Music Monday - Karine Polwart!

Okay...so this versatility with the 'Sounds of...' name seems to extend to Monday too (just!)! Sneaky! Did you all have a good Bank Holiday? What did you get up to? We had a little trip over to Liverpool, saw some friends, ate plenty of lovely food (of course!), watched lots of films and bought some pretty gifts and fed some animals at Cedar Farm in Ormskirk! We also listened to a lot of today's Music Monday - Karine Polwart! I hope you enjoy!

















This post was brought to you by the beautiful weather of Cornwall:


Stunning, no?

Folksy Friday - Candles!

Well, hello! I hope you've not missed me too much - we scooted away to Cornwall for a few days staying with Oliver's brother and sister-in-law (and their gorgeous pup!) and then a couple of camping nights! The weather was typically inclement on both camping evenings, but one thing keeping us cosy was plenty of tea lights and candle holders, leading to this week's Folksy Friday candle theme! Brr! What have you been up to this week? Do you have any Bank Holiday plans?

Sounds of Sunday - Ella Edmondson!

Well hellooo! I hope you're enjoying your weekends and having plenty of you time! Today's Sounds of Sunday is another of my sister's recommendations (she's way cooler than me, obvz!) and is Ella Edmondson! She's a folk singer / songwriter (and also the daughter of Adrian Edmondson and Jennifer Saunders) and her new album Hold Your Horses is just lovely - have a listen!

















Wat's your Sound this Sunday?

Folksy Friday - Stationery!

Oh I do love stationery...I used to adore writing to various penpals (I think I found most of them on Teletext, how old school...!?) when I was younger; four years ago (sigh!) when I was doing research for my degree in Thailand, I wrote Oliver a letter every day for six weeks, like a little diary to stop me missing home, and I do still love writing lists, postcards, gift tags, letters and notes whenever necessary (and usually in between, too!), so this Folksy Friday is dedicated to lovely things to write your letters and notes on!












Do you have dedicated stationery sets, or do you just scribble wherever is free (I scribble eeeverywhere!)?

A Big Thank You (and A Little Recipe)!

Hello there! I hope you've all had a jolly nice weekend and a not-too-rubbish Monday back at work! I got a lovely surprise on Saturday when a big packet of crafty goodies was sitting waiting for me at breakfast time - my giveaway winnings from the very generous Deanne of Quirky Boots (check out her beautiful Folksy shop here!)!





There are notepads, embellishments, fabric flowers, brads, gift bags and a beautiful pack of cupcake-themed cards, woop! You can get lots of these goodies (and plenty more!) over at Deanne's crafting material shop Quirky Pit Stop, so go give her shops a visit! Thank you, Deanne!

Today I have been gotten by some kind of allergic reaction (I'm not sure to what...I hope it wasn't last night's cocktails...!) and have done very little except drink cups of tea and blow my nose...attractive! I did achieve something in my snuffly state today, which was to make my week's breakfast smoothies, and I thought I'd share my recipe with you!


Mmmm! Okay, this photo is not the best (I'm really not one for food presentation, more for eating it immediately ha!), but I assure you that it is delicious, and perfect for grabbing as I leg it out of the door, after a morning swim or when checking my emails, and great for using up slightly funky-looking fruit that's been hanging around for a while...!

It's really really easy to make, and really good for you! I make a giant jug at the beginning of the week for my week's breakfasts, so these are the ingredients for four (generous!) helpings:
- five pieces of fruit (I usually go for a couple of apples, a couple of bananas and a pear, because I like my smoothies sweet)
- a 500ml pot of fat-free yoghurt (I use strawberry)
- half a pint of milk
- a couple of handfuls of oats
- a packet of frozen smoothie fruit if I have it!

Just chop the fruit, add it to a blender with the yoghurt, milk and oats and blend it until it's smooth...yum! Best enjoyed with a toasted cinnamon and raisin muffin...but just as yummy on its own!

Take note - the yoghurt and fruit juice will separate overnight, and look a little suspect, but just give it a stir before pouring it out and it'll whizz back to looking (and tasting) delicious!

What's your favourite super-quick breakfast? I am always late in the morning!

Sounds of Sunday - Jónsi!

At my sister's request, this Sounds of Sunday comes all the way from Iceland and is just lovely :) he's the singer and guitarist from Sigur Rós, and my sister and dad love him so much that we're all going to see him when he's on in Leeds in September...family trip out - woo!

















Pretty, huh? What do you think? What's your Sound this Sunday?

Folksy Friday: Gardens!

Happy Friday! If you follow me on Twitter, you might have been plagued by my recent Tweets to vote for my local conservation project, Herbs and Dragonflies, to win a grant to create a show garden, getting members of our local community involved (you can read more here!). A HUUUUUGE thanks to all of you who voted, because we won!! Hopefully garden planning and creation will begin soon, and I'll keep you posted :) and naturally, the theme of today's Folksy Friday had to be gardens!











I love them all! I can't wait to have a little house to fill with gardeny delights!