3 things to smile about #4

'Three things to smile about' is back today with an autumnal theme, one of my favourite times of the year! Despite catching a little cold, I love the crisp fresh evenings, the pink sunsets, cosying up at home with a warm meal, the return of good TV, golden leaves starting to fall, all of it.

The first thing that makes me smile endlessly at the moment, are my apples. We knew we'd have a lot, but we didn't realise quite how many. To be honest, most are bad or half rotten before they even fall on the ground. But my goodness, there are still so many to do things with.
So, we waited patiently until they were good enough to cook and bearable to taste, and here is one of the batches of compote I made this week. I hope they will freeze well. In the meantime anyway, it's apple-fest everyday chez nous!

Next up, some lovely bath bombs all wrapped up prettily from Miss Patisserie. Nothing says autumn like a big bath and a fizz, right? Super cosy.

And swiftly onto my last thing. I found those little slippers at Next recently. I love a good star pattern! They're the perfect accessory to welcome autumn in. Cosy nights, here I come!

Mini holiday ~ part 2

To round off our mini staycation in the Lake District(part 1 here), we had to decided to go on a cruise on one of the Lakes. The heavy rain decided otherwise. Fortunately it didn't take us long to find an alternative, and we went off to nearby Grasmere to visit Dove Cottage, Wordsworth's home for a few years, and where he wrote his famous Daffodils poem.
The cottage is so, so charming from outside, and the small garden was truly gorgeous, even under the rain. Inside the cottage, sadly, was far too dark (and poky, to be honest) to take any decent photos.
We were lucky to have a really good guide talking us through some anecdotes about Wordsworth, his wife and friends, and a lot of the rooms had interesting pieces on show, such as a pair of iceskates or a ladies' embroidery kit.
The museum and shop were great, we spent most of our time there. Well, who can blame us with the deluge outside?

my little friends box

 Hands up who is a whole month late introducing their August box?
Oh the shame, the shame. It really should have no excuse, but I have been hit by a train going at full speed back in work, and in my defense I didn't get said box until late in August. Bygones, ok?
So tonight, a whole month late, but also a whole week after opening my beautiful Mademoiselle box, I can finally share with you the content of my "Friends" box.

So let me start with the best thing here - I have been pestering about manicure sets for about 6 weeks, since not one but two nailclippers broke on me. And then guess what came in the post? The cutest little manicure set with all your essentials, and in a cute packaging as usual. Nice touch to read my thoughts there, My Little Team!
The second lifestyle pressie is from a collaboration with Printie, it's so geeky - in a cool way. I didn't even know those things existed, but I can see myself using my new fisheye camera all the time. It's small, practical, and pretty cute too. 

 On the beauty front, my favourite has to be the flamingo-covered "Summer Lips" from My Little Beauty. Lovely colour, good texture. I've been wearing it everyday since it arrived ;)
I've not tried the hairspray, it's from Baptiste, but I trust it will be a goodun'. Just need a night out now.
And finally, Hydramuse from Kadalys. Great smell, not too greasy.

And that's altogether perfect with the cutest drawings from Kanako on the box again. The best thing about My Little Box, now that I've got a good handful at home, is that you get to try out loads of new products from brands you might not have considered before. On the whole I've been really happy with all the surprises I got, and it's such a treat every month to have that box being delivered, it always makes my day.

The only mini sour note is that there isn't a loyalty kind of scheme going. Since I started buying My Little Box in January, three of my colleagues have signed up, and I also treated a friend to a three-months stint. The capricorn in me thinks there could be some sort of reward to it, but hey, not complaining, just saying.
Whatever happens, I can't see myself stoppping my subscription just yet. I just loooove those goodies!

Mini holiday

 I've been eager to tell you about our mini holiday in the Lake District a couple of weeks ago. The bulk of our first day there was spent climbing Helvellyn. OMG, did my man undersell me the difficult journey it would be! But hey troopers as we are, we did it in no less than 6 hours from the village and back to our car. The views were breathtaking - or so I'm told (I suffer from a slight aversion to heights, so you can imagine me on the famous "stiding edge") and in the end, despite cursing my way through the difficult bits, I was a pretty proud woman at the end of the loop. Sadly, I won't be sharing any embarrassing selfies taken before and after, they've somehow not made the final cut here. Oops.
Instead what I can show you is the fabulous suite we'd booked at the Gilpin hotel just a few miles away in sunny wet Windermere. What a treat at the end of such a strenuous day, it was just perfect. How cute is the little doorstop cat? The hotel is actually split into a more classical side and a brand-new extended area with ultra-modern cabins cum-spa facilities.
We stayed in one of the more classic rooms in the main building, a super calm, laid-back place with lovely staff. We decided to upgrade our night and dinner package to the 7-courses tasting menu and kicked it off with a glass of champagne to celebrate our achievement, not to mention that Mr Peony had a birthday that day. The food did not disappoint and we actually really struggled to finish our meal. Special mention to the fish course, "une tuerie" as we say in French!
Breakfast was heavenly in the morning, complete with fresh fruit salad and juices. We so did not need to eat, but couldn't resist the eggs benedict (I looove those!)
Thank you Gilpin for making our stay so comfortable and pleasant.  I have a hinch we might come back ;)