A Vintage New Year

We are now well and truly settled into our new house but that doesn't mean the vintage bargain hunting is over. Oh no. Over the New Year we were in Kent, one of my favourite bargain hunting locations, and the site of a second hand homeware shop that always has me mentally rearranging my furniture at home to see if I can fit the really cute piece I've spotted. This year I came home with this, which was cruelly dismissed by my father in law as 'something you would keep old spanners in' but I LOVE it.

 

There are still some bits and pieces at home that we need that I am determined to wait it out for until I spot it second hand. We really need a shoe rack, but as I've seen how much better my second hand finds look in the house I am determined to find a unique one somewhere. There's something about that that really does build patience. Like when you were a kid and you had to save up your pocket money for months for the item you wanted. You just appreciate it more somehow. It might sound a bit sad but I get genuine enjoyment from walking around my house and thinking about where I got certain items, how I spruced them up and gave them new life or who owned them before me.

The other joy of vintage and having carefully selected beautiful pieces at home is that it encourages you to take time. Rather than gulping down a cup of tea from a Matalan mug you are pouring from a 1950s tea pot into tea cups you found in your grannies loft. That automatically makes you sit back and relax a bit. The same goes for entertaining. Any evening is special when a vintage table cloth is rolled out, a cake baked and some unique touches added to the table setting with old glassware or plates.

Perhaps it seems superficial but after all this is the stuff our days are made with. Getting up, having breakfast, eating with friends and family, wandering about our homes. Why shouldn't it be beautiful? Why shouldn't it be an atmosphere that reminds you of how you want to live your life, with appreciation and open hospitality? There is nothing superficial in that! And all the better when the items you choose are saved from the tip or made by your own fair hands.

So here's to a creative and beautiful 2013. Happy new year lovely readers.

Top ten holiday activities

I've now officially finished for the Christmas holidays. However, a combination of the intensive pace of the term and an ever present sense of guilt floating about my person that I should really be studying Greek is making it hard to unwind. I know I really need some time off for my brain to recover but sitting and willing it to stop whirring isn't doing the trick. So I thought what better way to focus my attention on some serious relaxing and recuperation but to get it down in writing. Faithful blog readers, be my witness! I will slow down this Christmas!

And so here are my top ten activities I will do this holiday to break the pace and feel the peace, man!

1. Lose track of time in a coffee shop
   I haven't done this for months. Every moment is accounted for. Even a half an hour slot is seriously valuable so I haven't been able to sit and let time float by without worrying.
2. Get my vintage on
   A morning browsing the charity shops (there is a serious set of amazing ones just down the road from me now. It's brill!) is just what I've been craving.
3. Bake
   The Christmas cake is done but there are plenty more on the must bake list. Next up, orange and cranberry breakfast muffins. Yum.
4. Sew something
   Is there anything as restorative as an afternoon behind the sewing machine? There are a pile of gorgeous fabrics waiting to be transformed. I'm thinking a patchwork embroidered cushion might be in the offing.
5. Devote myself to a box set
   This Christmas it is The Vampire Diaries. Yes I am a teenager very poorly disguised in a twenty something body!
6. Wander round the shops
   It's Christmas shopping season, need I any more excuse than that?
7. Tis the season to be glittery
   Nail painting, long baths, a hair cut has been long needed. Bliss.
8. Friends and Family
   Staying up late chatting, lunch dates, feet up and eating a lot of cake. I can't wait to see them all!
9. Read a good book
   Does this need saying – NON THEOLOGICAL!!
10. Go out for dinner to a place that requires me to wear my new bright yellow heels
    Yes, this one is rather specific. But these poor beauties haven't seen the light of day yet and it is a tragedy!

To keep me on the straight and narrow I shall keep you updated on my antics. What are you doing this season for a little R&R?

Things are about to get yummy

A big cupcakey hint about my new blog.....!

Blog friends! I have launched a new blog! Dum da da dum! (That was supposed to be some kind of fanfare, go with it.) I remember when I began this blog over a year and a bit ago that I was welcomed into the blogging world with great enthusiasm, which I very much appreciated. This has been my own little space for ranting about hedges and the like and I've met some lovely people through the comments that have been left for me. So never fear, this blog shall continue, nay it shall go from strength to strength!

My new blog, however, is on a different theme. I am branching out in my writing into a number of different avenues, one of which is feature writing. I'm part way through a course with the London School of Journalism and it was while writing an assignment for them that I decided I wanted to do some food writing as this is one of my favourite past times. So rather than bore you all here with information about grazing and cupcake-making I thought I would dedicate a whole new blog to these antics. So allow me to present to you...

Sugar roses and tea for two!

As the name suggests there will a lot of talk about tea and baking (naturally) and all sorts of other home-made fare. I'm not setting myself up as the next Jamie Oliver (urg, who would?!) but I am looking forward to sharing hints, tips and fun things I have discovered in my culinary adventuring.

I hope to see you there!