Cabbage cravings...

With autumn come my cabbage cravings!

Oh, perhaps I need to say...

... should you ever want to invite me for dinner...

... please, oh please, do NOT serve me cabbage in any shape or form...

... not that I want to appear ungrateful...

... but the only way I can consume this particular produce...

... is with my eyes!

(Click on the image to see the whole image.)

This morning I woke up as the sun reached a few tentative rays far into the bedroom, as if trying to inject some life into the sleepy Swede snoring the sunny Saturday away. The same heavenly light bulb was soon seen with a victorious smile across its sunny countenance as yours truly scraped herself off the comfortable mattress and out into the world. 'The world' more specifically referring to an overgrown garden, where the bramble branches looked like something out of an 'Alien' movie, its thick, long, hungry arms ready to gobble up a small child any minute...

Oh, I am getting carried away here... where were we? Yes, a little morning gardening in the sun does a soul good. Not to mention mentioned garden. The more meticulous among you will however notice the moss framing every patio slab like a green, gooey metro map, but for now, let's just call it... rustic?

A warm welcome to all my new readers and followers and thank you, THANK YOU to those of you leaving such kind comments. I read every word and feel very humbled by your kindness. Again, I can only apologize that I am not able to visit all your lovely blogs at the moment...

Wishing you a sunny and wonderful week, with or without cabbage!

Helena

Recycled autumn...

Dearest blog readers,

Most of you know by now that I am a big fan of recycling material when decorating...

I therefore hope you will allow me to also 'recycle' some old photos from two years ago...

...as time is not on my side at the moment, but I still wanted to 

offer a little autumnal ambiance here on the blog...

Two years ago, there was a lot growing in the Swenglish garden and green house...

(Borlotti beans)

... some of which  (↑) I was more keen to devour with my lens than my palate...

Autumn walks in 'Conquers Land' made one Swenglish 'gatherer' very happy...

... and there was no stopping my desire to create little seasonal corners...

For now, I 'gather' ideas and try to be patient (not my strongest virtue...) 

until life offers the time and head space to create more corners and 

harvest the fruits of my create-hungry mind...

Thank you so much for visiting and a special thank you to Judita 

with the lovely blog Välkommen Hem! (=Welcome Home!), 

who gave me an award recently!

All the best,

Helena

Wet windows in Lacock...

The summer of 2012 was a funny one here in south west UK. More rain than we ever thought possible became a lingering, daily visitor, overstaying its welcome by far and resulting in a summer that perhaps was not to everyone's taste - unless you are a mermaid... 

On the other hand (yes, I am humming ' Always look on the bright side of life' here - will you join in with the whistling?) this meant everything grew like crazy at the beginning of the summer, and windows like the one above, drowning in a lush, green veil, offered wonderful hope of nature's growing power...

All the photos today are from our neighbour village Lacock earlier this summer...

(Click on the image to see the whole image.)

...with the last one below showing the view of (-the back of-) Lacock Abbey 

coming back from a walk across the fields behind the village.

I am, again, very invisible in the blog world at the moment, and I long to find the time to spend more time here. Last week was spent in Sweden on a work trip and this week one of the things on the agenda is to organise a birthday party for one of my sons. I do love organising parties, I have to confess, and the challenge for me is rather to not go completely wild and crazy with too many creative ideas... Just don't be alarmed if you happen to stumble across a new and rather frightening professor from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this weekend. It may very well be yours truly...

***

A huge thank you for your kind comments about my post from Paris. 

I see we are many who share the love of this wonderful city!

Wishing you a week full of light and happy moments!

Helena

Paris...mon amour...

(Click on the image to see the whole image.)

I think I always knew that I loved Paris, long before that summer, twenty-five years ago, when I first set foot in this magical, majestic, simply magnificent city of love. And that summer, I fell, head over heals, gasping and dizzy, in love with Paris and made a promise to myself to live there one day...

Two years later I made Paris my home for four months, whilst trying to make friends with the French grammar (yes, and some lovely people too), devouring most of the city's nutella-drenched crêpes and realising slowly but surely that Paris and I, yes, we had definitely started a love affair...

I have longed to show my sons this beautiful capital, and this summer I got the chance. As they are still quite young, eight and six, I was not sure if they were old enough to appreciate the attractions of a big city like Paris, but I need not have worried. They were just as smitten as I, and many were the moments when they grabbed my arm, squeezed hard and with big eyes exclaimed a long "Mamma, woooowww!"

We stayed in my favourite area, Montmartre, and one of the 'wow' moments was when, on our arrival at the hotel, we flung open the windows to find the view seen above in the first photo. Greeted by none less than the Eiffel Tower itself, across the roof tops of Paris, we sat down on the bed and just stared in awe. Yes, that was the first of many "WOWs"...

