Christmas flowers bouquet from Prestige Flowers

I love flowers.

I love seeing them grow in the garden, having them dotted around the home and I love seeing them when I’m out and about different places.

Some people don’t like cut flowers and prefer seeing them grow naturally, but I have to admit to loving them in the home.  They make me smile.  They make me happy.  I love the vibrancy of colours and the gorgeous perfumes that some flowers give off.

I’m one of those people who admits to buying myself a bunch (or sometimes two) each week when I do my food shop.  I love having fresh flowers for the week and if I’m lucky I can spread these out in different vases throughout the house.

So with a love for flowers, when I was given the opportunity to review a Christmas bouquet from Prestige Flowers from their Haute florist range I jumped at it.  Oooooh how exciting they were giving me a sneaky peek at what would be available on their site for Christmas.

I waited in anticipation for my delivery.

Prestige Flowers are one of the UK’s leading on-line florists and have a wonderful range of beautiful fresh flowers, plants and gift hampers.  You can do that thing too, where you add chocolates etc to the bouquet.  Before I received my flowers I popped over to their website, like you do, www.prestigeflowers.co.uk for a little looksee and I felt quite excited that I was going to be lucky enough to receive some of their fine flowers.

I wasn’t disappointed.

My bouquet, which was from the Haute Florist range, arrived in a huge cardboard box – it’s such a good idea to send them in a box because you know they won’t get damaged.

They were wrapped in luxury paper and then popped in a bag all inside the sturdy box.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that the stems were very cleverly housed in a hydration pouch to keep the flowers as fresh as possible during delivery.  I’ve never seen one of these before and thought what a great idea it was.

The bouquet was held together with a small piece of ribbon, which I have to admit I thought would be red (it being a Christmas bouquet and all that) and perhaps tied a little bit more delicately… but never mind that’s a small detail I guess.

There was however a lovely little card which made me smile, as well as a very informative flower care guide.  I took the time to read the guide as I had kindly been sent the flowers, in order to prolong their life as much as possible.  It advised me to change the water daily, remove guard petals that surround the blooms (I didn’t know to do this before) and to re-cut the stems regularly.

Back to my lovely flowers…

A very pretty Christmas bouquet that anyone lucky enough to receive, would, I’m sure, be very happy with.  It included red and pink roses, gorgeous vibrant lime green coloured shamrock blooms, some sort of green berries (sorry I’m no expert), with cinnamon sticks and pine cones… oh and topped off with a bit of sparkle – always a winner in my book!

Ooooh how lovely.

So, how long did my bouquet last?

Well I’m delighted to say that they lasted a good week and a half without me having to throw any of the stems away.  The berries are still looking lovely but the roses are finished now.

I will of course be keeping the cinnamon sticks and pine cones for crafting purposes at Christmas (haha look out for that one around Christmas time).

I’m not sure how much this bouquet is as it’s from their new Haute florist Christmas flowers range launching in December, but you can view their current Christmas flowers category on the Prestige website.  I can’t therefore give a value for money review, but they were certainly very pretty and if I received them at Christmas I would be a very happy girlie indeed.

Thank you very much Prestige Flowers.

Do you like cut flowers or prefer to see them growing in their natural habitat?

Carpe Diem x

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I was kindly sent this Christmas bouquet from Prestige Flowers for the purpose of review, but all thoughts are entirely my own and I will always be honest.

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I’m also linking this post with Jess from Mummy of boy girl twins and Caro from The Twinkle Diaries for their ‘HomeEtc‘ linky which is fab for home-y and garden inspirational blogs. I love it!

Sweet peppers… our homegrown produce

Humour me on this one.

We’re very excited in our household by our homegrown produce this year.

It’s been pretty much an overall success and as complete novices at this game, we’re quite pleased with ourselves.

I give you … the teeny tiny sweet peppers!

Ta da!

Oh yes and there’s some tomatoes thrown in there too.  They’re just finishing up but have been really nice (though not hugely prolific), but the tiny ones you can see were like popping sweeties in your mouth.

Back to the gorgeous peppers for now as that’s what this post is about.

