BLUE {FOR A BOY} BISCUITS

today i had the honour of holding
a teeny tiny newborn baby boy in my arms

precious william

we took him a quilt and some biscuits

{mix together}

4 tbsp rolled oats
30g cornflour
110g s.r. flour
85g caster sugar
110g unsalted butter
splash of milk

roll in to little balls
{makes about 20}
flatten a little and place on a lined or greased baking tray
in to a pre-heated 190 degree or gas 5 oven for 12-15 mins

cool then dip in melted chocolate
you need about 100g
{prettify with a crystallized violet}

adapted from a jamie o magazine recipe
{his version is perfect for a girl}
white chocolate with pink peppercorns

THREE MONTHS {PEN ON PAPER}

inspired by jackie's post today i am featuring my handwriting...this was very much grab a marker and scribble quick before photographing e! handwriting is most definitely an interest and a passion for me. jackie got me thinking right back to classes at junior school when we actually had handwriting lessons. we had to draw a guideline on the pages of our books with pencil and a ruler so that we could get the letters all at the same level. i loved that kind of lesson!

i am fascinated by left-handers. when i worked at the post office i had the ideal spot for watching folk scribe. one man in particular had the most exquisite writing. i would see him join the queue. i would try to hold myself back on occasion but found it impossible not to tell him how in awe of his handwriting i was. he would always be embarrassed but equally he always thanked me for noticing. he always used sepia ink and obviously a fountain pen. seriously it was like the stunning calligraphy you see in places like this and this. beautiful. he was probably in his 60s and if i see him about town he will most probably think i'm stalking him!my most favourite style has to be french handwriting. as you may have noticed i have a bit of a thing for amandine at the moment. i even try to imitate it sometimes but i don't think it works unless you really are french!

please do join in.

THE SPRING PARTY

ochre shoes by naughty clark's
{this is no clue to how i'll be voting...decisions decisions}

this week i am re-jigging my wardrobe as laid out in the spring manifesto. packing away the winter things and discovering some old pre-pregnancy friends...hoping they will fit! selling my maternity clothes on ebay and looking forward to making some new tops and skirts. a hair cut is needed too. radical chop or safe trim? i have tried so many but when do you know you've got the right style? i think it could be the safe trim. long hair is good for my gemini tendencies...up or down.

ONE WINNER + THREE

{and no it wasn't rigged because we share a name!} the weekend draw revealed kelly to be the winner of my springtime giveaway...i shall parcel up some treats for you along with the prints this week.

i also have 3 little packages for gemma...lynn...and hazel...just because i love a comment girls!

if you could email me your addresses then i'll pop your prizes in the post.

TEAR SHEET TUESDAY :: 012

spring flowers in the home...my weekly treat. these local tulips could do with a little miss p-ing but i am lazily just leaving them to do their own crazy thing in my kitchen. that way they surprise me with a new arrangement all on their own when i open the door in the morning!

it's been a while since i did a tear sheet post and today's are actually photocopies from way back when. in another life i used to sit in the campus library in manchester and pour over the magazine called view on colour...i don't even know if it's still around but it used to be an amazing source of inspiration to me. perhaps with the evolution of the internet it is not such a necessity now but the pages of this expensive forecasting publication along with trend union were a true sanctuary for my poor student self.

anyway it seemed fitting to share these with you this spring and i'd love to make them in to a giveaway package. i think they'd actually look wonderful framed up. they were taken by dutch photographer leendert blok in the 1920s. can you imagine how beautiful they must be in reality as he produced them in a super-large format.

known as autochromes...basically the earliest means of colour photography...red blue and green transparent starch grains were baked in a wafer-thin screen on the emulsion of a glass negative. wow...sure kicks the bum of digital doesn't it?

take a second to have a look at these daffodils and hyacinths too...just stunning.

if you'd like this set of tulips and a few extra spring treats just leave a comment over the next few days. {i'll do a draw on saturday 17th april at 12noon bst}

DELICIOUS

i do believe that i could survive on baby elsa and bread alone...and most days that is my life right now. not quite the home baked stuff that i resolved to try but the best ready to eat i can get my hands on. a good life with cups of tea and tired eyes and singing and hair that rarely goes near a brush. we are getting in to a bit of a good groove lately though. sleeping well. eating well. heart melting smiles. drools. and ok quite a lot of crying too...i will not pretend that it's all rosy but we are working out what most of the cries mean at least.

i heartily recommend a slice of this. and of course a baby cuddle if you can get your hands on one!

DRIP DRIP DROP

little april showers on the way
{and how lovely does that sound in french?}
clap clip clap, petite pluie l'avril
tombe du ciel en jolis diamants
clap clip clap, petite pluie d'avril
ta mélodie est un enchantement

so as i often find myself getting sidetracked...this post is actually about money boxes. the one in the photo is my own. {bought for me by my paternal grandma} it has only really just come back in to my hands after sitting on a shelf in my parents home for years. funny how a gift given so long ago {30+ years} is perhaps only just being really appreciated...and how i would love to be able to actually tell my grandma brenda how happy it makes me to own it now.

and now we find ourselves looking for a money box for our girl. i do believe she has £11 pocket money already : ) and it sits in a little pile in her nursery. her daddy naughtily borrows from it to pay for his football club and then sneaks it back. i am on a mission to find something to fit colourwise with her room...or maybe just plain white. i may try and hunt down another one by the same craftsman to match...i think he made some owls too?

my rye pottery rabbit is by david sharp. i wish i knew where she bought it from. as a child it never occurred to me to wonder who had made it but now with the power of google it's a joy to learn about the artist...what an amazing tool we have at our fingertips. magic. my grandma would really have thought it was magic.