I Need The Chelsea Gardener

Now the builders have fled, well for a little while as they still have some work to do on the front windows, we are left with the unenviable task of creating a lovely outside space. Not the easiest thing to do when we haven't got a green finger between the two of us.

Our garden is sunk into a small hill surrounded by walls and sloping banks. I want colour, moss, wispy trees, trailing plants and vintage furniture.

For inspiration and envy I visit The Chelsea Gardener. If you love colour and nature you could do worse than to visit this site. Eye Candy at it's very best.

Rachel Whiting Photographer

Rachel Whiting is my sort of photographer. Not only does she create beautiful photographs but she really inspires me with her colours and compositions.

Imagine Creating This

Kevin Dean is an artist and a designer and must have felt pretty amazing when he created this floor for the Abu Dhabi Grand Mosque, it's stunning.

Rule Britannia

Oh this makes me feel so patriotic. It's the Double Deckchair by Lost and Found from Pedlars. You can always trust Pedlars to come up with some brilliant buys.

The Jelly Mongers

There's a company in London that does Jelly Parties and they are The Jelly Mongers. There's some of their creations in the picture above. I would love to have a jelly party. Any suggestions as to what flavours I could cook up?

A Decorative Charger

I think I would really like one of these phone chargers because

this is where I charge my phone -wouldn't it be perfect coming out from behind my tree? I hate phone chargers they are so intrusive and ugly but this is a whole new ball game. By MicroWorks in Japan

Too Good To Eat

In New York there is a store going by the name of Eleni's and there you can buy these BISCUITS yes BISCUITS. As I said - too good to eat.
Via Notcot

Nursery Rhyme Cupcakes

Well just WOW! Nursery Rhyme Cupcakes found at Flickr. There's more, go and see.

More Patterns Than You Can Shake a Stick At

When I found this site - Wonder Walls - I thought I was never going to get tot the end of it. I have never seen so many designs for wallpaper by one company and they are all stunning. Then to top it all I found that they do matching fabrics. I tell you, I had to take a break after visiting them.

Your Carriage Awaits You

A pretty elegant place to keep all your bits and bobs I think. I saw this over at French Blue who always manage to find vintage pieces with a difference.

Elegant Recycling

This is a teapot, this is designed by Joey Roth, this is recycled and this is how it should be done.
Available at Horne

Twitter Away - I'm Not Playing

I was over at Paris Parfait today and read a post about Twittering. Tara asked people to tell if they Twittered or not and why. The fact that people Twitter or use the likes of Facebook on a daily basis has me beat and here is why:

• People actually Twitter from their phones which then goes up on Facebook - how many people do they think want to know about what they are doing on a minute by minute basis?
• I have a Facebook account only so that I can see pictures of my grandchildren which my kids put up there. I wish they would just put them on Picasa or Flickr so I could access them there.
  
• It has been said that Twitter is a great place to promote your business - this is a mammoth task, to get the message out there you have to connect to a massive amount of people who may not want to hear you banging on about your business.
• It is said that you should not be pushing your business in peoples faces but talk to them about a myriad of subjects - oh yes I have the time to do that and blog and run a business.
• What happened to the art of face to face conversation. I have been in restaurants and bars and seen people texting (is that a word) away and not even talking to the people they are with.
• Where I live it is difficult to get a signal on a mobile phone unless you are willing to stand on a dry stone wall with your phone in the air, which incidentally makes it bloody difficult to talk into the thing. It is a breath of fresh air to be in the pub where people actually practice the art of face to face conversation.
• I am a big fan of technology but only when used to make life better. If I used Twitter, Facebook, Blogger and God knows what else I wouldn't have any time to do the things that I was put on this earth to do like appreciate the seasons, meet my friends, play with my grand children or just sit with a good book and a nice cup of coffee.
• There is an art to communicating which is best achieved by understanding facial expressions and tone of voice. When Twitter and their ilk find a way of replicating this I may use it but then again I may not.
• Where I come from twitter is a word used to describe boring chatter such as - what on earth is she twittering about? I think on that note I will sign off.

What do you think?

Let Them Eat Cake and Paper Scissors

Let Them Eat Cake birthday card and

Yes they are Scissors and yes they are paper. Beautifully drawn by Crankbunny.
Absolutely Brilliant!

Oh So Clever - Hannah Havana

Before I start I would just like to say that I would love to be called Hannah Havana, sounds so much more interesting than Di Overton.
To the point, how brilliantly innovative these designs are. Take close look and see the titles. Love them!

Hotel Basico

Due to the fact that Hotel Biasco is in Mexico I think there's little chance I will ever visit but if by chance I should ever get there I think it's a must. Just love those chairs and tables that hang on the wall.

The Patience of Jobe

For Ghost Furniture I have been known to stick together and paint vintage fake fruit but to cover each piece with crochet must take, as I say in the title, the patience of Jobe.
By Aurelie Mathigot

How Does She Do It?

The lovely Tara, she of Paris Parfait, posted some images, of the area she lives in, on her blog and I was gob smacked as we English say. They look like Turner paintings. How does she do it? Go and take a look.
When I visit Paris and Tara and I meet up we always take photos and I end up asking her to send me hers so I can use them instead of mine. She is a real pro, in the nicest possible sense of the word of course.

Ornamented Life In Close Up

I know most people will have seen the fabulous broken crockery pieces by Ornamented Life which have all their imperfections filled with 24 carat gold but now we can see them in close up. I think they are stunning and what a beautiful way to restore something that would otherwise been thrown away.
For sale at Horne

The Cecil Beaton Ascot Cushion

I received an email from Beaudesert this morning pointing me at the Cecil Beaton fabric collection. I found this and just had to share it.

Funny Face at Etsy

I can't help but find these fascinating. Funny Face by Laura Liberte at Etsy