Weekend at The Joneses

Just before August bank holiday, my friends Charlotte and Nathan became engaged! This weekend, we travelled down to her parent's house in Derbyshire to help with some early wedding planning. Their house is lovely and we, the bridesmaids, couldn't of been made to feel more welcome. Being a bit of an amatuer gardener, I had to have a nosy around the garden. Here's some of my favourite pics...

The lovely farmhouse... sigh


Hen party!


I'm "greenhouse" with envy



Part of the garden


These apples are HUGE!




I love this part of the garden. Imagine growing up with all this to play in...

A Royal Knees Up!

I don't need to witter on about the wedding of the year (or decade) - you either hated it or, like me, loved it!

My friend, Jenna, knows how to host a good party and this was no exception. We decorated her front room and watched the nuptials in all their (land, hope) and glory - one of the highlights of my year so far. And yes, incase you're wondering, I loved Kate's dress!


Admire my homemade cupcakes...


Even the happy couple themselves joined us

Reclamation Heaven

It's been a busy few weeks recently, so it's nice to take the time out to upload a few (small) adventures. One of my favourite places to spend a sunny afternoon is Willowpool Garden Centre, near Warrington.

If you're like me and you love nothing more than rooting through "other people's junk" (as someone once described it), this is the place for you. As well as selling pretty flowers, it's a reclamation yard and there tons of stuff there. Bits of gates and fences, bath tubs, mangles, drawers, cupboards and wardrobes, old wooden carts, battered victorian prams... it goes on. I often wonder where it all comes from and what bit of history lies behind each piece. Here's some favourite odds and ends

A few of the many tearooms


What have we along here..?


The duck pond


Row, row, row yer boat...



More lovely junk

Saturday in Port Sunlight

Today we visited the village of Port Sunlight, situated on the Wirral, Cheshire. The village first dates back to 1888 and was built by William Hesketh Lever for the employers of Lever Brothers. His factory made the infamous brand of soap, Sunlight, which he named the village after.

Port Sunlight is a collection of around 900 Grade II listed houses and buildings and it was home to all of Lever's factory workers. Rather than give his workers a share of the comapny's profits, Lever invested the money in the village, a combination of houses each designed by a different architect. The site also had a hospital, schools, concert hall, church and the Lady Lever Art Gallery. Today I actually spotted a Natwest bank complete with 'a hole in the wall', a sure sign times have moved on a bit.

We spent a good couple of hours wandering around the streets and could smell soap wafting from the nearby factory. Here's a few of my photos.






The village was full of springtime flowers...




The aptly named Bath Street!


I found out this building is called the Lyceum and has had many uses including educational purposes, social and as a church.




www.portsunlightvillage.com

Dress Envy

I thought Lea Michele looked amazing in this gorgeous Oscar de la Renta floor length gown. She wore it recently at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and it's been mentioned in pretty much every magazine I've read this week. I'd love to wear it, major dress envy!

Trip to Lady Hayes

Last weekend, we visited Lady Hayes Crafts and Antiques Centre, just up the road from the village of Frodsham in Cheshire. Originally a farm dating back several hundred years, it's now made up of several outbuildings all of which are home to thousands of crafts, antiques, collectibles and paraphernalia - my idea of heaven!

You can easily spend a morning or afternoon there as it's basically rooms full of things to root through. The place was stacked high with china in every colour and pattern imaginable and it's perfect if you're after something a little different for your home. I'll keep in in mind if I ever need props for a work project.

My favourite piece had to be this retro kitchenette with the doors painted hot pink. I think it'd make a quirky shop fixture for the right setting. I also like this set of drawers but sadly I have no space for either item.


As a keen horse rider, this leather saddle also caught my eye, resting on a wooden towel rail.


It's such a great place, well worth a visit if you're nearby. I'll be going again soon with my mum and auntie.

www.ladyhayes.co.uk

Stunning Wedding Cakes

So, now I'm engaged, it's the perfect excuse to flick through countless wedding magazines. At first I was pretty overwhelmed with choices to make with regards to flowers, themes, favours and, of course, the dress. In one of my many magazines, I came across these stunning cakes from choccywoccydoodah.com


I cannot get over how fabulous they are and the work that's clearly gone into them. They're like something you'd find at the Mad Hatter's tea party. Their website is pretty good too, worth a look. I like the lifestyle photography.



www.choccywoccydoodah.com

Good to be Back!

Happy New Year! Well, better late than never I suppose.

Last year ended on a bit of a whirlwind for me... I got engaged to the lovely Mr Thomas in October whilst on holiday. Then, all of a sudden, it was Christmas! Needless to say my lovely blog got neglected, so one of my new year resolutions was to make regular contributions. Hmmm, January blogging went out of the window then. My excuse was trying to get back into the routine again after enjoying a lovely Christmas (and my birthday) with friends and family.

So, lets get stuck in...