My Wish List

I don’t know about you but I love shopping – well where I live it is a pretty long way to any shops. So I often shop on line – well I have been doing a bit of this – well not really just creating a wish list so here it is what do you think

All these lovely things came from Bloomingville

I actually have this wreath it is gorgeous!!

Beautiful things from Caroline Zoob 

And these from Dee Puddy who has a lovely store at Country Living Christmas Fair

I love this heart its from Cox and Cox

Has to be on my Christmas List!

So Stylish!

and lots of lovely soaps all these lovely things come from Plumo But of course I have been a little busy too - and here is a little taster of what I have been up to! and they can be bought from my Shop! (a little advertising here forgive me!)

  

I do love shopping and I can loose myself on all these lovely on-line shops I have added links for all of them if you feel like a shopping spree.

Comforting smell,gentle crackles and hypnotising flames!

Well what a lovely weekend blue sky from Saturday morning all the way through until Sunday evening – now if you know Devon then you realise that this is quite rare. Devon is very green with lush pastures due of course to the amount of rainfall we have.
Well I thought I would write about one of my favourite things in the winter and that is the Fire I love my open fires – my solid fuel/log rayburn and of course I also love bonfires! OMG I sound like a fireraiser (once I had the most enormous bonfire in Normandy it was stupendous and went on for days – good job we had no neighbours – but I was in my element!)

The right wood is essential and I don’t know whether you know but there is a brilliant poem about this:


Beech wood fires burn bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year


Store your beech for Christmastide
With new cut holly laid beside


Chestnuts only good they say
If for years tis stored away


Birch and firwood burn too fast
Blaze too bright and do not last


Flames from Larch will shoot up high
Dangerously the sparks will fly


But ashwood green and ashwood brown
Are fit for a Queen with a golden crown


Oaken logs if dry and old
Keep away the winter’s cold


Poplar gives a bitter smoke
Fills your eyes and makes you choke


Elmwood burns like churchyard mould
E’en the very flames are cold


It is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread


Applewood will scent the room
Pearwood smells like flowers in bloom


But ashwood wet and aswood dry
A king may warm his slippers by.

This is some pile of logs (but not mine!)

It sometimes can be difficult to get the right wood – we tried on Saturday found someone selling logs had a sample bag and MOH spent most of Saturday and Sunday evening chasing sparks all over the carpet!!! So we are going to have to find someone else!

Sorry has to be done on a Saturday night - glass of lovely red wine!

lovely fircone firelighters I hate those smelly ones!

Toasting crumpets nothing beats it on a cold winters afternoon!

On Saturday we also went on a lovely walk – there was so many people in the sea – rather them than me.

Came home and baked some biscuits – a recipe I have had for years and never fails.

We then lit the fire and you know what happened then!!


Sunday morning just as beautiful so we went on a walk which is right behind our house – it was lovely some of the trees were still lush and green!

You can just see Dartmoor in the background.

We even had our lunch outside in the garden and I picked the last of the apples on the tree – I can feel another Tarte Tatin coming on.

Once again the fire was lit and MOH did the dance of the sparks!!!
Well its Monday now and back to work – but I am getting a little sidetracked lately so many things to do but don’t quite no where to start I feel a list coming on but then that’s another story.
I would also like to say a big thank you for all your lovely comments - when I first started blogging I got a little dispondent as it seem to take ages for anyone to notice me - but now it is so lovely to hear from you all its like having lots of lovely friends. I am going to spend this evening reading all your blogs! like curling up with a good book, except its a bit hard with my laptop!

A House with Two Doors

It is such a lovely morning here today just like a summers day - but here I am battling with my blog again, why did they alter the photo download ! so frustrating.  I thought I would tell you a little about my home. The other day a man was delivering our yellow pages book to our house – well you know how big this book is and I have so many books that I told him I would rather not have it - but I am digressing, he then asked me if the people next door would mind if he left it on their doorstep. Now this is a mistake that is often made as our house has 2 front doors .

 The reason for this is that our house is right next to the church and my sitting room used to be used for Sunday school, and so as not to disturb the family in the house the room had its own door.

 The house also has lots of coat hooks where the choir and rector used to hang their gowns.

 The history of your house is sometimes hard to find but we have a photo of ours in its original form before it was extended in the Victorian times, isn’t it sweet!

 But it would have been a little small for us, the lady that used to live there then was a Launderess so I presume that she took in all the villages washing! And the hedge in the photo is still here to this day.

These steps were used for the vicar to mount his horse.

 I would love to find out more but it is a very time consuming process and there is so many things that I try and cram into a day I think I will just have to leave it until I have more time.


There are still some flowers left to pick from the garden – does anyone know what these are because unfortunately I don’t so if anyone can enlighten me I would be pleased.

Over on one of my favourite blog My French Country home last week Sharon gave us a lovely recipe for Tarte Tatin and I commented on her blog that i was going to make it and if I did I would feature it on my blog – so here it is and it was so delicious and it was easy to do and used some of the many apples that I have in my garden.

Well back to the sewing -


I love trying lots of different designs for my cushion covers this is a lovely decorative cushion cover, using some old linens and tickings that I had as well as some lovely cabbages and roses fabric.

It is also the time of year when lots of my favourite clothing catalogues start to come through the letterbox and one of my favourite is Brora

This is a lovely photo from the Brora Catalogue I love the room!

I love this dress

And I am definitely going to be getting some of these boots I loved them the last time they were in fashion
 – whoops showing my age!

Been away too long - I think!

I always think that it is not so long ago since I last wrote my blog but am surprised to see it is over a week now, some of you are so good at doing blogs much more frequently I just wish I could!! The other day I spent a whole morning just trying to alter my blog design – I have just acquired photoshop and I don’t know whether any of you have got this programme but OMG it is taking me forever to learn but I won’t be beaten and I have done my new blog header with it what do you think?



Now to more interesting things I promised I would show you where we stayed in Tenterden it was the most lovely Bed and Breakfast run by Pippa (who featured in Country Homes and Interiors October issue with her Happy Hampers business) So here is few photos. It is called The Tower House.

Lovely room for breakfast

Our Bedroom

 We also visited the lovely Tunbridge Wells (lovely shops) and then on to Whitstable which is a great seaside place but is very famous for its Oysters (I have to say I just can’t eat oysters I have tried! But they just give me a bit of a tummy ache)

The lovely Pantiles in Tunbridge Wells

A lovely shop which sold brilliant things for your garden and home

The Fishing huts in Whitstable I think they are now holiday homes

I loved this one it had the most lovely views across to the sea

The famous oyster restaurant (I add I didn't go in!!!)

Well back now in the swing of sewing and have had a few bargains this week, I bought this lovely monogramme sheet on ebay it was lovely without any marks on it, I also found these lovely buttons in an antique shop in Hastings and one of the best finds was in the cupboard under the stairs where I found Caroline Zoob faded flowers fabric – I thought I had used it all and you can’t buy it anymore so I was so happy!!

But a really good surprise was on Saturday when we decided to have a walk at a nearby Lake, (never been before although it was only 5 minutes from house) sorry forgot camera so didn’t take any photos, but just by the lake was cottage and outside there was a table selling surplus vegetables, and don’t they look lovely all for under £2 to include 1 dozen free range eggs, what a brilliant find – I will be back. I have tried to grow vegetables but our garden is quite shady and we seem to be plagued by snails and slugs who had a better meal than we did, so I sort of gave up this year.

Well back to the sewing and will try and write more often.

Thank you everyone for all the lovely comments on my blog I do love reading them. You are all so talented and I do love reading your blogs