orange anglepoise

we bought a vintage lamp for the bedroom, it had some scratches so we got it cheaper, i don't mind the 'shabby look'! it's bright orange, to go with the orange flecks in the throw. i never would have thought i'd pick green orange and purple for my bedroom!!

redcurranty goodness

persian lamb - the BBQ version

grilled lamb (gigot chops)
onion-tomato-cucmber salsa (with a mint and lemon dressing), yoghurt sauce, and just to be sure, also a mixed salad with a lemon and garlic dressing (in that tupperware shaker thingy, it's a great little gadget, my sis got it for free at a 'tupper party' and gave it to me, how nice is that!)
fried rice and green beans, with parsley and dill
and for the baby some steamed veg. she seems to prefer the lamb chop though!

we also had some chicken, and then redcurrants and vienetta (yoghurt for the ice cream hating husband) for dessert. a lovely relaxing afternoon with the MIL and SIL!

lunchtime walk

and a little break in a field




on days like this i'm so glad we moved here, and not into some run down estate to be closer to the city! actually, even on rainy days i'm happy out here!

The throw from Donegal arrived today

Love the colour! Soft green tweed with flecks of orange, purple and a bright blue. Emm likes it, too, it's so soft! It'll remind us of our lovely weekend break for years to come, as the hotel room had a similar throw.
Time to pick paint, it'll have to be the perfect shade of off-white!

nappy rash...

open air nappy changing, with a long break in between nappies! thanks to air, sunshine, caldesene and bepanthen, her nappy rash cleared up quite fast, it's the first time she's had it (at 7.5 months) so i know i can count myself lucky...

happy fathers' day!

spray paint might work?

i 'found' this lamp in a photo from germany, it might be the right kind of green to go with the new throw? with a bit of spray paint to cover up the chrome bits i think it would be quite a cool lamp!

Strawberry Buns

last week's, with a butter-cream cheese icing (the butter/strawberry/icing sugar mix didn't combine, so i added philadelphia, yum!

today's, this time i didn't give in and kept beating the icing with the liquidiser until it turned into perfectly pink butter icing (thanks jo!). then i added some more strawberry pieces, blitzed it briefly, done!

Plans for the bedroom

After buying something purple for the first time in years I've chickened out of the plan for a soft purple feature wall, I am too scared of purple!! Instead I will go for a (maybe even scarier) purple and green combination! The cushions might lighten up a little if i wash them a few times and should nearly match the curtains then. The material for the throw has flecks for purple in it, and I love the fact that it will be handwoven in Ireland. It's a bit of an investment piece but I think it's timeless, and such good quality, for the same price as most synthetic bedspreads! Unfortunately the weaver can only do 140cm width on his loom, but he will make it 220cm long, so it'll cover the width of our king size (153cm) bed nicely. It'll be a few weeks before it's going to be finished, so I have time to look for a nice watercolour or painting of lupins or other purple flowers, which should pull the colours together nicely.

I don't know what it is with me and purple but there are VERY FEW shades of purple that I like in the first place, (it has to be warm and muted, not too pale, not too pink, not too blue...) and I got quite excited when i got the curtains. But I've had the tester tin of paint for the feature wall sitting on my chest of drawers for ages and I just couldn't bring myself to paint the test patch! i think any more than one shade of purple wuld be too much for me!

lemon cup cakes for stitch'n'bitch

yumm...
we sat outside until half eight or so, then it got too cold! it's such a pity, the minute the sun has disappeared behind the house it got chilly. It's something I've noticed in Ireland, even in the middle of a hot day, it's always cold in the shade, it's not like that in Germany, as far as I remember. I wonder is it latitude, or the fact that it's an island, or is it like that at any coast?

the swing seat, our favourite place at the moment

a few days of sunshine

this place is like a different country! everybody's in a great mood and determined to make the most of the time, i think the day after tomorrow the rain will be back... we went to 2 BBQs at the weekend, had one at home and had another evening of al fresco dining. it's nearly like summer at home!