How Do You Like Your Espresso in the Morning?

Presented in a cute and colourful espresso cup, of course! 

Well, actually I can't really drink espresso, as strong caffeine has been known to send me a little loopy. (Give me a cup of Yorkshire tea any day.) My husband, however, loves the stuff and now has a selection of suitably dinky espresso cups to choose from. He received them as a gift from my Mum for his recent birthday, and they are the perfect addition to our kitchen. Just look at them! They're from the House range at John Lewis, unfortunately I couldn't find them online but they have an equally as attractive Le Creuset set on offer at the moment. 

Are you team coffee or team tea?

Claire x

Garden Revamp 4.0

Back again with another small garden update. The concrete foundations have been laid and the wall is on its way up. Hurrah! It's really starting to take shape and I can get a better feel for the area I will eventually be filling with beautiful plants. 

We're currently two dense bricks deep and fingers crossed that the whole structure will be completed this week. (Let's just hope the weather predictions of heavy rain are incorrect.) We're very lucky that we've been able to borrow a lot of the bigger tools from friends and neighbours. Things like the cement mixer and angle grinder, it means that we don't have expensive deadlines if we take a little longer than if we'd have hired them. It is definitely worth asking around, you never really know what your friends have in their garages! 

Once the flower bed structure is up we will be looking at rendering the walls that I will eventually be painting a lovely dark grey colour. I want to jump to the finishing-touches phase but I must be patient. 

Claire x

Croatia Photo Diary

We've been home for over a week and slowly getting back into the swing of things at our respective workplaces. Our holiday provided the most perfect time to relax and unwind, so much so that it has taken me a little longer than usual to get my head back into gear. 

This holiday was very last minute for us but it turned out to be just what we wanted. Lots of time to chill out and dip into the beautiful Adriatic Sea, delicious food and drink, kind and friendly locals and hotel staff and stunning surroundings with the opportunity to explore as much or as little as we wanted. Ah, typing about it is sending me into a holiday dream-like daze. Anyway, I wanted to share a snippet of photographs from our time away in Croatia. I say 'snippet' but I'll let you be the judge of that after you've scrolled down for 10 minutes ;)

I love getting inspiration and a feel for someone else's holiday so I hope that you enjoy this post and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask away in the comments section below. 

Beautiful sandy beach with crystal clear waters

An afternoon wine tasting // A little blue boat bobbing along // Sunrise

Cute little boat and a gorgeous sunset

Koločep port by sunset

Palm trees & pink blooms // Green succulent-like bush //
A sweet cacti & succulent garden

Stradun in Dubrovnik Old Town by day

Bell tower in Dubrovnik monastery

Dubrovnik Old Town

Dubrovnik coastline

Stradun in Dubrovnik's Old Town by night

Locally caught fish (it's name sounded something like Loca) //
Black & white cuttlefish risotto // Tomato & mozzarella salad //
Sea bass // Bruschetta

Island life

Have you enjoyed your summer holiday yet or have you got one planned for the future? Where are you going or where have you been? Have you ever tried Croatia?

Claire x

Pinch, Punch

Good day to you, and welcome to July! 

We're over half way through the year, can you believe it? There's something that I want to be open and honest with you about and it's that I am currently dramatically failing at achieving any of my 'Home Goals' that I shared way back in January. Other things have stepped in and taken priority or we've just not had the time or funds. I'm certainly not going to beat myself up about it because I'm very happy in our home, however it may come, and that's what's important to me. 

Anyway, summer is apparently here and I am definitely a fan of the warmer months and really want to try and make the most of being outside. We've even got a last-minute getaway booked for my husband's 30th birthday to look forward to next week. I'm rather excited! 

I also wanted to let you know that I was back over on the Object blog the other day, if you fancy heading over for a quick read. I'm discussing decluttering techniques for a healthy house and mind. 

Have a happy hump day! :)

Claire x