Vintage and Grace

Winter Cosiness

The days are getting shorter, colder and greyer. But still this is my favourite time of the year.  I’ve always felt a lot happier when I can turn my attention to making everything that little bit cosier at home.

I love the fact that there is so much to feel glad for.  The fallen golden, amber and crimson leaves that crunch under your feet when out for a walk on a crisply cold day.  All booted and wrapped up in chunky jumpers, scarves, gloves, hats and coats.

The night sky will be twinkling with stars as the nights draw in ever earlier.

I love how everything is the same but different.  The trees are bare of their leaves and the sun seems to have to work harder to peep out to say hello during the day. Plants and berries have been and gone and the little bumblebees, mice, hedgehogs, butterflies and frogs are beginning to hibernate and won’t be back until the ground softens again with the arrival of spring and bluebells, snowdrops, daisies and daffodils.

We now have to rely on making the world colourful and warm ourselves.  Make your house welcoming to your family and friends by hanging a homemade wreath on your front door.  Thick burgundy throws draped over our sofas ready and waiting to wrap around us when evening arrives and we gather in the lounge.  The warm inviting glow of flames dancing and flickering from the fireplace.  Chunky, scented candles add a little more magic and charm.  Oversized mugs filled to the brim with cocoa or milk, vanilla and honey.  Hot baths filled with favourite bubble baths and a splash of calming, soothing, sleep inducing lavender… and warm towels and bath robes waiting to swathe us.  Fleecy pyjamas and dressing gowns ready to keep us snugly and toasty warm. A hot water bottle tucked in bed.

The home is more homely than ever with the sweet, reassuring smell of a cake baking in the oven.  The gentle braising of a casserole. Start to gather a good quality assortment of paper, glue and glitter and sit everyone around the table and help make decorations, gifts and cards ready for Christmas.

These are just a few thoughts to help make your soul smile and give you some happy memories to cherish with your family.

Pumpkins

Hmm, which pumpkin is the best pumpkin???

ta da!!!... found it!!!

Vintage Hoover Floor Polisher

I just love this darling vintage hoover floor polisher and I really, really want it! I can imagine me proudly just watching my floors getting glossier and shinier whilst I effortlessly push it around the room!

Halloween

We’ve never been a big fan of Halloween before, but since we moved to our lovely old Victorian house, well it just seems right to have the house full of guests at Halloween.  Don’t get me wrong the house is in no way spooky… just in need of some TLC to bring it back to its former glory.  We are just renovating the master bedroom which has been a task and a half because everything needed redoing… right to replacing the floorboards! We’re getting there now though!

Oops! back to the point of the today’s post…

Yes, I’ve been talked in to having a Halloween party and there just seems to be too much to do that I don’t know where to begin, so I decided to sit here and idle the day away instead of being more practical and actually tidying and cleaning the house… which heaven knows would be most helpful thing to do!  I originally came to my desk to write out a plan for the big clean – I, of course, ended up getting side tracked and spent hours on ebay looking for the latest labour saving device that would clean my downstairs floors for me – we don’t have a carpet downstairs, we have varnished floorboards in the lounge and dining room and tiles through the kitchen and utility room… and this is a big house so there seems to be miles and miles of floor that needs cleaning! Uhhh! Just the thought was giving me backache!

I’ve seen a darling vintage floor polisher on ebay and I badly want it (I remember my gran used to have one just like it!), alas the current highest bidder seems to want it badly too and seems happy to pay a good price for it!  So, I’ve settled on a boring new, plastic hard floor cleaner, which promises not to disappoint… hmm, we’ll see!

I am actually looking forward to the party, or more truthfully, I will be when the cleaning has been done!  The party planner has been put together, and I am now timetabled in to make Pumpkin Soup and a huge extravagant Red Velvet Layer Cake, it is a beautiful cake, not especially for Halloween, but I like to make it for the deep red colour of the sponge... it seems to fit the occasion! My lovely front room is being adorned with all sorts of plastic creepy crawly toys… which will scare me silly and is sending a shiver down my back just thinking about it! Outfits have been made – I’m going to be a fifties housewife, complete with chintzy apron and gruesome Halloween makeup! There will be witches, ghosts, a dark angel and even a ghoulish prom queen!

I feel that Halloween is a chance to gather friends, family and loved ones together for a good time and I get tired of the yearly debate… ‘Is Halloween too scary?’ well I don’t think it is and it never should be! It should never be about youths menacing and upsetting the old and/or vulnerable with trick or treat, but I do believe that young children who are well supervised by responsible adults and who take the time to dress up in a cute little outfit and politely ask for a little treat or sweets is not a problem.

I love autumn and winter as it brings with it the promise of the party season and celebrations.  I always have been the kind of person who’ll use any excuse to have a party (or go to a party).  I love gathering everyone round for fun, laughter, fancy dress or wearing your best dress, eating delicious seasonal food and of course indulging in the odd glass or two of wine!

I really do need to go and get the house ready now… but can I actually be trusted to go and do it?

Quote of the day...

"There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them"

Silvia Plath

Food Glorious (Frugal) Food

I’ve decided to start looking after my pennies… just lately I have been guilty of handing over my debit card without a single thought about my budget.  That all screeched to halt on Friday morning when the postman delivered my bank statement and I didn’t like what I saw.

I think the simplest way of cutting spending is to be thrifty at the supermarket.  It’s just too easy to grab at whatever takes your fancy - but unorganised spending, with no weekly menu plan usually ends up being an expensive mistake indeed.  Your lovely fresh groceries that you bought the week before, will end up uneaten, putrid and rotten… manifesting in your conscience, like scary monsters in the night, every time you open the fridge.

