Munching dragonflies in the kitchen...?!

No, not to worry, no insects were harmed in the production of this blog post...

I just thought I would dig out some photos from our kitchen from earlier this spring...

... to somehow bring the interior theme back into the blog, before...

... I go off on one of my garden musings again, or perhaps...

... simply give in to the urge to make hundreds of thousands of biscuits 

with my new dragonfly cookie cutter...!

Sooo, if you do not hear from me again for some time...

it is very likely I can be found somewhere near a beach...

with a face that says... 

"Who... me? 

No, I did not just eat eighty-three dragonfly-shaped biscuits!

Of course not.

Ehm."

Wishing you a lovely July week,

filled with your favourite biscuits!

Helena

Clearly a misunderstanding...

Dear Weather Gods,

When I had a chat with you the other day,

I thought it was quite clear what I wanted to say...

In fact, I think I may even have shouted from the roof tops: "Bring on SPRING!"

 And I most certainly did NOT say: "Snow is king!!!"

SO, dear Weather Gods... 

if you agree to quickly rectify this white and fluffy mistake,

I would even offer to bake you a melt-in-the-mouth chocolate cake!

But if you continue to ruin my spring-blossomed mood,

I would find you incredibly and unforgivably rude...

Anyway, I shall carry on protesting in my own special way,

and with spring flowers make an in-your-face indoor display!

Surely you can see its colourful appeal...?

So, what do you say, do we have a deal?

***

Thank you so much for all your kind get well wishes. 

Slowly but surely I am getting back on my feet, so your words must have helped! 

Wishing you all a lovely week, and stay warm out there!

Helena

Ps. Those of you who are readers of the UK interior magazine Good Homes, may have recognised one of  my photos of Hannah Turner's ceramics on page 18 in the February issue. I am happy that Hannah is getting more attention drawn to her lovely owls!

A new year... 

Well, well, well...

Look what happens when I turn my back for a few moments....

A new year just walked right into our lives.

Just like that.

It could be that I have been flat out on the sofa debating with some germs 

over who should own my body at the moment...

It could be that the grey and the rain here in the South West UK has been rather constant 

for such a long time that the days seem to blend into a grey, soggy pulp...

A very sparsely decorated table at Christmas this year. Here I think you may also be able to see my favourite lights, or rather the effect of them: the small spots on top of the beams, directing their lights up, lighting up the ceiling in a way that seems to almost raise it a little more. You may also spot the small spots sunk into the floor by the arched doors, two by each door, lighting up the arches a little extra.

But it is here. A new year. An unwritten sheet waiting to be filled with wonderful things. 

Despite a few rather grey and gloomy lines above, that is indeed what I hope to focus on.

Wonderful things.

And I wish lots and lots of those for you too.

Wonderful things.

For you.

Happy New Year, dear readers!

Helena

Lollipop love...

To better view the larger photos in this post, please click on the photos.

***

 - It's very dead, isn't it? 

The man in the house nodded towards what used to be a delightful olive tree, but what had, for a long time, been a rather sad sight...

- A-hem...well...

Having for some time refused to accept the sad state of my beloved tree, I was trying to buy time, not sure where this conversation was going.

- Isn't it about time you bought a new olive tree, because that one is really not pretty...

This ought to be good news, as there was an actual suggestion for the introduction of another olive tree in the house, but as I was busy feeling quite defensive about the attack on my green friend's appearance and knowing fully well I would not be able to find a new one this time of the year, I was not singing and dancing.

- Don't throw it away! I have a plan...

Now, this is not the first time these words have crossed my lips, and they were met with no surprise, even if I think I may have caught, out of the corner of my eye, the man in the house rolling his eyes...

***

So, armed with a bag of fresh moss, I set to work... and now, Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce my new friend, the Green Lollipop! 

(I used the "skeleton" of the old branches and twigs of the olive tree and simply stuffed it with moss. To "reinforce" the lollipop against attacks from various paper aeroplanes, I used some this green sewing thread, but most of it seemed to stay in place just with the help of the little twigs on the tree.)

On one of the side tables rests the result of another nature walk recently: a star made from fallen down twigs. Could I possibly be getting into the Christmas spirit already...???

The tea light holder on the other side table is still one of my favourites, even though I am sure it will not  appeal to everybody in its rusty, quirky glory: an old chimney cap (to protect birds from falling down the chimney) with a small votive dangling in a rusty chain..

Otherwise, nothing new in the dining area...

 Even the walnuts are last year's harvest...

The last image was captured from the car on my way to the forest. Beautiful old stone houses climbing the green hills... through my Swedish eyes a VERY English view indeed!

