{ happy friday }

{ 1 } I think I would be quite happy with this Cup of Happy.

{ 2 } Pop over to Moumout and happily browse through pages of autumn hued loveliness.

{ 3 } This week's 'Does it come in my size?'. Velveteen's gorgeous gold pleated skirt.

{ 4 } Though this stunningly simple dress comes a close second.

{ 5 } Just a little in love with Emma Lacey's little bowls.

{ 6 } Etsy find of the week. Pretty Little Knots Co. Who does indeed tie the prettiest of knots.

{ 7 } Just a little in love with Katy Pillinger's Plant Love Grow Peace pin.

{ 8 } Courage, dear heart.

{ 9 } The prettiest pear printed by Ruth Green.

{ + } The prettiest pear baked by Dolly and Oatmeal. 

{ have a happy day }

{ my september }

{ a is for apple }

I think I must have blinked and missed September. Once again the month has flown by so quickly, but looking back it has been a lovely month. I was happy to embrace autumn as soon as the 1st of the month arrived. The summer berries have been replaced with English grown apples, happily scrumped from next doors apple tree of which a few branches over hang my garden. I would love to say I've been incredibly creative with them, but in truth have enjoyed them simply stewed with a little brown sugar and lots of warming cinnamon. A few transformed this sticky toffee cake into a rather delicious sticky toffee apple cake, and I have my eye on this maple apple butter, that sounds like a slightly more indulgent, spicier version of my stewed apple.

{ drinking }

At the beginning of the month I reached my 1000th Happy Day. It seems such a long time since I first signed up for the #100happydays challenge, and I still remember my very first 100th day, sitting outside the Sydney Opera House, enjoying a Sydney Sling. The challenge is one I've enjoyed doing, and whilst I have a feeling that pure stubbornness played a part in reaching the 1000th day, it has changed my perspective on what happiness is to me. Sometimes it is the big things, like spending your first day in Sydney, though more often than not it's something much smaller, having half an hour to read a book, or that first cup of coffee in a morning.

Having said that, neither of those things were what I had in mind for that 1000th day, so I popped along to The Edgbaston, somewhere that's been on my to visit list for quite a while. The Edgbaston is a beautiful boutique hotel on the outskirts of Birmingham, with one of the most creative cocktail lists I've had the pleasure of tasting. Inspired by Birmingham itself, there are cocktails inspired by Cadbury's, The Electric Cinema, The Botanical Gardens, and more. Served in it's Art Deco inspired cocktail lounge it's a real treat and sensory delight, as cocktails arrive with more than a little theatre, looking, smelling and tasting so good.

For those living in travelling distance of Birmingham, this is definitely one to pop on your to visit list.

{ welcoming autumn }

Ah, hello my favourite season. I love all the seasons for their differences, but I think my heart belongs to autumn. Even rainy days hold a certain charm in autumn, being the perfect excuse to hibernate indoors with a good book and lots of coffee. And of course, knitting and autumn go hand in hand. Chillier mornings and darker evenings make you think of getting cosy in hats and scarfs, snuggling under blankets on the sofa. And of course, this serves as a timely reminder that I still have yet to list any of my knitting on Etsy. So, a promise to you, but mostly to me, watch this space, and the first few bits will be on line super super soon!

{ visting }

A wander around Birmingham led me into the newly opened Honest Skincare. Tucked away in the beautiful Great Western Arcade it's a little smaller than it's King's Heath store, though no less lovely for it. As lovely as all their skincare is, on this occasion it was their shelf of plants that caught my eye and made it onto my Insta feed, though I promise their handmade skincare is more than worth making the trip for.

Somewhere that I rediscovered this month, was our Botanical Gardens. Just around the corner from The Edgbaston, it played host to the Edgbaston Tricentenary and I couldn't resist the chance to have a look around for free. If you missed my recent post, you can read much more about my visit here.

I also got the chance to revisit one of my favourite European cities, Antwerp. Somewhere I have been lucky enough to visit many times with work, I was thrilled to have the chance to spend a couple of days there, wandering around it's pretty cobbled streets, re-discovering just how good their kids wear shops are, not to mention buying a little of that delicious Belgian chocolate to bring home. An early morning stroll around the railway station reminded me what a stunning piece of architecture it is, and the discovery of a new { budget yet boutique } hotel, which had an abundance of Insta worthy plants and art, makes a return visit a must.

And so September is so very nearly over. There is a visit to the Autumn Market at the Bond to look forward to on Saturday, before starting October learning how to crochet with Clare gets Crafty, which I'm more than a little excited about. 

Oh, and there's a small matter of getting that Etsy shop up and running isn't there #octobergoals.

{ have a happy day }

{ happy friday }

{ 1 } My Etsy find of the week. Tracy Walker Ink. Say hello to Mr.Squirrel.

{ 2 } There is always The moment you feel like a(n Autumn) princess.

{ 3 } Once upon a time. There was a beautiful new collection from Marie Chantal.

{ 4 } This weeks 'Does it come in my size?' is Pepper's Bunny Hat.

{ 5 } Welcoming Autumn. With a beautiful new featurekins from Babiekins.

{ 6 } This weeks artist crush is Vanessa Bell.

{ 7 } Currently crushing on Miss Tilly's Autumn wardrobe.

{ 8 } Autumn goals. Books, coffee and making the most of rainy days.

{ 9 } The loveliest pumpkin I've seen so far this Autumn.

{ + } The yummiest pumpkin I've seen so far this Autumn. Oh, and happy Cupcake Week!

{ have a happy day }

{ let's go somewhere . Birmingham Botanical Gardens }

This weekend the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham threw their doors open to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Calthorpe Estates. With the chance to have a  wander around the gardens and greenhouses, and lots of crafty goings on, not to mention the promise of coffee and cake, and more, I kept my finger's crossed for a sunny afternoon and popped along.

