David Austin Ceramics

David Austin is a rose specialist - he breeds and collects roses, and has been developing English roses for decades. I do love roses but am also fairly bad at keeping plants alive (I do have the best intentions though!), so the fact that he has also recently launched a 'home' line, is more exciting for me. I have utterly fallen in love with his Shropshire Rose collection. I'm such a sucker for blue and white china - I'm obsessed with it - and my little flat currently has a charmingly mismatched selection (so I tell myself) - this jug would make a welcome addition!

It also comes in pale blue:

Which do you prefer? I'd also rather like this little notebook: 

(All photos from davidaustin.com)

E xxx

Summer Straws

I was putting off studying for my next exam by idly daydreaming about the garden party I am going to host in early June, when this misery of work is (temporarily) behind me...

Now, people may laugh but I have been poring over Pippa Middleton's 'Celebrate' (I'd been hankering after it for ages and my mama bought it for me as a cheer-up/revision present!). I don't care what anyone says (people have been very scathing about it), I think it is wonderful! It's so full of thoughtful and interesting ideas, and for someone who likes to throw any kind of social gathering (be it a supper party, soiree, brunch, murder mystery dinner, drinks or afternoon tea) it just made me so excited to try out her recipes and decorating tips. I would genuinely heartily recommend it, it's such a knowledgable, wholesome and beautifully put together book.

Anyway, that is not the point of this post. Inspired by the lovely Pippa, I was looking for some old fashioned paper straws that I thought would be a nice addition to the glasses of Pimm's that people are going to be drinking at my party, and I found these:

Aren't they PERFECT? I am pretty sure my heart actually ached when I read that Terrain doesn't ship to the UK.. I don't think I will find any others as sweet as these, but I will keep looking...

E xxx

Tall Ship

So, my mother and I ordered this print by the lovely (Canadian) Banquet Atelier & Workshop  for our kitchen. Home has recently been redone in coastal, beachy blues and whites (it is, after all, by the sea), and we thought it would be perfect for the new theme. We love its mix of tradition and freshness!

Banquet do so many beautiful prints. I would love this whale for my flat in London!

E xxx

Quoting Shakespeare

I have this print on my wall, in a black wooden frame - I love it! I read it every so often, when I'm brushing my teeth - and consequently (accidentally) know bits of it by heart! It's so clever, isn't it? It's from the shop at Shakespeare's Globe. 

E xxx

P.S. Today I booked tickets to see The Tempest at Shakespeare's Globe next month - I'm a poor student so got the 'groundling' tickets, i.e. standing where the peasants used to... but at £5 a head I am not complaining... Everyone should buy tickets - there's no excuse not to! 

The Boat

You've probably gathered by now that I am a bit obsessed with boats, and this post will do nothing to vanquish that notion...

This boat bowl is incredible - it's so striking and simple. The only bad thing about it is it's not quite big enough for my liking - 33cm long. But it is beautiful. You can get it from Blank for £119 - imagine it piled high with strawberries!

E xxx

March Hare

I think this Peony and Sage hare print cushion is perfect for springtime. If only the weather would brighten over London!

Kissing Stags

This amazing trunk from Anorak has been on my (very long) wish-list for some time now. I just love it. It looks so stylish and useful! However, it's a more than I can afford these days, so I guess I'll have to wait for it! Do you like it? I would obviously store things in it, but I'd also put it next to a sofa as a low side table.

E xxx

P.S. Anorak do so many other cool homewares, from washbags to placemats to sleeping bags, all sporting their awesome animal silhouettes... Aren't they great?

Pug Mug

I have never especially wanted a pug, their little squashed faces and breathing problems (and the fact they are prone overweightness) have never appealed to me! I'd much prefer a spaniel of some sort. But I am pretty sure that everyone has some friend or other who LOVES pugs (I certainly do), and this post is for them.

I especially like the pug with the monocle.
This is part of Fenella Smith's ceramics range, all beautifully illustrated with sweet little animals (I love the dachschund one). Which do you like best? Or are you more of a cat person?

E xxx

Top Withens

I know I'm always harping on about prints and pictures, but I am rather shopping around for some to actually buy. My flat is part of an old factory, so have very high ceilings and consequently, a lot of wall space! This one caught my eye; isn't it brooding?

I guess the composition is fairly standard, but I like it because it is a photo of Top Withens, the now-derelict shell of a building perched on a Yorkshire hillside, said to have inspired Wuthering Heights.

My mother and I actually went there a few summers ago, and had to walk for a good hour across the moors to reach it - I half expected to find Heathcliff at the end! No such luck... It was very atmospheric though, and the Yorkshire moors are staggeringly beautiful.