We haven’t tried growing peppers before, but thought we’d give it a go this year and bought our seeds back around April/May time I’m thinking.  We just thought, let’s have a go and see what happens.  We went for the smaller ones as they’re known for being sweeter and I can confirm that they definitely are.  They’re yummy.

It occurred to us, that it’s purely down to when you pick them as to their colour and taste.  Sorry if that sounds obvious, but hey who knew?!

They start out green, turn yellow, then orange and then red.

We’ve really enjoyed these orange ones.

We’ve loved having them in salads – they really are sweet and tasty – as well as in stir fry’s.

We’ll definitely be growing sweet peppers again next year.

Have you had any luck with a homegrown crop this year?  What’s grown the best for you?

Carpe Diem x

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I’m linking this post with Jess from Mummy of twin boy girls and Caro from The Twinkle Diaries for their #HomeEtc linky which is fab for home-y and garden inspirational blogs.  I love it!

Welcome back lovely sunshine…

This is a specific ‘This week I’ve loved’ post because it’s such an easy one…

This week I have totally and utterly loved the fact that the sunshine has come back.

Hooray!!

We’ve had the cushions back out on the garden furniture, been sitting out at all different times of the day enjoying the warmth of the lovely sun, enjoying the garden, having a drink or two and even eating lunch outside.  The windows and doors have all be open again and even though it’s cooled off in the evenings it’s been wonderful.

Fantastic!  Except why did the sun have to wait until the children went back to school to make an appearance?

Never the less, it’s made me happy to be back out in the garden enjoying as much of the sun as I can.

Thank you lovely sunshine.

What have you loved this week?

Carpe Diem x

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So because of that I’m linking up with Ali over at My Life My Love and Steph at Diary of a midlife mummy for their great linky #ThisWeekIveLoved…

Getting to the heart of the matter… #5

I haven’t done one of my ‘Getting to the heart of the matter‘ posts for a little while and there’s a reason for doing this one right now.

For those who read my blog regularly you’ll know I have a bit of a thing for hearts and they pop up everywhere in our lovely home and garden… the downstairs toilet, the utility, the bedrooms, lounge, even the greenhouse!

A while back I decided to count up how many we had, with a post accompanying each one along the way, giving away it’s little story (although I do have to admit to buying quite a few of them myself, ooops).

Anyway, time for my next little showcase… it’s this little beauty *sighs*

… well actually when I say little, it’s not, it’s really big and it’s totally and utterly GORGEOUS!!

She’s a block of wood carved by chainsaw into a heart – how awesome is that.

So the story behind this one is that I had spotted it when I was with my mum.  Two men were working at the side of the road on these amazing wooden carvings.  There was all sorts from massive bears, hares, mushrooms and other designs too, but this one day there was this one single heart stood there beaming at me and I swear shouting out my name.

We drove past with me screeching (my mum will verify this) ‘ooooooh look at that gorgeous heart, I love it‘.

I didn’t think too much more of it, until a few days later we drove past – – – and it was gone.

That was that.  Or so I thought.

Fast forward to this weekend just gone and my very naughty mum completely and utterly surprised me by leading me to the back door where she was stood waiting for me… *jaw drops*

Little did I know she had gone back the next day to get it for us (I say us as obviously this wasn’t just for me but for MrD and myself who both equally love hearts *crosses fingers and toes*).  It was supposed to be being kept for Christmas but she decided instead to give it to us early as a ‘thank you’ gift for a recent holiday we all went on.

You can imagine my reaction – yup tears!

For the moment she sits beautifully in front of a set of table and chairs we have at the far end of the garden that gets the last bit of sun for the day.  I’m not sure if this is where she will end up, but for the moment I love that every time I look out of the kitchen window I see her sitting there all proudly.

And she’s all mine (well and MrD’s too of course).

Whilst taking these pictures in a rare moment of sunshine, the mog decided to get in on the action bless her.

Thank you darling mum.

Carpe Diem x

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If you’d like to read my previous ‘Getting to the heart of the matter‘ posts, then you can here at this page.

I’m linking this post with Jess from Mummy of twin boy girls and Caro from The Twinkle Diaries for their #HomeEtc linky which is fab for homey and garden inspirational blogs posts.

