It has been a manic few days, but good ones nontheless. This weekend was our 2nd anniversary of meeting, and thus becoming a couple. It seems like only yesterday we met, and fell in love. How time flies, it's a scary thought.
The beloved got an extra day off work and we went to Corbridge, not very far from where we live. We spent a lovely few hours ambling about old shops. It is rare that one can find a perfumery nowadays, but they do have that very thing (which could be smelled before it was seen)!
The hedge in the garden is now also much neater, and has gone from about 7 feet to around shoulder-height. The difference it has made is enormous.

At the moment i'm trying to get the house looking better, and feeling cleaner. I washed all of the covers from the sofa at the weekend, and am eagerly preparing for Autumn's arrival (it is my favourite season) by airing the old French quilt that we have on our bed, and hoovering under the bed. It feels good to open all of the windows and let the cooling breeze into the house to blow away the cobwebs. Now is also a great time to turn on the boiler to make sure that's working, which i have been doing for 30 mins a day.

I'm off to finish my blitz of the house, then to relax and read a really good (but very sad) book called 'How Much of Us There Was' by Michael Kimball. Not for those who cry at the beauty of a field of daisies, nor anyone who is prone to hormonal bouts of wailing - it's likely to induce both :-D

I have been growing lavender for a few years now. It seems to fit with my gardening principles of most things in the garden having a use. There are very few plants in the garden that can't be used either medicinally, cosmetically, or aesthetically. I believe in gardens that 'work for you', and there is no feeling in the world like getting down on your hands and knees and smelling a new rose, or the first fresh buds of lavender that come into flower.

I try to use all of the herbs and 'useful' plants in my daily life. For instance, using lavender heads to scent laundry, roses to make rosewater. Rosemary, sage, lemon balm, mint, thyme, lavender and sweet cicely in the kitchen. This makes gardening important and gives it a sense of being useful as well as pretty.

In the old house i had a large collection of various herbs, which i left to my mother when we moved. I managed to get what i could split and transferred, and now i have the fun task of finding more unusual yet useful herbs. I have been reading a very interesting book by Stephanie Donaldson called 'The Shaker Garden: Beauty through utility' which is a fascinating book about the Shakers, their customs, and how it related back to their gardens. Did you know they were the first people to sell seeds in small packets to the hobby consumer? Their beliefs meant that they weren't permitted to grow anything that was in any way beautiful, or not useful. Although those thoughts are largely outdated now (i don't think i'll go to hell for growing a few cosmos because i find them pretty!), we seem to have lost the drive for purpose in our gardens. Let them not only be beautiful, but give something back to you. Grow a lavender hedge and use it's blooms for lavender bags, grow rosemary or mint for your Jersey Royals, or plant an apple tree.

But also consider the manner in which you garden. Going organic will mean you have a healthy garden, it'll be healthier for you to work in, and will encourage natural pest control in the form of thrushes, blackbirds, ladybirds, parasitic wasps etc. Weeds are a pain, but they are also an important food source for wildlife, insects, butterflies, moths and beetles, and the animals that feed off those insects. Keeping a 'fallow' patch of ground, maybe even as small as 1sq metre, that you can plant native wild flowers on. Small things like this, can make a huge difference to the survival of rare and native beasties. To get more information, you can go to the BBC's Breathing Space site and find out more there.

In a few years, you'll be reaping the rewards of your garden tenfold - and after all, isn't that what a garden is for?


[Orange Hawksweed 'Hieracium aurantiacum' attracts a plethora of butterflies to our garden and is also pretty in the lawn - and no more rampant than the common dandelion (and i think just as pretty)]

Although i am of the belief that flowers look best in their natural habitat, there are times when nothing looks quite so beautiful than a vase/jar/teapot/glass full of summer flowers. I tend to only choose to take flowers from plants of which we either have a lot, or have become damaged in some way. A windfallen rose, for instance, in my eyes, holds just as much beauty as a completely perfect specimen. I also try to make assets of plants not traditionally used as decoration i.e. dandelions (we all have them, might as well make the best of their lemon-yellow flowers) and montbretia (which is flippin' everywhere). Dandelion leaves are also good in salads, and for pets if you have rabbits or guinea pigs. Just make sure you choose specimens that aren't likely to be used as the local dog toilet!
Some of the prettiest flowers have to be sweet peas, and as they smell fantastic as well, they are perfect for a beautiful, blousy arrangement. In my vase are some snapdragons, montbretia (argh!) and sweet peas.
Next year we're set to have a bed just for the annuals, our 'show' part of the garden, which will look splendid. They'll also make for some wonderful cut flowers, too :-)

