The kale I grew from seed is going strong, and is one of the few things that has survived the cold. All good kale recipe suggestions are welcomed. My cauliflowers are still doing okay too, but have some way to go before they’ll be dinner.

Big Ginger here was watching me. Just chilling in a hidden pot. Too shy to come over for a pat, but happy to pose for a photo. I hope he found somewhere warm to hide before the snow came.

This is a forgotten frozen beetroot. Planted last summer, it never made it to the salad bowl as it grew too slowly. Poor old beet.

I’m looking forward to rediscovering my green thumbs from underneath my mittens. I’m planning on planting beans, more beets and loads more. I’m also making it my mission to fill the dozens of empty pots that came with the garden. It’s the first time I’ve lived in a flat with a proper garden since moving to London, and I’m so looking forward to transforming what was a completely Blackberry strangled jungle to my own green sanctuary.

Note: if you’re wondering why the colours in this post are so whack, it was that weird light before snow came, and I’ve been playing around with Lightroom for a bit of fun.

I don’t really dig Valentines Day, I’m far too cynical. For too many years in my teens I watched my big brother struggle in the door laden with roses and cuddly toys from his admirers (bleugh), and my mother working long hours at a florist. Flowers and chocolates are for every day, not just for Valentines Day people! But this year I’ve decided that instead of going around in a strop, I’m going to treat today as a good excuse to:

1. Wear my favourite red lipstick, Chanel Lune Rousse

2. Drink more than one glass of red from here with the Mr, ( we’d probably be doing that anyway)

3. Wear my favourite red velvet dress.

Not too much for the office right?

4. Wear heart print tights and glittery hearts from Giant Dwarf in my hair

5. Make the Mr chocolate brownies, complete with a sprinkling of red edible glitter

6. Listen to Leonard Cohen’s new album Old Ideas. And to this brilliant cover of ‘So Long Marianne’ by Bill Callahan

7. Avoid the television, especially Don’t tell the Bride and Take Me Out. My two guilty pleasures

8. Buy myself some new perfume so I can indeed smell like red roses, even if I’m not carrying a great big bunch home

9. Eat big red juicy tomatoes from Broadway Market

10. Give the Mr a little card, because they do say that all us cynics, are secretly romantics at heart.

More denials of romance on Pinterest here.

My big sister and I spent a few glorious days, back in 2009, staying in a very cool apartment in Montmartre. It was my second time in Paris, and my sister’s hundredth (slight exaggeration). This is me looking sulky and tired (suffering after getting up stupid o’clock early to catch the Eurostar).

I think I spent almost as much time gazing out those windows as we did beating the streets.

I can’t wait to go back again. It’s silly that I’ve only been twice, and yet it’s so easy to get to with the Eurostar.

Mr and I are in desperate need of a holiday, having not left the UK since our epic trip last year. Our Eurostar tickets are paid for, an apartment is booked, and now I’m dreaming up new places in Paris to visit. So far on my list are:

• the gardens at the Musee Rodin
• Comptoir de l’Image, the bookshop as seen on The Satorialist
• Catherine B’s vintage emporium, Les Trois Marches after reading about it on A Girl, A Style
• Le Arts Decoratifs to see the Louis Vuitton Marc Jacobs exhibition, which opens the weekend we are there.

And then there are oh-so-many places to revisit:

• Musee de l’Orangerie
• the markets
• the streets of Monmarte
• the cute little kitchen shops where I nearly bought an absinthe spoon, but didn’t
• the magnificant Musee d’Orsay
• and the list goes on…

What are your favourite places to visit in Paris? Where are the best secret spots? I’d love to hear your suggestions.

Image 1. by me, 2. & 3. by Sarah.

p.s. You can see my Paris Pinterest board here.

I love snow in the way only someone born in a sunny and humid climate can. I spent most of Saturday looking out the window anxiously, in the manner of a host waiting for an expected guest to arrive for a dinner party.

{I took this from my kitchen window on Saturday night – that’s how excited I was. You get the idea.}

Don’t get me wrong, I’m really not keen on the cold months. But if there is fluffy, or even sludgy, white stuff on the ground, the cold endless grey of London’s Winter doesn’t seem quite so bad.

Hello Mr Snowman.

There’s the Mr at London Fields, clearly not dressed for the cold. No hat, no  gloves, and slip sliding around in his desert boots. I’m just as bad with the shoes, each year when it snows I have a total footwear dilemma.

It has been a very mild Winter so far, and I had convinced myself it would be Spring in no time. Judging by the weather forecast, I think it may be time to fork out for some Hunters…

There really is nothing better on a snowy day than a brisk walk, a trip to the pub with friends, and a snowball fight.

x C

But then again, maybe it’s just me. Cake. I love cake. I think I like baking cakes even more than I like eating them. Now that the other half and I live on our own I have more space to bake. Away from the busy kitchen of my previous flat, filled with gin-drinking and wine-drinking, chatting, fabulous girls. Cakes are being baked far more frequently. I have space for several types of flour. And sugars. My Kitchenaid mixer is not packed away in its box and now has a permanent spot on the bench. Baking is good for the soul (if not so good for the hips).

It’s not even the taste that does it for me (don’t get me wrong I’ll always have at least one slice) – it’s the visual feast of cakes that I enjoy the most. Icing, berries, cream, little people toppers, mini bunting and then flowers on top. And cake plates and cake stands (which I don’t love as much as my sister but I still have more than I need). Then there’s cake forks and cake tins… I won’t go on. You see, I just really like cakes.