You need to decide what works best for you.  Do you live close enough to the shops to stock up at the supermarket every couple of days? Or does it work best if you just do a weekly shop and nip out to the local stores for bread and milk and any other daily necessities?

Eating well and healthily doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg.  But you do need to be organised and plan your menu before you go shopping.  Think about what you and your family like to eat and start saving recipes and food ideas in your own recipe folder, for instance if you love chicken you can make a section just for chicken and add any recipes that you love.  Categorising the food you love will help you plan a varied weekly menu full of meals you want to eat, and then you can easily put together your own weekly shopping lists.

Over the next few weeks I’ll post some thrifty meal ideas.  Being frugal is not about depriving ourselves; it’s about eating delicious food that is easy on the pocket.  Autumn is the perfect time of year to cheer up a cold, dark and wet day with some scrummy cakes, so make sure you have a bake day or two!

My first suggestions are:

Breakfast

Vanilla Coffee

Warm Peanut Butter Bagel

Lunch

Tuna Salad

(dress salad with your choice of dressing)

Pear

Tea

Fish Finger Sandwiches

(Simple and quick to make – but still a delicious treat!)

serve with side salad or vegetables

Warm Apple Berry Stew

Fish Finger Sandwiches (serves 4)

Split four large baps (bread rolls) and spread with tartar sauce.  Cook 12-16 fish fingers, follow the instructions on the box.  Heat up a small tin of mushy peas.  When cooked, put a tablespoon of peas, followed by 3 or 4 fish fingers on each bap, with a little squirt of fresh lemon juice or vinegar, and put the bap top on. Serve with a side salad.  Enjoy!

Warm Apple Berry Stew (serves 6)

6 apples
200g frozen mixed berries
1 stick of cinnamon
5 cardamom pods
a pinch of ground ginger
50ml water

Core and cube the apples (no need to peel). Put them in a pan with the berries, spices and water. Simmer for 20 minutes, or until the apples are tender and soft.

Breakfast ideas for left over Apple Berry Stew:

·         Warm 4 tbsp of stew, and top with natural yoghurt.  Add a sprinkling of nuts and seeds (optional)

·         For a lazy weekend breakfast you could also serve the stew with warm pancakes

I am in love with...

...these beautiful French General vintage style labels and stickers by Kaari Meng.  They are perfect for personalising gifts, books, homemade jams and home baked treats. Why not decant your favourite bubble bath into a pretty glass bottle or jar and adorn it with one of these labels – an easy way to introduce a sweet vintage look to your bathroom.

Harry made me smile today...

Gorgeously Green

Sarah Stacey and Jo Fairley at beauty bible are inviting you to send them your bestest 'green living' and general beauty tips.  The ten they select will each receive a Liz Earle cleanse and polish.  Good luck!

I’ve included a few of my favourite remedies:

Red-Face Compress

·         1 tbsp finely ground oatmeal

·         4 tbsp warm water

·         2 drops chamomile essential oil

·         flannel or muslin cloth

Mix the oatmeal and water together and leave for a couple of minutes to thicken, and then stir in the chamomile essential oil. 

Place the compress over the face and neck and relax for 15 minutes.  Use the muslin cloth/flannel with cool, clean water to gently wipe away all traces of the compress. 

Finally, pat the face and neck dry with a clean, soft towel.  Perfect for faces that redden easily, or blotchy skin irritated by the colder weather.

Puffy Eye Remedy

·         2 tea bags

So simple – rinse the tea bags under the tap and put in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

The tannins in the tea leaves tightens the skin around the eyes to help reduce signs of puffiness, whilst the coldness of the tea bag stimulates the lymphatic system around the eye area, which also helps reduce puffiness.

Body Scrub

·         100g granulated white sugar

·         100g finely ground sea salt

·         100g coarsely ground oatmeal

This is an excellent body exfoliator.  Sugar is mildly anti-bacterial; the salt buffs the body, while the oatmeal soothes the skin.

Mix the ingredients together and store in a pretty screw top jar.  I think this is best used in the shower.  To use, massage a small amount into dampened skin and rinse thoroughly.  This body scrub is best used in the shower and is gentle enough to be used daily.

Love Letters of Great Men

Over the weekend I watched the Sex and the City movie and it got to the bit where Carrie and Big are in bed reading their books.  Big asks Carrie if she is the only one in New York that still goes to the library.  She says that she likes the smell of old books.  She tells Big that she is reading ‘Love Letters of Great Men’ for research for her new book about what happens after you find love.

I remember when I first watched the movie at the cinemas I was struck by the romantic content of the book, which included letters by Beethoven, Byron and Napoleon.  The next day I searched and searched Amazon and the internet – only to find that this book was fictional.  I was gutted!

After watching the movie again I still found myself wishing that this book did exist and so I checked Amazon again – and to my great surprise the book has now been published – using the same title as the book that inspired it – and includes the collection of romantic letters (which are real and written by great men such as Flaubert, Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde) referenced in the movie.

I just think that this must be the most romantic book ever, full of personal affirmations of love, there is something so special about sending a love letter to and receiving a love letter from the person you love the most.  They can range from just a couple of simple, succinct words… to the more wordy eloquent ramblings.  To me any love letter is a masterpiece about love, said in the only way the sender knows how to describe their truest feelings for someone else. 

I think that sometimes things can go left unsaid, relationships can wither before they should, simply because the couple do not think to say ‘I Love You’. 

There must be a lot of things that could make you feel more special than receiving a love letter… but I don’t know what they are!  I think its time we all got out our pens, pretty paper (scented with a spritz of your favourite perfume/aftershave of course) and get writing those love letters to our someone special!  If all else fails and writing love letters really isn't your strong point, buy the book, copy someone elses love letter and send it... after all, it's the thought that counts!