I’m also linking this post with ‘This week I’ve loved‘ with the very lovely Ali over at My Life My Love and Steph at Diary of a Midlife mummy.  I have totally loved my new wood carved heart.

What’s in our greenhouse…

I’m loving our greenhouse.

We’ve never had one before, so it’s a bit of a novelty to be honest.

I should start out by saying ours isn’t what you’d call a normal or traditional kind of greenhouse.  Yes, we do grow things in it and have had some quite good successes, but it’s turned into a bit more than just a glass house for growing seeds and tomatoes etc.  In fact it’s almost a mini-craft room.

Here’s why…

It’s a great place for storing and displaying our array of painted pebbles.

I mean after all, where else are they going to go?

We collect interesting (and good sized) pebbles and shells wherever we go.  You can do all sorts with them, as well as just stacking them and feeling them.  I’m a very touchy feely kind of person and love the feel of smooth pebbles; it’s very therapeutic.

I just love stacking pebbles.

I was determined when we moved to our current house three years ago, that the greenhouse wouldn’t be just any old boring greenhouse and would house lots of lovely things.  This includes my collection of bottles – again, where else would they go?  I love interesting and different bottles and keep them if we’ve had a bottle of wine that’s come in a nice shaped bottle.  Friends also save these for me as they know it’s something I like to keep.  MrD is delighted about this as you can imagine.

I love my boxes for all my bits.  I repeat my bits as MrD is not allowed to touch anything that lives in these.  He has a habit of taking things and not putting them back where they belong which does become rather annoying.  Especially when you know you have that little pair of garden scissors for cutting flowers and they’re not there!  Aaarrgghhhh!!

On display in the greenhouse is also some clay work that took place at last year’s Larmer Tree festival – MrD made me this gorgeous flower and MasterB attempted a pot.  Hmmmm it’s a bit worse for wear I’m thinking.  The plan was to paint these, but not sure they’re now in a fit state to be painted, and anyway I rather like them as they are.

Now of course everyone knows that every greenhouse HAS to have bunting … it may be a little grubby (well it is a greenhouse you know) with spots of algae and a bit sun-bleached, but it still adds a pretty touch.  A lovely friend of mine has offered to make me some new bunting for the greenhouse so once that’s up I’ll show you a picture.

For those of you who read my blog regularly you’ll know I have a deep seated love for hearts so a few hearts pop up in the greenhouse too.

Oh yes and the mog obviously has a bed out here too – she spends most of the daytime out here.  If I was a cat I probably would too; what could be better than chilling out in the sunshine with pretty ‘things’ all around you *sighs*.

This glass flower sun reflector was given to me by a friend and I thought this was the perfect place to hang it – it gets a little bit of draft from the window and twinkles in the sunshine.

We do actually have proper living things growing in our greenhouse too – yup, edible things too!

We had a successful crop of cucumbers and tomatoes last year, which we have repeated this year.  And new to this year is small sweet peppers – we are yet to try any of these, but I can’t wait.

There’s nothing better than eating homegrown – it’s just the best.

I love our little greenhouse, but writing this post has made me realise I need to give it a bit of a tidy up… ooops, I’m on it.

Do you have a greenhouse?  What’s in yours?  Is it conventional or are you more like me and like to put a little twist on it?

Carpe Diem x

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I’m linking this post with Jess from Mummy of twin boy girls and Caro from The Twinkle Diaries for their #HomeEtc linky which is fab for homey inspirational blogs.

If I could… the day-dreaming post

I’m quite excited to write this post, because it means I can let my imagination run riot.  Yay!!

I was tagged by my gorgeous blogging pal Lisa who writes over at Into the Glade for this ‘If I could…’ meme – it was started by Jocelyn over at The Reading Residence who called it ‘the Walter Mitty’ post.  Now I have to admit to not knowing what this meant, sorry Lisa, so I asked good old Google.

