holiday postcards - nunnington

 

 ....we all have our favourite places. Escaping places, nostalgic places, special places of romance, places that hold therapeutic qualities, places that allow your children acres of wonderful freedom, places that make us feel at home even when we are far far away. 

This Summer we had our holiday just down the road in York.  It took just over an hour to tow our little touring caravan to a place of utter beauty that is just on ouor doorstep - North Yorkshire.  Life stood still, we sat out in a continual flurry of changeable weather, this was just as beautiful as the sunshine and the sun did treat us to the occasional appearance.

 

 ...we packed up lunches and flasks and sun-cream and rain macs and meandered our ways through the days...  here is our perfect day out to Nunnington Hall.  A very perfect grey drizzly August day.  The girls were happy as they could 'run' every where (do your kids do that-have to run every where), dig, draw, watch birds from the secret garden, eat ice-cream in the rain with peacocks tormenting them (you don't even have to pay extra for the peacocks-no photo I am afraid as the peacocks were a bit too much for me - ice-cream and cake attracts peacocks and wasps - I am never to be seen if a wasp wants to share our table.)

 

I was happy wandering through the many beautiful rooms and garden with my camera and Mr Hunter was extremely happy as there are lots of signs to read - (Mr Hunter likes reading signs)...

 

 

Do you have a perfect place - please share -

I can pop it in my 'places to visit' notebook...

 

 

 (please note this is not a real person - all though I did question for at least 30 seconds and wouldn't go close for a while - I have a problem with scarecrows looking a little too realistic...)

 

...we spent a few days on holiday running

from the rain to a place of shelter...



...the decorative art of dining....

 

 

 

...after a very hectic few months, the art of dining has been a little neglected at No 17.  We have worked very hard, long hours, food has been the last thought, bad food has been the first thought when you realise you are hungry which results in grabbing 'brown' carbs.  And then there was the holiday.........

 

 

I have a spring in my step and have promised myself that the next 12 months I need to look after myself a little more than I do. For those of you with a young family, will know, that as a Mum, you tend to place yourself last on the list. 

 

 

I am hooked, addicted, obsessed with Pinterest. I find all kinds of inspiration there.  I sit very early on a morning, just for 10 minutes, with my first cup of tea and browse beautiful imagery while the house is quiet. 

 

 

I wanted to share these images with you. Welcome to my new diet. My 'Decorative Diet'.

My plate is to be a colourful one, (thank goodness wine comes in crystal red). Only using small amounts of brown to enhance the colour on my plate.  If you click on each image it will take you to the creators of these beautiful images and also escaping recipes to make the autumnal months that little bit more perkier!!

 

 

 

....have a wonderful weekend, I hope these images inspire you to be a creative god/goddess in the kitchen this weekend...

 

 

 

 Please complete this sentence

"Life is like a bowl of.........."

(and please do not put cherries)

 

 

 

 

 

 

a table top sale from your armchair

 

 ...today I am preparing for my on line table top sale.  My hoarding habits have got so out of control and I am now selling piecces from my studio and home.  It happens over on my Facebook page.  It is quite simple really, you just have to be a member of Facebook yourself.  All you do is be there a minute before 7.30pm (earlier if you like), have a pot of tea or glass of wine to hand.... and I will post a link to The Studio Clearance Album on my Page ...you then scan your way through each image and if you see anything you like then just leave a comment saying the title of the piece you would like to buy (first person to leave a comment has won the sale) and then at the end of the sale I tot up what everyone has purchased and I send each  a PayPal invoice.  I have fabric, buttons, haberdashery, potter and sew packs and boxes, snowflake bunting, sample brooches, china, tea pots, vintage lace and linens................

 

 

 ...so if you are not doing anything this evening...pop over....you never know something may take your fancy!!!

My family are very patient...

 

...I am a Mum of two gorgeous girls and I am very lucky to say that although I work beyond full time hours, I work from home. A homemaking homemaker. My family are very patient. Why? Because I have taken up half of the house with my business, my hoardings, my treasures, my makings, my stationery. The once living room to our house is now my studio, a full functioning studio. A room I affectionately call The Linen Garden....

 

 

I feel unsettled when my surroundings stay the same for too long (apparently it is because I am Aries, although I am not too sure this is the reason)....I think my husband would say it is one of my annoying cosmetics of 'being me'....

 

I like change, I hate routine (but I do need to work on this as working from home with a young family does require a pinch of organisation), so I am constantly moving furniture, changing the purpose of rooms around, re-painting the colours of the walls

 

 

The ever changing appearance of my studio is partly what keeps me inspired.  I love how I look back at photos and see how the studio changes in colour, mood, style, tidyness.

Working on your own can be quite challenging at times, you have to be extremely disciplined......working from home you have the domestic goddess, that you think you should be, whispering in your ear about "the pile of ironing, the breakfast pots, shall we make soup and bread for tea, shall we read the Sunday supplements and find some new recipes, you really should hoover the stairs".... I try not to listen to her, in fact, looking at my house at the moment I definately haven't been listening to her....

