Can't ask for more

A good book and vases and vases of freshly-picked flowers - what more do you need?

Well...perhaps a beautiful view and a slice of cake. Or at a certain hour, a glass of wine.

But no matter how you 'accessorise' it books and flowers are the perfect combination of creativity, colour, ideas and beauty - the best of nature and the best of mankind. They feed the soul like little else can.

I admit it - if I could read all day I would.

x

(Image: stylemepretty.com)

A little bit of dahlia magic

As this year's summer days pass so quickly and one lovely summer's day - yesterday - is so easily followed by a miserable, wet autumn-like day - today - summer feels like it's slipping away, and there hasn't been enough time to enjoy it. 

Summers should be spent enjoying long, lazy days. But life just doesn't work that way any more. This summer has been anything but leisurely. So Passe-par-tout has fallen to the bottom of the to-do list. But, as time should always be made for a little bit of loveliness, I thought I'd share these.

When your home is a gorgeous valley, tucked away under the Tuscan sun how can you help but grow up to be so exquisite?

And back to work.
x

[Images: All PPT]

Summer scenes

Now that summer is finally here I can't stop dreaming about sandy beaches as far as the eye can see, shimmering water, walks in the country, ice-cream, favourite flowers like lavender, daisies and poppies, cocktails at sunset and days that go on and on.

Here are some postcards of my summer so far.

Summer is so precious in the UK. Before you know it it's gone. So I'm trying to hold on to these long days, relish feeling hot and bothered, make the most of wearing sandals and dresses, linger over the last few moments of sunlight each day.

And when it's over, and the days get short and the skies turn grey, I'll have these memories to look back on.

x

(Images: All PPT except 1, 6 - both Desserts for Breakfast and 7 - The Wheatfield by Katie Daisy)

Welcome home

There's no doubt about it - I'm a homebody. There's nothing better than walking through the front door after a weekend away, a day or even a few hours out. Closing the door behind me. Kicking off my shoes. And being home. I love to travel. I love to be out doing things. But I love coming home at the end of it.

I've been thinking about home and what it means recently as we're on the cusp of owning our own home again. We've been living in a rented apartment for the last 20 months. It was supposed to be temporary but...here we are 20 months later. We moved here looking for a refuge. A place to figure out the next step in our lives. As I'm such a homebody where we did that was important.

Now that - fingers crossed (I have to keep saying that as house buying in the UK is a rocky business) - we're coming to the end of our time here, I've been thinking about our current home and what a fabulous job it's done for us.

We arrived a little battered. A little shell shocked from the unexpected turn our life had taken. Signing the lease was a leap of faith. We had no way of knowing how much we'd come to love living here - the apartment itself, the technicolour sunsets from our huge windows, the area too - and how this little, supposed-to-be-temporary apartment would become a real home. Our lives aren't, and won't be, perfect but we'll leave here stronger, and knowing that we can deal with whatever is on the menu for us next.

This photo sang the warmth and welcome of home for me. It's the beautiful mix of flowers, the hurricane lamps, the light, the open gate. I'm pleased to say that our new home - fingers crossed - has a similar little garden gate and flower-bordered path leading up to the front door. Perhaps that's why this image struck a cord.

I hope you'll come and visit.

x

(Image: Style Me Pretty)

Soul food

When you live in a large, noisy, over-crowded city, views like these are like eating your Mom's roast chicken, curling up on the sofa with the one you love, catching up with a good friend, a massage for your mind.

All taken in the amazing Lake District on a perfect summer weekend.

x

(Images: All PPT)



A little bit of loveliness

Unfortunately been too busy for blogging recently but thought I'd pop in with a little bit of loveliness. 

I'm intrigued by the succulents I'm seeing everywhere at the moment - in florists on the high street, in magazines and online - as I've always loved them. I tend to think of them in weathered terracotta pots on sun-drenched verandahs in hot places. So it's lovely to see them mixed with roses, hydrangeas and delicate freesias (some of my favourite flowers). Guess that's why I was so drawn to this arrangement.

Hope you enjoy this bit of loveliness too.

x

(Image: Style Me Pretty)

Just because...

It's amazing what you find when you go looking. I came across this chair and flower set by chance and immediately swooned. The chair is perfect (I'd be very happy with eight for my dinning room). The lilac roses and the miniature lime hydrangeas are so romantic.

So, because I loved this image and on the off chance there might be more, I went looking for similar chair and flower combinations. More there were and these are my favourites.

The burst of pink and yellow peonies among succulents bring arid surroundings and a rusty chair to life. 

This chair is the perfect no-nonsense canvas for the regal, crown-like protea.





































This could almost be an old milking stool so just right for a country bouquet.

To some, chairs and flowers may seem arbitrary but I loved the idea and was delighted by the images I discovered in no time at all. Simple things can bring such pleasure. 

x

(Images: All Style Me Pretty - 1, 2, 3 & 4)