For those of you heathens like me, this is what Google had to say on the matter…

Walter Mitty is a fictional character in James Thurber’s short story ‘The secret life of Walter Mitty’.  Mitty is a mild-mannered man but with a vivid imagination.  He imagines himself as a pilot, emergency room surgeon and a devil-may-care killer.  The character’s name has come into more general use to refer to an ineffectual dreamer and appears in several dictionaries – I seriously did not know this.  The American Heritage dictionary actually defines a Walter Mitty as ‘an ordinary, often ineffectual person who indulges in fantastic daydreams of personal triumphs’

Ooooh I love it!

Ok, so now we’re clear on that I can get on with the post in full imaginative mode…

I usually day-dream (or night-dream) and let my thoughts run away with me when I’m trying to get off to sleep.  I think of all lovely things, like how our home would look with a mahoosive extension and what it would be like to have a ‘holiday’ home somewhere nice and hot and ……. ok you get the gist.  I am a dreamer it has to be said.

So, onwards and upwards with answering the ‘if I could’ questions…

If I could live anywhere…

If I could live anywhere it would have to be somewhere warmer.  As much as I love Dorset (we sooooo have the best of everything right on our doorstep with the gorgeous beaches and the New Forest in the other direction) I really don’t like the weather here in the UK at the moment.  I mean this summer so far has been rubbish!

I thrive in the sunshine and was definitely made for the spring and summer seasons and if I had that more of the time imagine what a happy sparkly person I would be… *sighs*.

I love Greece and a Greek Island somewhere would be divine.

If I could have any home…

Ok, I love love love our home so I have two scenarios here.

Firstly, I dream of when we win the lottery and can at last afford the extension of my dreams.  We’ve done a fair bit to our house, having lived here three years now and completely changed the look of the exterior, decorated and re-carpeted throughout, put a stove in the lounge and plantation shutters throughout (I’ve always wanted shutters, but never had the right house before, but when we moved here it was top of my priority list).

But an extension.  Now that would be the piste de resistance (said in French accent obvs).

So, my extension consists of knocking the whole of the back of the house out and having THE most amazing ultra modern glossy kitchen with sparkly silestone tops.   There would be a fab breakfast bar with six high stools, a wine fridge that was always fully stocked with Blush (my favourite tipple) and a HOOOGE dining table with mis-matching chairs.  The lounge would be extended to incorporate a separate day sitting area where I would while away many an hour drinking tea and looking out at the immaculate garden.  Everything would be incredibly shiny and sparkly including the lighting – I love atmospheric lighting and it can change a mood with the flick of a switch.  There would be glass bi-fold doors right the way across the back of the house opening out onto decking where my beautiful garden furniture would be strategically placed.  The roof would be glass and being south-facing the house would be so light and airy.  We would of course have in-built automatic blinds for when we wanted to block out some of the sunshine.

We’d also have a glass staircase put in, oh and I want a big laundry room where all the clothes can be dried properly when the weather isn’t nice enough to put it out *breathes big sigh*.

Now my second fantasy would be the ultra-modern villa in Greece that we either lived in or jetted off to as and when we felt like it (or more to the point, when time permitted).  It would be beautifully designed inside with all mod-cons but still have a Greek air about it.  There would be different decked and patio areas surrounding the house, for different times of the day, and obviously we’d have an infinity pool with the most amazing view over the bay.

If I could have any garden…

My garden would be beautifully landscaped, again with different areas for different times of the day, for chilling and dining.  There would be an abundance of pinks, purples and whites with a very green lawn that was always mowed in those beautiful stripes of which we would be very proud.  MrD would no doubt have a ride-on mower.   There would be a small orchard in there somewhere too and probably a side paddock for my beauty of a horse.  I think there might even be a sloping bit at the bottom down to the jetty where our little pop pop boat was moored up ready to head around Brownsea Island (or if in Greece off to explore coves and tiny little beaches) *sighs*.

If I could be on holiday right now…

All joking aside I think I’d transport us back to our villa in Kefalonia that we stayed in in July 2014.  It was absolutely perfect for us with a gorgeous infinity pool and we had the most wonderful holiday.

If I could have any job…

I’ve always dreamed of having my own business with what I call a ‘Sammy shop‘  That’s not it’s name, just how I describe it.  I haven’t decided on the name just yet.  Now my shop would be a super sparkly wander of delight with a whole host of beautiful desires inside that would become wants to my fabulous customers.

