Life could be a dream…
It's the most wonderful time of the year! Hurrah! I ADORE Christmas and everything about it. I love getting drunk on hot spicy beverages. I love the cheek-warming fug of central heating and scratchy manmade fibre-d Christmas jumpers. I love all those terrible, dated Christmas songs, tinny and muffled with horribly-ageing lyrics. It was a ‘different time’ … Continue reading Gold, frankincense and magazine Christmas gift guides….
St Malo, is a historic walled city on the northern coast of Brittany. To many British visitors, I should imagine it is often overlooked as a ferry port and nothing more. The front porch of France, a means to an end, granted only the briefest of glimpses by passing families as they trundle through on … Continue reading Le mer et le beurre
Two years ago, while flat hunting I wrote this blogpost, listing some of the classic lies estate agents love to tell. We’ve just moved house again and so have had to deal with a whole new batch of the cheeky fibbers. I therefore felt compelled to write a new post highlighting some of the gems … Continue reading Lies estate agents tell (part two)
Since moving to Kew Gardens last year, a fair portion of my life has been spent on the rattly, elegant and idiosyncratic District line. Here is my love letter to- in my opinion - the best of all the London Underground railways. Firstly, the District line is most definitely a railway, rather than a tube. Most … Continue reading The line of beauty
Many of London's great landmarks are easy to love. The architecture is straightforward, quite obviously attractive, easy to photograph and aesthetically pleasing without question. The Barbican is a place that my eyes aren't quite sure what to do with. I find it truly fascinating and it's one of my favourite spots in London. I love the … Continue reading The hanging gardens of Barbican
After the success of my homemade shampoo (read about it here) I felt pretty bloody good about myself. Inevitably, I thought it would be a crackin’ idea to start making more of my own beauty products. I decided to start with my own bubble bath. How tricky could this be? VERY TRICKY it turns out. I've … Continue reading Making a bath soak, making a mess
One of my favourite things about buying vintage is that every piece has a story attached. Sometimes this story is based in fact - when an item's history and era are known by the seller - and sometimes I make up a wild history myself. I just love that each piece has lived its own … Continue reading The loveliness of vintage labels
Despite going to university in Devon and spending three years living right on the brink of Cornwall, until last weekend I had never been there. How did I let this happen!?? Anyway. In the early hours of Friday morning, we packed up the MG and headed West. The weekend was spent adventuring, in the glorious twin … Continue reading Postcards from a roadtrip to Cornwall
The time has come to retire my opaque tights for the summer. I know it’s hot and I know it might make you feel hot to look at my fabric-covered pins, but I could wear tights all year round. I would. And I have. When I was about 16 I defied convention and wore black … Continue reading Black tights be gone/an ode to opaques
Tucked away in a leafy corner behind a pair of Victorian wrought-iron gates lies Kew Gardens Tropical Nursery. It’s a hot, misty place, filled with intriguing and bizarre wonders of the natural world, from the world’s largest flower to the tiniest lily. The Nursery is where Kew do research, conservation work, and look after rare … Continue reading The secret wonders of Kew Gardens Tropical Nursery…
A Ranson Note 