Home-making, baking and faffing about

Was it really only last week that I was on holiday?   My first day back at work, predictably, was super busy but I managed to get completely up to date and there are now just three emails in my inbox which require attention today.  Smug.

We had taken an extra day off on Friday to finish off our holiday so it was nice to have a long weekend.  Having unpacked and tidied everything away the night before, we were able to spend Friday doing nice things.  We were up early and headed straight for Milton Keynes to run a few errands (returning library books etc) and drove from there to Bedford (with a takeout flat white, natch).  As regular readers will know, Friday is pocket money day (yay!) and I wanted to treat myself to some blooms from my favourite florist.  It's only a small shop but I spend ages in there in admiring the flowers and trinkets.  I chose a selection of country cottage-style flowers and they look beautiful on the dining table.

Of course, we nipped through Primark where I bought yet more pretty tea towels, PJs and a nice cheapy pair of leopard print ballet pumps.  By one o'clock we were safely ensconced in a nearby village pub, tucking into proper scampi and chips and downing large glasses of ice cold white wine. 

We picked up the pooch from my MILs on Friday night - as always, she was super happy to see us and looked pretty as a picture in a little pink bow  having been freshly bathed and trimmed the day before (the pooch, not the MIL).  

J was with us again this weekend and the three of us spent the whole time cosying up in the living room together, reading, watching Harry Potter movies and playing about with our phones/ipads.  We left the house just twice, both times to walk the dog.  If J eats well, sleeps well and gets a bit of fresh air when he comes to stay, I feel I've done my bit as a stepmum!  

It was nice to have time to mooch around the house with nothing very important to do.  As well as buying a proper bunch of flowers in Bedford, I also bought a couple of bunches of sweet williams at the Co-op and filled a few pots and jugs with them around the house.

I love this old marmalade pot I bought for pennies at a local antique centre but it isn't the most water-tight of vessels and I have to use this little vintage saucer/bowl thingy to catch the drips.

I have a teeny obsession with vintage Wee Willy Winkie candle holders

As if that wasn't enough, I came home to find that my sweet peas had positively blossomed and I was greeted by a tangle of colour and fragrance (cue: a happy little jig on the lawn).  Having been reliably informed that they will regrow with gusto if I snip, I (gingerly) chopped the majority off and filled a few vintage bottles with the stems.

There is a little posy of sweet peas on each of our bedside tables, too.

To my mind, there is no better way to bond with your home after a holiday than to fling open the windows, put out some flowers, make fresh coffee and bake a batch of something delicious.  I made plain scones to have with clotted cream and jam after lunch on Sunday:  always a crowd-pleaser and takes just minutes.

I store all of my ingredients in these jars on a shelf in the kitchen.  I think they look lovely, and a little bit 'homespun'! 

On Sunday evening I finally got round to applying floral decals to a couple of glass mugs that I bought ages ago.   I'm chuffed with the result.  I have got a large rose decal to use on a little milking stool that I bought and gave the Annie Sloan treatment to a while ago.  I'll blog that when I've done it, but I know it will look gorge!

So that's how I settled happily back into ordinary everyday life after a delicious week in the sun.  I started work yesterday refreshed, relaxed and raring to go.

Hope you had a nice weekend, too! 

Kisses.

Nicki 

x

PS - Sorry that I've just reused my Instagram images, I know it's a bit lame.  Sometimes it's just such a palaver to get my big girl camera out and the iphone is sooo easy to take little snaps of my life throughout the day.  I'll try harder next time :-)