...so when the tasks in hand for the day are rather repetative I indulge in the advantages of working from home.  These at the moment are  6Music, Iplayer and the Desert Island Discs Archive (fabulous by the way) to keep me going at these times.... So tell me, what do you use to help nudge the working day along... please share and break my cycle, you know I don't like routine.......

 

"...and the winners are..."

...after spending two hours writing everyone's names down and then being a traditional girl I wanted to draw the winners in a more traditional manner...so by pinning Mr Hunter to the studio wall and asking him to draw out the winners one by one....I would actually like to say he got into the spirit of things in true Bafta style.... "and the winner of the cushion is...." and then I scuttled to the corner of my studio to write down the name... so all done very professionally this Friday evening...

 

...so here are the new owners of pretty linens -

oh my! oh my! oh my!.....

 

If you are a winner then all you have to do is email me at info@vickytrainor.co.uk with your full name and address.  If any prizes are not claimed within the next 7 days then I will pin Mr Hunter down again and re-draw that prize.....

 

So a very big thank you to all who entered and for helping make my first week here in The Linen Garden a very cherishable one.....Please keep popping by....I have lots of inspirational posts planned - some with words , some just beautiful visuals, some the studio, some my family antics..............

 

I would love for you to keep stopping by and saying hello once in a while.  A blog can be a wonderful place but also a lonely one if no-one makes their visit/presence  known by leaving a comment.....even if you just leave an obscure word that just makes me giggle would be tremendous......have a wonderful weekend...see you Monday xxxxx

You made me smile Mrs Tiltman

 

...well I did say that this blog was to be a little floral community...

and oh my how it is happening.... 

Thank you so much for your comments, your emails and messages on facebook and twitter you have made my heart smile and this new chapter is certainly going to be a wonderful and endearing one.

Lynne Tiltman has just emailed me a link to this song

"I couldn’t really post this link on your blog, but your flowers remind me of it all the time!!"

 

..it makes me smile, giggle, reminds me of being a young girl (my Nana used to sing it) and I love that the slideshow can't quite keep up with the song...fabulous....so what I want to know is, at what point in the day, after you have watched this, did you find yourself whistling or singing this english classic...and did your tuneful manner pass infectiously to someone else...please tell - I'm nosey...

 

 

see you Friday evening when I will announce the winners of

The Linen Garden Giveaway

acushiontwosignsthreebookmarksandalovebrooch

....it's very therapeutic starting a new blog. 

 

I am like an excited child starting her new school exercise book with freshly sharpened pencils neatly arranged on the desk.

 

 

I promised that I would show you the giveaway prizes today, my little thank you to you for joining me here in this linen garden. If you have already entered then here they are - tada -

One pretty floral cushion made from

vintage French linen and decorated with

one of my 'love brooches'

 

 

 ...two linen signs

 

 ...three bookmarks...

 

 ...and a 'love brooch'...

(perfect for a winter's cardi)

 

...if you haven't entered and are wondering how one of these linen lovelies can be yours then please read the previous posts..... your comment can be left anywhere on this blog until Midday on Friday 31st August then all names will be collected and popped in my tin, shaken and names will be drawn out and published here on Friday....

...a new chapter...

...I don't know about you, but I live my life in chapters.  Small changeable stepping stones, as I weave my way through the months and years...

I love the closing of doors (in a positive way) and the opening of new, leading me to an entrance hall, with many doors, each leading to ventures new.

 

The Linen Garden is my next chapter.  A new journal documenting the planting and 'sewing' of my stationery world.   My meanderings and wanderings, inspirations and aspirations.

 

I affectionately call my studio 'The Linen Garden'.  It is continually decorated with all that is floral.  Printed stationery, linen stationery, embroideries, vases filled with snippets from the garden, bowls of fabric petals, photographs, textures, magazine clippings, old books, new books, precious china, broken crockery and hoardings of haberdashery...every surface creating a little flower bed of it's own, every wall space a trellis of work in progress.

 

 

I also have friends visiting The Linen Garden, every now and again, to share their ideas, leave a recipe or two, places new, views and reviews, as we all cluster together to share some floral love.

 

...I would treasure your company...and would love for you to join me and visit me once in a while and help me embellish this little journal with friendship, passions, ideas, happiness, fun, humour, and shared stories in any comments you wish to leave.......

 

....a beautiful floral community....

 

To say 'hello' and thank you for taking the time in stopping by I am holding a little giveaway.  All you have to do is become a follower of this journal and leave a comment below to win a lovely decorated linen product from the studio (details of the prizes are  in the holding post below-15th June).  The giveaway will close on Friday 30th August at midday and the winners will be announced that afternoon.  Photographs of the lovely linens will feature here tomorrow.

 

Image Credits: Becky Mitchell

taken from The Linen Garden photo shoot

which will feature here soon