Five Faves

Five favourite things from this weekend....don't forget to check all the others over at Pip's meme on Meet Me At Mikes...at www.meetmeatmikes.blogspot.com

'H' home for the weekend .....this photo of her by her friend, amazing photographer Romy Poole............

Melanie Laurent in Inglorious Bastards....love the utilitarian look......
Watching Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?
Making sushi with H.....yum.....

Discovering the colourful surreal collages of Agnes Montgomery

Five Faves

It's been a manically busy week, and I've got lots of ideas for posts that I want to write squirreled away in my head, but here's a quick look at five of my favourite things for the week.

One was this little metal country style jug that my lovely sister-in-law 'S' bought me on Friday.......

Two.... new stationary products. I just love this white card folder...not sure why but it makes me think of origami.......


and this old-fashioned green, cardboard storage box, with a little metal name plate.

Three, the satisfaction of having sixteen new artworks, mounted, framed and named and ready for exhibition....

and four trellis panels painted for the same exhibition. Unfortunately I also painted my shoes and the garden path. Even though I did try to protect them both!

Four, running out of paint for the trellis and discovering an amazing sale on the way to buy more..... and finding a James Lakeland linen cardigan, Donna Karen top that's too big but I can alter, and the most amazing skirt by Debbie Shuchat. It's kind of asymmetrical but looks really good and it only cost £5!

Five, a lovely surprise package from 'H' containing amongst other things a packet of three walnut whips! A trip down memory lane in a packet........ I didn't know they still made them.......

oh and six, the, first rhubarb of the season.........

................cooked using a Flapjack Plum Pudding recipe and served in my maternal grandmother's Alfred Meakin china.....

It's so easy to make a topping with equal quantities of oats, brown sugar and butter (or substitutes for both.) Approximately 75grams of each. Just melt the butter and mix in the sugar and oats. Then place on top of prepared fruit in a buttered oven proof dish and bake in pre-heated oven, regulo 4/180 degrees C for 35 to 40 minutes.

Because rhubarb isn't a soft fruit like plums, I cooked it for a little while first in a saucepan with a little bit of honey and a touch of water and a tiny sprig of rosemary. Not too much so it didn't taste soapy.

The topping is lovely and chewy with little bits of the fruit juice bubbling out through the crust. Yummy just by itself or served with custard, cream or homemade vanilla ice cream......mmmmmm

Don't forget to check out everyone else in the meme over at Meet Me At Mikes........

Five Faves

At last time to publish last weeks five faves.......

1.My favourite of all had to be having 'H' home for another week.........Sadly she's back at uni now...........

......leaving just a puddle of pink hair dye on the bathroom floor........

2. Finding another two chairs like this one that cost £5 for the two in a charity shop. And all they need is a lick of paint.........they will fit in with our eclectic mix of new and old dining chairs perfectly............

3. The sound of the postman struggling to push a parcel through the letterbox......yet another package from Moo.com ........... and yes this is definitely the last time I'll mention them....and no, I don't have shares in the company!!

4. The new drama series The Prisoner. It's awesome. We just watched the first episode and I'm hooked already. It's got that 70's Stanley Kubrickesque/Shining kind of filming going on. Well it has to my untrained eye. I'm not sure why I'm making that connection. There's something about the set. I love the cute cars and the shop is amazing.......I can't wait to watch the second episode on iplayer and the third on Sunday.

5. Finding a lovely new blog to follow. This one is called Design Squish Blog which is a fun name and reminds me of my cute friend who calls butternut squash, button-up squish!

I just love the eclectic mix of things in this kitchen and that Japanese lamp.......I want to know where to find one like that.....

.....and by finding Design Squish Blog I've also discovered an amazing textile designer called Brie Harrison on a link to another blog called Manila Made....

I really recommend checking out both blogs.....

Five Faves

Here are some of my five faves for the week. It's been such a hectic one that I've not had time to link over to meet me at mikes .....but don't forget to pop over there and have a look at some of the other blogs.....

1. Buying six silver forks today for a £1!


2. Getting my hair cut......

3. The release of my nephew Josh's first video podcast on i-tunes. If you look up Fran and Josh on i-tunes store you can subscribe to it free.
or check them out on:

www.myspace.com/franandjosh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbGuL--VZ3c

4. 'H' surprising me with a big block of Emergency Chocolate by Bloomsberry & Co

'For immediate relief of: Chocolate Cravings, Lovesickness, Exam Pressure, Mild Anxiety and Extreme Hunger.' The directions for use are: Tear open wrapper, break off desired dosage and consume. Alternatively massage into the affected area. Repeat dosage as required until finished. If symptoms persist consult your local confectioner.

