with the light perfectly framing the little buildings nestled on the hill.