I would (somehow) source the most amazingly different products not found anywhere else and there would be a definite hand-crafted section where I would support crafters with their beautiful makes.

I’m sure there would be a small coffee shop inside too (I’m guessing this is a fairly big shop then) with delicious home-made cakes, tarts and pastries.  There would be proper baristas to make to die for lattes and cappuccinos and of course only the best teas served in fine bone china.

Perhaps surprisingly my shop would definitely have a more spiritual side to it too with beautiful crystals and Angel cards.

Gosh I do like to day-dream don’t I?

If I could have any talent…

Years ago, I would have wished to be the most amazing professional dancer.  Being a dancer as a youngster at a fairly good level it would have been amazing to continue on with this.  However, for right now I think it would be to be an extremely talented crafty and arty person who could put my hand to sewing, art work, designing and come up with THE most amazing makes – that I would then sell in my shop of course.

I sometimes call myself a Crafty Diva as I pretend to be ever so slightly crafty but I’m not really.

One of my crafty makes…

If I could live any day again…

That’s a really difficult one to answer as there’s so many days that I’d love to be able to live and enjoy every moment of again.

But I shall choose the day we brought our baby B home from the hospital.  Unfortunately it can’t be his birth because it was all rather traumatic with an emergency csection with a premature baby.  We were in hospital for just ten days and the doctors signed us both off and said we could go home.

I remember just crying and crying.  I phoned MrD to tell him to come pick us up and couldn’t even speak.  Poor boy had no idea what was going on as I was crying so much he couldn’t understand me.

It was the most amazing day to be taking our tiny baby home with us (I had been so scared that I might have to leave the hospital without him) and I literally sat in the back of the car with him and cried all the way home.

When we got home, I cried some more.

I would re-live this day and tell myself not to cry; well at least not quite as much and actually enjoy every moment of that day with my two boys.

It was so amazing and I remember it all so vividly.

Tiny MasterB was too small for his going-home suit

If I could have any super-power…

Oooooh how exciting to have a super-power.

I’m going to be greedy here and pick two – I hope that’s ok.

The first one is only for a day so I think that’s acceptable.  I’d love to be able to follow MasterB everywhere with him for one day as he tootles off to school – obviously I’d be invisible.  I’m so interested to see how he interacts with his friends and peers and what actually goes on at school (seeing as he never tells me!).  It intrigues me immensely.  I’d love just a little looksee in for one day.

But my main super-power would be what I like to call my ‘magic booth‘.

My magic booth is where I would pop every morning, or if I was going out in the evening, and I would be magically beautified – showered, hair, make-up, clothes, the lot.  It would literally take a few moments.  I could even do the wonder woman thing of spinning around a couple of times and then pop out the booth looking A-maz-ing!!!

Actually I’m not sure this is a super-power at all, but an invention… but none the less I dream of having one.

I think that completes the questions and if you think I’ve gone completely over the top with this post, please let me know… ha ha!

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Ok, so now it’s my turn to nominate some of my blogging pals, so I shall choose

My lovely Ali over at My Life My Love

Of course Lyn with her super new blog The Adventures of the Bown family

The very sweet Jess from Mummy of boy girl twins

and action packed lifestyle/parent blogger Stevie over at A Cornish Mum

I’d love it if you ladies would like to play along – it’s such fun honest – but understand if you’re too busy right now or don’t want to.

If you do though *jumps up and down* let me know so I can pop over and have a read and a day-dream with you.

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I hope you’ve enjoyed my little bit of dreaming.

Why not have a go yourself – let your imagination run wild.  It really is such fun.

Have a great day.

Carpe Diem x

The Vintage Emporium

I’m not a vintage queen, but I do have a rather eclectic taste.

I’m a lover of old and new.

I love vintage stuff, I adore shabby chic but I’m also a huge fan of ultra modern pieces.  So not surprisingly I have a very mixed taste and love blending old and new.  MrD doesn’t quite get this, but luckily he trusts my interior design eye and goes along with it (mostly!).

It has to be said that if I lived on my own, I think I would be embracing the shabby chic.  I even have a board on Pinterest dedicated to it.

