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!

Deck the Halls

Although Christmas is now creeping up in the shops from September, for me it's quite important to wait until December to decorate the house and fully embrace the festive spirit.And this year it is the first time we can truly say we are spending Christmas "at home", so it has been a very special month spent decorating and planning for our guests to enjoy the festivities without the hassle of moving furniture around as a bonus!

We used to live next to a funky little pub where they used to sell fresh trees, and for as long as we lived in our old place we used to get one, but with age comes a more environmentally-friendly conscience and last year we took the plunge and went plastic. I can hear you say : "oh but it's not the smae thing" and that's quite true. I miss the smell, but not the dead needles. Instead now we have the luxury of having our very own shrubs, which I made several bouquets with. The main tree remains plastic. Best of both worlds, right?

Over the years our collection of trinkets has grown too, and it's always a nice moment when we open the decorations box and find things we had almost forgotten from the year before.
I love my little glittery deers and iceskating owls, but I will always have a serious penchant for my Maldivian seashell ornaments ;)
Do you have special ornaments from years ago too? 

Wishing you all a ***lovely Christmas***