happenings at home

We're settling into our new home nicely, still moving around posessions, pondering colour schemes and decor ideas and aquiring bits of furniture here and there. Mostly from a series of wonderful antiques markets we discovered in our nearest big town, a few local op (charity/thrift) shops and also on Gumtree- where we were lucky enough to score a free lovely timber, provinvial style bed for the spare room. I just need to mention here that you have no idea how unreal/amazing it feels to me to actually say the words "our" and "spare bedroom" in the same sentence. Decorating on a budget is always a challenge but I'm loving it, actually just loving being able to knock nails in walls without panicking about having to fill them all one day when we move out.

Having an actual garden, well a large-ish patch of grass to be precise, is still a huge novelty and my mind is ticking over with ambitious plans involving rose and lavender bushes, trailing vines and trellices. I had to acquaint myself with the gardening section of the library as soon I stopped daydreaming for long enough to realise I don't actually know anything about garden design, or even in fact gardening. However, the veggie patch is already underway which the children are beyond thrilled about and no doubt my mother, the master gardener, will be happy to help when she and my Dad fly over for an eagerly anticipated visit at the end of December. The only thing bothering me is a memory of my teenage self declaring to my parents that I would never, ever, seriously never be interested in gardening as it was the most boring thing on Earth. This can only mean I am now officially old.

Here are a few pictures of home and things happening in it of late...

1 //  A display of straw hats hanging on our bedroom wall. We've (ha! what I really mean is 'I') decided to go with a travel / beachy / Morrocan style vibe for the room.

2 //  New findings from beach combing adventures to add to our collection of random curios.

3 //  My new book, dipping into it whenever I get a spare minute to myself.

4 //  New necklace creations ready for sale at my stall at the craft market next month. Eeek. Starting to get a bit nervous about having enough stock and whether anyone will actually buy any of them. The entire dining table is now taken over with bead production.

5 //  Preparations for the home made advent calendar I am creating for the girls. Each day in December they will discover a festive item or details of something we will do that day. Somedays it will be a little sweet treat (a candy cane or chocolate coin), sometimes a treasure (a little decoration for the tree or book), alternatively a festive activity (watching The Snowman, listening to Christmas songs, baking and decorating Christmas cookies), or a big event (choosing the Christmas tree or going to a carol concert).

I'm still figuring out the logistics of how all this will actually be packaged up and made to look pretty but it's fun and I'm feeling fairly excited and in the festive spirit already. Well, as festive as it is possible to get in a country where it is likely to be averaging 27 degrees celcius on Christmas day.