Wishing you a great start to the new week and hope you stay 

warm and safe from hurricanes and treacherous icy roads!

Helena

Light lover...

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while may have noticed that I do love surrounding myself with colour, particularly spicy, saffrony shades. However, since moving to the UK, I have felt - more than ever before - a need for light, bright, white rooms...

... sometimes mixed with nature's own wooden browns, or - as in our conservatory above - 

leafy and mossy greens to link the outside with the room inside.

Nothing new to report in here, but since this was a rare moment of tidiness in an otherwise football book-covered, paper and pens-strewn, cereal-on-the-floor-going-crunch-under-your-feet-environment, I took the opportunity to snap a few shots before things returned to normal...

I love how the ivy spills onto the floor here, 

mirroring its cousin covering the stone wall outside...

Aha, but in here there is actually something new. The very old, dark sofa that previously inhabited this space had been on "life support" for longer than what was sofa humane (or human behind humane, for that matter), and as much as I love recycling and upcycling, there comes a time when one has to realise it is time to say farewell. A trip to a certain large blue and yellow Swedish furniture store and voilá, a sofa with all the lovely oumph, fluffage and bouncy comfort one can expect from a new padded friend. 

In the mirror, you may notice the other, smaller white sofa stretching its cushions high to be seen, feeling slightly neglected since the arrival of its larger sibling and hungry for some attention...

All right then, just to humour my old trusty sofa friend, here is another 

photo of one of the most photographed corners of the house.

Both white sofas are wearing modestly autumnal costumes, but - to our delight - outside temperatures this week speak of summer! Has it finally arrived, I wonder...?

Thank you SO much for stopping by and for all the kind comments you leave for me to wrap myself in when life has its uphill moments....

All the best,

Helena

Open doors...

Dramatic skies...

... a few minutes sunshine before the next rain shower...

The white flowers on our neighbour's blackberry bush reaching its branches far into our garden, 

whispering promises of a large blackberry harvest soon to come...

Small Allium balls from the supermarket...

Such purple perfection! 

All these tiny flowers together making up 

each blooming ball - LOVE them!

Thank you for all your kind comments and 

a special hello to all of you new readers and followers!

All the best,

Helena

Dear Weather Gods...

Dear Weather Gods,

When I was talking about SPRING in my previous blog post,

this was not exactly what I had in mind...:

The snow that fell last week here in the south of England nearly put a stop to my work trip to Sweden, with a large number of flights cancelled from Heathrow last Sunday...

However, I made it both there and back, but I had only been back for a day, 

when again I woke up today to a world covered in a fluffy white blanket...

So, true to my conviction that one can lure spring out of its hiding place if one only tries hard enough, using floral bribes and bulb reminders of how spring is really done, I confess to having done a rather desperate raid of the garden centre shelves yesterday...

And what better box to fill with Muscari/grape hyacinths, than this lovely, 

numbered tin one, a gift from my dear blog friend, Lotta!?

So, there we are, all ready for spring... so feel free to take the cue from me, dear Weather Gods. 

Feel free to go wild and crazy with warm temperatures and colourful buds. 

We are ready, so bud away!

Thank you all for your lovely comments about my tulip play last time, 

and for visiting my blog despite the loooong wait between the posts! 

Wishing you a fabulous weekend. I know my weekend will be special, 

as I am expecting a very special visitor in the Swenglish Home...

All the best,

Helena

Sprout mania...

Dear readers,

If I promise not to show a single little sprout for the rest of the year...

...will you allow me to play around with these little green fellows just one more time?

You see, as I was looking at the moss wreath earlier, thinking it needed a little something extra, the idea suddenly seemed obvious... some Christmas baubles from Mother Nature's own X-mas shop.

Joined by napkin rings made from a fallen down branch from the forest, ivy from the garden, pine cones brought back from the forest in Sweden, some cinnamon sticks, and my rusty "gazebo" (which I think used to sit on top of a chimney, as a bird safe guard) - now with a small candle holder hung 'cauldron style', this simple table setting was created today to the tunes of Bing Crosby's "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas..."...

Keeping up with the season, the CALM letters above the white sofa (in the 

background) have been replaced by NOEL (also cut from leftover floor boards).

And these beauties... are they not stunning? I wonder if the people working with these small shoe lasts many years ago could have imagined the latter would one day serve as candle holders (the little hole on top seemed to scream out for a small candle!)... The lovely American shoe lasts were a precious, precious gift from a dear friend, Annelie. Dearest Annelie, thank you so, SO much!

And now, now I can hear you moan "Please, we are 'sprouted out'! Sprout no more!" 

So, I promise, no more sprouts for a looong time!

Wishing you a lovely week leading up to Christmas!

Helena