Home Love Contest Entry

This blog post is an entry for the Home Love contest at Fashion for Home. To enter, submit a photograph of a room, corner or vignette that you love in your home. Thank you to Kimberly for the tip!

I've chosen this particular image because creating this room for Eva was quite literally a labour of love - I completed the mural wobbling at the top of a stepladder while 38 weeks pregnant with Eva's baby sister, Natalia. In addition to handpainting the mural, I upholstered the chair, sewed cushions, curtains, a pillowcase and beanbags, sanded down the bed (which naturally we found in the cellar), customised an Ikea toddler table and chair set, and made tissue paper pompoms. And of course we re-plastered, painted, and sanded and oiled the floor.

All worth it though - we created the room with love, we absolutely love how it turned out, and if Eva's enthusiastic insistence that all toddler visitors come and play upstairs in her bedroom immediately upon entering the house is anything to go by, she loves it too.

In fact Eva isn't the only one who loves the room - while big sister is away, a very small lady likes to sneak in and throw all the toys around...

Front Garden Update

Finally, we have spring in Manchester. And about time too - I'm not sure how many more days of waking up to a frozen snowy ground our poor confused daffodils could have taken.

Here's how the front garden is looking - the first wave of yellow daffodils and purple crocus is out in full bloom.

I did a quick map so when autumn comes and all traces of the bulbs have disappeared I can remember what's planted where.

1. Daffodils 2. Crocus 3. Allium 4. Bluebells 5. Gladioli.

It's long way from the unruly jungle we inherited (yep, the picture below is the same border shown above!) but there's still a loooong way to go before everything looks lush and pretty.

Next steps - plant evergreens (vinca, euonymous, lavender and box) and sow grass seed. I'm tired of looking at all that soil!

I've also been hard at work on Natalia's chest of drawers. Here's a sneak peek:

It's coming along very nicely - the flowers on the front are finished, and I just need to add the top coat of protective oil. I'm also dallying with the idea of painting the sides of the drawers to give an extra flash of colour (yellow?) - clearly this would be too much if the chest of drawers were intended for a grown-up space, but I think a child might like the novelty.

Variations On Eggs And Lamb

Well, that was a lovely bank holiday weekend. Baking, egg-hunting, three-hour lunches, mini eggs in the bath, goat wrestling and floor oiling were all enjoyed by various members of the family.

First of all, we headed to Paupers Wood on Good Friday to hunt for wooden eggs (which were then exchanged for chocolate bunnies). Eva went round it about seven times.

Easter Sunday breakfast - featuring some pretty new things (Portmeirion jug and cake stand), some homemade things (hot cross buns! I actually baked hot cross buns!), some toddler baking (chocolate rice krispie nests, obviously) and an assortment of stickers. I long for the days of reclaimed wood dining tables and pinnable tablescapes but we're not *quite* there yet!

An Easter egg hunt in the back garden with a little friend, with the foil-wrapped spoils collected in toddler-decorated baskets - you will notice that one toddler collected ALL THE EGGS *cough* Eva *cough*. I hasten to add that I was busy in the kitchen with a garlic and rosemary leg of lamb at the time, otherwise increased efforts towards parity would have been insisted upon!

Easter Sunday lunch - roast lamb, buttered new potatoes, Greek salad, aubergine ratatouille and roasted butternut squash with chilli and coriander. The toddlers lasted about five minutes and then disappeared, being discovered sometime later carefully sharing mini eggs from the comfort of our turquoise Victorian clawfoot bath on the top floor!

An insanely delicious Easter dessert! Thank you :-)

And from lamb to lamb (that's going to be a tricky conversation in a couple of years) - feeding carrots to the sheep (with some bonus goat wrestling) at Reddish Vale Farm.

Happy Easter, one and all!