Weekend :: Inside

My weekend seemed to be one of contrasts. The contrast between warm, cosy inside stuff and cold, snowy outside stuff. Between the bold, bright colours of my home and the muted, whites and greys of the winter landscape. Between quiet time spent walking and picnicking together, and the noisy, brash time spent shopping together.
The contrast delighted me. When I uploaded the photos from the camera this morning, I loved the combination of Inside and Outside, of almost black and white, snow-filled country landscapes and these bright and breezy, colour-filled domestic landscapes.

So today....some colourful pictures from my weekend :: inside.

Above photo, taken Friday night by Little Man.
A picture of me as you will often find me in the evenings :: snuggled in my favourite brush cotton winter jammies, toes cosy, fluffy hot water bottle filled, pondering where to snuggle myself for the evenings crochet session. Bed or sofa? Fireside or duvet comfort? Ripple or granny blanket? Ahh, lifes little dilemmas!

Saturday morning :: sitting like a cat in a little patch of warm sunlight streaming in through the window. It was the most delicious sensation feeling the sun's warmth on my face.

This weeks fresh flowers are humble daffodils :: I love that they are so cheap to buy right now, so that for £2 I can fill jugs and jam jars and old bottles and distribute this yellow cheerfulness all over the house. Waking up to daffodils beside the bed is just wonderful. Ditto having them in the bathroom to gaze upon as I brush my teeth.

A tidied room :: Little lady spilled orange juice all over the sofa during the week. Luckily it has removable, washable cotton covers. So with the sofa all clean I plumped the cushions, cleared the table, straightened the blankets and the room looked unusually spik and span. Needless to say it does not look like that this morning.

Fireside :: we continue to love our open fire. We light it most evenings, and for much of the weekend and it gives such a huge amount of pleasure. Warm, cosy, inviting, relaxing.

Tete a tete :: at their peak now. I have loved watching these grow and bloom. Today I've bought a few more little pots home from the supermarket, ready to replace these ones as they fade.

Cheery :: They light up the room, make my heart sing.

Retail Therapy :: I am passing through that phase again right now, I go through shopping phases every so often until I am cautioned by The Management and kindly asked to stop spending money needlessly. 
Our shopping destination of choice was a very large Boundary Mill store in Lancashire. For those of you not familiar with BM, its a large, out-of-town retail store which sells branded goods at a discount price. The goods are usually end of line, or slight seconds. There are various departments, my favourites being the art department and the bedding department.

Husband and I very rarely go shopping together because it usually doesn't work out amicably. But we are able to get away with going shopping here together because there are many Departments catering for all.
This is our strategy :: we go our separate ways for a while (me to the cards/posters, him to the discount books) then rendez vous at the saucepans. It works for us. We both adore the kitchen department, ditto the arts and crafts. So far so good.

He begins to get antsy when forced into the bedding department though, especially when I start systematically opening all the plastic packets of pillowcases to spread them out and see which ones I like best. I cannot resist these hideously expensive Designers Guild ones (RRP £20 each, reduced to Half Price).
But I am smart enough to recognise the husband-fed-up signs and to then be quick, and to suggest a coffee in the cafe to ease the pain of spending a rather large amount of money on things we don't really need. 

We agree over coffee and an unfeasibly large muffin that we've enjoyed a good shopping trip, because he purchased an inch-thick book on war aircraft and got to fondle knives and stainless steel, and I purchased some pretty CK mugs, more cards for The Inspiration Stash, a beautiful plastic plate and of course the aforementioned Hideosuly Expensive pillowcases.
All in all, a good day.

Tomorrow :: the Outside stuff.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Comments

[Pj]

Your his & her shopping experience made me laugh - my husband breaks out in a cold sweat when we approach certain shops! Very often he stays outside & lets me get on with it - fine by me!;)

[emma]

Good choice on the pillow case front. DG stuff never ever fades and you cannot beat the colours. I have bought it like other people by CK stuff. I have quite a few duvet covers that are always well reduced in the sales. It is just so cheerful. I hope they survive the recession. They are doing free P&P at the moment not that I have ordered anything but they seem to have lots of stuff on sale - very worrying - it is the one place I would find difficult to live without inspiration wise. I love collecting their little magazine/leaflet thingys. Tricia Guild's books make good eye candy too Lucy and they should be available by order from your Library.

Have a good week.

