Bloomin' Monday

Hello and a happy welcome to the start of a new week. I hope you had a lovely weekend. We've been looking into some suppliers for our garden, (more on this later in the week!) finally booking a holiday (woop!) and enjoying some time with family. This week is set to be a busy one but a fun one for me. What are your plans?

Beautiful blooming peonies on our kitchen table

I thought I'd help ease into the week with some of my recent favourite blog posts from the wonderful world of the internet. 

This Victorian-inspired HOME on Rock My Style
A delicious looking lentil and sweet potato SALAD from Dania Trapani
All black FASHION inspiration from Lizzy at Shot From The Street
Making the perfect G&T with Miss Pond

Claire x 

Mayday

I know that we're already a whole week into May but my laptop has recently been throwing a wobbler, making it nigh on impossible to blog. Apologies! May is currently choc-full of things to do and people to see. I do hope I get chance to get back on the blogging wagon because I really am missing it.

Sunday was my birthday and I had a wonderful time celebrating throughout the whole of the bank holiday weekend. I ate, I drank and I ate and I drank. A lot. It was a great weekend all round. 

I managed to snap this photo of some glorious blossom before the weather in Manchester turned nasty. I know it's a total blogger cliché but I LOVE blossom. It makes me so happy to see it in full bloom. So much so, that I made my husband stop the car so that I could take this picture. 

Claire x

PS. Happy voting!

Loving Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus has been taking the home interiors world by storm for a while now. It's stunningly delicate green/silver leaves and warming fragrance has made it a strong favourite for many interiors-obsessed folk. I recently picked up a few stems at a local florist. Here's how I styled them in my bedroom:

Eucalyptus in the home

Eucalyptus branches add interest and height to any area

I've been thinking how much easier it would be if I could pop out to my garden, instead of the florist, each time I wanted to bring some of the eucalyptus trend inside my home. Imagine having your own eucalyptus plant just outside your back door. I want in! My initial research on the Royal Horticultural Society website seems promising if a little challenging but I'm willing to give it a try. 

There are lots of different varieties so I'm going to speak to my local garden centre to make sure that I select the right one. Once the garden has had it's makeover and the eucalyptus plant is in-situ, I'll be sure to share the outcome with you. 

Claire x

March Is Here

Yesterday we said a big 'Hello!' to March. I welcomed the start of the new month with pancakes for brunch and an hour or so tidying up the garden. It's so pleasing to see the little daffodil bulbs poking their way through the soil and discarded leaves. Spring is just around the corner and I cannot wait. 

I've collected several of my favourite blog posts from the past month. If you're in need of an inspiration boost then why not have a peruse:

Maps for ART on Chapter Friday
Comfort FOOD with Cupcakes and Cashmere 
A DIY pom pom wall hanging with A Beautiful Mess
Inspiration to ESCAPE the daily grid for Småland from Yvestown 

Claire x

Favourite Glassware To Fill With Flowers

At this time of year the majority of people are looking forward to spring and would quite happily say goodbye to winter. I definitely fall into this category of people. I love getting all bundled up for the colder months, and yes, the snow does look delightful for all of two minutes but I want Spring to hurry up and be sprung. 

My biggest tip for those feeling the winter blues is to adorn your house with as many flowers as possible. They're my weekly treat and I love to arrange them in any vessel I can get my hands on. I currently cannot stop pinning new floral arrangements to my Blooms Pinterest board. There are still quite a few homeware sales on so I've rounded up my favourite five glassware items, all perfect for holding either a whole bunch of flowers or a carefully selected sprig. 

Rose & Grey £2.95

Homebase £8.99

House-Envy £10.20

H&M £7

Zara Home £2.99

One particular idea that caught my attention was shared by Emma, on her blog A Quiet Style. She uses bulbs next to blooms in glass jars to create a very interesting display. It's simple yet so stylish. 

A Quiet Style

How are you combating these harsh winter months? Do you have any tips on bringing Spring into your home early?

Claire x

One Pic Wednesday

Source

There's something about the English Summertime that transports me back to my childhood.  The infinitely long school holidays, complaining of boredom to our Mum on the rainy days but most of all being outside as much as possible.  As an adult I have restrictions that prevent me from living my outdoors-everyday dream, especially considering I work in an office block, but I want to enjoy our garden and outside space as much as possible whilst the sun keeps his hat on.  We're hoping to give it a little spruce up as extra encouragement. The above picture seems like a perfect spot to sit and reminisce.  We've got quite a few trees at the back of our little garden plot, perhaps we could add a swing?  

Thanks for stopping by!

Claire x

British Summertime

I am a little late publishing this post.  Anyway...

The British Isles had recently been blessed with a wonderful few weeks of sunshine.  (Yes, it is summer and this is what we should expect but the UK weather god tends to forget that part.)  Cue my husband and I deciding we would sort out our rectangle of mud  garden.  Pre-makeover, I was ashamed of it and banned family and friends from even looking at it, never mind actually going in it! 

(Ok, so the above is not my garden - but you get the picture)

The main reason for my embarrassment was that I had been trying to avoid investing any money in the garden because, in reality, we hardly ever got to use it.  However, a few days of sunshine soon got me thinking differently!  

Before - nasty broken paving slabs (and Bella saying 'hi')

First port of call was pinterest to get some ideas.  You can see my garden inspiration board on my account here.  Feel free to follow and I will happily follow back :-)

Luckily the OH has a work colleague who knows his stuff about decking and so the new patio area was soon built and looking lovely.  We also replaced the broken and battered fence panels with new.  

Decking in progress

Now, I am sure there are some women out there who can relate to this next part...my husband wanted a 'man shed'.  This was none-negotiable and so like a spaceship landing from another planet the new shed was erected in next to no time.  I wasn't quite expecting it to glow the orange hue that it currently does but apparently this will calm down over time (here's hoping!).  

Finished product - shed and all

Lovely lavender

Finally got to hang our honeymoon fish!

Our thriving bedding plants 

Rose plant - sorry I don't know it's name

So a few bedding plants later and there you have it. Our finished garden!  (for now)

CB

All photos are by me 

First post

Finally, I've sat down and sorted this first post out!  

I wanted to start this blog to make a record of the good things in my life.  So here I am...

I've been reading a selection of blogs for a while now, and so thought it's about time I put all the inspiration I've gleaned into something to call my own.  I want to share snippets of the things, people and places that bring joy to my life.  

I'm on a quest to find that thing in life that makes me tick.  The thing that makes me want to bounce out of bed in the morning.  The thing that I want to dedicate myself to (obviously not counting my husband, puppy and cat ;-).   Unfortunately, I am yet to realise this dream, where my job just so happens to be something that I love (so it can be a little difficult emerging from my duvet from time to time - especially on Mondays!)  I feel that in my current predicament I need to remind myself as often as possible of the good things I have going on.  The daily grind can get everyone down so I am going to attempt to fight it with posts full of pretty.  

Here we go...

First up, my fave flower.  I guess it's kind of an obvious one but I don't care.  Peonies are beautiful in all their forms, shapes and colours.  This particular perfect-looking specimen was purchased at Aldi, of all places.  

Stunning.  

Have a good day! 

CB