The gardens themselves date back to 1829, sited on 18 acres of land leased from the Calthorpe Estate. Designed by J.C.Loudon they were three years in the planning and making, and opened to members of the Horticultural Society in June 1832. Apart from the greenhouses the layout remains much the same today. Throughout their history the Gardens have been important as a centre for social functions in the city. From flower shows to political meetings, playing host to festivals of drama and music, and Sunday concerts in the bandstand.

Sunday's festival was wonderfully family orientated, with plenty of things for young and old alike. Face painting, vintage fairground rides, and the Punch & Judy man were proving popular with the little ones, whilst the grown ups seemed more than content with the Prosecco and Gin caravans. As befits our recent conversion to something of a foodie city, there was street food aplenty, with the Mac and Cheese van in particular, drawing long queues of hungry Brummies.

The gardens themselves are lovely to wander around, but I think it was the glasshouses that stole my heart. Ornate and iconic in their shape and construction there is something about them that brings out the Victorian romantic in me. Not to mention something of the crazy plant lady in me, making me want to rush out and fill my home with succulents and cacti, and start propagating geranium cuttings and dahlia's, enough to fill my greenhouse ten times over. 

Oh, and after a cloudy start, the skies were blue and the sun even shone. Not too shabby a way to spend a September Sunday.

{ have a happy day }

{ happy weekend }

{ 1 } This rainbow skirt.

{ 2 } This Lauvely space girl.

{ 3 } This knitted poncho.

{ 4 } Follow the rainbow.

{ 5 } These baby socks.

{ 6 } Note to self #1.

{ 7 } These Moroccan leather baskets.

{ 8 } Note to self #2. 

{ 9 } Cables and coffee.

{ + } No words necessary!

{ have a happy day }

{ inspired#18 . Autumn . Leaves . & . the Woodland }

. inspired#18 .

" Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree "

Emily Bronte

clockwise from centre

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

I don't think I will ever tire of that lovely Emily Bronte quote.  Nor will I tire of beautiful autumn hues. How can we not be inspired by such a lovely season?

There's a little more Autumnal inspiration on my Pinterest board here.

But for now . . . 

{ have a happy day }

{ four I adore . fall collections for little Ones }

I have to confess to a love of Autumn time, particularly when the weather feels more appropriate for all the new Fall collections arriving in store and on-line.  I'm lucky enough to be popping over to Antwerp next week, to have a look at all the wonderful children's wear they have, but wanted to share some of the new collections that had already caught my eye.  This post didn't start out as an ode to wonderful children's knitwear, but coincidentally, all the collections that stood out for me had particularly good knitwear pieces, so as we head into #sweaterweather, I'm happy to share the four that I most adore this season.

. Sophie Ochera .

Sophie's collection is exclusively knitted. Beautiful sweaters and cardigans that are the embodiment of modern fairisle.  British born, now living in Normandy, Sophie knits by machine, before finishing each piece by hand.  She finds inspiration in her 1980's childhood, folk costumes and textiles, and the modern aesthetic of today, all of which can be found in her designs. Her collection is bright and colourful, playing with modern and traditional patterns, and each looks beautifully made.

. Morley .

Belgian brand Morley has been thrilling mums with it's collections since 2010.  Known for it's beautiful use of colour, print and pattern, and it's combinations of all those things, this season in particular it's thrilling us with some wonderful knitwear too.  Showcasing one of the key trends of the season with a beautiful embroidered jumper, though one of my favourites is the ruffle jumper shown above, available in many of their seasonal colours. 

 . Ylur .

In Icelandic the word ylur represents warmth and comfort, things which this brand has in abundance. Another exclusively knitwear brand, Ylur was created by Fanney Svansdóttir, inspired by the long tradition of Icelandic women, her grandmother amongst them, who had handcrafted knitted garments for their families. All garments are knitted using Alpacca wool, making them soft, yet durable. Her designs have a timeless quality, beautifully garments in subtle textured stitches, or simple two colour patterns, perfect for handing down from sibling to sibling, from generation to generation.

. As We Grow .

As We Grow is another brand from Iceland, which seems to be quickly establishing a very cool kidswear vibe. As with Ylur, this label has an affinity with timeless design and tradition,  garments made to be worn time and time again, garments that last over generations. Their story, of being inspired by the travels of one woollen sweater is a lovely one, and their ethos of sustainability and social responsibility works cleverly into their collections;  colour blocked jumpers, hats & striped scarves make use of excess yarn, yet fit into the collection seamlessly.

Lovely collections that will keep your little Ones cosy this season. I'm now off to pick up my knitting needles, though I'm not sure whether to try to recreate those colourful modern fairisles, or those subtly cosy textured knits first?

{ have a cosy day }

{ happy friday }

{ 1 } It's sweater weather.  And I'm coveting this lovely loopy knit from Il Gufo.

{ 2 } And so to bed. Beautifully balletic shoot by Vanessa Nicette.

{ 3 } Is it even possible to look at this pixie bonnet without sighing *sigh*.

{ 4 } Far too cool for school.  Back to School shoot for Tatler by Anne Bundfuss.

{ 5 } This weeks artist crush is Maggie Chiang. Tasting the sweetness of summer. Berry by Berry.

{ 6 } When two favourite creatives collide. Rebecca Lawrence + Heart Vintage Uk = ♥︎ 

{ 7 } Is it too soon for pumpkins?

{ 8 } Be kind.

{ 9 } This weeks Etsy crush. Nikki McWilliams. A calorie free way to enjoy your Digestive.

{ + } Not as fancy as the biscuits on GBBO, but these are my choice for this weekends bake.

{ have a happy day }

{ hello September }

. hello September .

{ have a happy day }