Things to do in Newton Ferrers
28 Apr in Brush Cottage, Links | Comments (4)Newton Ferrers is a small village in Devon. We visit intermittently as my mother & father in law live in the area. This is the first time I have been there in summer (yes, we are calling it that!). We crossed over the estuary via the ferryman – a charming man with the enviable job of ferrying people back and forth over the water. A lot of the property on the other side is owned by The National Trust and there is a clifftop walk, that takes you to Wembury beach.
At the moment, the cliffs are dotted with patches full of bluebells, worth the trip if you want to see them en mass.
Wembury is a nice beach, very busy on the day we were there and dogs are allowed throughout the year, a real plus for us.
However…… about Cornish Cream Tea, the stuff of myth and legend……
I have up until now, not really understood what all the fuss was about. The only scones I have eaten just taste like bicarb, I don’t really like cake, hardly ever eat jam, and cream just gives me sinus problems, so all three put together don’t really float my boat. But David and Tessa would probably sell their souls for baked stuff and had been waxing lyrical about a real find they had made in Newton Ferrers.
So after our walk, we dropped in to Tearoom On The Green.
The tearoom is run by the friendliest people, is clean, attractive and very welcoming. It is however tiny! I think it only has 4 tables inside and 2 outside. Fortunately we were there during the week and were seated immediately. We did have some other things to eat, which were delicious, but you come for the cream tea – don’t you?
The scones were served warm, were freshly baked and delicious, not a hint of bicarb and crusty on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. Cornish cream is well on the way to being butter, and while I couldn’t eat it often, it is perfect on a warm scone.
Apparently there is protocol regarding the correct way of smothering the scone – I don’t know which is which – the Cornish put the jam first and then the cream and in Devon, it’s the other way around – is that right? All I know is, it all went down the same way….. very nicely!
For the Dog Lovers Amongst Us
05 Dec in Links | Comments (0)
Madeleine Floyd
26 Oct in Links | Comments (0)I have a shelf, jam packed full of mugs, which have nothing wrong with them – apart from the fact that I have had them for years and years. I would happily ditch them all ( if that wasn’t an unbelievably environmentally unethical thing to do…) for these gorgeous mugs by Madeleine Floyd - available to purchase at msmugs.com
and in other exciting news – have a look at the Aquamarine and Quartz Double Strand Necklace – just added to the site. Be kind – it was a beast to photograph!
The Handmade Christmas Card List
11 Sep in Christmas Decorations, Links | Comments (1)This is the list I have compiled of UK artists creating Christmas cards – please support them this year!
Houdini Cards:
“My handmade card creations use original, although mostly Victorian, images which I enhance using 21st century technology. Every card is unique with images on both the front and reverse, individualised by hand-stamped lettering. Each card can be custom made to order with lettering of your choice – and choice of envelope colour if preferred.”
Contact Houdinini Cards through Etsy, Facebook or Twitter.
Nyoki Handmade London:
Nyoki Handmade London label is inspired by a mother and daughter duo that combine each of their talents to create exquisite handmade gifts and greeting cards with love and care.
“Our style is eclectic – a combination of vintage, traditional and contemporary. Eco-friendly and unique, each item will stand the test of time and they come in a wealth of beautiful and natural colors.
Our products are designed in London and handmade in both the UK and Kosovo. Nyoki works closely with job creation programs in Kosovo, giving female survivors of the war the confidence and the financial means to support themselves and their families. When you buy one of our products, you are helping to rebuild their lives.”
Contact Nyoki through their online shop, Facebook or Twitter
Nithria:
“Nithria is a new cottage business bringing you special cards and gifts for friends and loved ones, or as a treat for yourself. All products are made by hand and produced from various sources.”
Nithria can be contacted through their Folksy shop or their online store
Rhiannon Thomas
“My cards are prints of my colourful pen and ink paintings. This is the third year that I have sold the Christmas cards, each year a third of the profit from my cards is donated to the Vietnamese Charity Hue Help. I spent the summer of 2008 in Vietnam volunteering for Hue Help; a charity set up to provide assistance to the large numbers of people still living in poverty in central Vietnam. The funds support children’s orphanages and mobile health clinics.”
View Rhiannon’s work on her site or her cards can be purchased through her Folksy page
Penny Lindop
“With a background in archaeology, I now design and produce a huge range of cards and artwork, including many Christmas designs. The business was started 12 years ago, and I am continually amazed by the wonderful comments made about my work. With quirky animals, flowers and cakes, hand finished with my “signature” of woolly additions, the designs are charming and touched with gentle humour.”
Penny Lindop’s cards can be found on her site , or you can contact her on Twitter or Facebook
Storeyshop
“I’m Helen. I love making cards – especially bespoke, personalised ones. I individually hand cut lots of my designs to order, so they are unique and really say what you want to say. Christmas is one of my favourite times of year too, so here’s to a cosy festive season and special Christmas cards a-plenty! ”
Storeyshop cards can be purchased through the Etsy shop. You can also keep up to date with Helen’s creations through her blog.