Love Emma xxxxx

[oceans5]

Your blog is like my morning coffee. When I wake up and check bloglines I always hope that you have posted so I can start my day off cheerful. I love all your photos. That plate is wonderful. I love how you have decorated your home. I am all about color too and I get so much inspiration from you. :)

[Kristina]

Really great photos! Love the colours... so keep posting :)

[Judy]

What a cheerful post and a lovely home you have. I love to snuggle up in my pj's.

[Jane]

Such bright loveliness as always, Lucy!
xx

[gardenymph]

And a lovely weekend it was! Oh how I wish I had a source for Cath Kidston over here. I think I read somewhere that she will be offering more here soon. I sure hope so, or maybe I don't, considering how much I might spend. :~)

[Hannah]

I love your slippers: they are so cute!!! x

[Julie]

lovely post, gorgeous colours, and so needed when mostly outside is faded to grey.

I love your home - it looks so, well, homely, beautiful, but not in a 'too perfect to relax' way but welcoming and comfortable. Hope you can see what I mean, I can't express it very clearly, just wished mine looked like it. x

[luanne]

what lucky, lucky find on those gorgeous DG pillowcases! they look like they were made especially to come home with you and befriend all your lovely crochet blankets.

thanks for a great dose of monday morning color therapy! now i must head out to the supermarket in search of some daffodils...

[Potiron]

Love those mary janes!!!!

And I needed the bright cheerful colors of the daffodils and your home decoration on this very bleak grey and very sad day for me....

Thanks!!!

[Jude]

Did you make those gorgeous slippers??
Looks like a great day out, I do agree that it's best to put husband in safe area whilst you go play. They all have a tendancy to go into sweats when wallet is called for.
Looking forward to next episode

[Lucy Locket-Pocket]

What pretty photos! And your house looks immaculate! I refuse to believe that it isn't always this perfect!!!!! ;o)

[Gina]

I just love all the colour on your blog.

[Kar]

What wonderful pictures to look at first thing in the morning. Glad to hear the weekend went well. The cards are so nice that if they were mine I would be tempted to put them in frames and hang them to look at all the time. :) I have quite the collection of single cards because of that little idea. Love the pillow cases. I'm not sure if I would be as brave as you with putting those colors in my room. I stick to the warm and cozy, snug as a bug theme. It does make it hard to get out of the bed some mornings. LOL!

Thanks for sharing your bright, cheery, spunky world with us again Luce! You are FAB! ;)

[Ali]

Those pillowcases were meant to be yours. I try to leave hubby at home with the offspring. None of them are shoppers. But at least that way, he has no inkling what I spent!

[flutterbypatch]

More bright colours from the Attic24...sun glasses on...lovely. I've never been to Boundary Mill, it looks great. See you got some CK mugs. Is there a CK outlet there I wonder?

[Josie-Mary]

Lovely bright cheerful colours...as always!! I love the fact you're always in your PJ's ...glad it's not just me!!
Love the cards :)

[lulu]

your home is so lovely and cozy...
glad you had a great weekend..

[dottydesigns]

ooh very jealous of gorgeous DG pillowcaes, lovely, lovely, lovely X

[Serendipity]

Today is the 1st time I stumbled across your blog and I am hooked, I have spent most of the day reading the posts and getting frustrated when my poorly daughter wanted another drink/DVD/sandwich/box of tissues. I came on to the site to try to learn how to crochet the lovely flowers, but found so much more. Our trip to London that is already planned for this weekend is going to have a few detours, maybe I will have to ditch the boys and just take my daughter to some of the lovely places you have told us about. Thank you x

[Linda]

As a long time crocheter and crochet lover -I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all of the crochet touches in your photos. You have inspired me to add more crochet to my home decor. Your site is charming and I am so happy to have visited!

[Alice C]

Hurry up and finish your flower patch blanket Lucy - I can't wait to see it! All these little sneak previews are sending me into a frenzy of anticipation.

[Elspeth Thompson]

A true tonic, Lucy. Other blogs (mine included) look dull and dreary in comparison!
Our guilty shopping secret is the Designer Outlet Centre in Ashford - husband buys T-shirts and endless underpants from Ralph Lauren and Gap while I buy bargain-basement Levis, coloured card for crafty stuff and (until it shut down) the odd piece of cut-price Le Creuset. To make it a truly "Trashford" day we then head to nearby Little Chef for fry up lunch. Couldn't do it more than every few months ... but we both have to admit we enjoy it when we do....
And congratulations on your Husband Management Skills! I could do with a few lessons...
xx Elspeth

[snowgoosey]

What a lovely bright post,I have resisted buying a bunch of daffodils so far but I think that might change now.