A friend and I recently had a little trip out to the Bournemouth Vintage Emporium – I came across it on my Twitter feed and it looked fab so I suggested a little moochette.  Off we toddled.

One of things that had appealed to me on their website, was their tea rooms . . . well one has to have tea and cake when out and about with a friend.

Gorgeous doesn’t even come close.

Their eccentrically styled tea rooms are inspired by a number of historical decor ideas –

The femininity of Victorian parlours – these parlours were designed to act as a ‘little world’ in which the ‘idealised’ home was created.  Everything in its place, where dramas could be discussed and new fashions showcased.

Mix this with the more masculine notion of a ‘smoking room’, introduced in the 1850’s, in which men would retreat and gather to discuss matters of money, business and other such manly topics.

Combine these elements with some 1950’s – 1960’s retro kitchenalia and you have the emporium tea rooms – Ta da!

Before having a little wander, we decided tea and cake were called for.

Sugar the old fashioned way – love it.

Funny isn’t it, how nowadays when you go somewhere that uses bone china they give you a mix of patterns, rather than all matching like your granny would have – in fact that’s reminded me my gorgeous granny and grandad had a set similar to one of these.

Even the tea pots were a mis-match.

If my mum’s reading this, she’ll be tutting.

The lemon cake was yummy.

Once we’d drunk enough tea for ten, it was time for a wander around the Emporium… and so the oooohs and ahhhhhs began.

Like stepping back in time.

Wow, this 1950’s dress stall was a fabulous riot of colour – I’m a lover of colour so it immediately appeals to me.

I came across a whole hoard of old cameras, slides and cinema equipment.  Imagine the stories behind these.

There was the most amazing, huge tie display case, housing glorious tie upon tie.  If MrD still wore a tie I might have been tempted.

I found a basketful of knobs – all shapes, colours and sizes.  Like a pick and mix.

Things then became more Bohemian…

I fell in love with this umbrella – definitely my colour – but it was a little pricey and I don’t have much luck with umbrellas to be honest.  So I decided not to purchase.

Stupidly, I’m now wishing I had; after all I could use it as a parasol instead.

Next time I’m that way, I’ll be popping in in the hope it might still be there.  After all, we’re off to a festival at the end of July and this would be perfect!

Another piece I would love in my home – this coloured chandelier.  Very Bohemian/eclectic don’t you think?

It was an absolute feast for the eyes, passing through all sorts of different eras that made you reminisce about those times gone by.

It was a lovely, if somewhat dusty, wander that we both enjoyed and although we didn’t make any purchases on that day it’s somewhere different to visit now and again.  I mean you just never know when something is going to jump out at you and shout ‘buy me‘.

After all I’ll probably be going that way again soonish to see if the umbrella and even possibly the chandelier are still there (perfect for our study/my craft room).

Do you have a specific style/taste or are you like me and have an eclectic mis-match taste?

Carpe Diem x

Getting to the heart of the matter… #4

In my previous ‘Getting to the heart of the matter‘ posts I’ve described how hearts play a big part in my life and our home – they pop up in all sorts of places like the downstairs toilet, the utility and of course out in our lovely garden.

I thought it would be fun to share my love of hearts with you whilst counting them up at the same time and trying to remember the story behind them – although you’ll come to see that a lot of them are *whispers* self-purchased.  Ooops just can’t resist.  In fact, in the last week, I’ve bought two new ones ….. whoops!

In my last heart post I said I’d head up-stairs but with the weather having been amazing this past week I spent more time out in the garden and took these photos … also, as it’s raining as I sit and type this post, I thought a bit of sunshine might cheer us all up.

So here you have it – – – my Getting to the heart of the matter #4

Ta da!!

I found this gorgeous pebble heart on the beach at Chesil Beach in Dorset when foraging for driftwood with a friend.

I have the perfect place for it in the garden.  We have a rickety old wooden table and chairs, that has done many a move with us, and stays out in all weathers – in the hope of the odd bit of sunshine providing the perfect spot for a cup of tea and a chat at any time.