Georgina Kay Designs
“Georgina Kay Designs are a mother and daughter team who specialise in everything Christmas related! From gifts, to cards and decorations we have it all. We have cards for all ages and they range from traditional scenes through to more modern contemporary images.We especially love Custom orders and relish every opportunity to work with individuals to create their perfect Christmas card. Our shop is on etsy ”
You can also follow Georgina Kay Designs via their blog
Cards by Sophie
“Cards by Sophie started in 2009 creating unique, handmade wedding stationery and has since grown to provide other greetings cards. This is Cards by Sophie’s first range of Christmas cards, they can be easily personalised and are available with a variety of ribbon and crystal colours. Each card is made by hand for that special touch! A range of Christmas cards and other greetings cards, baby and wedding stationery will be available from the Cards by Sophie online shop from the end of October. Contact Sophie in the mean time if you wish to purchase any!”
Sophie can be contacted through her site, on Facebook or on Twitter
If you would like to be included in the list please send me your contact details and and image of your cards.
Handmade Christmas Cards
11 Sep in Christmas Decorations, Links | Comments (6)Someone reminded me just over a week ago, that it was 4 months until christmas….shocking. Before we know it the shops will be full of christmas paraphernalia, and while all Bell family members are more than delighted to partake in warm mince pies and brandy butter as early in the year as possible, Christmas in September is a bit too early for me.
I love Christmas, I love the long dark, cold nights, the twinkling of Christmas lights (the Winchester ones are by far my favorite) and the decorating of my home. I always make my own crackers and last year.. I even made my own Christmas cake – honestly … iced and everything! I am a handmade girl.
Before I get carried away, the point of this post is this: As well as everything I have already said, I love Christmas cards dropping through my letterbox, and I love sending them too. I always go to a lot of trouble finding the perfect ones. Last year, I chose this one, from The Little Dog which I loved 11/10. This year, I am tempted to find something bespoke, there are wonderful handmade card artisans out there, who might well do something special just for me … or for you…?
I am compiling a list on my blog of handmade card artists – who have christmas offerings . Let me know if this is you, send me a photo and your details and I will put you on my list. And if you would like to support handmade Christmas in the UK, please keep checking back on my blog, who knows, you might just find that perfect Christmas card!
See the Handmade Christmas card list here.
It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.
14 Jul in Brush Cottage, Links | Comments (1)If you follow me on Twitter, you might know that I was chosen as an Official Cupcake Tester for Genii Cupcakes. As you can imagine, this made us very happy because:
I never win anything
Cupcakes are becoming my nemesis
The lovely Laura spent a lot of time in her car on Thursday, delivering to the chosen few, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to meet with her then and so she arrived on friday, clearly nervous that mine were delivered a day later than everyone elses.
Dave and I knew that we would be in trouble if we started without Tessa, but we’re not scaredy cats and so immediately tucked into the Lemon one.
We’re perfectly matched, Dave and I. He likes cake and I like icing. He found the lemon cupcake had too much icing, but I liked it that way. The little droplet of lemon curd hidden in the middle also broke the sweetness and gave it that lovely lemony tang – we liked this cupcake 10/10
As expected, we did get into trouble on T’s return home from school – she promptly launched herself into the Oreo Cupcake – 10/10 for ingenuity – who would have thought of an Oreo cupcake? We particularly liked the creamy frosting on this one – a surprise as you expect to get a mouthful of sugar and then it’s actually soft and dreamy creamy. The only comment from T was that the little Oreo perched on top was soft and not crunchy….
She liked the Oreo Cupcake 10/10
Next up was the Vanilla – I liked the little pink and white spotted cupcake paper of course.
We liked this one too – perfect sugary frosting and the lightest of sponge – personally I don’t like those little pink dotty bits on the top – they look nice, but who wants to eat them? Tessa and David have no such qualms though – we liked the vanilla 10/10
It couldn’t be avoided any longer … the Jaffa Cake Cupcake….
Personally I think that whoever decided to combine chocolate and orange should be flogged – that is dangerous talk in the country that the Jaffa Cake and Terry’s Chocolate Orange calls home, but I live on the edge. While visually, this cupcake is quite something, David and I stayed well clear of this one. Tessa of course, was not going to pass this opportunity up. She thought it was very ” masculine”, liked the chocolate sponge texture, but thought that the flavour could be more chocolatey. She liked the frosting both in appearance and flavour, but it’s very rich and she couldn’t eat the whole thing. We gave this one a solid 7/10
You might think that our enthusiasm was waning by this stage but you would be wrong, we were taking our responsibilities very seriously and so next on our list was the Cherry Bakewell.
This one was a dilema for us…none of us like Cherry Bakewell. We didn’t like this one …. out of the 6 cupcakes we tried – this one was our least favorite, but I think that it was just a matter of individual tastes. The sponge was – as with all the others – perfect , visually it was lovely and I think if you do like Cherry Bakewell, you would probably love it! I also thought that the litttle slivers of almond might be nicer if they were toasted and crunchy
We gave this one a 5/10
Are you ready for this?
