A day/few days in the life

Did you all have fun bank holiday weekends? I have been abandoned by Chris as he has gone sailing with his dad to Vasiliki. Boohoo! I have been making up for not being in a foreign country by doing 4 very exciting things.  

1. I went on a girls night out with my 3 best pals, where I had 3 cocktails! 

2. I went to a dance show featuring Chris's very talented sister. 

3. I went Bridesmaid dress shopping with my 3 best pals and Chris' sister (my new 4th best pal). 

4. Chris's mum and I went for a little outing on a hunt for the very elusive 'succulent'.  I have been trying to find one of these for ages, but I think that the new trend has caused them to sell out at every shop I have been to! On this occasion however,  I finally found one, hurrah! And I am now a very proud plant parent.

I think I shall name him Spike. He looks like a Spike don't you think? There may be more than one of him in this pot but I shall cross that bridge when I come to re-potting it. I may have to think up some more names then! Spike is of the Haworthia variety of succulents. I believe he could be a  H. margaritifera but I am not sure. Anyone know?

I shall dutifully water him in the summer months (but not too much!), and let him sit in a sunny spot (but not in direct sunlight)! I am sure we will become great friends!

I also bought some other bits and bobs on my travels. A cute little spray bottle to water him with and some air drying clay to try my hand at a new craft.

I made something with my new clay. Can you guess what it is? A fish, a worm, a stick, a bullet? No, you are wrong. It's not actually finished in this picture so I agree it would be hard for you to guess. Maybe I shall tell you some other time.

I ate an ice lolly as is obligatory on sunny days like this.

I tried out my new (and first ever pair of) prescription sunglasses!

...And decided it was really too hot to be wearing double denim. Phew!

Also, if you are a fan of Succulents, you really must check out all of OhNoRachio's succulent posts which have been making me very jealous. I am totally loving both the planters and the succulents in this post. As well as the fact that there may soon be OhNoRachio planter kits! I will definitely be getting my hands on one of those! 

Laura xXx

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Pine cone prettiness

Todays post is a little strange, I admit. But I am going to go ahead anyway.

In December I painted some pine cones for decoration, you may remember the post they featured in here.  Since Christmas ended I haven't known what to do with them, until I accidentally popped one into one of my tea cups, which I have on display in a glass cabinet. I decided it looked pretty, so I filled them all!

It's slightly bonkers but I like the way they look, so that is where they shall live for now!

Do you have any strange things decorating your house? Or is it just me?

Laura xXx

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Bringing the outside in

Ugh, hasn't the weather just been disgusting recently?  Well it certainly has where we are, and I haven't much wanted to venture outside.  The nights are closing in and it's getting chilly! It's only 8:30pm as I write this and I am already snuggled up in my new PJ's and slippers. Of course it doesn't help that we currently don't have a roof on the house, but then again its quite exciting, a bit like camping in a massive tent with walls!? 

Ok, i've clearly got cabin fever!  I've been spotting some cool ways of bringing nature back indoors and I thought I would share them, for my own sanity if nothing else!

I love this cute living terrarium necklace by Brooklyn based jeweler With Roots

Earthseawarrior  has some super quirky artifacts. I say artifacts because I have no idea what to call these! They are basically air plants potted in various strange and ingenious ways. I have a phobia of whales but I think this little guy is pretty cute!

This is my favorite. Twig Terrariums  specialize in moss terrariums and other small worlds. I love the idea of having an entire world in a glass pot!

A prisoner in a gumball machine? Genius!

This one is kind of terrifying, and I'm not sure I'd want it in my living room, but I'm a huge zombie fan so of course this one had to feature! Plus it's halloween soon and its' time to get into the spirit!

I hope you enjoyed todays post. Chris is away tonight so I should have a chance to get on with some more engagement party planning! Hopefully after the party on sunday I will be posting more regularly. I have loads of ideas from the party that I want to share with you! 

Laura xXx

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Sea Glass Treasure Hunting

I did another quick whiz around the beach the other day to hunt down some pretty sea glass. Here is what I collected:

I really like the piece that looks like a bottle stopper. I wonder what it was used for. Also check out that blue rock! It isn't glass, it is literally a rock, but it's totally blue throughout! Weird.

I'm hoping to use all of my pretty sea-glass findings to make a mosaic of some kind. Maybe on a table, or maybe just something simple like a tray. Any suggestions? 

Laura xXx

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10 reasons why I want to buy a VW Campervan!

I get so excited about this, only to become absolutely crushed when the van of my dreams turns out to have some underlying fault, or gets snapped up by someone else!

My boyfriend and I want a VW camper.  Nothing too fancy, just a T25, water-cooled high top, that isn't going to fall apart the moment we buy it. Ok, so it's quite specific, but come on, there has to be the perfect one out there somewhere (local enough for us to view it first...).

So... here are the 10 reasons why I want to buy a campervan right now!

