Wine Box Planters

Check out my totally free, totally handsome, new/old planters! I got the idea from Alys Fowler's excellent 'The Thrifty Gardener' a few years ago. I don't actually have the book to reference because, thriftily enough, I checked it out from the library, but they are quite simple to make. I literally spent zero money making them, and now have nice big planters for herbs and lettuce. I happened to have all the materials on hand, but even if you didn't they would be a massive investment. They won't last forever, but then again, what does...

 

Here's how:

Easter Staycation

Happy Easter Weekend! It's a 4 day weekend here in the UK, and we normally spend it travelling to make the most of the time off. Besides when we moved 3 years ago, I can't recall a single Easter spent at home. This year, for the first time, we're staying in and enjoying spending some time together! Because we're always away, we don't really have any Easter traditions either - so we get to make it up as we go along. So far it's been painted 'eggs', hot cross buns, french toast and the farmer's market. All very casual! 

 

Someone is enjoying having Dad around!



I don't know how to make hot cross buns (yet), but the Bramley Apple variety from M&S is accidentally vegan. The other flavours aren't, I don't think. Quite good toasted, but I think I'm getting very spoiled when it comes to fresh bread  - the store bought stuff just doesn't cut it anymore.





'What did I do now? Wear red and purple together?'

Also tackling some chores, for instance my fella is cleaning our little back garden. I think she's trying to protect her only patch of dirt? Just you wait, in a month or two we're going to have some garden before and afters - I have high hopes.

In other news, I think my sourdough starter is well and truly started (been making some bad 'risen' puns...) and I've got high hopes about that as well. Fed it this morning, and will feed it again in 12 hours then move it to the fridge to slow things down a little while the microorganisms battle for supremacy. I will post in depth about that later.

Anyway, have a good Easter break. Hope you're all enjoying a nice meal with some good people.

Scenes From Our Table

It will not surprise you to hear that I like a good tablescape, and I like food photography. Rather than just randomly sprinkle food photos in other blog posts, I think this will be a regular thing - just a little collection of quiet (and not-so-quiet) moments from our table. The dinner table is family life is microcosm, isn't it? Effort, love, mess, chores, laughter and obviously unending laundry. 

A friend very kindly babysat for us last night and we went out for Thai food. I made a chocolate cake so we had something nice in the house. You know that song, 'if I'd-a known you were comin', I'd-a baked a cake, baked a cake, baked a cake'? I don't know why, but I always sing it when we have people coming, and it compels me to bake cakes...
 

It's totally normal to plan dinner around plates you find at thrift stores, right?
 

 

Nutritional yeast-based cheesy fondue, veggies, sticky tempeh bites. Joking aside, I love these kitschy plates. And don't kids love having compartments?

 

Breakfast for the babe most mornings: Porridge with grated apple (or pear), Udo's oil, chia seeds. Banana.
 

In case you were wondering, this is how I deal with pretty linens and messy babies. I just roll it up and away if we are eating something stainy.

Seaweed sourdough. Ranunculus.
 

Painting is our new favourite. So nice to have more options for rainy days!

 

Grilled Violife cheese and red onion sandwich. Old stained tablecloth.
 

 

Sunday night pizza.

A new runner. A still life?

 

And a shutter speed experiment for my class. So frustrating!

Happy Good Friday folks, enjoy the long weekend!

Refinishing an Old Table, Badly

This was going to be a triumphant DIY post, I had it all planned. I'd debut my awesome, new-old table, and show off my crazy amazing skills. Buuuuuuut, I'm really not happy with table top colour - I honestly think it must have been mislabeled. It was supposed to be Jacobean Dark Oak, which was, you know, dark brown. I wouldn't describe the sample as being warm or even chestnut-y. And it's turned out orange. SUPER orange. Thoughts?

I do like the paint - It's Dulux Proud Peacock, and it's cheerful. I changed my mind about replacing the cup handles because I couldn't get them off.

