Home

Other than being out and about with Joe, and going to my ceramics class, life at home has been ticking along as usual. A bit of gardening, laundry, chores and more chores... I attacked a rather large pile of ironing yesterday and was so glad to see it gone. For now.

We spend time outdoors when the weather allows. Joe now has a little swing in the garden. Everything's starting to bloom, including these sorbet-coloured dahlias. They make me think of peaches and raspberries. Maybe that's because I'm doing a bit of a detox and have cut out sugar. So lots of headaches and cravings. I'm counting down the days.

A sign of summer: lovely Sweet Williams in the house. I have some growing too, but they're in deep, vampy shades of purply red.

Joe's room is really cute. He stands up in his cot now so hopefully will take notice of things I've made, like a nautical mobile with beach finds...

And a garland I made by cutting out some leaf shapes from felt. Total cost: £1.50. Total length: around 4 metres.

We've been reading a lot too. He doesn't have much of an attention span yet though. I've still to find out what happens in Where the Wild Things Are... we actually did it as a school play when I was very little. I remember the masks and tails we wore pinned to our leotards, but not the story.

Maybe I'll just take it to bed and read it myself.

Velvet

This week's Nature in the Home theme: red.

It was probably the easiest so far for me, as we have a bit of a selection in the garden at the moment. I'm especially liking the little wild strawberries. I pick and Joe eats. 

But I opted for these velvety nasturtiums. I plant them each year now, as they run wild through the beds and brighten up the patches given over to potatoes. This time I chose seeds which would give us rich, deep reds. I love this colour next to orange and lime green, and violet...

(That underneath the vase in the above picture, by the way, is some lino printing I've been doing. Very mid-century modern).

And this little blue lustreware vase is perfect for red flowers. In fact, I reserve it exclusively for them. I think I have too many vases...

I find them difficult to resist I'm afraid.

Twilight garden

On Wednesday evening we made the most of the short-lived summer weather and went to Jay's mum's house for tea. 

We sat outdoors and drank apple and elderflower juice, and I wandered around with the camera snapping some of the flowers.

There are lots of pastel shades: periwinkle blue, baby pink, lilac, white... and they all took on a luminosity as the sun moved behind the house. Our garden at home is like an explosion in a paint factory. Crazy bright colours everywhere. We didn't really go down the tasteful route this year.

I liked that there were soft colours in the pebbles and shells around the garden too. They complemented the plants.

And I love the markings on these miniature iris.

Naturally, someone else was appreciative of the space to crawl and the opportunity to make new discoveries. The cat wasn't so sure.

Hope you have a nice weekend. We're planning a quiet one. Creativity, cooking and slowing things down after a busy week.

Dahlia

One of my favourite, favourite flowers. We have several - in various colours - growing outside. The one I'm most looking forward to hasn't even got a bud yet but will be white and purply-red. My mum told me they used to grow red and white dahlias in Poland when she was little.

There are lots of those huge daisies growing around here at the moment, but not in the garden. Other whites we do have: trailing geraniums, alpine strawberry flowers and something I can't identify (it's not a weed but I have no idea what it's called).

After photographing this bloom I put it in a heavy glass vase. I think it might end up on the bedside table.

Joining in with Lou's Nature in the Home.

Northern Quarter

It's been a bit Manchester-centric recently. Last night we went to see Kings of Leon (and consequently have been yawning a lot today), and Jay booked last Friday off work and we had a trip to the Northern Quarter. Luckily the rain held off so we got to wander around my favourite part of the city without umbrellas and soggy feet.

Apparently, the remake of the Michael Caine film 'Alfie' was partly shot here due to the similarities to New York. I'm not too sure about that, but it does have plenty of rusty fire escapes and grimy old brick buildings. And although there are lots of trendy cafes, bars and boutiques, these days they sit alongside the more established and traditional businesses like clothing manufacturers and shopfitters.

We always have a look in the Richard Goodall Gallery and gaze longingly at the film and music posters. Some of them are originals dating back to the 1960s and 70s. I really loved the Woody Allen ones, but would happily have taken any of the others home.

The Craft and Design Centre is in a converted Victorian market. It has lots of little shops run by craftspeople: photographers, ceramicists, textile artists, jewellers... so many covetable things to look at and admire.

Naturally, we had to visit the cafe. 

I had some very spicy falafels, Jay had a toastie and we both partook in the blackcurrant and ginger cheesecake (Joe mauled ate some baby biscuits and mushy stuff, and stared at a fellow customer in an unnerving fashion).

The upstairs area is galleried so you can people-watch. And the ceiling is glass so it's always nice and bright - even on a grey Manchester day.

Our final stop was Fred Aldous. It's an art and craft supply shop and a Manchester institution. There were lots of lovely things you usually only see online (my notebook fetish kicked in immediately), and downstairs they had everything you could possibly need to draw, paint, print, knit, sew, crochet... whatever your Thing happens to be.

I bought some supplies and would have liked to peruse the books and magazines, but Joe had other ideas. It was time for his afternoon nap so we lifted him in his buggy up lots of stairs. He looked like a little emperor, sitting there while we huffed and puffed.

Still, with a short drive home we got back in good time to put him to bed for a while. Which is always nice.

Gift

To join in with Lou's Nature in the Home series...

When my mum's visited recently she's brought green things: lilacs and this time, a cutting of a little houseplant. It's growing away enthusiastically on the kitchen windowsill. So much so that I repotted it yesterday afternoon. I like the colours. Mossy green and purple are one of my favourite combinations.

We tend to get plants, bulbs and flowers quite often as gifts. I think they're the perfect offering. In fact, here's a list of nice things to give (and, of course, to receive):

Perennial seeds such as aquilegia or wildflower mixes

Hyacinth, muscari or miniature narcissi bulbs (to flower in the house)

Cuttings from houseplants - geraniums are easy

Home-grown fruit and vegetables (or jam/chutney made from them)

A pot of herbs - again, easy to take cuttings

Alpine strawberry plants

A clump from a plant which has been divided: maybe snowdrops or hosta

I could go on and on and on... I love plants!

Jewelled Garden

Fellow Gardener's World fans will know that Monty Don has a 'Jewel Garden' among his many, many other gardens at Long Meadow. Well, our garden is probably smaller than one of Monty's compost heaps. But last week we had our very own Jewelled Garden.

A heavy rain shower left the place looking as though we'd been visited by the Swarowski fairies.

Some plants - hostas, nasturtiums, crocosmia, alchemilla mollis - made the raindrops look like little balls of mercury. I know that lupins do the same. Maybe I'll get some next year.

And the images lend themselves to black and white, I think. Although the colour versions are nice too. But the crystal-like drops look a bit more like jewels in monochrome.

Even a rainy day in summer (is it officially summer yet?) has its charms.