1. Making something that is uniquely ours - I am happy to buy a van with an interior that needs work. In fact I'd happily rip it out and start again! Just so we can have everything in it's place. 

2. Spending some quality time with my Mum and Dad - My Dad has offered to help with the above (I don't know how serious he was about that, but he'd better watch out because I'm taking him at his word!) I am envisioning sunny days with cups of tea talking over design plans. In reality I am sure it will be more sweating, saw dust in my eye and Dad having to swig a sneaky beer whilst wishing he had never offered help on such a hopeless task! My Mum is brilliant with crafty things like re-upholstering and anything involving fabric really! She will definitely be handy to help to make it pretty once the essentials are in. (She doesn't know this and hasn't volunteered yet, but I'm roping her in anyway!)

3. Learning new skills - Again, all of the above. Chris and I aren't the best with stuff like this, but my Dad is awesome, and he is such a perfectionist I'm sure it will all turn out better than I hoped, and we will learn how along the way.

4. Adventure - Getting out and about and doing unexpected things is what I am most looking forward to. I want to explore England and learn more about the country I come from. There are some pretty lovely places here after all!

5. Getting back to nature - I am excited to be in the countryside. To wake up to birds chirping and to fall asleep to the pitter patter of rain on the roof.

6. Having our own space - Chris and I are currently living with his parents. They are wonderful and we are so lucky to be able to live with them. But, we don't have enough money at the moment to buy our own house, and this would be like our own private get away, so we could have some 'us' time.

7. Spending more quality time with friends - Our friends have recently bought a campervan and I am dying to go away with them! We always have fun together, but at the moment it is just not often enough!

8. Having a cozy bed - When I was little we used to go away in our caravan. I remember my parent's bed being so cozy, I was always jealous. Now I want one of my own! (My parents actually met when camping when they were teenagers, they were part of a youth group in a camping club. I guess it must be in my blood!)

9. Time to read, drink tea, and be content - When I am at home I always feel guilty, like I should be out doing something. Hopefully once we are away I will be able to chill out without feeling I need to be doing anything other than the things I love.

10. ROAD TRIP! - I want to shout this before every adventure we go on. I will compose a playlist of songs relevant for each trip, and we will happily sing along the whole drive. Occasionally stopping to eat our home made (wheat free) sandwiches and pop out some Shloer!

Sounds like perfection to me! I hope it all comes true. We went to see a van on Saturday and I'm just waiting for my Dad's OK before we go ahead. Fingers crossed.

Anyone out there own a van and have any adventures to share?

Laura xXx

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Bird Spotting

Sitting in the garden the other day, the sun was shining, and the wildlife was abundant! I even saw a sneaky fox! The birds were being particularly talkative, so I thought I would steal the chance to snap some photo's with my new awesome lens. I was amazed at how clear these photo's came out, the trees are massive so I really didn't think I'd be able to get as close up as I did.  

Anyway I managed to check off 3 birdies on my bird spotting list:

1. A Chaffinch - This fellow was particularly 'chirpy'. He was adorable.  I don't know anything about birds but I managed to guess that he was a chaffinch. Hurrah for me! Maybe it is a hidden talent. David Attenborough eat your heart out.

-- Here he is again, making a racket.

2. The rare lesser-spotted Pigeon! Ok, so its just a pigeon, but a cool photo none the less.

3. A Magpie. This one is looking particularly mysterious as we can't see his eyes. I think he is incognito  as he is about to steal something shiny.

Maybe not the most difficult of birds to find, but I think it is a good start. I'm getting quite into this now. Maybe I will buy a bird watching book and some binoculars and see how many I can get photos of!

Do any of you have any cool wildlife in you gardens, or like bird watching?

Laura xXx

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Bee-autiful!

I did warn you that there may be lots of bee photo's to come after I watched 'Vanishing of the bees' a little while ago. Well here they are! It turns out it is pretty tricky to take a photo of a bee as they are so darn fast! Most of the photos I took were of very blurry bees flying away, or in some cases I missed the bee all together! Well, at least I took 3 that are good enough to show you! 

I am quite chuffed with this picture. Check out this guys knees! I knew bees had big knees and all but Whoa!

This little bee is a bit blurry but I think his wings look really pretty so I decided to include him anyway.

Bees really are busy!

Laura xXx

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DIY Birdseed Hanging Hearts & a Squirrel Story

When the weather was sunny I decided it was time to make some birdseed treats for the lovely animals that inhabit our garden. The initial recipe came from a post on craftgawker that can be viewed

here. I had to amend it a bit as it is a bit tricky to get hold of corn syrup in England. After many efforts i finally managed a mix that stuck together! I used some buckwheat flour instead of corn syrup and that seemed to do the job!

The ones that weren't so good were left out for the squirrels, and they had a fabulous time! In fact I managed to capture a whole squirrel story on camera.

