Friday 30 May 2014

Vintage Gardening Guides

In my bid to find out what would have been planted originally in the garden of my 1935 house, I've come across some super vintage gardening guides.  Alas, none yet from the actual 1930s!

These first ones are from a series printed in the 1950s, 'Mr Cuthbert's', and I love his personal introduction.  I wonder if I can get hold of the rest of the series?  These are ones kept by my mother.

Vintage Gardening Guides

Tuesday 27 May 2014

Book Review: Mrs Hemingway

My latest review is of this historical yet fictional hybrid from Naomi Wood, centering around author Ernest Hemingway.   I must now make a confession: I've never read any Hemingway.  A Nobel prize winner in 1954, Ernest Hemingway is best known for 'A Farewell to Arms', and more infamously known for being a womaniser.  There were four Mrs Hemingways, and inumerable affairs.

Mrs Hemingway Review

The book focuses on the beginnings and ends of Hemingway's four grand amours, with each of the four wives having their own section.  Basing the book around these four women, rather than on the author himself, makes for an interesting perspective.  Through jumps in time, both forwards and backwards, we see glimpses of the complexities of each of their relationships with Ernest.

Sunday 25 May 2014

Le Chat Noir

Most of my jewellery is from childhood.  I went through a misguided phase of buying tat as a grown up, then realised my error and gave it all to charity shops.  These days then, I have very little jewellery and most of it I've had since I was a child.  I kept a lot of it for sentimental value, but I have come to like wearing a lot of it.  This black cat brooch was a present from my Grandmother.  It's painted wood, and a bit chipped around the edges.  Its eyes have also worn off.  But I thought it was the perfect finishing touch to this Parisienne inspired outfit.

Le Chat Noir montage

Friday 23 May 2014

Vintage Dressing Table Project

I've had a dream of sitting in front of a vintage dressing table, brushing my Veronica Lake like locks whilst wearing a peignoir.  Now, I may have to work on the hair and I don't own anything as fancy as a peignoir, but I now have the vintage dressing table!

In our local council run recycling centre, where to be honest we've sourced most things to furnish our house, I came across this little dressing table.  A little shabby looking, with a huge mirror, but it was just £10.  Perhaps some magic could restore this to something glorious?  I consulted my personal furniture restoration expert (the other half!) and he was enthusiastic that something could be done.  The mirror would need replacing, and I also found an art deco mirror in the same shop for £15.  It gets even better, because they did a deal for me, so I got the two items for £20!

The bedroom where the dressing table was to go already has some pine chest of drawers in, so I didn't want the new piece of furniture to dominate the room - a decision was made to paint it white.  I know it's a shame to paint wood sometimes (there's nothing like the feel of lovingly waxed and polished quality timber - see my previous post about the dining room table restoration we undertook last year) but it just wouldn't have worked in its new setting.

Vintage Dressing Table Project

Tuesday 20 May 2014

The Scent of a French Spring: Diptyque's Lavender Perfume

I adore Parisienne brand Diptyque, known for their candles and perfumes.  If you're a fan of classic flower fragrances like me, then you'll be pleased to know that Diptyque has added to its Les Eaux Florales range - which already included my all-time favourite, rose - with the release of Eau de Lavande and Geranium Odorata.

I was kindly sent a sample of Eau de Lavande (my nearest John Lewis is woefully understocked where Diptyque is concerned and nowhere else local stocks it!) and I can tell you now, without being swayed by the pretty packaging of a full-size bottle, that this is the best lavender fragrance I have ever tried.

lavande

Sunday 18 May 2014

Picnic Check Dress

I love a black and white print, whether it's stripes, houndstooth, gingham, or a large 'picnic check'.  I've had this F&F dress in my wardrobe for a few years now, but it never fit properly.  Until now!  Hurrah!

Picnic Check Dress

Friday 16 May 2014

Jacquard Skirt by Gok for Sainsbury's

Something a little bit different from me today, with a skirt from Sainsbury's TU clothing.

Now, you all know that I love picking out vintage inspired looks from 'normal' shops!  I'd had a peek at some of Gok Wan's range for TU and had been impressed with some of the classic styling, so I was very pleased to be sent this skirt by Sainsbury's to try out.  Described as a '50s style flirty full skirt, it's a lovely thick jacquard fabric in navy with gold pattern, and is fully lined.  Priced at £32, it comes in two lengths.

