Decorating with Shoe-String Style….

by Karen B

Josef taking a look around the newly-styled and decorated utility room

Flipping through the pages of House Beautiful and Veranda magazine fills me with a pleasure induced euphoria which soothes my soul and tells me that all is right with the world. Living in a house where I had removed interior walls, pulled down ceilings leaving electrical cables hanging down and pits in the floor where walls used to be tends to have the opposite effect. I became a demolition crazed lady when my husband moved out. Not for me a cathartic re-painting of walls-I knocked them down! I removed a downstairs toilet, 5 interior walls, two ceilings and all the lights in one room alone!

Creating tranquility out of the chaos has taken time, but the house is just beginning to be a rubble-free zone. And yes, in my dream world I would have loved a Chalon kitchen and utility room, but I have shown that it really is possible to create a similar look with some vintage finds, some paint, a few lengths of wallpaper and some quirky style.

Looking out to the utility room from my galley kitchen door. The light is an old industrial shade from a factory, the desk was picked up for me from a chateau in France by a builder friend who was working there. The aqua chairs are garden furniture with cushion seat pads. The table is farmhouse in style with two big drawers and I ‘pickled’ and varnished the top to get rid of the yellow pine colour. All the painted furniture was underpainted in a colour designed to show through when the top colur was sanded back in places to give a distressed look.
Decorative cake mould and vintage jug
An old and worn butchers block is where I will place my trug of freshly picked vegetables from the Kitchen Garden. The decorative wall plaque reads-‘Explore your Soul’
Blue, blue, heavenly blue Hyacinths
Embossed with a daisy pattern these charity shop find jugs have been pinned to mend a break on one handle. I love it that someone loved these enough to have them mended.
This has a modern look about it with its hand painted flowers, but it is from the 1940’s.
Somewhere to hang my coats on a 1950’s coat and umbrella stand

Working on a very slender budget means that nothing comes easy, but the results are an individual interior which reflects the people who live there. All the furniture in this room was yellow pine and I ‘pickled’ the table top and painted everything else. Look at it now- the colours just sing!

And how did I ever live without a gate in my house? Just propped against the wall for verve and colour, I LOVE it!

Every room needs a little gate!

Every home needs a little gate!

 

 

 

Make Monday Magical with…Pussy Willows.

by Karen B

Soft and silky, these furry catkins are a sure sign of Spring!

 Happy Monday to all my friends x

 

Fabulous; it’s Friday!

by Karen B

Okay guys….here we go-line ’em up!

A little row of 1950’s shot glasses in sweet, frosted pastel shades.

And a fun way to start the weekend.

Have a GREAT TIME my friends x

Make Monday Magical with Lavish, Luxurious Leftovers….

by Karen B

Coeur a la crème- that luscious blend of curd cheese, cream and crème fraiche, flavoured with Blossom Honey and vanilla sugar is a heavenly treat to make and eat.

The mixture is set in little white porcelain heart shaped moulds which are lovingly lined with cheesecloth or fine muslin. Each heart, so pale, so gently set and textured by the weave of the cloth, turns out to make a heavenly yet simple dessert. Perfect when served with Apricot confiture or fresh berries sprinkled with Lavender sugar.

 These lavish, luxurious desserts, leftover from Valentine’s Day are going to turn my simple Monday supper into something quite special. Would you like to try one?

“I Must Have Flowers, Always and Always”

by Karen B

My little gift to you all on St Valentine’s Day is this fabulous, big, blousy bunch of flamboyant Tulips. Doesn’t their colour and curvy, frilly, petal shapes just buzz with energy and passion?

Flowers are good for us and our mental health all year round, not just on special days like today. It is said that patients in hospital brighten when they have flowers next to their beds and need less pain medication and are less anxious and tired as a result. Also that diners in restaurants are in a better mood when they have flowers on the table and that flowers and plants in the workplace make people feel more creative. Just smelling flowers really does help to make us less anxious.

Having flowers around us all the time does not have to be expensive. I grew the Tulips in the photo from a few bulbs. And remember, if you grow your own or buy flowers which have been grown locally, then your flowers will last so much longer!