Squirrell 1 : Yaaay, seeds all for me!

Squirrel 1 : Nom nom nom

Squirrel 2: ATTACK!
Squirrel 1: EEK!

Squirrel 1 : The cheek of it! They were my seeds!

Squirrel 2 : Mwahahaha! The seeds are mine now!

Squirrel 1: I must get those seeds back if its the last thing I do!

Squirrel 1: If I can just sneak up here without him seeing me...

Squirrel 1 : "Nibble nibble"
Squirrel 2 : Oops, I've just remembered I've left the oven on, better go!

Squirrel 1: Hurrah, he's gone! Seeds all for me again!

So it all turned out well in the end. Squirrels are hilarious, we had one stuck in the conservatory the other day, he was having a whale of a time knocking everything over. I wonder if it was one of these two, back for more treats.

Laura xXx

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Vanishing of The Bees

I watched a brilliant documentary the other day called 'Vanishing of the Bees'. I really found it fascinating and as a result have a  found a new appriciation for Mr Bee.

For those of you that don't know, bees are responsible for pollinating a huge portion of the food we eat. Without the humble bumble foods that we take for granted simply wouldn't exist. And Bees are dissapearing at an alarming rate! Even experts aren't 100% sure what is causing this but it seems that a the insecticides we use are partly responsible - bees who are collecting from plants which have been sprayed with this insecticide (Goucho I think it was called) are becoming disoriented, and when they take this back to their hive it is effecting it several generations down the line. It seems that they probably leave the hive and just can't find their way back home. Oh no! :(

All the more reason to buy organic food! The conclusion was that to help the situation we should have as many bee friendly plants in our gardens, and anyone that can should get a bee hive of their own. And don't forget to buy lots of yummy honey!

I highly reccomend watching this, if nothing else it will surely increase your appriciation of the bee. You can watch it on netflix.

To show my appriciation I have found some un-bee-lievable bee related items. They are literally the bees knees. Absolutely amaze-wing... ok, I ran out. Here they are.

First on my list is this gorgeous bee locket necklace from ModCloth. Must...resist...the...temptation.

I've always liked the prints you can get on etsy that are made on dictionary paper and this one is no exception. Kind of reminds me of a natural history museum. Find it at this shop at Etsy

Talking of natural history. Isn't this ring from an etsy seller the best? There's also a swallow and a frog that are pretty awesome too, but back to the bees!

I can't ignore the fabulous products that 'Burts Bees' do. I've got a lipbalm and I love it! I'll be purchasing more soon I'm sure.

This honeycomb swimsuit from Modcloth is adorable! As long as you don't mind people swatting you occasionally.

So there we have it, some bee-autiful products (ok, I promise to stop now).  I've been busy taking lots of photo's of the bee's in my garden so you will probably be introduced to them in the near future.... To bee continued ... (sorry, I lied).

Laura xXx

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Beach Treasures

I have been kind of nervous to write my first official blog post, and I wasn't really sure what to write about. So... I've chosen the fist thing I have gotten excited about this weekend, and the idea just happens to be something I have stolen from another blogger. Sorry if that is cheating but I hope you enjoy anyway!

I have been reading 'The Dainty Squid' blog for a while now and I love it! One of the things Kaylah likes to do is go hunting for beach trash. Well, I live right next to a beach (technically it's a beach although you don't get many sunbathers there!) and on saturday I went for a walk with the intention of taking some photos of wildlife with my new camera. But, I got a little distracted. My eye kept being drawn to pieces of sea-worn glass. Some of which were clearly old and had writing on them, oh the mystery! I thought how pretty they would all look in a glass jar, so, being the hoarder that I am, and having brought no bag, I proceeded to fill my pockets! (I really really should have taken a bag!)Below are the treasures that I found.

I love the ones with writing on, I just wish I knew where they came from.

I also found these crab shells which I thought were really interesting. They reminded me of the cute little robots from "Batteries not included".

I had enjoyed myself so much that I decided go again the next day, and, remembering Kayla's trash hunting I thought I may as well help out the environment by also collecting rubbish as I went. I didn't realise there would be so much! It's amazing (and horrifying) just how many bottle tops, lighters, light bulbs and random pieces of plastic there are all over the place. I guess you would normally try to ignore these things but when you are looking for them there sure are a lot! Here is some of the stuff I found!

I like the little bird, I wonder what he was, and also the cuban cigar case. I imagine some millionaire sitting on his yacht with a glass of whisky having a puff on his cigar.

I also picked up some more fascinating pieces of worn glass. One looks like it must say USA, and another  just says 'BE' (although you can't really see it in the photo), how poetic!

So I am sorry Kaylah for stealing your idea, and also thank you for inspiring me, I had such a fantastic time and I will definitely be doing this again. It's good to be able to do something for the environment on such a basic level, but also I got some excersise and got to find treasures. Perfect day really!

Laura xXx

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