It accompanies an old lantern (now very rusty, but do you know what I love it).  A set of cowbells that we brought back from Menorca a few years ago, a small stack of pebbles also from Chesil Beach and a little butterfly flowerpot decoration.

I love this pebble heart.  It reminds me of a lovely day with one of my closest friends having fun in the sun.

Until next time…

Carpe Diem x

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If you’d like to read all my previous ‘Getting to the heart of the matter‘ posts, then please visit this page here… x

I’m linking this post up with Mummy of boy girl twins and The Twinkle Diaries #HomeEtc…

Getting to the heart of the matter… #3

As I’ve mentioned previously in my ‘Getting to the heart of the matter‘ posts I was intrigued as to how many hearts were spread around our home.

So I thought a good way to count them up would be to share them with you and at the same time explain their individual stories with you (if I could remember them).

So here’s my number three …

It’s a heart etched into a small glass square tablet – so pretty and romantic.

This was a little gift that MrD and myself bought when we were away for a weekend together.  We spotted it in a shop and both loved it.  It obviously had to come home with us.

She sits in the lounge on our glass CD storage unit and leans strategically against a silver stags head – perfect I think.

Whenever I put a cd on I always look at this little glass heart and it reminds me of our weekends away together in Bath.

For my next heart post, I’ll head upstairs.

Until next time…

Carpe Diem x

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If you’d like to read all my previous ‘Getting to the heart of the matter‘ posts, then please visit this page here… x

Getting to the ‘heart’ of the matter… #2

In my first post ‘Getting to the ‘heart’ of the matter‘ I described how hearts pop up in all sorts of places around our home – they’re even in the downstairs toilet and out in the garden. When the weather’is a little bit nicer, I’ll go out and take some photos and share those with you.  I soooo can’t wait for the warmer weather and SUMMER! But for my heart post #2, it’s this lovely drift wood heart hanging… I adore it and it hangs in our downstairs hallway on a little piece of wall between the playroom and the staircase that was just crying out for a heart (obviously!). I bought this one myself as I spotted it at a local garden centre – it was massively reduced in price. It’s a fairly solid piece of, dare I say it, artwork and so I know these things can sometimes be quite pricey. I can’t remember the exact price, but I know I was extremely chuffed with my find. MrD was of course delighted when I came home with yet another heart for him to hang for me *grins*, because of course it was vital to ensure it sat absolutely completely and utterly in the middle of the small piece of wall at the exact height I required. I’m pleased to say the boy done good! I wonder where my next heart will take me…? Carpe Diem x

Getting to the ‘heart’ of the matter…

I totally heart hearts … and I wondered to myself ‘I wonder how many hearts there are in our home?’

Hearts mean so much; they can mean love, romance, friendship, unity, happiness, peace, new beginnings and much more, as well as being the most adorable shape possible.  Because of course, the heart shape can come in many different shapes in itself.  There can be the more rounded heart, longer heart, comedy heart, romantic heart and many more…

So I thought I’d share with you the many hearts scattered around our home.

I also thought it would be good fun to actually count up the number of gorgeous hearts we have in our little special space called home and to try and remember the where, how and why about each and every one of them.  I’ll do my best.

So here goes with my first one…

I’m going to start with an easy one – – – this was a beautiful, complete surprise Christmas present from MrD 2014 (clever boy that he is).  It’s the most gorgeous piece of glass sandcast (very heavy I might add) artwork by Caroline Shotton of Dartington Glass and is one of a limited edition.  A pretty heart with an abstract cow peeking out called ‘I can see Moo‘.

MrD has a deep love for cows (goes back to his days at mixed practice and delivering calves into the world) and this one caught his eye in our local art gallery.

I knew I had to find a very special place for it and so she sits on our media unit in the lounge.  The colours go quite nicely with our wallpaper.

I absolutely love it and it’s going to be one of those treasured possessions forever.

Thank you MrD.

Even on Pinterest I have a board dedicated to the loveliness that is hearts …

I wonder where my next heart will take me lol.

Carpe Diem x

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I’m linking this post up with Jess at Mummy of boy girl twins and Caro over at The Twinkle diaries for their gorgeous ‘Home Etc‘ weekly linky.