I’ve not taken a shot from this angle before. I remember I tried to at Christmas time but the tree got in the way 🎄
The sunshine coming in here makes the far wall look white which it certainly isn’t (heaven forbid in this house!) - it’s a blue/green. However at the moment the ceiling actually is white 😬 but next month that will be addressed!
The pics away from home were taken on a morning out to one of my favourite villages, Dunkeld. The bakery here @aranbakery is owned by Flora from GBBO fame a few years ago. It’s such a lovely place. I went home with some sourdough loaves for my freezer.
The video at the end of Grizz (husband) and Molly 🐾 was from this time last year and yes we still have a few daffs out.
I’m in Aberdeen now which is lovely. Felix (7 months) still finds me amusing 🥹I think it’s my reading glasses on top of my head 🤓 ❤️
It’s my birthday this coming week and I’m looking forward to a lovely few days.
Hope you’ve had a great weekend, chat soon xx
✨ My Sunday Saves are shops I want to live in ✨ My favourite shop in the land, is Slide 1 in my hometown. It’s called Banks. It’s a traditional ironmonger and hardware shop and has been in my town for almost 200 years. It sells just about everything you could need for your home, garden or workshop. From locks, tools, ironmongery, fixings, kitchenware, household items, garden essentials to farmhouse baskets and vintage brass. It’s truly beautiful, untouched and old. It has all the reminders of real life ~ scratches, labels, handwritten prices, battered packaging and everything looks used, repaired, but chosen carefully.
Good independent shops feel like this don’t you think? Here’s some of my favourite. Some I’ve visited and some, not yet.
Which is your favourite and who can you add? Yesterday, I shared small independent businesses who deserve to be seen, so let’s keep it going today. Nx 🏠
PS I had to re-post due to a typo that I couldn’t unsee! #supportsmallbusiness #independent
My friend Carol picked me up one day last week bearing five of my favourite peony buds she’d found in Tesco’s ! I’ve been waiting for these little beauties for a few weeks now! Pale pink with alizarin crimson petal edges. When they’re in bud form like this there are such interesting textures on the tightly furled petals – they look good enough to eat! I’m having a bit of a peony frenzy at the moment as the season is so short and drying time for the painting is 3-4 weeks! I do take photographs but I don’t like painting from photographs particularly. This will be for sale on the Corbridge open garden day when my studio will be open too. If you’re in and around Corbridge on the 21st of June, it’s the most wonderful afternoon wandering round the village and looking at people’s amazing gardens. There are some real genuine surprises - beautiful gardens hidden behind houses and cottages! I shall be donating part of my sales on that day to Charlotte Straker Home, which is just the end of our terrace . After that the paintings will go on my Instagram feed.# corbridge open gardens #peonies#floral painting#painting from life#artist on Instagram
🌅 Introducing: The Sundowner Space! 🥂
I said we’d been working hard to create something special to add to our guest experience! 🥰
😎Now our guests can sit in our new west facing chill out area to soak up the last rays of sunshine and watch the sunset before lighting the fire and waiting for the stars to reveal themselves! 🤩
💚 Using sustainable building solutions and materials is paramount for every project we undertake here so that our guests can feel part of the natural environment. Hiddle Hut sits in its own small field, not a manicured garden but a managed wild habitat where we encourage wildlife and native species to flourish and grow. These rustic Hazel screens create a small private space in this elevated corner of the field for our guests to sit under the shade of an ancient oak tree. 🌳
🫣 This project has been on hold and waiting in the wings since we first opened Hiddle Hut. 😬 It’s a space where Mr C and I used to sit in the evening enjoying a 🍷 🍷after long back breaking but wonderful days gardening, when Hiddle Hut was only a dream so it’s a really special place for us to share with our guests! 💚
☺️I took these videos just before Mr C had completed the assembly of our ‘new’ (they’ve been in storage for a few years 😕) lounge chairs and foot stools, so forgive me for jumping in to share the space before adding the permanent final touches! @maggi_gem we discussed this space with you during your stay! We hope it lives up to your expectations! 🤗
🗓️ Book your luxury cabin getaway via our website- link is above in our bio!
#stargazingcabin #northumberland #luxurygetaway #sundownertime
Just can’t stop painting these things! Especially as it’s such a very short season – and they are so pretty! Painted in the favourite glass from RE. A very quiet Sunday afternoon in my shed with my black furry painting buddy snoring away in her bed under my press - Madge, totally unimpressed by peonies, though she did have a nibble on one the other day! #peonies#floral painting#oil on board#distortion #artist on Instagram 20cm square! £95 includes guaranteed next day delivery in the UK. Message me if interested.SOLD
I love this time of the year when the sun comes pouring into our kitchen and hallway. Thanks to clever design @ike_isenhour_reductionist the cabinetry by local craftsmen @rgcabinet was built over the door to create a seamless way through to our open central space. We live in the wing of large old English house with lovely high ceilings and lots of original features built at the end of the reign of Queen Victoria in 1900. We chose a round kitchen table to sit in the stone mullioned bay so we can be more sociable when we have friends and family over and also with a great view of the Northumberland countryside all around us. The kitchen hasn’t been redecorated in 16 years so has certainly stood the test of time. We chose to decorate the kitchen with a series of different greys @farrowandball from Cornforth White as the lightest to Railings for the doors and surrounds. A dramatic contrast but we like it!
.
.
.
#kitcheninspiration #kitchendecor #fittedkitchens #kitchendesign #myhome❤️ @benedictedrummond 📷
Pale pink this time! I bought these from the market for the huge sum of £12 - snd they were not in mint condition! I think they’re kept in cold storage. They are very pale and I’m looking forward to the later pink ones that have deep crimson buds ! Again painted in my favourite RE glass which I have to admit, I have never used for drinking chai! #oil painting #floral painting#peonies#realism#distortion £95 includes next day guaranteed delivery in the UK SOLD
As I was waddling back from Kensington my lovely friend Annie gave me these beautiful sweet peas. They smell divine and believe it or not I didn’t use a filter,there was a blast of sunshine that gave the boudoir an almost magical glow up. My morning plans have changed due to my lovely friends @myedwardianhouse having to flee London earlier than expected,might go in search of Lobelia. Strangely,despite being a popular garden staple,there wasn’t any at Chiswick or my lovely local @rassells_nursery_london_w8 There might be some in their delivery today so Betty’s walk will have an ulterior motive,fingers crossed I find some. Apart from playing in the garden and more houseplant malarkey no plans,I’m saving myself for Sunday’s lunch party. That is all from the asylum,carry on regardless
.
.
#sweetpeas
#pinkalicious
#bedroomflowers
#londoncitylife
#retrohauls
Very early, but the first peonies are in the shops. This is a little bunch I bought last week. It’s a deeper pink than I’ve painted in the past – and more strawberry pink but very pretty and as ever resplendent in RE’s Little Chai glass which always shows up their lovely solid stems to great advantage! #peonies#distortion #FloralPainting#oilpainting #painting from life. 23cms square £95 includes next day guarantee delivery in the UK.