5. Visiting the Rearranging Formulae exhibition at the 03 Gallery in the Oxford Castle.

Five Faves

Here they are at last five of my faves for the week......don't forget to check out all the others at
www.meetmeatmikes.blogspot.com

1.Watching lovely Alys Fowler in The Edible Garden grow all kinds of wonderful salad vegetables in her suburban garden, which inspired me to dig over our little vegetable patch...........


2. Making biscotti with 'A' ............he's back to work on Monday...........not so much time to do fun stuff together..........

3. Receiving some stickers from www.moo.com in the post this morning.......

4. A phone call from the cobblers on Tuesday to say that my lovely vintage doctors bag had been repaired and was ready to collect.........hurray I can use it again....

5. Discovering Utility Vintage Market at Telford's Warehouse in Chester

fave fives

I've been a bit slow linking my five faves to Pip's meme over at http://www.meetmeatmikes.blogspot.com/ this week but recommend you take a look there and check out some of the other links......

......some of my fave fives this week besides all the fun family and friends time were....

1. Watching my current favourite French film Jardins en Autumne again......

2.......20 degrees....and blossom on the plum tree.......at last.....

3. Going to see 'No one knows about Persian Cats' at our favourite Independent Cinema last night.........amazing.......

4. Watching Vanity Fair...a bit silly but awesome theatrical sets and lovely colourful costumes.......

5. Buying big Audrey Hepburn sunglasses in a sale on Saturday for hardly anything.......just in time for the sun to start shining.......oh and H and S found some too...so we all look like cool cats now....

Five Faves

It's five faves time again and even though it's taken me a little while to get organized I'm linking over to the meme at Meet me at Mikes on www.meetmeatmikes.blogspot.com you must check out a really cool video Pip has posted there by natural gas and lots of other blogs to look at too....


So here are my fave fives for this week........

1. ....whoopee, getting my new kitchen lamp installed......thanks to 'A'

2. Receiving things in the post apart from bills........I'm so lucky this week to have had more than my fair share of packages.........these cute business cards just arrived a few minutes ago. I had them printed at www.moo.com they are only tiny, but they are so sweet and were very cheap. You can have up to a hundred different images printed on the back if you like....... they are in such a dinky little box..... and everything is sustainably sourced and recyclable

there's even a promotional offer for anyone out there who'd like to have some printed. If you enter this code at the checkout: 2RB2CK you'll get a 15% discount off your first order.....

3.......... a painted card from one of my sisters 'P' and a small book of illustrations by her daughter's partner Seb Cazes, who is a talented illustrator living in Auch, Southern France.........................


4. another graze box arriving on Tuesday..... full of healthy fruit, seeds and nuts. The first one was a surprise last week...but then another one came this week......it's a gift that keeps on giving........... thanks pumpkin x

5. some of my orchids blooming .... although today as you can see the top looks a bit droopy....but lots more buds.....

(even though I have seven others that look like dead tarantula's at the moment!

Five Faves

I'm attempting to join a meme started by Pip at www.meetmeatmikes.blogspot.com I hope that I get it right and we link over. If not please go and check out her blog she does lots of fun things and always includes everyone.

Pip's suggested that we list our five favourite things for the week. So here are my five favourite foodie things. I haven't mentioned all the happy family and friend things that I've already spoken about this week, they go without saying.

1. Number one has got to be these six (well I just photo'd three of them) simple good white china bowls that I got for a song at 50 pence each! As you'll probably be able to tell by the header image I have a bit of a thing for white china. They were especially good as I bought them after catching up for supper and a long chat with a friend.


2. Discovering Fog Linens the most amazing online shop that sells all things beautiful .......I think I'd almost enjoy washing the dishes if I was wearing this apron!

You can find them on http://www.foglinen.com/ I really recommend checking out the catalogue online if only for the amazing images.

3. Was hearing that thud on the doormat that means a present has been delivered.....one of my three lovely sisters had decided to surprise me and sent me this cool coffee cosy that she made out of vintage Laurah Ashley fabric that was inspired by the textles of the Bloomsbury Artists. They lived at a beautiful old farmhouse called Charleston in Sussex near where she lives, and is one my favourite places to visit.

You can get one for yourself and check out lots of other cool stuff on http://www.thecosybag.com/

4. Was discovering an emporium, jam packed to the ceiling with all kinds of goodies from India, Asia and the Caribbean on my doorstep.....well a ten minute drive away....Crammed pack with bags of beans and jar of pickles and pastes, home made breads and fresh herbs. And every time you turn a corner there's more....

5. My fifth favourite thing (by no means in any order) hasn't happened yet but the discovery that it is about to, was one of my favourite things last week......does that make sense to anyone but me?

What I'm trying to say is that the first episode of The Delicious Miss Dahl is due to air tonight and I can't wait.......I'm expecting so much that I hope it lives up to my expectation.........I think it's something to do with sneak preview pictures of the kitchen she will be using.........and of course the beautiful Miss D or should that be Mrs. C?