If you’re a minimalist and enjoy stark empty spaces, you may want to look away. If you love beautiful bits and pieces please read on. Here’s a peek at the incredible Victorian B&B at St Leonards on Sea, East Sussex that I had the pleasure of staying at recently.
I really don’t know where to start with the absoutle amazingness of it all…
x C
P.S. You can find me over on the very lovely This is Your Kingdom today, writing about Violet cakes.
Posted in Lifestyle, Places to visit, Travel, Vintage
Tagged East Sussex, seaside, staycation, Victorian, Victoriana
It’s my birthday on Monday. I’ll have an Isabel Marant Marion printed dress please. A delicate pink and black print, sexy keyhole and oh such a perfect shape.
Image from on Matches.com
Posted in Besotted with, Fabulous frocks, Frock Friday, Lovely things
Tagged dress, fashion, Isabel Marant
For once the photographer is on the other side of the lense, snapped while changing a film.
Taken at Fernandez & Wells, Somerset House.
Bluebells, you take my breath away with your spectacular spring show. A scene like this is the stuff of fairy tales.
Did you know you can find your nearest bluebell walk online? We’re off to Wales this Bank Holiday weekend to visit the other half’s family and I’m hoping they can be persuaded to go bluebell hunting with me. It’s coming towards the end of bluebell season but I’ve heard they’re late this year so fingers crossed we’ll find some.
These photos were taken in 2011 by Luke in the woods at Aberglasney. It’s truly quite spectacular and well worth a visit.
Posted in Floral fantasy, Green thumbs, Places to visit, Travel
Tagged Aberglasney, bluebells, bulbs, carmathenshire, gardens, spring, spring bulbs, Wales, woodland trust, woods
Jaeger is a brand I’d never paid the slightest bit of attention to. Until I spied this little frock on ASOS. Hello my pretty.
Silk, black and lovely 1/2 sleeves. And you can get 20 percent off Jaeger on their website or in store with InStyle this month, making the £170 price tag a little less eye-watering.
x
P.S An awesome cat gif. Just because it’s Friday.
Posted in Besotted with, Fabulous frocks, Frock Friday, London
Tagged frock friday, Jaeger, ladybird dress, silk dress
At Easter I was rummaging around in my photo files when I came across these lovely candy coloured cottages in Tenby. We visited the lovely Welsh seaside town with the other half’s family in Easter last year and I’d never gotten around to posting any photos (despite the best intentions). The pastel shades make me want to paint my nails the colour of candy floss. I also now want to live in a pale pink cottage.
An island perfect for smugglers and the Famous Five.
The Spinning Wheel.
Where is my Lemon Sorbet nail polish?
Posted in Places to visit, Rambles, Travel
Tagged beauty, candy floss, cottages in tenby, nail polish, pastel shades, pastels, seaside, Tenby, Wales
I can’t stop thinking about this dress. Daydreaming about the flowing emerald green silk.
Green silk dress – See by Chloe.
At full price for more than £500 it was completely out of my price range, and very much just a daydream. At £245 it’s still out of my price range, but I keep trying to convince myself it’s doable. Maybe it’s the dress of my life. Maybe it’s the one. Maybe there’ll never be another dress for me.
There are very few lovely green dresses out there. For all the lovely dresses in the wonderful world of internet shopping, very few of them are green.
Le sigh. Cost per wear right?
Posted in Besotted with, Fabulous frocks, Lovely things
Tagged dresses, See by Chloe, wedding outfits
I’ve been going back to my roots lately. I learned to bake from a mixture of my mother and grandmother’s recipes, and recipes from New Zealand’s iconic Edmonds cookery book. This walnut and coffee cake is without a doubt one of my favourites from the flour company’s book (with the motto ‘Sure to rise’).
Within months of first moving to London I was on the phone to home asking for a copy of the book to be posted to me. I still go back to it when my shelves of other cook books fail to inspire me, or if I’m feeling a bit homesick. I tweak this cake recipe a bit, espresso rather instant coffee, and use a little rapeseed or sunflower oil instead of butter and throw walnuts into the mixture. It’s the perfect cake to bake on a Sunday.
Coffee and walnut cake (adapted from Edmonds cookery book)
2 tablespoons strong espresso
1/3 cup of oil (sunflower or rapeseed)
3/4 cup brown sugar
scrape of fresh vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
3 eggs separated
1 cup plain flour
3 tablespoons cornflour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons milk or soy/rice milk
Walnuts
Coffee icing (icing sugar, butter or alternative, espresso)
1. Make your espresso and set aside to cool.
2. Cream butter, sugar, coffee mixture and vanilla until light and fluffy.
3. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
5. Sift flour, cornflour and baking powder together.
6. Add sifted ingredients to creamed mixture alternately with the egg whites.
7. Stir in milk and walnuts.
8. Pour cake mixture into two greased and lined 20 cm sponge sandwich tins.
9. Bake at 190°C for 20-25 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched.
10. Leave in tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.
11. Fill and ice with Coffee Icing. Decorate with walnut pieces if desired.
x C
P.S. Where I find cake inspiration
Posted in Bits & pieces, Food, Lovely things, Sunday bake-off, Things I've made, Thrifting
Tagged Baking, Cake, food, New Zealand, walnuts
This snowglobe print by Clare Owen pretty much sums up the last few days in London. It really is a bit like being shaken up in a snow globe when you’re trekking around trying not end up on your bum in a pile of ice or sludge. But I can’t complain. London all white is the stuff of dreams and film sets. Just lovely.
The print is 50% off in the Papermash sale at the moment along with lots of other lovely stuff.
Image: Papermash.
x C
Posted in Bits & pieces, London, Lovely things
Tagged art, London, London in the snow, print, snow
Meet my very festive bat. He flew in from Elphicks on Columbia Road. He decided mid-November to hang around this spot in my living room. I don’t think he’ll be leaving any time soon.
I took a break from blogging during the second half of 2012 to focus on other things. But I’ve really missed it. So here I am. Sometimes all it takes is a bit of snow to put your priorities in order.
I can’t wait to see where 2013 takes me.
x
Posted in Bits & pieces
Tagged 2013, bat, Blogging, Columbia Road flower market, elphicks, travel
