These last few weekends have been comparitavely relaxed, for us anyway. We've spent our precious days off sleeping in, cleaning the house, watching films, trying new recipes and seeing friends. I've loved it! Being at home and catching up on everyday chores may sound boring, but I've needed it after the whirlwind of a summer I've had.
I love putting my energy into this space I call home. As the nights draw in and the weather turns cooler, home becomes a more comforting place. When there's a gale blowing outside I love to be snuggled under a blanket, or when it's throwing it down with rain I love to be soaking in a hot bath. These are the comforts of the cold seasons, which here in Sheffield we are edging further in to.
Saying this, I am fully aware how short lived this will be as Christmas loomes ever closer. These quiet weekends have been a complete luxury, and one that I have cherished.
...I've been testing out my new camera and the verdict is - I love it! It's been an enjoyable weekend here in Sheffield. Lots of good food, reading in the park, getting dressed up for date night as well as dressed down for comfy Sunday. Pretty much perfect. I also managed to get a new blanket started - bonus.
I watched this film on Friday. It was fun and an easy watch - you'll like it if you enjoyed Love Actually (although not as good in my opinion). It's always good to veg out to some light-hearted comedy, but I'm ready to immerse myself in something more serious next time. I'm thinking either Melancholia, Capote or Amour for my next watch. Any recommendations?
The sun just keeps on shining here in Sheffield. It's been unseasonably warm these past few weeks - I think they call it an Indian summer. Either way, we're loving it! The collection of brass on my windowsill is looking lovely - I'm enjoying watching it grow, especially because it's for such a special reason (they're for the wedding). I'm also working on a few Christmas projects - yes I'm starting early this year in the hope I'll not make myself too stressed nearer the time. Above is my little corner where I work away whilst watching my rubbish TV programmes and snuggling with Betty. I think I'll go do some more of that now...
Yay for summer! It's this time of year Sheffield becomes it's greenest, so we take every opportunity to soak it all in whilst we can. I also took this opportunity to take up one of my birthday goals and use my camera app - in particular the 'Hipstamatic' app.
Hipstamatic is definitely the app I've invested the most money in - I get pretty excited when they release new lenses and covers, but hardly ever get use out of it... what's that about? Well I'm changing that, starting here. Hello new feature!
1. Picking out nail varnishes.
2. Hello.
3. Mushrooms growing in a house plant!
4. Another attempt at nail art.
5. Not quite warm enough for bare legs.
It's warming up over here and with the heat comes exposed flesh. Therefore I've been upping my skincare routine, trying to catch as much sun as possible, moisturising like crazy and squeezing in some exercise when I can (and when I remember). I love summer, and here in England it can become a bit of an obsession with the weather and whether we'll actually get a summer! Each warm day is a blessing in my books.
Is it warm where you are?
1. Taking my crochet projects to the park.
2. Betty soaking up the sun on our rag-rug.
3. Pretty blooms.
4. Current colours - fingers and toes.
5. My essential oil collection.
I actually did a lot more this weekend than these pictures make out. We went to see The Great Gatsby at our local independent cinema, watched our friend dance in Matthew Bourne's production of Sleeping Beauty, ate the best burgers ever at a trendy restaurant in Manchester, got giddy on cocktails and met a puppy called Spider. Yes this last bank holiday weekend was action packed - I had a lot of fun. Sometimes I regret not documenting each special memory, but at the same time I was having too much fun living them. It can be liberating sometimes leaving the camera behind. Next time though, I promise to share.
This weekend was a mixture of things. Cocktails, green smoothies, long walks, roller skates, sunshine and sad news. I won't go into detail - some things need no explanation. I didn't really take any photo's this weekend, so above are some things found on various windowsills around the flat.
I'm really excited about this weekend because I get to hang out with friends I haven't seen in ages! Our friends Jo and Martin are coming to stay with us tomorrow and on top of that we're all going to be enjoying a cheese and wine party to welcome home our friend Ali who lives out in Borneo for most of the year. Cheese, wine and the company of good friends - can you see why I'm excited? Yes.
Above are just some of the little things that are brightening up my world at the moment - pretty flowers given to us by friends last weekend in exchange for supper, one of my favourite magazines and the latest Anthropologie catalogue to flick through in those quiet moments... happy weekend!
Hello and happy Easter folks. I hope you've been having a fun and relaxing time (much like me). As you can see from my pictures, rabbits have been a bit of a theme around our place this weekend. They've been popping all all over the place! There's a family of them nestled amongst the nic-nacs on my fireplace. I made some cute origami bunny boxes and filled them with chocolate eggs as well as a few white rabbits (yum) for Easter. I painted bunny faces on my nails with Spring colours... this may need some practice. We also re-potted some of our green friends - don't you think a couple of them are looking a bit bunny-like? Nope, just me.
A couple of weekends ago I visited my mum in Lincoln, the City I grew up in. It's always so nice to go back there and revisit the places, spaces and memories I used to take for granted. Lincoln is such a lovely city. I feel lucky I can still go back there and stay whenever I like. The first few photos are of The Lawn's 'hot house' (I forget it's proper name) - a place I used to frequent, well frequently. It was a nostalgic experience walking around the warm, plant filled room, but it was also quite sad. The funding for this wonderful and historic building has been cut and as a result it's looking rather shabby. The plants are sparse and the place is generally in need of some TLC. It's still quite magical though.
Oh and in case you were wondering, the beautiful lady in the photos is my mum. Isn't she gorgeous? I think so.