My guy actually likes it, and I'm probably too lazy to complain and redo the whole thing. (This was taken after the lentil-pocalypse that was lunch today. She loves lentil soup, but man, it's a mess.)

I sanded the top with an electric hand sander, and finished it with 3 coats of Danish oil. Supposedly it is a blend of 'natural oils', but it certainly doesn't smell like it - it's high VOC stuff. I've used boiled linseed oil in the past, which is a delight to use, provided you don't leave your oily rags lying around - apparently they can self-combust! (As an aside, what kind of devil-plant is flax anyway? It can light itself on fire, make a weird/amazing vegan egg, or become perpetually wrinkly hippie trousers. Same plant. I read once that people also used to use it to make hair gel in the 20's, for those lacquered marcel waves.) I didn't even consider it for this project though, because, ironically, I didn't want the colour to be too warm. Boooo. So, the Danish oil is easy to use, pretty inexpensive and appears to be impermeable, but it's not as 'natural' as it might sound. I also used it in a different colour to refinish our kitchen work surfaces last weekend - that one we meant to be orange-y because it more or less matches the colour on an original dumb waiter in the corner.

In other news, F. is obsessed with plantains, roasted or fried:
 

 

She ate them all. Not exaggerating.

And our house is lousy with flowers, which I love. I often buy whatever is cheap at the farmer's market, especially this time of year, and then there was Mother's Day (Happy late UK Mother's Day!), then a friend brought us some (even though she really didn't have to!) - I love it so much. If I could, I would have flowers in the house all the time.

On Clutter

 

Enjoying Sunday, with an eclectic brunch. I made a huge mess making this, and rather stressed myself out unnecessarily. One thing about buying an old house is that you will never be finished with it. Ever. It always needs something. We've never, not even for one day, had everything in a place we intend it to be in every room. It seems like we clear out one area, just to clutter another. Right now, for example, the living room has cardboard boxes full of stuff, positioned over the biggest holes in the floor. I actually like a certain amount of clutter in my life, but I like it *just so*. I like things tidy, not bare. Living with a small child of course, redefines you in every way - we need to get used to a new meaning of the word clutter. I suppose you have two options, try to go minimalist and spend your life resentfully clearing up after everyone who doesn't share your whitewashed vision, or you can embrace family life in all it's messy glory. Embrace colour. Embrace clutter. Embrace the happy mismatch that is your particular set of human and animal companions.

 

I guess what got me thinking about this is that F. was looking at a book today that I haven't flipped through in a while, A Perfectly Kept House is the Sign of a Misspent Life. I forgot how much I love it:

 

The homes featured in the book are full of clutter, colour, kids, animals - full of life! We've been talking so much about 'finishing' our home, about 'polish', that it's easy to forget to enjoy living here in the meantime. I made an ambitious DIY calendar that would have us 'finished' by April (not going to happen), and every weekend we 'waste' by, say, seeing friends or making a messy brunch has been stressing me out. Well, no more. Yes, I still want to get a certain amount done on the house this spring, I still have some sanding, painting and sewing to do. But I'm not going to stress about chew toys and books and bike locks - I'd rather live with clutter than live alone.

Interestingly, I didn't used to be like this. What happened to the wild girl who had a 'box party' the day she moved into a new apartment? What happened to the insomniac teenager who painted murals at night? I think having children a little later in life (I'm 31 now) can allow a certain amount of perfectionism to creep in before they come along and upset the apple cart. Children are free, and they remind us that we should be too.







'Dog!'



'Can we please go now?' Old mattress being taken away. It's always something!

Nursery (On A Budget)

With all the renovations needed on our house, we've kept things cheap and cheerful in terms of decor. Here is F's room, as it is now - if you're into nursery design, you'll notice that pretty much everything new is Ikea. I ain't ashamed. When you save (big time) on things like the cot and chair, you can focus a little more on a few details, which I personally think is what makes it special.