J is for Jars

I adore glass, thick aqua old glass with clear white sunlight glowing through it, and if you don't have curious little fingers picking up your pretty things -then make room for jars and jugs....

I love this vintage style bottle from Cox & Cox

........this is simple perfection from my favourite artist Christopher Gallego

I think this Jar of olives would make a fantastic kitchen print from Here

Ankou

In Britain the Kilner jar reigns supreme for traditional preserving but I have started to fall in love with the much more stylish Mason Jar.......

sfgirlbybay
I'm suck a sucker for monochrome images, aren't I? but you have to love the Sea fan in this picture.......

cote de texas

I hate a bathroom full of products- but it can't always be avoided (men!) can it though? This en suite bathroom would have to be for me only.........

cox & cox
.......this is a funky bedside water jug, though I'm not sure what's in this one, sherry maybe?




.............Here's a lovely new photographer Janne Peters
these are just a tiny example of her beautiful and inspiring work.......

nesting emily

Janne Peters

.............known as the artist's artist for amazing still life's of jars and bottles, Giorgio Morandi's paintings are so peaceful and calming

a neolithic pot
which i hope to paint..
if i ever find time

blossom hill cottons
if only my buttons were so neat....

robzerill
.........pretty but not for my windswept garden.........

cut flower id list

......I love this page of floral classification, so go outside pick a weed and get a jar jam out from under the sink this is truely cheap chic.............

ps. laziness and children have hijacked me and the paintings and photo's ideas I started are buried under socks and lollipops in my head- so I may return to to this post later-when the grey clouds are gone and the babysitter returns!

I is for Ironwork

Carol Wallis

British seaside resorts and older train stations are covered in intricate Victorian Ironwork- Much of which is neglected and rusting which though very beautiful is our history sadly rotting away. More and more are being treasured and maintained.

Paddington Station from here

BEAUTIFUL BRIGHTON......

Elsie's Brighton
Brighton is one of our trendiest seaside towns and probably our loveliest.

Check out Ethel Roosevelts bedroom in the White House
I thought I'd find hundreds of fantastic beds but I did struggle, most were to cataloguee for me but this caught my (fussy) eye..........

from Cote de Texas

Cambridge 2ooo Gallery

I love the collection of ironwork at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Kensington, London

This lovely staircase is French of course! from here
In fact I found so many beautiful ornate ironwork doors and balconies from France....

By photographer Dan Geldert


art and architecture

Here's one of the doors of Notre dame Cathedrale

Speaking of beautiful things French- we shouldn't neglect the French quarter of New Orleans

see more here

State street

You can always find lovely ironwork garden furniture online

Wisteria


I can't forget the handsome elegance of a Iron wood burning stove


In my various wanderings around the internet I keep drifting to Enon Hall
a wonderful restoration journal of the Hathaways of Virginia who re-bought their Ancestral home in need of love and repair, and are returning it to its former lovely self.

Another fascinating resource is the Steampunk blog where I found among other things this lovely painting by Artist Tom Kidd


Don't forget your pooch needs glamour too (yes the English are crazy!) Fleur de Lis dog bed.

H is for Holidays

Lindisfarne fishing hut from here

Look at those skies!

(lindisfarne)

Berwick upon tweed

I think real holidays aren't about the money you spend but the memories you make or relive and for me this blog and much of my home has been inspired by our lovely British coast.

My first memories of beaches were in the seventies when my parent drove us four children the 330 odd miles north to Berwick upon Tweed In Northumberland, to my grandparents house. Being short of cash each day was spent picnicking on the beaches, sandy sandwiches, wind so strong my hair blew over my glasses, climbing across the rocks after my bigger brother and sister bucket in hand, jelly shoes to protect my toes, searching for crabs and starfish and beach-combing for shells and driftwood.

Now that my grandparents are gone we take our children to the oyster shell strewn Monkey beach on Mersea Island,( just 90 mins away) and dangle crabbing wires off the jetty and buy fresh lobsters at the company shed for dinner (only £6!), after drinking wine in the pub garden watching the seagulls swooping for dropped chips.


And in May we take a quick cheap break with as many friends and we can to the wild and beautiful bays of the cornish coast, for surfing and scuba and sandcastles and barbeques in a tiny campsite all to ourselves, watching for basking sharks and seals from the headlands on long evening walks.

These are my true hollidays, quiet lazy days needing more wellies and wetsuits than Bikinis and filled with sad tender old memories and fresh experiences.

Places of interest........

The Ark, in Burnham Overy Staithe, near King’s Lynn, Norfolk is a hut built to float on the marshes, it's 50 years old and recently been valued at £60,000

Feather down farm days..........

(images from Featherdown farms)
Tented living in rural England this is my idea of camping! Featherdown farm is a new idea for eco conscious. But then I find Canvas Chic and I just adore the idea of a yurt in France


Though my only holiday this year will be Gorgeous Lake Garda, in North Italy-
E bello, non e vero?


(watercolour by Robert Kelsey)



Dedicated to the memory of My grandparents
F.C & Elsie Lee