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

Man About Town

I chose this birthday card for a friend of mine who's got a terribly busy-and-important job - it all seems so grown up to me (he has to wear a suit!), and I thought this was perfect for him. Do you approve? Would you give it to a young City worker?

It's by The Archivist Gallery but I picked mine up in Paperchase.

E xxx

Daniel Wellington

I am always, without fail, fiendishly on time. No matter how fashionably late I try to be, I just can't do it - I am, in fact, usually early.

It goes without saying that I love watches. I wear one every day, and if ever I forget, I absently look at my bare wrist dozens of times, and feel a bit lost without it!

The watch I wear is quite one of my favourite things - it's absolutely beautiful - a 21st birthday present - but I do feel that it is sometimes too smart to wear quite everywhere, so I am saving up for a more cheerful, rough-and-tumble sort of watch. A Daniel Wellington watch, to be precise.
Yes, expensive, but so stylish and preppy - I am solemnly trying to save £10 a week, and will hopefully be able to afford one by early summer:

Just looking at it, I can just imagine being at Henley, drinking Pimm's...

I am torn between the above watch, and this one, which I think would 'go' with more things... but it's just not as frivolous, is it? 

Have a look at the Daniel Wellington website - aren't they lovely? I like that you can buy the straps separately - perhaps I'll buy the red, white and blue watch, and ask for the blue and white strap for my birthday? 

E xxx

At Your Service...

This is such a smiley photo - they look like they're bowing to each other -  you'd hardly notice that the woman is, in fact, the Queen of England...!

E xxx

P.S. This lovely photo is by Thomas Patrick John Anson, taken in the 70s and available as a print from the National Portrait Galley.

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...!