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
Thank you so much for inspiring me to make a colorful hexagon afghan. it's so exciting watching it grow. I never would have thought of this project if I hadn't seen your blog. :-)
Posted by: ellen | February 21, 2009 at 01:36 AM
oh darling,
i love your slippers....i would like to do them to my little daughters...could you give me the instructions?
I love also all you made...the colors you use anche the precision of your hands!
I would like to make my compliments to you...you are a GREAT!!!;-)
Kisses
Simona from Italy
p.s. sorry for my worste english!!!
Posted by: simona | February 13, 2009 at 02:41 PM
Good Morning.....beautiful Lucy! Jammie girl, lover of flowers and all things bright and beautiful. Have a lovely, cozy, quilty tea towels, (I love those, by the way), yarny, daffodilly, coffee muggy, baking buns, pretty pillows and plate day!!!!!
Posted by: cathleen | February 12, 2009 at 02:32 PM
Beautiful photos - when ever I check your blog, I feel inspired to add more color to my life.
Posted by: Shannon | February 11, 2009 at 03:48 PM
Oh that mug on the right is just too much! I just love it!
Posted by: elizabeth of course | February 11, 2009 at 02:13 PM
Hello! Nice to drop by your super cozy blog. Regards.
Posted by: Christy | February 11, 2009 at 09:18 AM
SUPER LOVELY colors!
LOVE YOUR BLOG!
Posted by: Laurie | February 11, 2009 at 02:53 AM
Look like a wonderful weekend. We had sun and warmth. The girls pulled out the flip flops, despite my look, and pranced all weekend. It was such a nice break after a week and half of ice and snow. Today was 65 and we are under a tornado watch this evening - Missouri's weather is never boring. ~Kelly
unDeniably Domestic
Posted by: Kelly | February 11, 2009 at 12:53 AM
Dear Lucy:
My name is Marcia, i am a portuguese girl...I am now starting this amazing world of doing things with my hands! I love your site an i am learning with you!Thank you:)
I have a question for you...how do you unit the squares for the blanket? I already made the squares but i want to know how do you unit them. I appreciate your time.
Thank you in advance.
Posted by: Marcia Andrea | February 10, 2009 at 08:34 PM
Wow - Im in awe of your crochet. I should add some colourful touches to my living room :-)
Posted by: Pauline | February 10, 2009 at 08:26 PM
Guess what? We went to Boundary Mills on Saturday too, except our Boundary Mills is near Grantham Lincs! Our shopping trip -yes hubby came as well - wasn't quite as good as yours. I just bought some boots! Essentials in this weather.
As usual I just love all your colour, photos and chat!! Keep it coming! (Have you ever thought about putting it all in a book, photos,chat and crochet?)
Posted by: alisonb2 | February 10, 2009 at 01:59 PM
Just wanted to let you know how much I love "visiting" number 24. You have such a lovely blog, a fabulous eye for colour and a wonderful way with words. My technophobe Mom makes me show her your blog whenever she can - I may even be able to get her computer literate by showing her your loveliness. Thank you.
Sarah x
Posted by: Sarah | February 10, 2009 at 01:33 PM
What a lovely bright post,I have resisted buying a bunch of daffodils so far but I think that might change now.
Posted by: snowgoosey | February 10, 2009 at 08:40 AM
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
Posted by: Elspeth Thompson | February 10, 2009 at 01:02 AM
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.
Posted by: Alice C | February 09, 2009 at 11:37 PM
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!
Posted by: Linda | February 09, 2009 at 11:16 PM
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
Posted by: Serendipity | February 09, 2009 at 10:27 PM
ooh very jealous of gorgeous DG pillowcaes, lovely, lovely, lovely X
Posted by: dottydesigns | February 09, 2009 at 10:17 PM
your home is so lovely and cozy...
glad you had a great weekend..
Posted by: lulu | February 09, 2009 at 07:51 PM
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 :)
Posted by: Josie-Mary | February 09, 2009 at 07:06 PM
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?
Posted by: flutterbypatch | February 09, 2009 at 06:37 PM
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!
Posted by: Ali | February 09, 2009 at 05:21 PM
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! ;)
Posted by: Kar | February 09, 2009 at 04:51 PM
I just love all the colour on your blog.
Posted by: Gina | February 09, 2009 at 04:04 PM
What pretty photos! And your house looks immaculate! I refuse to believe that it isn't always this perfect!!!!! ;o)
Posted by: Lucy Locket-Pocket | February 09, 2009 at 04:03 PM