New Year Wishes.....

As another new year approaches I have a simple wish......(NOT a resolution, I find human resolve to be a fickle guest) ........ I quote Edgar A. Grant:

"Grant that I may bring no tear to any eye

When this new year in time shall end, let it be said I've been a friend

have lived and loved and laboured here.....

and made of it a happy year"

For all of you who have been so generous with your time, kind words and encouragement for this new girl on the block, I wish a year filled with robust health, peace in your heart, love in your home, joy in your world, friendship at your fingertips & a liberal sprinkling of dreams come true..................

HAPPY 2010..........!...........s

Twixtmas.....

Christmas is officially over....presents all wrapped & unwrapped, half the food bought remains uneaten, the tree doesn't look QUITE as glamorous as it did last week.....



The candles in the centre of this arrangement have been replaced AGAIN in anticipation of more visitors.....

And the Christmas table is still......well, Christmassy!!!!

Is it just me........? This week between Christmas and New Year always feels 'odd' no matter which hemisphere we celebrated in....what should I be doing exactly? There's no food shopping to be done (there's enough in the house to last for at least six months, OK three), no-one is back at work so I can't chase up things ordered before Christmas and which haven't arrived (frustrating!), the idea of going anywhere near a department store brings me out in a cold sweat and as for cooking......... you get the gist......

How many old movies is it reasonable/possible to sit through? Long walks & trips to the gym? Hmm, I'll think about that one tomorrow......

Chocolate anyone.....?........s

It's Christmas!

I can reliably inform you that the streets of London are most definitely not paved with gold but are in fact flooded......with Christmas shoppers....
No matter that it's freezing cold and packed to the rafters, old London town is dressed to the nines and doing Christmas in her own inimitable style:

As I was driving out of London along the Kings Road, I spotted this charming scene - as I stopped to ask if I may take a snap, I was amused to see quite a lot of 'Chelsea ladies of a certain age' stopping by to get their 'Christmas kiss' which didn't always involve mistletoe!

Wishing you all a very, very merry festive season filled with love, laughter and I hope, lots of Christmas kisses.........s

Keeping things in perspective....

This morning we woke up to a dusting of snow, transforming the garden and surrounding countryside into a winter wonderland (as long as you don't have to go out and take the risk of breaking a limb negotiating the icy lanes!!)




The beautiful blue alliums I cut way back at the end of summer have been similarly transformed: Icy starbursts now adorning the tree and very beautiful they look too...

In the hall, the tree is brightly shining, a beacon of light and a scented reminder of Christmas past - every time I brush past and breathe in it's familiar evergreen pine aroma, I am instantly transported back to all those Decembers long ago....Images so sharp and yet blurred with the passing of years - a small puppy surrounded with empty gold chocolate wrappers stolen from the lower branches, a little boy with trembling chin surveying the catastrophe created when he tried to reach the shiniest star just out of reach...tree decorations secreted in pockets and brought home from Grandma's house & gaudily painted playdough shapes hung by chubby little fingers and admired with pride....

All these things deep in the Christmas memory bank & brought to mind as I hang lights & arrange things today in anticipation of my G.G's arrival at Heathrow very early tomorrow morning. I am anxious & a bit 'jittery' - wanting everything to be perfect when we drive back home, a reunited family for a while at least....She is en route from Sydney to Singapore as I write this and I cannot wait to see her lovely face coming towards me at terminal 3, arms outstretched for a long awaited hug....

At the same time she was checking in at Sydney airport, a dear friend of mine in Sydney was checking in for a very different journey - emergency surgery to be carried out tomorrow and with a hope that all will be well...It will involve a stay in intensive care over Christmas and then many weeks of recuperation in hospital and subsequently, at home....we spoke yesterday and reminded ourselves of conversations we had many times along the lines of 'Do the best you can and make the most of every day, you never know when your plans may be changed by circumstances not of your choosing.'

I don't mean to sound morose, but in this week of planning Christmas perfection, I will take some time to reflect on that thought & try not to dissolve into hysteria when things don't go exactly to plan...

Have a happy week and just do the best you can.........s

Deck the halls...

Well, I haven't quite got to the hall yet - only the front door:

And the tree still looks like this:

I have the weekend to get organised before my G.G arrives very early on Tuesday morning (and she will be expecting some serious 'decking' to have been done....)!

