French Dreams

Haven't we all wanted to own our own piece of the French dream?  The house by the river? the chic apartment in town?  Or how about your very own chateau?  Well that's exactly what an Australian couple have done with Chateau de Gudanes.  They had intended to buy a small rural house, renovate it and move in and instead they bought a derelict chateau in the South of France...You can read all about their journey here and to whet your appetite take a look at these and carry on dreaming...

All images: Chateau Gudanes

Trending - Giraffe Love

Everywhere I look at the moment there are beautiful doe-eyed giraffes.  From Pinterest to Harpers Bazaar and Louis Vuitton's Art of Travel campaign, giraffe love is here to stay.  I mean what's not to love about these beautiful, graceful and velvety animals.  Here are some of my favourite shots to get the weekend off to a great start...

images: 1,2 3+

Almond Snacks

 

It's no secret that I love nuts - peanuts, almonds, monkey nuts, pistachios, walnuts, pinenuts....so when I came across a recipe recently that souped up the humble almond it was a given that I would give it a go.  There are other recipes for elevating the humble nut into something special, including this recipe from Nigella that is a nod to the spicy nuts served in the Union Square Bar in New York.  This one uses just a few ingredients:

 

2 cups raw whole almonds
2 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt:

 

To Make:

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.  Mix all the ingredients together before placing on greaseproof paper on a baking tray.  Cook for 8-10 mins, stirring from time to time and keeping an eye on them so that they don't burn.  Allow to cool and a crisp glaze has formed over the nuts.

 

Then munch!

 

 

 

 

images: Spoon Fork Bacon

 

Dior - La vie en rose

Natalie Portman is beautiful.  She is even more beautiful than I remember in the new Dior ad for the new Miss Dior fragrance Blooming Bouquet.  Embodying the grace and elegance of Parisian chic, she sells this perfume like no other could.  Everything about the ad screams romance, couture, style; it teases the viewer promising a lifestyle of opulence and luxury, if only you were to wear Miss Dior.  Miss Portman wears an exquisite haute couture gown from Dior, designed by Raf Simons and is surrounded by gorgeous pastel hued flowers.  I'm sold.  The ad is Shot by Sofia Copola and photographs taken on the grand staircase by the wonderful Tim Walker...I'm in love...

 

If these magical photographs have captured your heart, you can watch the ad and her interview here...

 

images: Dior

Glimpses from the Weekend...

I had a myriad of very boring and potentially stressful admin jobs to get through this weekend and wasn't looking forward to them at all; but guess what?  I didn't do any of them. What a rebel I am!  I didn't do them because this past weekend saw London basking in glorious sunshine and after weeks and weeks of grey skies and torrential rain, there was no way I was going to miss out.  I fitted in some quick gym trips and then a wonderfully gentle walk in Claremont Landscape Garden.  I love this garden for it's soft landscaping and dotted white benches strewn around the lawns.  All the spring flowers were there in abundance and the views from the Camelia garden down over the rest of the park were a soothing vista for tired and weary psyches!  Then it was a quick trip to the newly opened Daylesford Organic Farmshop in Esher for a hearty bowl of soup and tangy rarebit.  In fact Saturday was a bit of a gourmet tryathon all round, as in the evening we made it to a place that I've been dying to try for some time, Ben's Canteen.  I'd heard fantastic things about their burgers and it didn't disappoint.  The BC burger is a beef pattie topped with salt beef, homemade bbq sauce and cheese and I was torn between that and the crispy chicken burger made with spicy buttermilk.  I went for the chicken, and oh my word, it was heaven.  The chicken coating was spicy and crunchy and the streaky bacon was crunchy not soggy;  the celeriac slaw was finely chopped and totally delicious.  Really a fantastic tasting meal and great value too. If you want to go for a pud you can do 2 courses and a glass of wine for £15 between 5-7pm which is exceptionally good value.

Sunday saw another glorious day, so I packed a bag, windbreak, towel and rug and it was off to West Wittering beach, one of my favourite places ever.  For some reason, despite the wonderful sunny day, apart from dog walkers and horse riders, the beach was pretty deserted.  I read, watched the tide come in, slept and let the worries of the past week slide to one side for a while, letting the positive ions do their thing.  Bliss.  It's good to have some time like this, like putting money in the bank, something to draw on when emotional resources are weak.

Hoping your weekend was relaxing and restorative!  

Changes...