When money is tight, I might only manage some hedgerow twigs and a few Snowdrops in a tiny bud vase. But, as Claude Monet said “I must have flowers, always, and always” …and I do.

HAPPY SAINT VALENTINE’S DAY  x

Fabulous; it’s Friday!

by Karen B

Dip into the crushed berry and ice-cream coloured swirls of these Fabulous; it’s Friday, floral and Rainbow Beetroot confections. All of them have almost zero calories, but are a little feast for the soul.

HAPPY WEEKEND to all my friends!

POPPY, ‘Paeony Flemish Antique’. Huge blooms, straight from an ‘Old Master’ canvas. World Botanics seed.
Little Indian lanterns in soft, Neopolitan ice cream shades
Rainbow Beetroot, ‘Bull’s Blood Scarletta’, seed from Thompson and Morgan.
ZINNIA, ‘Swizzle Cherry and Ivory’. Seed from The Kew Collection for Thompson and Morgan.
Rainbow Beetroot

Make Monday Magical……

by Karen B

It only takes a few Spring-like bulbs and two sweet birds on a twig to make Monday seem like a special day.

Fabulous; it’s Friday!

by Karen B

Set your dreams free as you gaze into the sunshine yellow floret and blue sky glass encased in this crystal- clear paperweight.

 A little gift to all my friends x

HAPPY WEEKEND!

The Kitchen Garden Challenge

by Karen B

“It is like turning the kaleidoscope I had as a child. One mouthful of this dish and the world of dull winter magically fragments and is changed to the vibrant, intensely hued flavours, colours and warmth of the Mediterranean”.

 The wind is set in a direction which turns my old house into an ice cold, Siberian hut. I have made fat cakes for the birds, lit the fire and embraced the warmth and comfort of slow roasts, succulent stews and oven baked apples with lemon peel and cloves. But what I really want is something new and exciting and full of zest. Something to take my mind off the Arctic chill and to get my heart and taste buds racing.

I set myself a challenge. I decide to leave the ‘hut’ and go outside into the garden and and pick as much produce as I can from  the greenhouse and The Kitchen Garden. Then, using just what I have grown and a few store cupboard ingredients, I am going to come up with something fresh.

This is what I picked……

Fennel, Salad Burnet, Italian Parsley, Dill, Thyme, Blood-veined Sorrel, Cutting Celery, Lambs Lettuce, Rocket, Chervil, Lemon Coriander, Baby Beetroot Leaves, Baby Pak Choi, Winter Salad Leaves, Carrot Tops, Rainbow Beet, Bolthardy Beetroot, Yellowstone Carrots, Amsterdam Sweetheart Carrots, Red Ball Brussels. Invincible Pumpkin was harvested last October and stored indoors.

Time to splash around some olive oil and get roasting!

Inspired by a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe, I make ROASTED PUMPKIN WITH A HERB CRUST. I mix 3 tblsp of Panko breadcrumbs with 50g of chopped anchovies in olive oil, and then stir in, 6 tblsp chopped parsley, 2 tblsp chopped thyme, and the grated zest of 2 lemons, (keeping a little back for later) and 2 crushed cloves of garlic and salt and pepper. Remember that the anchovies are already salty, so be very careful if adding more. I cooked the thick slices of pumpkin (skin on) and brushed with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper, for about 10 minutes at 375 degrees F (190 C)-Gas mark 5, then adding the crust onto the flesh of the pumpkin, cooking for another 20 minutes until tender and the crust was golden brown.

I make a sour cream dressing with half a cup of sour cream and a tblsp of chopped dill, which I sprinkle with the remaining lemon zest. I serve the warm pumpkin on a bed of garden salad and roasted vegetables and pour some sour cream dressing over the top.

A little magic cooked up from the produce of my winter garden and greenhouse. I used Pumpkin for this dish, but you could easily use Squash.