Happy weekend everyone & especially if you are decking and decorating.........s

'Twas the week before Christmas....

and all through the house, not a present is wrapped, a tree trimmed or a garland hung.....!
(Actually, not quite true, I did introduce the dried hydrangeas to their new home adorning the moss covered wreath ring & after I'd hung it on the front door, noticed that Sarah Raven says specifically to put it INSIDE).....
Am I the only one who seems to suffer from 'week before Christmas syndrome'? There descends a sudden and inexplicable 'fog' meaning I can't remember what I bought for whom, the day slips by without most of the things on my 'to do' list getting done, and worst of all, when I get to the shops it feels as if I've just stepped onto another planet....all reason departs and 'Christmas panic' sets in...
There's only one thing I can imagine at this time of year which could be worse than having 'Christmas syndrome' - and that's being a sales assistant whose particularly unfortunate lot it is to serve those of us who struggle in it's grip.....waiting patiently with an ever more fixated smile whilst we deliberate over the brown or the black....or was it the red or the green....?
So, I urge you all to spare a thought this week for the sales assistants who (on the whole) valiantly encourage and soothe the most frazzled Christmas shopper and still manage to muster a happy Christmas wish even after we have driven them to distraction and dragged them along to 'Indecision City' with us.....take heart girls, only 8 more shopping days to go........s

Currently (re-) reading...

this lighthearted & funny book, published many moons ago (in 1986 actually) so a little dated but still worth a space on the bookshelf.....


It's in usual Cooper style (the main characters are Noel and Scarlett O'Aga...) with lots of humorous anecdotes but was, in my humble opinion, written with a certain integrity (before she realised how lucrative it was to turn out a chick-lit pleaser on an annual basis with titles like 'Polo' and 'Riders'.....all with basically the same theme)

Anything to divert my attention from the fact that there are ONLY 11 DAYS TO GO!!!!!!
Happy week before Christmas!.......s

Once upon a time.....

there was a kind, lovely aussie bloke who in the long gone days of yore (that means before the credit crunch) made all the wishes of his much loved missus come true by taking her for a special trip every Christmas to a far flung distant land (England) so that she could indulge her love of shopping in wonderful old London town:

The LAB and the MLM always stayed in these modest lodgings, close to the Royal Albert Hall, where he would thoughtfully book tickets for some Christmas entertainment he thought she might enjoy:

Upon their return, the LAB and the MLM would retire to their room (after a delicious supper) where a soft bed awaited, dressed beautifully with Frette linen:

In the bathroom, there was always a delicious assortment of products (to the delight of the MLM) and she would pour a generous amount of this elixir from the White Company into a deep bath - perfect after all that shopping! The MLM loved these products so much that she would secret the little bottles away into her luggage...

A few years later, the LAB and the MLM found themselves living in that far and distant land, (England) and when they went to check out their local city (Bath) the MLM was thrilled to see a window display she thought she recognised:

Could it be? The MLM was happy - she could visit any time she liked and buy gallons of the prized elixir! The LAB was happy - he didn't have to buy a plane ticket & they both lived happily ever after (so far anyway)..........s

(http://www.gorehotel.com/) - Gorgeous, gorgeous - check it out....

(http://www.thewhitecompany.co.uk/) The range is called 'Flowers' - very uninspiring name and I wouldn't have even thought about buying it if it wasn't for the generosity of the housekeeper at said hotel...you'll have to trust me here...

Lizzie, Harry & Camilla....

Q. What do Elizabeth Bennet, Harry Potter & Camilla Parker-Bowles have in common?


A. They all have a connection with a tiny, picturesque village called Lacock, a few miles away from the M.H. I was driving to Chippenham this morning, a positively balmy day compared to the freezing weather recently and thought I might just stop and give you a tour of some of the interesting houses in the village. I just love entrances & doorways - particularly speculating about what and who might be behind the door! (Is that 'speculating' or 'nosey'??!!...)

This is the doorway to a lovely old pub called 'The Sign of the Angel' - there's that angel thing again!

You could just imagine the carriage bearing Lizzie and her sisters pulling up and dropping them off for a spot of dancing.....

If you have seen the BBC production of Pride & Prejudice, you will recognise this as the village of Meryton....no soldiers hanging around today (or many tourists, unusually!)

13th century Lacock Abbey is now looked after by the National Trust and was the setting for many of the interior shots of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films....

Oh yes, Camilla.... She has a house here too.......s

Heavenly bodies....(the other sort...)

It's that time again.....Over many years of decorating Christmas trees and watching my friends decorate theirs, my observation is that we all fall into one of two 'camps' when it comes to putting the final decorative touch on the top.....the star....

or the angel.....



I am definitely on the side of the angels (!) And not just at Christmas, may I add....

My fantasy garden would include hosts of them, enveloped in ivy and set amongst huge beds of white lilies, grieving madly.....

I'd have them on the walls too.....

This was so impressive, up close.....one of my very favourite Botticelli's at the Uffizi in Florence..

