I’m not a big one for going overboard on seasonal decorating, except at Christmas when all taste and restraint goes out the window and every space is filled, but I do like having some areas of the home that change to display the season. I love decorating my fireplace, for example, and there’s a slate cake display that I find irresistible to fill with candles, … Continue reading September Small Things Day 3: Autumn Colour
Have I ever told you that I am one eighth Welsh? My maternal great-grandmother was Welsh, from near Buckley or Hawarden. Her name was Gertrude Thomas, and she seems to have been a bit of a dour woman, from my Mum’s accounts. I can’t exactly blame her: her husband was injured in World War I, her son was killed in World War II and by … Continue reading In Wales, it’s Eight Different Weathers in a Day: Part One
Change your space, transform your life. I like bold assertions and claims by books. This Book Will Change Your Life Forever has a nice ring about it… and then you read it, and realise that possibly it could… if you had the money to do everything it’s telling you to, or an army of servants to take over mundane tasks or even just space and … Continue reading Book Friday: Happy Starts at Home by Rebecca West.
What a strange few weeks it has been! I’m finally getting past my crazy cough that stopped me from fully participating in my Canterbury holiday. It’s not until now, when my energy is making a full return, that I realise how tired I really was, and how much I *may* have let slip by because of it. And now we’re in the last week of … Continue reading Creating Sanctuary: Summer Rescue Remedies
I reallly do appreciate how sometimes a load of different interests or philosophies of a person can intersect to create something wholly personal, intensely suited to them. A neat-freak, tech-obsessed minimalist, for example, whose dream home is a white box flat in a neat, square glass-coated tower block will have a clear, clean, virtual-living focused home, while a gardener in love with organic, natural living … Continue reading Book Friday: The New Mindful Home (and how to make it yours) by Joanna Thornhill
A few weeks ago, I signed up for an art class that a friend had advertised… she was running it on a Tuesday night in a local gallery/social hub, Smithdown Social Arts Hub. It’s a short course, involving using inks, pastels, pens, paint, it was free to attend…. and it intrigued me. I draw and I have painted for fun, but I’ve never been brave … Continue reading Creating Flow… finding craft hygge in a circle.
What a great title that is: who wouldn’t want a cottage that is both natural and cozy? The subtitle is “100 styling ideas to create a warm and welcoming home” which is just as good. I have already reviewed one of Christiane Bellstedt Myers’ books, the beautiful Scandi Christmas from 2017, and you can read that review here. Somehow, I seem to have missed reviewing … Continue reading Book Friday: The Natural Cozy Cottage by Christiane Bellstedt Myers
I love driving: it’s a very useful skill, and I have been fortunate enough not to be without a car since I passed my test in the first year at college. Since 1987, then. And, for the most part, the cars I’ve had have been well-loved, cared for and kept until really their usefulness is outweighed by the cost of keeping them on the road. … Continue reading Creating Sanctuary: A Mobile Oasis in the Car
How to Hygge the British Way 