A pet hate of mine – and I have many – is photographs of food styled so that it bears no resemblance to how it would look in reality. Pictures in cook books, on blogs or in magazines showing food that is obviously not prepared according to the accompanying recipe make me incredibly angry. While… Continue reading Food Styling for Beginners
A few years back, tired of spending that precious pre-dinner hour inside cooking, I decided to set up an outdoor kitchen in the garden for the summer months. I’ve mentioned it here and here before because I think everyone should have one. It is a joy to have and to use. The outdoor kitchen allows… Continue reading Updating Our Rustic Outdoor Kitchen with Laura Ashley
For months and months I posted, wrote and talked about my sister’s upcoming wedding. Then it happened and you heard no more from me about it, which could lead you, dear reader, to conclude that it must have been a bit of a let down. Well, I’m going to have to put things straight. The… Continue reading A Glimpse of a Garden Wedding
A few weeks back I wrote about about the makeover I was planning for our guest bedroom. I say “I” rather than “we” as this is a pretty personal makeover. The Bavarian is happy enough that there is a bed for guests to sleep in . I, on the other hand, like to have things… Continue reading Our Guest Bedroom Makeover with Laura Ashley
A house that looks lived in is perfect, to my mind. I don’t feel welcome in overly clean homes, afraid just by being there I’ll deflate a perfectly plumped cushion or inadvertently drop a long, dark hair onto white tiles. The same goes for gardens. In parks or the grounds of stately homes, I’m… Continue reading Pretty Neat
One of my favourite things about shopping trips to Dublin as a child was going into the Laura Ashley shop on Grafton Street. I know it is a brand that many consider old-fashioned and terribly floral, but it has always been special to me. I used to go in with my mother. She had some gorgeous… Continue reading Planning Our Guest Bedroom Makeover
April is coming to a close and to be honest I’ll be glad to see the back of it. I’m not usually one to wish my days away and April did have some good bits – Easter, my family visiting us and Number One’s first holy communion – but it was just so busy. And… Continue reading Household Finance & How to Cope When Money Is Tight
Points of view on home decor when you have a young family differ greatly. There’s the “why bother” camp, firmly rooted in reality, assuming that vases will get smashed, sofas soiled and walls vandalied by the little ones. And there are the parents who lay down rules, are strict about shoes in the house and… Continue reading Pretty & Practical Home Decor For Families
Do you remember the show on the BBC The Great Egg Race? I don’t remember much about the actual series but I was fascinated by the opening. I looked it up recently to show the children and was pleased they like it to. This post is nothing to do with the TV series and everything… Continue reading The Great Egg Race, or 3 Last Minute Easter Decorations
Being a working mother has made me terribly efficient at shopping. I can cram in a few purchases into the tiniest of time slots. Take last week for example. With a little bit of time to kill at the train station in Darmstadt after a meeting, I popped into the super market and bought a… Continue reading Wire Basket Easter Centrepieces
