pillar box red

forgetful summer...

 

 

 

 

 

ice cream cup cakes...

 
For about 10 seconds I was at the top of the super mum league tables after making these for my daughter's sixth birthday and giving them out at school - but then another mum hired an actual fire engine to come to their party and individually assembled tasteful brown paper, hand labelled party bags with only the finest selection of sweets - so now I'm back where I belong. 

 

The cakes, by the way, absolutely as easy as pie. Make them exactly the way you think you would - and no, the cones don't burn at all in the oven. Genius.

utility...

 
I always longed for a utility room when I didn't have one - and it hasn't disappointed now that I do. When we first moved in, it was a bit of a dumping ground. And then it became a sort of storage place for kitchen stuff while the kitchen was tiled, etc. But at last it's become what it's intended for...

 
... a laundry room, preparing veg from my dad's allotment, kitchenware storage, cleaning stuff, art and craft stuff fot me and the kids, wellies, all the stuff that mucks up the other rooms in a house. I love, love the tiled floor and I've prettied it up a bit with my old market stall sign and some sketches I haven't parted with/ thrown away...

 
... these are sketches that eventually became other pictures, or were discarded for one reason or another, but I like them enough to keep them. And now they bighten up a room and remind me how much I like red while I'm sorting the laundry.

lilac and yellow...

 
 
... pretty perfect for Easter.

a bit early...

 

for mothers' day...

 
... I got a heavy duty staple gun. I've wanted one for ages, but there always seems to be something more immediately necessary. I wish I hadn't waited so long - recovering these chairs is the most fun I've had since I used the branch shredder last week. (Which is not a sarcastic statement - I LOVE the shredder).

 

These are ROGER chairs from Ikea, which I don't think they sell anymore. The came with a navy blue cover, which has seen us through the baby years. I couldn't even have shown you a before picture - too much yoghurt does something nasty to fabric. But we all love them now - hopefully the girls will even let me sit on them once in a while.

jewel brights...

 
... go so well with dimly lit grey don't you think?

 
Which is just as well given this gloomy Spring weather - and almots makes it bearable.

soft pink...

 
literally - i don't know what these flowers are called, i think they're from south africa - but they are beautiful, and more so because they were a gift, which makes anything sweeter.

 

faded blue...

 
faded - but still beautiful - a bit like the rest of us...

 
i've always liked watching how the colours on flowers change and fade, and really want to paint the same flowers every day until the colour is all gone - but the time, where will the time come from?

stone leaves...

 
i walk past this pretty often and although it's a tiny detail on a building i always think how beautiful it is, and how long it has lasted - and will last - and i sort of like that.