Constable at Petworth

In the summer of 1834 Constable visited Petworth House on two occasions.  The second time he stayed for two weeks and during these visits he sketched and painted many local scenes.  I don't claim to be any kind of expert when it comes to art (in fact I'm no expert at all!) but as the old adage goes 'I know what I like' and what I like are watercolours and this small, but perfectly formed, exhibition delivers.  Petworth is mainly known as the haunt of J.W.M.Turner and Lord Egremont was a generous patron to him and consequently Constable didn't get much of a look in.  There are forty paintings in all and show ordinary life and everyday landscapes in and around Petworth.  Two paintings jumped out at me, mainly because we'd visited these places in the last few days.  'Wicked Hammond's House' a study in pencil, which I instantly recognised as a pub we'd been to the previous night, now going by the name of The Grove Inn and a watercolour of the church at Tillington with it's rather crazy tower. We stayed in the village only a few days ago and had a room with a wonderful view of the church tower, as written about here.  Anyway, I love a good story behind a painting and this one caught my imagination.  Constable made this drawing on the 25th September 1834 and it's now in the collection of the V&A.  The exhibition catalogue  tells of how Constable  made the drawing while on a joint sketching excursion with Charles Robert Leslie, that Leslie records the excursion as follows: “I recollect spending a morning with him, he drawing the outside while I was sketching the interior, of a lonely farmhouse which was the more picturesque from its being in a neglected state, and which a  woman we found in it told us was called ‘wicked Hammond’s house’: a man of that name, strongly suspected of great crimes, having formerly been it’s occupant.  She told us that in an old well in the garden some bones had not long ago been found, which the ‘doctor said were the arm bones of a Christian‘. (Constable at Petworth; Loukes, A; 2014,  National Trust Catalogue).  A story like this really brings a painting to life I think.

{Wicked Hammond's House - Constable 1834}

{Tillington Church - Constable 1834)

 

 

'Constable at Petworth' runs until 14th March 2014 - advisable to book.

 

The Horse Guard's Inn, Tillington, Sussex

 

It's been a full-on week as I've raced around the country; from London to Newcastle, to Northumberland, back to London and then to Sussex.  It would be fair to say I feel pretty tired and jaded by life at the moment so a night away in a cosy pub was just what the Dr ordered!  I first came across this little pub when we were staying nearby and we tried it out for Sunday lunch.  It was a hit on all fronts and when I saw they had three rooms above the bar, I filed it away for future use. 

The Horse Guard's Inn, perched precariously on the slope of the village hill, is old.  About 350 years old and it shows in every nook and cranny.  There are low, wonky beams; sloping floors and miniscule doorways.  There are open fires in each of the downstairs four rooms but it's usp has to be it's quirky vintage décor.  Everywhere you look are brocante finds that have been utilised and upcycled.  The bar dominates the main room and the other rooms are home to a myriad of old pine tables and mismatched chairs for diners.  There is only one small sofa and I guess if there's one thing that I think is missing at the Horse Guard's it's somewhere comfy to collapse after eating their delicious dinner!  Talking of dinner - all their food is sourced locally and they display their suppliers on a chalk board.  Their fabulous garden is also home to many of the vegtables and herbs that find their way to your plate.  Between us we had venison with purple sprouting broccoli and roast potatoes and a griddled pork chop with bubble and squeak and curly kale.  The venison was deliciously pink and gamey and the pork was perfectly cooked, succulent and 'piggy'!  We also sampled their homemade bread which literally was like manna from heaven - served with their organic olive oil and pomegranate molasses (I'm so going to steal that idea!) to dip it in.  By the time we got to puddings we were beaten!  But for those who can always fit in a dessert you could take your pick from a chocolate torte, a ginger parkin sponge with ginger wine sauce and ice-cream, local cheeses as well as a variety of homemade ice-creams and sorbets. 

We slept well in a cosy beamed room with a wonderful view of the village church opposite before partaking of a hearty English breakfast.  We had been hoping for a walk before we headed back to London, but the weather put a stop to that; we watched as the rain was blown horizontal by the fierce winds and decided that an hour by the fire was a much safer option - I even tried my hand at some knitting (left for customers to pass the time away in good old-fashioned style).  This is a fantastically relaxing place to unwind and let life's cares drift away.  The only regret is that the weather wasn't conducive to sitting outside and enjoying the country garden, but you know what that means?  I have to go back in the summer...

Love is in the air...

Whoever, and wherever you are, wishing you a day filled with love and happiness, in whatever form that takes...

images

The January Cure

I blogged about this month-long project here and although I haven't completed as much of my list as I'd have liked, I did manage to get some stuff done!  Some time ago I inherited a very large ornate mirror frame.  It was a very dark finish so I sprayed it white, leaving it a bit patchy for interest and variety; a sort of vintage look.  I got as far as putting it up on my newly painted wall with an idea for a gallery wall, within the frame. It sat there empty for many weeks.  A few more weeks.  I kept looking at it and thinking I must complete the project but I had one major problem.  In the summer I bought these prints at a market in Tynemouth:

I loved them.  But, they've sat in a cupboard for the last 6 months waiting to be framed.  I always do this.  It's one of my less endearing traits.  So I started hunting for thin black frames 10x8".  Seriously - how difficult did this become?!  I went everywhere and the only frames I found were priced way over my budget; then, quite by chance I noticed some black frames on a supermarket website.  A quick trip later I was the proud owner of three black frames at a bargain price of £1.98.  So, my gallery wall is now complete.  Here it is in all it's glory.  I love it.  One thing to strike off that list too...