Behold the magnificence of the Strawberry and Pimms Cupcake!
Laura clearly is a genius for thinking this one up – we loved it 11/10. Perfect for Wimbledon fever and the English summer time. Light as air Pimms infused sponge and frosting with a strawberry that has lapped up all the Pimms it can before being wrapped in dark chocolate … who could ask for more?
We would like to thank Laura very much for selecting us to test her wonderful cupcakes, we loved them and would not hestitate to recommend them:
London
19 Apr in Brush Cottage, Links | Comments (1)I love London – From the moment I get there I feel as though there are a million exciting things that I am missing out on. Having said that – I do feel as though I have the best of both worlds – our home is in a very picturesque, typically English village – with a real sense of community and we are very lucky to live here. It’s also only an hour on the train to Waterloo. Added to that are a very hospitable sister and brother in law – who never mind us invading for the odd weekend….
We spent this weekend in London – and with perfect weather, it couldn’t have been a nicer place to be! Tessa brought a friend along – the lovely little Miss F.
We took the girls to the amazing exhibition at Kensington Palace – The Enchanted Palace – It’s a collaboration of some amazing designers and actors who have transformed some of the rooms to tell the story of some of the woman who have lived there and it’s very, very well done – truly an enchantment!
We took a walk past the Albert Memorial – a favorite spot of mine – so poignant and romantic.
Yesterday, we took advantage of the perfect weather to visit Kew Gardens – The Magnolia’s are in flower right now, and they are a favorite of mine, a sight to behold.
Kew have some amazing artwork/sculpture too:
There were also trees to climb (although that might be frowned upon!)
But I have to be truthful here – our real reason for heading in this direction was to visit a Pizza restaurant…… not jut any old Pizza restaurant, oh no, this one is special…..run by real Italians – wearing proper funny hats…..
And who serve homemade lemonade in these pretty bottles…..
Who make salads, laced with delicious honey and mustard dressing…
But we came for the Pizza…. the sourdough Pizza….. the authentic Pizza, cooked in a traditional woodburning oven , imported from Italy, that takes longer than a week to heat to the optimimum temperature…..
And it was worth it! A trip to Chiswick just to eat at Franco Manca is worth it!
Chickpea and Feta Salad
13 Apr in Brush Cottage, Links | Comments (1)Many years ago David and I used to be vegetarian. It’s a lifestyle choice that I still admire and aspire to, but for a number of reasons (one of them being a completely carniverous daughter) we are now meat eaters. Some of the things I learned to love while vegetarian were chickpeas, beans and lentils. My daughter refuses to eat lentils (I think it’s just on principle….) but fortunately she does like beans and chickpeas and so when I came across this recipe for chickpea and feta salad I thought I might give it a try.
I made it about half an hour ago and it is sitting in my kitchen as I write this, and I can’t wait to eat it….! It’s delicious! I did not use canned chickpeas – as I find them bland, so it’s a bit of a long haul, soaking them and cooking them till soft. I also only have tiny tops of my mint starting to sprout , so I haven’t used the full quantity of mint that the recipe recommends, but it still tastes great……… oh yes, and I threw in some lettuce, just because…. and now I am off to gobble and watch The Great British Menu.
What are you having for supper?
April Secret Post Club
13 Apr in Links | Comments (2)A couple of weeks ago I joined the very clever Heather Sunderland’s Secret Post Club. It’s a lovely idea where each month you are randomly paired with another blogger. You then send your assigned blogger a gift. There is a £10.00 limit, but you don’t even have to spend any money as something you have made or just want to pass on is also okay.
I received my Secret Post Club parcel this morning! These lovely Roger la Borde notecards and envelopes, wrapped in a ribbon dropped through my postbox amongst all the other day to day uninteresting stuff – what a pleasure!
They were sent to me by Jacqui Paterson a features journalist in London. Thank you Jacqui, I love these cards - so pretty and a very useful gift!
Corazon latino
16 Feb in Jewellery, Links | Comments (0)I am always on the lookout for new materials to try, at the moment I am getting to grips with copper (but more on that later…)
Amber is a semi precious stone that I have often seen, but never used, I’m not sure why, it might be that it’s a colour I don’t ever wear and so don’t gravitate towards. Lately though I have noticed amber in varying colours, some very unusual.
When I looked at Catherine D’ Arcy’s site I was delighted to see how many of these variations she is using in her designs. Catherine designs her range and commissions the Mexican Taxco silversmiths to manufacture to her specifications. Her pieces are bold and striking and she uses the most wonderful stones in her amber jewellery.
Some necklaces contain a Dominican fire amber pendant. This particular stone is a rarity outside of the Dominican republic and is considered a collectors item.
But my particular favorite piece of her silver jewellery is this necklace which has a collection of silver baubles attached, it’s whimsical and pretty, very unusual and seriously wantable!
Image courtesy of Corazon Latino
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