The photo was taken in 1977 by Fay Godwin, and is available as a print from the British Library website, here. As ever, have a look around, there are dozens of wonderful photos, I am quite spoilt for choice!

Have you read Wuthering Heights? Such a unrestrained, passionate and interesting novel, written absolutely magnificently. I adore it.

E xxx

Candlesticks

Tall candles in candlesticks are such a classic romantic idea, but these duck egg striped ones from Susie Watson Designs are just so beachy and remind me of summer evenings by the seaside.

You can also get thin stripes, pink polka dots, or even summery strawberry ones.
Which do you like best? They're making me long for summertime!

E xxx

Have a butcher's*

Wouldn't this be a lovely print to give a keen cook, or a particularly carnivorous pal? I want to hang it in my kitchen!

It's designed by London-based Ben Treanor, and you can buy it from the ever-delightful Etsy.

E xxx


* In case you're not British, to have a "butcher's" means to have a look - it's Cockney rhyming slang - butcher's hook = look! I'm attempting a pun here...!

La vie en rose...

I don't feel that I am quite old enough to declare 'non, je ne regrette rien' to the world, but aren't these prints lovely?

I think the black version is a bit 'edgy' for me... but the white one is perfect! Which do you prefer?

E xxx

Mother's Day

What are you buying your mama for Mothering Sunday?

I'll be sending her a soppy card, and this floaty scarf and will present her with a big bunch of flowers when I see her next.

Here are some sweet ideas from around the web:

Aqua coloured earrings by Argent of London that will go with everything

The first series of Desperate Housewives since she never watched it first time around and you know she'd love it (Photo from Amazon)

60 daffodils - her favourite spring flowers - from Cornwall (Photo from Riverside Flowers)

A stylish print of Paris to remind her of her youth, when she lived there for 3 years (Photo from notonthehighstreet.com)

The classic beauty treatment from Elizabeth Arden that she's always running out of..

Yet another Emma Bridgewater mug to add to the collection..

Two tickets to the Manet exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts

Aren't mothers wonderful?!

E xxx

9 3/4

I have a confession to make. I. LOVE. Harry Potter. I won't hear a word against it.

Isn't this print by EntropyTradingCo the best combination of subtlety and joy? It's perfect - people who don't care will just see a vaguely stylish, but unobtrusive sign, but those in the know will be filled with glee.

Which colours or colour combinations do you like best?

(Photos from Etsy)

E xxx

Thornback & Peel

I have been obsessed with Thornback and Peel napkins for a while now.. and every time I almost buy some, I think it's just a bit too expensive (after all, I need to buy at least 4!) and sorrowfully decide not to. Still, I can dream...

I dither between a smart matching set (the rabbit) or a medley: one rabbit, one stag, one partridge, one lobster...

Aren't their designs lovely (and odd)?

(Photo from notonthehighstreet.com)

E xxx

Poems on the Underground

My form teacher at school had several of these up in her classroom and I was always, in moment of boredom, drawn to gaze idly at them. By the end of the year I knew them all off by heart.

And, in a frenzy of furnishing my new flat, was somehow reminded of them, and asked for Caliban's Speech for my birthday:

Isn't it beautiful? I've hung it above my bed (yes, rather cliched..)

So, I went for a classic, and there are other greats Chaucer, Blake, Burns, Wordsworth. But there are all kinds of poems - those by our poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, some by Larkin, by African poet Nii Ayikwei Parkes, not to mention Andrew Salkey's cheeky poem about British weather... Have a browse - there are 125 different poems and posters to look at.

The best thing? They're all just £3, including postage! However, they are an odd shape (think those long, narrow advertisements on the tube - after all, that's what they were made for!) so unless you want to just use them as posters, will probably need proper framing.

E xxx

Fantastic Mr. Dahl (& Blake)

Did you read Roald Dahl when you were younger? The Quentin Blake illustrations that went with them were just as much a part of my childhood merriment as the amazing stories.  I remember being terrified of The Witches, laughing hysterically at The Twits, and wanting to make my own Marvellous Medicine (like George!). I read the BFG not too long ago, actually. It really is wonderful.

Wouldn't these mugs make sweet presents for children (or, let's face it, for 23-year-olds too!)?

My favourite is the Matilda one. You?

E xxx

P.S. A Dahl-themed present that made me giddy with joy when I was younger was the incredible Revolting Recipes book - also illustrated by Quentin. I tried making at least half of the recipes - Mr. Twit's Beard Food, Peach Juice, Bruce Bogtrotter's Cake, Stickjaw for Talkative Parents - my mother was unimpressed.