Quelle bonne idee!

Quelle bonne idee!  Ok, that's enough French!  My French is of the 'quite good by the end of a 3 week camping holiday in France' variety - and we haven't been to France for a couple of years.....  When we are in France, I like to buy "Marie Claire idees" mag - always has lovely, fresh projects and pictures.  I recently found that you can order this and many other mags from Newstand - so I got the current issue -

- and it arrived very quickly, and didn't disappoint. Pages of lovely design ideas -

Cute ideas for mini gardens - (some may wince at the sacreligious use of a book!) -



Some stylish flower pages -

How to crochet with fine wire -

And - astonishingly for a French mag - some vegetarian recipes! - might try this one -

And a feature on Madagascar, which I enjoyed, as we went there in 2007.

The mag pics - and mine -

Fantastic place!

****************

And Tilly has been exploring her arty side (though some of those hand prints look quite large ;) )

Hope you're having a good week!

Back from Cornwall!

Back from our few days away at Watergate Bay Hotel in Cornwall - magic!   Can't recommend it highly enough.  Fantastic position, wonderful styling everywhere, excellent service from really friendly staff - and The Pool!!!  To die for -

 

Hot tub on the deck outside the pool -

 

 

The hotel from the beach -

 

 

 

 

I just loved the style of the place, though I guess it won't be to everyone's taste -

 

 

This area, in our room, wasn't too much to my taste - though I was amused to see the Toile de Jouey touch in the wallpaper -

 

We had delicious meals - in the hotel, at The Beach Hut and at Jamie's Fifteen (a 5 course tasting menu!) as part of the Taste of The Bay deal.  And we ventured out a bit. Went to Newquay -

 

 

and Padstow -

 

A great break!  And if it's good enough for Caitlin Moran, it's good enough for me! -

 

 

*****************  

Arrived home to find lots of bulbs open in the garden (and lots of Celandine to be dug out :( )

 

 

Hope you're having a good weekend!

 



Off to Cornwall..............

Having had some difficult times in the past few months, thought we deserved a treat. So, tomorrow we're off to Watergate Bay Hotel for a few days - can't wait - it looks amazing.......

 

Check out the pool :) -

 

Truth be told, I read about it in a Sunday paper and thought the long weekend price was for 2 people - but it turned out it was per person.....   By then I was smitten, so we went for it anyway!  You get an evening meal at the hotel, a meal at Jamies and a meal at The Beach Hut....... :)

 

*****************

 

A trip this morning to the local charity / thrift shop yielded some pretty china -

 

 

I'm not too keen on these ones, but they were made for Harrods, darling, so who I am to scorn! - 

 

 

My own, simpler, tastes were more pleased by this jug, which I think I'll keep. Very Springlike, fresh colours -

 

******************

 My mum-in-law continues to do well, after her big op - thanks for all your good wishes. She's home now, so I took her a posy of flowers from the garden - 

 

See you next week!

Spring is on its' way!

Spring is definitely on its' way. Lots of bulbs and shoots pushing through in the garden -

 

It cheers you up so much to see Spring flowers, doesn't it?

 

 

 

 

Lovely and sunny here today, though it may not last. The waters have gone down, though, in the meadows at the end of our garden -

 

 

Off to the shop later to take some new stuff in, including this Lloyd Loom type linen box -

 

 

And some china, including these pretty cups -

 

*********************

These fragrant flowers were bought for my 92 year old mother-in-law, who is in hospital recovering from a (5 1/2 hour) mouth cancer operation. She loves flowers, but sadly the hospital didn't allow them (because of Norovirus......), so they were brought home. Mum looks very battered and bruised, but is apparently doing very well.

 

 

 

********************

And, of course, I couldn't leave these little blue glass eggcups (my favourite colour!) behind in the charity / thrift shop earlier!

 

 

Have a good weekend!