at last i have found a book to get me back in to reading again. no more flicking through magazines in bed...i have become engrossed in how to be a woman. have been laughing out loud which has intrigued my husband as he peeks from behind his maths book next to me.

yes i found love with a man who likes a puzzle.

i have never been a really big reader of fiction. i used to read a lot more when i got the train to work and obviously pre-e. i am much more drawn to memoirs or words on food. yes i always have a cookery book of some sort on my bedside table. who knows why i studied english lit for a' level?

joy of joys there is a kitchen diaries II...september treat!

another month scooting by. it is time to think of plans for autumn and i am going to make a promise to post every day here through october so i can get back in to the groove of blog life. i will begin on 1st with my manifesto...it's my auntie's birthday that day and at least i'm a little bit ahead for once. hope you all have a lovely weekend. what are your plans? ours involves chopping wood and eating cake and watching delicacy and also *exciting* having some photos taken of our home and us...

this week has involved wallpaper. stripey and new. in her room. having a little update to take it on a bit from the nursery it was to something more fun now elsa likes to play in her own room. i had a lesson in hanging it from my mum. it is now my favourite thing to do. i dream of doing the whole of the dining room next...we have lots of rooms with just a feature wall but i'd really like a whole patterned room. i'll continue to search ebay for a job lot. wallpaper is expensive! for now though i am very happy that we have inherited my dear grandad roy's old papering table and i have the tips that he most probably passed on via my mother.

as you might notice i've been having fun with elsa's hair too. inspired by fred. i just wish we'd stop stepping on the clips she drops and breaking off the teeth! painful and not so good to grip with.

i have booked myself a waaaay overdue haircut for next week. i am looking forward to going short again. and having a fringe that is straight...not looking forward to explaining my 6 month absence and bad trimming to my hairdresser though. what style though? most probably i am going to take along my pinterest board. or tell her how lovely keira/anna k's hair looked when she hacked it all off in the film. oh and did you see this great link that miss pickering shared? smile.

another unannounced absence on the blog...late summer was busy about here.

some things remain the same. much cake has been consumed and lots of baking done with my little one who still loves to lick the spoon!

but since i last wrote we have had visits from dear family and fun showing them around the places we like to go. i like that now when we speak on the phone and say we've been...say to the farm...that they were there with us too once and can picture it in their mind. there was much tidying and cleaning to do before we welcomed them from over the choppy irish sea...and now i am having a bit of a new season blitz and rearrange at home since they left.

in other news...i got to help a friend as she laboured with her 2nd baby and had the pleasure of holding her beautiful daughter when she was just 5 hours old. so strange to me to encounter such a new little person that way having only held elsa in those precious early times...but what an honour! there seems to be a big batch of baby girls coming in to our circle this year...another is due this month too. so lots of visits and cards and cosy gifts to enjoy making.

this is such a favourite time of the year for me. like spring it holds so much promise and i love the way you can really sense the shift in season almost from one day to the next. not so much like summer and winter when you perhaps just ease in without standing back and taking in how different everything feels.

and to celebrate the loveliness of new seasons and how springtime that has sprung over on the other side of the world jodi is having the most marvellous giveaway. i would very much recommend that you enter too for a chance to win the beauties on offer. i think i'd be heard squealing with delight in australia if i was lucky enough to win these pillowcases! che and fidel is a charming and calming and inspiring place to be and one i'd say go follow all year round.

Fonts Footwear Feline

so friday's post is brought to you by the letter f...

today my dad was sowing grass seed with this awesome seed sower machine...i love the lettering. he thinks me a bit bonkers for taking a photo of it i know! but font lovers...you understand?
he who has not featured much in this space for a while is still the coolest cat in town. top of bosco's list of jobs to do this summer is to snooze more on the decking. he has it sussed.
and new sandals! well old new sandals. vintage italian. yes kind of granny-ish (i believe they are know as bunion-busters? but if they're good enough for maggie gyllenhaal what can i say) they fit the worishofer style that i've been seeking out for a while. and only £10 in our town's 2nd hand clothes shop. we have an annual 1940s weekend coming up where lots of the locals dress up in vintage clothes and so the charity shops have some great things in at the moment. i feel like they've done all the rummaging and presented me with a rack of things i'd have to rummage to find. hooray!

hoping your weekend's are bright and beautiful...

She Sorts Shoes...I Sew Skirts

we squeeze together in my studio (not that it is super small but more that it is super messy) and it is lovely to be able to work on something while elsa is there and happy to play/sort/instruct "too noisy mummy!" as the overlocker overpowers the music on the radio.

have you read the delight that is anthology issue 8? it's a living...exploring the creative connection between work and home. i adore this magazine and have poured over each copy since i subscribed 2 years ago. a whole post in itself really needs to be written about my thoughts on this subject. later in the week.

tonight an update in the shop.

Beans and Berries

as per...my post comes to you mostly in pictures...
can i talk you through?

1. we have harvested our first beans! very exciting (for us) and as my dad got them started from seed so we shared the goodness with him and my mum for sunday lunch. there is a crazy amount of rain coming and going here and that with the odd bit of summer sun has made for a tasty crop. i just picked a courgette too. the buzz of bringing in a little veggie a few steps from the garden to the kitchen is something i don't think i'll ever tire of.
2. elsa calls these "Straw Berries". you have to say it as 2 words. it is the law. makes me smile.
3. what are your thoughts on writing on walls at home? i adore these decals and have a couple in our home already. i don't want my own attempt to look cheesy but i really love this and have been thinking of having it somewhere where we can see it every day. at the moment i just hand wrote it on paper and have it stuck on a beam above the bed. hoping to paint it on this week.
4. more more and more sewing projects.
5. beautiful roses from my folks for said sunday lunch. that is a gingham cover for an ikea glass jar.

ok new week...may you be a productive one!

and so the calendar flips again. today was a cloudy warm wednesday. tonight it really struck me that it seems it got dark earlier. i hope it is my imagination getting the better of me.

this morning i baked banana bread with elsa. adding chopped dark chocolate to my favourite recipe from tessa kiros' apples for jam book. i make it with dairy free spread and it works a treat. of course elsa then doesn't end up eating it and i could have used butter but then...you know...she'd want to try it. she likes the baking part and the licking of the spoon so all is not lost. and it is the best breakfast cake with coffee.

new month and another delightful desktop download from rebekka. have you discovered dear friend? oh it is a blog i could sit and pour over all day. just beautiful. i have had serious home envy...

so off i go to bed now and with pen and paper to make the mother of a list...things to get done in our own home before we have lovely family visiting from ireland at the end of august. those projects that i keep thinking i'd like to get round to.