In the garden, on a warm late-afternoon, i was pottering. Just pulling some of the weeds, picking caterpillars off the purple-sprouting broccoli etc. As i brushed past the sweet peas, their scent was that of the warmest summer day. Their blousy petals blowing gently in the hazy afternoon breeze. The Cerynth's deep blue and violet flowers, hidden amongst the mottled-green leaves. There was no noise but what was being said in my head, no sounds save for the odd bird singing, or dog barking in the neighbours garden.
A ripe pea pod hung on it's cradled stalk, waiting to be picked. Which i did. I ate it straight off the plant, it was sweet beyond belief, even the pod (they are a completely edible type of pea). It tasted good because i remembered planting those seeds, and watching hopefully, as the little pea plants grew.
The sweetcorn are large, not as large as some, but now they have finished 'flowering' they will be producing the cobs ready for late september. I can feel Autumn in the air, Summer makes way for her, the nips in the air, the berries ripe for picking. We can all enjoy the fruits of our labour.


[our peas!]


[peas again]


[tomatoes]


[moth-eaten (or should i say caterpillar eaten) purple sprouting broccoli]


[our sweetcorn with it's 'flower']


[Cerynth]

I have spent a relaxing (if strenuous) afternoon attending to the garden with the fiancé. I mowed the lawn, whilst he weeded, then we changed roles as he cut the huge hedge which threatens to engulf the whole garden. That's privet for you.

The garden has changed, changed beyond belief, since we moved in. I love being able to go out into the garden and just dabble, not taking it too seriously. There is something magical about mud, birdsong and sweet peas.

The sweetcorn is now growing at an alarming pace, although no cobs yet. The peas are becoming ready for harvest, as are the blackberries in the hedge. The purple-sprouting broccoli has been ravaged by cabbage-white caterpillars, but as we're doing the whole-9-organic-yards, it is left to me to remove the blighters before they get too big. Who cares what the leaves look like? We only eat the 'flower' anyway :-)

There are two welcome additions to the garden. Firstly, Limax Maximus or the Spotted Leopard Slug (see picture below). Now, although everyone makes slugs public enemy #1, this one feeds soley on fungus and decaying plant matter and is doing wonderful things to our compost! The other is a field mouse, also taking up residence around the compost heap.



This coming week is going to be stressful. Mainly because my car has broken down (and been towed to a garage miles away!) and i have yet to find out what's the matter (suspect starter motor) and how much it's going to cost (eeep).

Now i'm off to get an early night before i have to ring the garage to see how my little baby (car) is doing, and finish what was started with the privet hedge.

There is something incredibly vintage and chic about lavender, whether it reminds you of French fields or summer or someone who wore it as a perfume. Nothing says 'homely' and 'heavenly' more than gorgeous little scented parcels strewn decoratively throughout the house.

As in most things, i have been making my own. Little lavender bags, adorned with ribbons, buttons and vintage notions. These look truly decadent on coat-pegs, hat stands, and every door-knob throughout the house. Which all means i'll have to get sewing pretty quicksharp!

This is one i haven't quite finished, but will get around to doing so soon. So much to do yet so little time.

It is no secret that i love 'primitives' and Americana (as well as a whole host of other things) and i draw some inspiration for this house from those styles. I love quilts and simple, well-designed furniture. It is the toned-down colour-schemes, washed out and shabby wood-work and the relaxing feel that makes it so appealing for me.