Another from my collection....this time at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight (I think!)

And lastly, when I stayed at a gorgeous hotel recently, I was so happy to see this on the wall!

Hope your angels guard you well this week.......s

Far from the madding crowd...

Having made the decision to bring my G.G 'home' for Christmas and cancel my own plans to be in Sydney my festive season arrangements have had to be made in somewhat of a hurry....I left home yesterday with a determination not to be sucked in to the maelstrom that is Christmas shopping, a list, and an image in my mind something like this:

What I found when I got there was this:

What to do? No way of re-organising the travel arrangements - the plane left without me on Wednesday....no, the only sensible thing was to transport myself to saner and sunnier climes the only way I know how without actually checking in....via the power of the pen - and I know just the lady I can rely on in a crisis:



Marlena de Blasi is one of my favourite writers - she is an American who met and eventually married a Venetian, selling up in St Louis, Missouri and moving to Venice to set up home with the man she refers to in her books as 'the blueberry eyed stranger'...the first book of the trilogy is the one pictured second here - 'A Thousand Days in Venice'....the next book 'A Thousand Days in Tuscany' (also published as 'Dolce e Salata' depending where you live) chronicles the story of their move to San Casciano dei Bagni, a small Tuscan village...

And finally, 'The Lady in the Palazzo' (or'an Umbrian Love Story' again depending where you live) continues 'Marlena's passionate love affair with Fernando, with Italy and with food, as she befriends the local aristocracy, the cooks and artisan makers of mouth-watering breads, cheeses, wine & pastries as well as the shopkeepers, farmers and shepherds, each of whom brings a gift to the table and the story. Each is part of the simple, sometimes chaotic, often celebratory daily life Marlena creates in Orvieto.' (sic)

I love the way these memoirs also contain recipes (usually from her cookbooks - A Taste of Southern Italy & Regional Foods of Northern Italy)...interspersed with her gorgeously lyrical prose. She is enthusiastic about her adopted home and the people of the community she is now part of...the books are peppered with colourful characters and full of life....

All I need is a glass of Vin Santo in the hand, logs crackling in the woodburner and any of these on my lap and I can be instantly on the 'vaporetto' heading to San Marco or tripping barefoot through sun-dappled olive groves.....now, where shall I go tomorrow?........s

On a cold and frosty December morning...

We awoke to a white bright landscape this morning - somehow it seems appropriate..the first day of December & the first frost arriving together...

I always found December days in Sydney odd - buying swimsuits and summer clothes for my G.G's Christmas presents - I never got used to it...If you asked most of my Aussie girlfriends what December means to them, they would say 'the beach, summer holidays & living outdoors' - for me December meant missing northern hemisphere traditions and looking forward to brightening the short dark days with lights, candles and log fires......but not this year.......

Happy December whichever hemisphere you inhabit.......! s

Chocolate of choice (today anyway)...

I think eating seriously good chocolate is one of the great joys in life....if I'm going to eat it, it's got to be worth the calorie intake! These gorgeous boxes contain my current indulgence...not only is the chocolate inside delectable but the boxes are little works of art....what more could you want?
I also keep a few of these in my 'present store' - they are perfect as hostess gifts (or just to make someone happy!) These are my special favourites at the moment - coffee & cardomom wafers and in the be-ribboned drum (actually called 'Gusto Italiano'), olives toscano (chocolate covered almonds) and chicchi di caffe (solid chocolate coffee beans).

You can see their complete range here (www.rococochocolates.com) Enjoy....

Friends & flowers...

Some of my favourite flowers are a bit like some of my favourite friends - they don't fade away along with the sunny carefree days of summer, but stick around to brighten the dark days of winter....I don't usually like blue flowers of any description but I will make an exception for these: Alliums appear in Spring, their graceful necks towering over all the other foliage and with their complex structure and dramatic silhouette, really steal the show....



Once they have finished flowering, they can be cut on their long stems and stored carefully ready to be sprayed and make another grand entrance either on the Christmas tree or as part of a larger arrangement......

Hydrangeas are like true friends - they stick around through thick and thin...flowering all summer long in the garden (and all the way through autumn into December if there are no early frosts), then into the house for a last glow of stored up summer sunshine....

and finally, to re-appear (hopefully!) looking like this: It's not difficult to make a wreath either to hang on the door or even to put on a table, filling the centre with candles.....just buy a wire frame from any good florist or garden centre, florists wire to secure the stems onto the frame, and the only thing holding you back is your imagination!

This image is from Sarah Raven's 'Complete Christmas', the ultimate accessory for planning food and flowers for the festive season.....well worth a spot on your bookshelf......

Hope you have some faithful floral friends in your house or garden this weekend......s