My old friends Louise and Dan got hitched at the end of last year in a lovely low key ceremony at Islington Town Hall. Guess who had volunteered to bake the wedding cake? Yip, me. (I took care of hair flowers and button holes too but that’s for another day).

I didn’t want a structured, iced to strict perfection wedding cakes like these. No, I like cakes to look baked, and although it sounds cheesey, that they have been baked with love. Not carved from polystyrene.

It was a very busy week and I hadn’t had enough time for a trial run. To make matters more complicated, several of the guests (and my best buddies) are vegan. So no cream, eggs or butter could be included. I’ve made quite a few vegan cakes before, but I wanted something special. Then I was told about this recipe for Raspberry Blackout cake. I adapted it slightly and baked it in two different circular cake tins so I could create tiers. The final touch was just lashings of vanilla icing and fresh raspberries.

That’s me above putting on the finishing touches at their house after transporting it in pieces by taxi. Topped off with baby bunting I made earlier. And I’m pretty pleased to say not even crumb was left the next day.

Image 1: Sweet Dee Design on Etsy
Image 2 & 4 by Luke
Image 3, iPhone pic by me.

Despite the chill, I’ve been keeping myself motived to walk the four miles to work in the morning by trying out my new Christmas camera on the way, snapping whatever catches my eye and hopefully walking off the winter waistline in the process.

Everyday I walk past Violet cakes with a heavy heart, knowing that I can’t just pop in for coffee and a slice of ginger and molasses cake (truly the best cake I have ever eaten and yes I would have it for breakfast). But how cosy does the little cafe look in this pic? Definitely worth a visit if you are in the area.

This yellow beauty caught my eye as the ticket inspector checked its frosty windscreen. It’s such a daffodil yellow, and looks so cheerful (even with a thick layer of ice covering it).

I’m trying to take a couple of pics each morning, as I don’t have much time to spare (no time for dawdling otherwise I, a. get cold and b. am late to work). I’ll try and share them on here. I really appreciate the morning walk – it’s better than sitting on a crowded bus, surrounded by commuters, with coughs and runny noses, talking loudly on their mobile phones.

Fingers crossed I’ll get to take some snowy pics before this cold snap passes!

xxx C

1. Eating cake and buying ribbons at the lovely Ray Stitch on Essex Road. I really need to find a permanent home for my sewing machine.

2. Reading about the gorgeous Alexa, while in bed with a cold.

3. Listening to this guy, after seeing him play a smashing show at the Hackney Empire last Wednesday. (Sorry about the rubbish iPhone pic – it was dark).

4. This is Mr Ukulele’s bike. I’m spending my days looking at lady bike’s on eBay, and hoping the perfect one will crop up just for me. It’s time I replaced my old one.

5. Eating fancy mushrooms from Sporeboys at Broadway market. Reading and making yummy stews and soups my Christmas present cookbooks, this and this.

6. Loving our new old writing bureau. It was old and scummy when we bought it from a nearby charity shop. It looks much better with several licks of paint. It’s nice to have another place to sit as sometimes we’re fighting for desk space. And it doubles as drawers in the bedroom, which we had been annoyingly living without.

7. And which also doubles a sort-of dressing table for my pretty things. I’ll share a before and after of the bureau on here soon.

8. Dreaming of drinking Blood Orange Gin Sparklers in my garden, when Spring has sprung.

9. Being addicted to Instagram. Completely, utterly addicted actually.  You can find me by looking for @theteapotexplodes.

10. And finally planning a city break to Paris in March. The Eurostar is super cheap this month and it’s a couple of years (far far too long) since I last went to the city of Serge Gainsbourg and Chanel. This was a tea party my sister and I had at the apartment we stayed in on my last visit. I’ve been looking up new places to go, away from the usual tourist trappings – any suggestions?

xxx

Pics all by me, except 4. by Luke and 8. from 101 Cookbooks.

Aside from that, it’s only taken nearly two months since moving in to get the internets sorted as the previous sods who lived here didn’t pay their bills. But nothing to whinge about, our new flat rules so I thought I’d share a few pics now we’ve rediscovered all our stuff that has been hiding in boxes…

The smallest tambourine

China and books are battling for shelf space

The ukes all lined up

Much wine has been drunk whilst unpacking and arranging

We've even managed to clear the garden and grow some greens

Finding homes for all our things

There have been moments where I’ve felt like I’m drowning in a sea of forms over the last few months but hopefully, it’ll all be worth it. And as for the new job, it’s pretty good, incredibly busy and the people are great. That and apparently I’m a much nicer person now I don’t commute and get up at stupid-o’clock everyday. It’s amazing what an extra couple of hours of sleep does for your relationship/complexion/disposition.  How do you cope with moving/changing jobs and times of endless chaos?

Photo: ASOS

ASOS have just added a few new frocks (want them all) to their Salon collection which launched earlier in the year.  And I have a bit of thing for brown floral at the moment and recently wore a Liberty lawn-esque (not sure if it actually is or not) dress of my mother’s from the 70′s to a wedding recently. The pussy bow and knee-length style is still just as fabulous as it was when she wore.  Thanks mum for keeping your dresses!

This is a sneak peek of one of the walls in my bedroom. One of the mister’s ukulele’s from his ever-growing collection. A trio of owls made of milk glass from a vintage shop in Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco. A felt mermaid from Titirangi market in Auckland, NZ.  I made some display hoops for my collection of brooches and earrings from Liberty fabric and embroidery hoops. I like owls.

Photo by Luke.