I taste the new dish and I am transported from my virtual hut in Yakutsk, to the warm, passionately life-enhancing climate of Italy. Suddenly, everything shifts and reconfigures. It is like turning the kaleidoscope I had as a child. One mouthful of this dish and the world of dull winter, magically fragments and is changed to the vibrant and intensely hued colours and flavours of the Mediterranean.  I pour myself a glass of Fiano Masseria Bianca; a real taste of sunshine from Verona and I can almost imagine a warm breeze blowing on my skin. Maybe Summer is not so far away after all.

 

Be Inspired; be Creative, make a Mess!

by Karen B

“I wanted to be the blossom and I wanted to be the colour of those speckled blue eggs and I wanted to feel that happiness for ever.”

I found this empty nest in November, with the egg some feet away, in an old pile of wood and branches.

Inspiration, that enigmatic and intangible thing which cranks up the creative process, first met up with me in a hedgerow. As a 5 year old, I pushed my face through a thick tangle of twigs and leaves to look at (and never to touch or disturb) the beautiful blue of a birds egg in its nest. In the school yard, with a sky made totally pink with the frilly petals of cherry blossom, I felt it again. Both the blossom and the eggs made me feel different and bubbly inside. And I wanted to hold onto that happy feeling by mixing the colour of the eggs from the big tins of powder paint in the art room or scrunching up tissue to make the  pink petals. Because I wanted to be the blossom and I wanted to be the colour of those speckled blue eggs and I wanted to feel that happiness forever.

School days and long weeks of Summer Holidays over and in my first job as a Commercial Artist, I discovered that I had to encourage  inspiration to visit me on a more regular basis. And we found a way of working together when I realised that a little inspiration goes a long way and that creative people only really become accomplished by working hard, often for a lifetime, in an attempt to make something special.

Inspiration and I are best buddies now and we still meet up in unexpected places, Lately, we don’t make plans, we just let it happen. I get an idea to bring the garden into the house and turn my galley kitchen into a muddle of mud and mayhem. I cook, style and photograph in a ridiculously small space and when happiness constellates in the beauty of the chaos, then I know we are together again. But on bad days, when Dartmoor is heavy with mist, the wind has wrenched the greenhouse door off its hinges, its too cold to go pushing my face into hedgerows and I need an inspirational top up, then I just turn to the pages of my favourite blogs. And in seconds, I can see that all over the world there are other creative people sharing their inspired ideas through images so stunning, ideas so surprising and experiences so poignant and moving that, yes, I get an instant inspirational re-boot!

But the really great thing about getting inspired and sharing those ideas through our blogs is that, just sometimes, others like what we do and nominate us for an exciting award!

 Thank you so much to Sophie and Ade of Agents of Field for nominating me for this fabulous award.

Young, sassy and full of passion for what they do, Sophie and Ade of  Agents of Field,  are tackling working their allotment and living and loving the life at a pace which leaves me breathless! Sharing their successes and failures as they go, their journey is one which inspires and excites. Drop by and meet these two new bloggers who combine to make a great team and help welcome them to the great big family which is the blogging community; a great melting-pot of folk who lovingly and generously share their ideas.

Sophie and Ade asked me to feature 3 things which have inspired me this week, so here they are!

Pulling baby Carrots from containers throughout the Winter, right up to the time when the birds are thinking of building their nests is just fabulous.

Pulling baby Carrots from containers throughout the Winter, right up to the time when the birds are thinking of building their nests is just fabulous.

This amazing paper has inspired me to re-paint a dresser and paper the inside with this gorgeous blue and white pattern.

This amazing paper has inspired me to re-paint a dresser and paper the inside with this gorgeous blue and white pattern.

I just love this shot of pink on these pretty cups! I have painted a little white cupboard especially for them in my utility room.

I just love this shot of pink on these pretty cups! I have painted a little white cupboard especially for them in my utility room.

And here are my nominations for The Very Inspiring Blogger Award.  Have fun visiting them and remember-

BE INSPIRED; BE CREATIVE, MAKE A MESS!

Teddy and Tottie

 Mrs Walker Goes Back to School

seeingthrough35mm

Cynthia Reyes

Pamplemousse