Gok Skirt

Tuesday 13 May 2014

A Midi Skirt for the Office

I don't know what happened to this post, I thought I'd published it but found it sitting in my draft pile.  Sorry if you've already seen it somehow, something weird happened there!

Anyway, a few weeks ago I finally wore the midi skirt that had been hanging in my wardrobe for about 2 years!  I enjoyed wearing it, and hope to come up with some other combinations now to get some more wear out of it.  The weather's turned rainy again here so I might try it with boots one day.

Sunday 11 May 2014

Book Review: Sheila

In recent years, stories centering around British royal history in the early 20th Century have been popular, with a particular focus on Princes Edward ("David") and Albert ("Bertie").  We've had films such as 'The King's Speech', and books written on Wallis Simpson, the divorcee that Edward scandalously abdicated for.

It's therefore easy to think that we already know the whole story, with all of the tangled love affairs and their inevitable conflicts with the duty to the throne.  Imagine my surprise then to learn of a whole new chapter in the brothers' story that I never knew existed!

Sheila book review

Friday 9 May 2014

Birthday Adventure: Taf Fechan Valley

Thank you all for the lovely birthday wishes!  Yesterday was a fun day, despite the atrocious weather.  It rained, non-stop, the whole day.  But when you're British, you don't let the weather stop you, else you'd never leave the house.  So off in the car we went, heading up to the Southern edge of the Brecon Beacons.

First stop was a second-hand furniture store, but nothing exciting there, so we went around some charity shops in Merthyr of all places (it was en route!).  It's not one of those places that's a 'destination', as a lot of it is the usual depressing array of betting shops, cheap clothes shops, Wetherspoons and kebab places that you generally find in historically deprived Valley's towns, but as always, we are spoilt silly with history here in the UK, and if you look for them, there are a few architectural gems.  The magnificent Grade II listed Old Town Hall dating from 1896 caught my eye straight away, as did a water fountain outside a church.

Birthday Trip Out

Wednesday 7 May 2014

Taking Stock

I feel as though I've been on a bit of a treadmill, does anybody else get that feeling?

My blog turned 4 years old in February, and I didn't mention it because I hadn't planned anything special.  I also thought that I haven't 'made it' as a blogger yet, not if you measure it by things like number of followers, or whether you make any money from it (not a penny!).  So, because I let that anniversary slide by, I would like to 'big up' my blog a bit now, because quite frankly, running a blog for 4 years when you're also working full time, you've bought your first house, had a family bereavement, and have been working your way up the career ladder is actually quite an achievement!  So, here's stuff that I'm proud of.

QOV 

Sunday 4 May 2014

A Gatsby Party Dress: Flappers Have More Fun


I had been yearning for a flapper dress for years, literally years.  Ages ago, when I heard The Great Gatsby was being remade I was excited because I knew the fashions would eventually trickle down into high street fashion.  It was a long old wait though, most of the flapper dresses that appeared on the high street were high end ones, with huge price tags (you could honestly have bought an ORGINAL 1920s dress for the price of some of them in John Lewis!).  A few low end dresses appeared too, but they were disappointing.

Finally, my wait was over when I picked up this stunning dress from Promod, reduced from £70 down to £15.  Bargain!  It's not the fanciest of dresses, but the embellishment is lovely, I love the loose cut, and it was in my budget.

Gatsby dress

Thursday 1 May 2014

Fantasy Home of the Week: Roald Dahl's White House

Who's a fan of Roald Dahl?  A lovely 1907 house, where Roald Dahl was born in 1916 to his Norwegian parents Harald and Sofie, is still up for sale in Cardiff after nearly 12 months on the market.  Perhaps it's the £1.4 million (£2.35 million US$) price tag that's putting buyers off?

Named 'Ty Gwyn' (pronounced tea-gwin), Welsh for 'White House', the property has 5 bedrooms and beautiful grounds.  I love the long, sloping roof at the front (a 'cat slide' roof) and the porch with its stone floor, but it seems to me from the pictures that you could still spend a fair bit on internal decor upstairs.  The full online digital brochure is available by clicking here.

All photos by Hern and Crabtree, Estate Agents for this property
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