last night i woke up.....

and I thought I was dreaming that the house was shaking.....i went back to sleep! This morning I found out that i wasn't dreaming in fact we had an earthquake....my first, how surreal!

welsh dresser at last

I have been looking for a dresser for ages, even scouring ebay for one that I might be able to afford/collect. I kept missing them on freecycle not being quick enough off the mark and I just kept my fingers crossed............then i was having a quick coffee browsing some of my favourite blogs last week(vintage pleasure at the time...now my lucky blog) and the mail arrived...quickly replied and the dresser was mine hoorah....

we collected in on friday and found out that it was going to be chopped up for the fire but had been rescued by a neighbour who had stuck it on freecycle.....woken by everyone leaving the house for the birthday treat in the big smoke @ 3am on saturday morning decided to get up and get stuck in....and here it is Sunday morning!

I am really pleased with the colour, 'pigeon' oil eggshell from Farrow & Ball of course I just need to find some baskets to stash stuff in the cupboards. So a busy weekend all in all.

the coat #1

I decided to make a coat(view b without the pockets) for winter....last summer! hmmm I should say I had the best intentions to make a coat. I suppose I have the excuse of the flood to see me through but that one is wearing a bit thin now so I have decided to get on with things.

I cut out the main fabric sometime ago, its a scrummy green tweed ( I think the lady in the shop said it was a golfing fabric) anyway its just right. A couple of days ago I finally cut out the perfect liberty lawn that I am using for the lining and had over a mtr left so another bonus, maybe a matching bag I hear you call but i couldnt wear them together I never match!

So next job is to rummage out the interfacing that I bought...wherever that maybe. I will keep you posted on my progress.

My #1 son is off to York today on a school trip needless to say it was excited bedlam in the house this morning especially as he got a (small) packet  of kettle chips to have with his lunch....crisps are a special treat here not a daily occurance and #2 son was not at all pleased. Anyway back to the trip it is with his favourite teacher who is leaving at Easter and Jake is really sad. Come to think of it I am really sad too as she brought a real breath of creativity to the school and wasn't hung up on damn tests & results.....I shall rant about those at another time!!

Kitchen pics as promised......

Several people have asked me for some pics of the kitchen so here they are...its hard to believe that just a few months back there was a 6ft hole rather than a floor (fixing the flood problem) and after losing the entire ground floor last July it seems like a lifetime to get sorted and it really still is a work in progress.

This is the view into the pantry and I was lucky enough to recieve a 1930's kitchen cabinet from freecycle which I want to paint but the orange has really grown on me...so that project is on hold for the mo

I've been a bit slack this week on all fronts, its always difficult to get things done when you are tripping over children but I haven't been able to get into the groove....I have a coat project on the go, all cut out waiting to be sewed up with its delicious liberty lining fabric and I am knitting a little cardi (red with pink ribbing) to go with my liberty night attire....that seems to be coming along faster than anything else. I blame Grey's Anatomy I stumbled across series 1 & 2 on demand and have been glued to the TV ever since...and then there's the hero's DVD and of course my regular helpings of Buffy the Vampire Slayer....I would just like to say at this point that I am not a complete tv addict in fact I dont watch much at all but I do like a good american drama (sitcoms to be avoided at all costs)....

I have also been walking again this week averaging about 4 miles a day & yesterday we hiked the children to the next village for a play in the park pinic & a bus ride back. I did plan to photograph the whole event but forgot the camera! Dizzy woman that I am...I was then treated to a lovely piece of homemade Tiffin, a chat, cuppa and a lovely cuddle with a friends ickle new small who is almost 12wks now. He has grown so big and it just makes you realise how time just gallops off and before you know it those little bundles of joy have grown up in a blink...happy days

furniture with history

I got this wonderful oak gateleg table from a very nice lady called Kate yesterday...I was very excited because I had been looking for a nice gateleg for sometime and wanted to paint it but now after hearing about the history of it I am going to keep it just as it is.

