It might as well be spring

Spring is definitely here now. How glorious are those flowers everywhere?
Of course, I've had a field day with all the cherry blossoms in the past couple of weeks (don't think I'm the only one there, am I?) but oh my, the weather has been super nice as well, and with family coming around to visit we have not missed our chance to go and visit our favourite English gardens around. First we went to Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. Their gardens are sooo pretty, and this time it was definitely the tlips that stole my heart. Being so much into flowers and history must be a sign that I'm getting old. Oh dear. But truly, you'd have to be a fool not to appreciate the beauty here.

Over in Churchill's old country home it was all about the camelias. We fell in love, once again, with the building. It's such a lovely country home filled with history, memories and amazing furniture. Sadly I can't show any of it because photos aren't allowed inside - but I totally get why. It's a whole experience to see it for yourself and it would be a shame to spoil it here.
Flowers, though, are all go, and I hope you'll enjoy them.

Armed with all this amazing inspiration we planted a few seeds this weekend, some simple tomatoes and salad - perfect for our little girl to look after. Last year we just had a few odd bits growing outside because it was our first summer in our new home, but this year we are making more of an effort with our gardening skills - and hopefully our camelia plant will make flowers. Fingers crossed it will work out. Actually, I still haven't decided if I have green fingers or not, but by this summer I should have a definite answer.

3 things to smile about #6

I am not one to linger too long here about my personal life, but let's just say that February was like the worst.month.ever. But hey, everything being relative, I have decided to focus on the positive, smile again, and try not to be too much of a miserable cow. 'Cos goodness knows only bad things happen to miserable cows. I'm all about the karma, baby!
So here are some of the things I have been smiling about these last few days.

A rustic bunch of flowers waiting for us on the table we booked at Cedar Farm in Lancashire. Early March seemed like the right time to put February behind us (you don't say, hey!) so we headed North and reconnected with our roots a bit. I just loved that bouquet and the contrast it made with the bluey-grey wall behind: simple, effective. I would have never put red tulips with cherry blossoms, but wow, don't you think?

Putting old bits of fabric together. Always good therapy, and what better to do put together a mother-daughter collaboration? Half-way through the preparations I realised I wouldn't have enough of the red spotted fabric and had to change, but it was still a nice little DIY thing to do.

don't mind me while I take a quick photo with bed hair, no proper background, and let's not even go down the lighting route :(

Last but not least, this absolute beauty from Zara. A cheap-as-chips, sure to cheer you up kinda bag, aka the perfect little picnic basket bag. It will be perfect for spring, summer, and may even end up with mushrooms in it come Autumn! I simply loved it as soon as I saw it on a parisian website a few weeks ago. Unfortunately I didn't order it straight away, and it got sold out online pretty quickly. Luckily for me, the Oxford Street branch had ONE left. Yay me!

where time stands still

 

I have spoken here about it on a few occasions before, but going home really does feel strange, and the feeling just seems to deepen year after year. Sure, the reasons for that are rooted in childhood,  teenagehood and the endless underlying family issues that come with that territory - I'm sure a lot of you out there know what I'm talking about. But there is also the fact that as years have gone by I have lost all ties with the few school mates I had. Distance does this. That means going home is purely a family business: I go, they get to see baby, we catch up for a while (note to self - remember to avoid talking politics, healthcare, money, and work. I know, that doesn't leave much but it's essential in order to survive even the shortest of visits), eat, walk around the village and that's pretty much it, at least when the weather is not hot enough to be outside.
Still, when the sun shines the light is amazing, the local cheese is out of this world, this time we got to see a small circus, and there are lovely shops in the nearby town - I tend to go a bit crazy to compensate ;)
Maybe it's time to stop visiting France at Easter for me?