This morning was spent rather decadently doing something i love - quilting. As yet i haven't actually made a full-size quilt, i tend to make small samplers, cushion covers and wall-hangings. I use any fabrics that i can get my hands on (in a make-do and mend sort of way) from recycled old floral skirts to American home-spun fabrics bought from Heath's Country Store. The living room got turned upside down, fabrics strewn everywhere, cotton threads decorating the rug, and the dog giving me furtive looks. But it was definitely all worth it in the end! As i am now the proud owner of a 1920's Singer hand-crank sewing machine, i decided to use it instead of hand-stitching and it worked like a dream.

Quilting is really easy, it doesn't need a sewing machine (although it does make it quicker to do so), it just needs time and patience. There are no difficult stitches to learn, just sewing squares of fabric together until the desired size is achieved, adding some soft wadding to the back, then sewing a plain fabric back onto it. Simple, and an effective way of using up odds and ends of fabrics which we all invariably have around the house!

Voilá, the finished article~

It was wonderful. Truly relaxing. My parner, myself, and the dog went back to my mothers house for the weekend and we ended up having a ball. It is always fabulous to go somewhere really quiet to just chill out. I got to go shopping and buy fripperies that i wouldn't usually buy, see people i don't get to see very much of anymore, and get to chill in some peaceful surroundings.

I'm going to be pretty busy this week, as my partner's parents are coming to stay overnight next weekend, so this week is going to be spent preparing for that as well as getting to grips with a 1920's Singer hand-crank sewing machine and making up designs for my own little project (more on that in a later post!).

I'm just about to make myself some Yogi Liquorice tea and have a relax, before tackling the spare room. I think it's about time to put the Frank Sinatra and Fred Astaire on and have a blitz. Anyone for some 'Putting On the Ritz'?

After my wonderful holiday on the Isle of Mull, it's now time to get back to 'normal'. There is washing to be done, a dog to be walked, rooms to be decorated and of course, the house to be kept tidy and meals to be prepared. Whoever said housework wasn't 'real' work, obviously didn't do any!

Yesterday was the first day without rain that we'd had for 4 days - and it was supposed to be the middle of July! So apart from the ever-arduous task of doing shopping, we managed to start painting our bedroom. We went for the same colour as the living room and dining room, a creamy-buttermilk, which is both clean and warm without being stark. On one wall of our bedroom it is red, a bright, vivid red, which is liveable-with because when in bed, you don't see it at all. But it makes that end of the bedroom very dark, so away it must go. For now it'll probably be the same colour as the other four walls, but i can't wait for the time when i can choose a heavenly colour to match our heavenly bedroom :-)

Today, i woke up with a purpose, yet more gardening. In our absence during the holiday, the beds were full of weeds, our lawn was returning to 'jungle' status, and milkweed was everywhere. I first mowed and strimmed the lawn, avoiding the many grasshoppers who have taken refuge in our garden, and all of the spiders, snails and other small crawlies that make our garden such a natural habitat. I also took the time to dig some of the grass-weeds back into the soil, to encourage natural (or green) fertilising. At the moment, apart from the herbs, blackcurrant, peony and roses, the garden consists completely of annuals. This means, that come the end of the season, i'll be covering the beds (carefully as to avoid the plants that i want to keep) in either a heavy mulch of bark chippings or 'weed supressing membrane'. This will get rid of the weeds once and for all, giving a fresh start next spring.

The cottage garden patch is going to be half cottage garden / medicinal and half veg-patch due to the compost heap getting so big it's going to need planning permission and it's own map-reference. Must think 'good compost' thoughts, get it going a bit.

My other task for today is to start painting woodwork (joy). Not something that i like doing in the slightest, but if you had to see bright tourqoise coloured skirting boards, stair ballustrades and door frames, wouldn't you pull your hair out? I could've lived with it for a little longer (ever the procrastinater, me), but we have a visit from my partners' parents soon. It has sort of kick-started me into getting things done. Usually i'd wait until the depths of winter - or at least October - to contemplate such an overhaul, but seeing as the weather has been less than summery, i thought i'd get it done.

I highly recommend avoiding gloss paint with high VOC content (basically the ones that smell very strongly and make you feel woosy), because they always give me a headache and stink the house out for ages. I am using a satin paint, which is low odour, and looks fabulous. Plus, it saves on headaches :-)