I mentioned in a previous post that I love old furniture especially those with tales....well this has a wonderful story, orginally bought in Europe this table found itself in a chic apartment in Queens NY, belonging to the Jewish parents-in-law of the kind lady who gave it to me, it was brought back to the UK....spent its time in various locations ending up now here in Clapham to add a chapter to its story. So how on earth can I paint it....it will stay as it is, beautifully traditional and everytime I give it a give dust I shall think about all that it has seen.

 

liberty night night

Whilst listening to the weekly archers omnibus I decided to whiz up this little number to sleep in…

I had previously added a couple of yards of this scrummy liberty lawn to my stash earlier in the week and it had been calling to me from the cupboard and I had made a patchwork nightie out of a few leftovers the week before and it was so comfy to sleep in that decided this was a must and so easy only took 2hrs from start to finish…..

Look at these pegs aren’t they delightful…just arrived in the post, they are romany gypsy hazel dolly pegs very chuffed with the postie today as he usually only brings bills!

There has also been a brilliant thread on moneysaver.com old style living board about shabby chic homes and it is really inspiring to hear what other people have been up to with vinatge regalia and amazingly how many people love this look. Is the worm turning.....? are we finally saving no to the sterile cream and brown leather houses that sell well to actually creating homes that we can love & cherish & that don't have to be replaced every 3 years with a 'new fashionable' look or sold on to buy a bigger and better sterile environment.......I do hope so.

Anyway I thought I would share a few corners of my home that when I casually glance around give me a cosy....i love my house...feeling

I love this bureau the lady I got it from on Freecycle was given it when she got married in 1971 (year I was born) for a wedding gift, her daughter didnt want it and she didnt want to throw it away...but hadn't space for it and it had been in the barn so with a lick of F&B elephants breath it now stores away most of my paperwork. Furniture with a story I love this, why on earth would I ever buy new stuff, squeaky, clean with nothing to say. The drawers are lined with some lovely wallpaper samples and its a great surface to pile stuff on.

Thankyou Katherine for this bookcase it fits perfectly in this corner of the lounge and makes my books of the moment easy to grab plus a great place for flowers....The sofa came from a lovely couple who have a holiday home near Windermere in the Lake District....she was sick of florals and wanted something plain. It has loose sanderson print covers that I was going to replace but have decided to just patch it as they tear otherwise it will take years to get that old wornout look. So its a work in progress, each patch another part of its story...its history, its love.     

Leaven the bread......

So after all your careful nuturing the final leaven should look something like this.....you can keep the leaven going now by just replacing whatever you use in a recipe with warm water & strong white flour......good luck with delicious bread!

And speaking of bread how could I not indulge you with a recipe given to me by the same source as the leaven instructions although my friens tells me that she got them from a Dan Lepard book so thanks Dan..

Simple Leaven Bread

This bread is a slow one to make but fits easily into a day spent doing other things at home but you will need to tend it to get the best results.......

Ingredients

200g of your leaven

325g water

500g white bread flour

1.5tsp sea salt

Directions

1. Add the leaven to the water and whisk well.  Place flour & salt in a large bowl and add water mixing with your hands...it should be very soft & sticky. Scrape dough from your hands and leave to rest for 10 mins.

2. After 10 mins knead the dough for 10 - 20 secs. Shape into a ball and leave covered on the working surface. Lighlty oil a bowl.

3. Knead the dough again for 10 - 20 secs then place dough in bowl for 10 mins.

4. Repeat step above but leave dough for 30mins

5. Repeat step 3 again but leave for 1hr

6. Repeat step 3 again but leave for 2 hr

7. Divide the dough into 2 pieces, shape into a ball and leave on the work surface for 15mins

8. Flour 2 bowls and shape the dough into balls and place them into the bowls, sprinkle with flour and cover with a teacloth and leave for 4.5hrs.

9. Pre heat the oven to 22o/425/7. Dust a baking tray with semolina/flour, upturn bowls onto tray and slash with a sharp knife.

10. Bake for 50 - 70mins  (less for fan assisted) cool on a wire rack and enjoy........