Lunch on the lawn...

 

This past weekend offered glorious summer temperatures here in the South West UK. Everywhere, the sound of flip flops and lawn mowers enhanced the summery feel, and on Sunday, the boys and I decided to have lunch in the garden. As the young family members had spent the morning playing football, I did not bother with any fancy table settings for them...

 

... but after they had finished and I saw the small table there in the shade...

 

... a little tired and in need of some TLC...

 

... it seemed to be cajoling me to dress it up and make it feel pretty for a moment...

 

So, inspired by a few small Indian wooden stamps I picked up in London last week...

... I dug out my old wooden stamps bought in Turkey 

(some still with traces of paint after I used them for card making)...

... and let their oriental feel set the tone for the table décor...

(Yes, I know I have mixed very different Asian details here, such as the old Turkish book pages wrapped around the violet and the onions, mixed with East Asian chop sticks... oh, and yes, Moroccan style lanterns which obviously do not belong on that continent at all! Ah well, we will have to adopt a rather liberal view on theme loyalty here, I think...!)

 

As I was playing around with these - in my opinion - rather beautiful wooden stamps, another idea was born. I hope I will be able to show you some results of that idea in a few weeks. I just need to find the material and...ah, yes, the t-i-m-e....

Wishing you all a really lovely week!

Helena

Sprout mania...

Dear readers,

If I promise not to show a single little sprout for the rest of the year...

...will you allow me to play around with these little green fellows just one more time?

You see, as I was looking at the moss wreath earlier, thinking it needed a little something extra, the idea suddenly seemed obvious... some Christmas baubles from Mother Nature's own X-mas shop.

Joined by napkin rings made from a fallen down branch from the forest, ivy from the garden, pine cones brought back from the forest in Sweden, some cinnamon sticks, and my rusty "gazebo" (which I think used to sit on top of a chimney, as a bird safe guard) - now with a small candle holder hung 'cauldron style', this simple table setting was created today to the tunes of Bing Crosby's "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas..."...

Keeping up with the season, the CALM letters above the white sofa (in the 

background) have been replaced by NOEL (also cut from leftover floor boards).

And these beauties... are they not stunning? I wonder if the people working with these small shoe lasts many years ago could have imagined the latter would one day serve as candle holders (the little hole on top seemed to scream out for a small candle!)... The lovely American shoe lasts were a precious, precious gift from a dear friend, Annelie. Dearest Annelie, thank you so, SO much!

And now, now I can hear you moan "Please, we are 'sprouted out'! Sprout no more!" 

So, I promise, no more sprouts for a looong time!

Wishing you a lovely week leading up to Christmas!

Helena

Golden glory for lunch anyone...?

After an inspired autumn walk, I felt like bringing some golden sunshine into the house...

A few - by the man in the house - home grown pumpkins were still around...

One small home-made willow wreath on the table, a leaf-clad larger ditto hanging above...

And yes, for those of you wondering, the photo above 

was taken whilst levitating, in true Halloween spirit...

My hessian (burlap) fabric here again used as table cloth and glass decoration. 

(See here how it was used for a spring table.) 

And the best bit? With the exception of the two pears and the rustic bread, 

all the material was old, recycled or free from the forest...

May all your meals be sun-lit and scrumptious today!

Helena

In a recycling mood...

With a thousand new ideas in my head, but lacking the time to realize them, and with skies whose hobby seems to be to shower me with wet drops the second I set foot outside, like a young rascal with a water balloon just sooo tempting to throw at a passer-by... well, instead of potentially interesting new pictures, I think today's blog post will be some recycled images from May last year.

My beloved bluebells were in full bloom and I could not resist to set a little tea-for-two table in the garden...

I know ivy can be intrusive and even knock over walls with their growth power, but I can't help it, I just love their evergreen loveliness draping walls and tree trunks.

A special welcome to all of you new readers (and of course a warm hello to old readers too). In the past couple of days my blog visit counter has shown more than a staggering 1500 visits per day, and as this is a lot more than usual, despite my not having posted anything for over a week, I can't help but wonder if my blog has appeared somewhere that I am completely unaware of...(other than the normal blog rolls on other blogs, etc)? Either way, it is very flattering and welcome, WELCOME all of you!

Ps. I have now heard that some other bloggers have experienced a similar "rush" of visitors recently, so perhaps my flattering "popularity" is rather the result of a misbehaving counter..:-)  Have you had a similar experience with the numbers?

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!

Helena

(As I did not yet have my small round garden table at the time of  taking these photos, the "table" above was made with a round piece of MDF on top of a couple of wooden boxes. "Mosquito net" style curtains for a few pounds from IKEA act as table cloth - a cheap and easy way to add a romantic feel to a table decoration, and when outside, they flow beautifully in the wind.)

Good morning sunshine...

The earth says hello...

You twinkle above us...

We twinkle below...

Good morning sunshine
You lead us along...

My love and me as we sing
Our early morning singing song...

Gliddy gloop gloopy...

Nibby nobby nooby...

La la la lo lo...

Sabba sibby sabba 

Nooby abba dabba

Le le lo lo
dooby ooby walla

dooby abba dabba
Early morning singing song...

(The beginning of Good Morning Starshine lyrics, from the musical Hair 

- the word 'starshine' changed here to 'sunshine'.)

With the exception of the thick sack fabric (hemp, jute?), bought in Turkey (4 m for £ 2) and the table runners from H&M, all other items are old and familiar 'friends'. Plates and glasses from IKEA, polystyrene apples that have been with me for decades, my home-made 'twig cutlery' from earlier this year, some junk shop bargain forks bent to work as napkin ' rings' or simply as decorative details, hazelnuts glued onto a ball of oasis (tricky to glue on to, polystyrene would work better, I think).

Wishing you all a SUNNY weekend, 

and a special hello to those of you who have just found your way here!

Helena