A new acquaintance of mine this visit, was the Parc Buttes Chaumont (19th arr), with - among other things - a splendid view across Paris, a lake and this (albeit man-made) 20-meter high waterfall and grotto!

The ancient city of Saint-Lizier, near Saint-Girons in the Midi-Pyrénées region

After a couple of days of grinning from ear to ear with Paris infatuation, we boarded the train to Toulouse, heading for the vintage wedding whose stunning decorations were featured here a little while ago.

Villages with an alpine feel and classic French shutters greeted us... 

oh, and Monsieur Le Chat too...

The pretty village of Aurignac (Click on the image to see the whole image.)

However, our French holiday seems like a life-time ago now, and having just returned from a work trip to Sweden, I am ready to take on autumn. Well, if what is on offer is a mild, sunny, summer-resembling one, that is!

Thank you so much for all your kind comments here and in e-mails. 

May your Sunday be a stunning one!

Helena

Biddestone beauties...

Just across the fields from our little town, lies the small village of Biddestone...

Like so many other villages around here, the CUTE factor is omnipresent...

Whether big house or small, the owners all seem to have green fingers...

... and even now in September, the petal power lingers and is sweet music for my eyes...

Peering into properties like these, I have to use all my willpower to restrain myself from skipping 

sideways over the little iron gate separating me from this tempting entrance... 

Anybody else feel an urge to tip-toe with me down this path and explore 

what lies beyond these fluffy balls of box?

Thank you all SO much for your kind, kind comments about our home in the last post!

Wishing you all a green and fluffy start to September!

Helena

(More photos from this village here, here and here.)

Light lover...

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while may have noticed that I do love surrounding myself with colour, particularly spicy, saffrony shades. However, since moving to the UK, I have felt - more than ever before - a need for light, bright, white rooms...

... sometimes mixed with nature's own wooden browns, or - as in our conservatory above - 

leafy and mossy greens to link the outside with the room inside.

Nothing new to report in here, but since this was a rare moment of tidiness in an otherwise football book-covered, paper and pens-strewn, cereal-on-the-floor-going-crunch-under-your-feet-environment, I took the opportunity to snap a few shots before things returned to normal...

I love how the ivy spills onto the floor here, 

mirroring its cousin covering the stone wall outside...

Aha, but in here there is actually something new. The very old, dark sofa that previously inhabited this space had been on "life support" for longer than what was sofa humane (or human behind humane, for that matter), and as much as I love recycling and upcycling, there comes a time when one has to realise it is time to say farewell. A trip to a certain large blue and yellow Swedish furniture store and voilá, a sofa with all the lovely oumph, fluffage and bouncy comfort one can expect from a new padded friend. 

In the mirror, you may notice the other, smaller white sofa stretching its cushions high to be seen, feeling slightly neglected since the arrival of its larger sibling and hungry for some attention...

All right then, just to humour my old trusty sofa friend, here is another 

photo of one of the most photographed corners of the house.

Both white sofas are wearing modestly autumnal costumes, but - to our delight - outside temperatures this week speak of summer! Has it finally arrived, I wonder...?

Thank you SO much for stopping by and for all the kind comments you leave for me to wrap myself in when life has its uphill moments....

All the best,

Helena

The English Riviera...

Dartmouth, South Devon

Swooosh! 

Did you hear that?

Yes, that was the sound of the summer holiday swoooshing past our eyes at the speed of light.

Lobster pots in Brixham

So what better way to end the school holiday...

Dartmouth

... than a weekend down on the "English Riviera"?

(Mackerel fishing from Brixham; Braving the freezing water at Beesands; 

Night in Torquay; Fireworks in Dartmouth)

South Devon was a new acquaintance for me, and being the soppy sucker for scenic 

beauty that I am, I fell again. Yep. Head over heals. In love. No..., in LOVE.

Torquay by night

We had no idea we had chosen the weekend of the Dartmouth Regatta to visit the region, and the Saturday night fireworks was just the sparkling icing on an already very beautiful coastal cake.

Cute little road opposite the beach at Blackpool Sands

Paignton Pier (Please click on the image to see the whole image.)

Brixham

Being a mermaid at heart, living inland - albeit a very pretty part of the country - 

has made me long for the waves ever since settling in Wiltshire...

Spending a few days in this pretty coastal paradise made my scaly tail flap with joy, 

and I can't wait to go back!

Beach huts in Paignton

Splashy greetings to you all and thank you for stopping by!

Helena

Ps. Ever wonder why there are no full body photos of me here? Now you know... ☺