. inspired . #10 .

so whO is watching Wimbledon at the moment ?  do you think it could be Andy Murray's year again this year ?  i think it would certainly be a lovely thing & help lift the British spirits that have been slightly dented by the whole ' brexit ' palaver and the { disappointing . but . kind of expected } performance of our football team in the eUro's . . . 

i absolutely loved watching Wimbledon when i was younger . particularly in my last couple of years at school when i had exam leave right about now so had time to watch all afternoon . now it's more a case of catching the highlights & hoping for some wonderful matches on a weekend to make up for it . & . of course . it's a wonderful excuse to indulge in some strawberries & cream . well . it wouldn't be Wimbledon without them would it ? 

so today's post is inspired by Wimbledon . & . by tennis . perfect pleated skirts . in hues of red . white . & . blue . enjoyed with a glass of Pims & a bowl of strawberries perfectly topped with cream . 

. inspired#10 .

. tennis . pleats . stripes . strawberries .

. 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . 6 . 7 . 8 . 9 .

. see more on my Pinterest board .

. have a hAppy dAy .

. hAppy weekEnd .

. 1 . spent a fAbulous day at Fabulous Spaces Summer Market .

{ if you're in the area you can pOp along tomorrow too } .

. 2 . dreaming of sUmmer dresses . via . Smallable .

. 3 . and a little more . via . Bonpoint .

. 4 . and looking ahead to Spring&Summer'17 at ILovePlaytimeParis .

{ including this beautiful new collection from Christina Rohde } .

. 5 . a very pretty pink tipple from Wallflower Kitchen .

. 6 . a very pretty post on making plans from Makelight .

. 7 . a very pretty window spotted by PaperFashion .

. 8 . thought for today .

. 9 . F is for {Absolutely} Fabulous . from . Gary Birks . on . RockettStGeorge .

. & . finally . strawberries & cream marshmallows . from BakedByJoanna .

{ the perfect treat whilst watching Wimbledon } .

. have a hAppy dAy .

. hEllo jUly .

{ dream . believe . do . repeat }

hEllo jUly

. starting off the month with a fAbulous sUmmer market .

. a little bit of running .

. a very chocolatey Clandestine Cake Club event somewhere secret .

{ the theme is . Death By Chocolate . lets hope not }

. there will be a little bit more running .

&

. then a lot of Dirty Dancing at the Secret Cinema .

{ lots of secrets this month eh ? }

. before indulging in a tipple or two at the Cocktail Weekend .

after all that

. a little more running may be in order .

&

. a lOt of healthy eating to balance out the cake & cocktails .

. have a hAppy dAy .

. rAspberry & rOse friAnds . with . lemOn drizzle .

despite already being a member of { several } groups of the Clandestine Cake Club . & . having plenty of reasons to bake cake . i became a member of Bumpkin Betty's Baking Club a little while back . because . well . there really isn't such a thing as too much cake . is there ? but . then life got in the way . & . i never quite got around to joining in with the last couple of months .

so . this month i knew i had to squeeze in a little time to bake . & . squeeze it in i did . hence the not so great photo's . & . the rather hurried . { ok . non-existent } . styling !

the theme for this month was ' free-from ' . & . i knew the perfect book to go to for some inspiration . Clean Cakes by Henrietta Inman has become one of my favourite baking books . i've already tried out several recipes from her book;  coconut ice . coconut cacao quinoa bars . fig & ginger tea bread . & . an extra fruity fruit loaf . all with great success . & . very quickly scoffed !

but for this i wanted something a little more summery . something with berries . & . so i spotted her recipe for Lemon, Strawberry & Earl Grey Friands . & . decided they would be perfect to put a twist on . swapping raspberries for the strawberries . & . rose water for the earl grey .

making these with either a dairy free butter . or . as i did . with coconut oil makes them dairy-free . they are sweetened with honey . making them refinedsugar-free . & . the flours are brown rice & sorghum . making them nicely gluten-free .

i did have a ponder over switching the egg whites for aquafaba . { the liquid you get in a tin of chickpeas for those who've never heard of it before } . but thought that might be a step too far . 

my lemon drizzle topping is a little different to the original recipe . which uses agave sugar . but i found that the greek yogurt gave the same look as the glaze on Henrietta's friands & added a lovely fresh tang that complemented the lemon .

oh . & . i also don't have a friand tin . { note to self:  buy a friand tin ! } . so mine were baked in a baking tin for small fairy cakes . & . worked just as well . even if they don't look quite so ' friand ' like . . . 

small but perfectly formed friands . . .

and with the glaze . . .

and . what did Bumpkin Betty's other Bakers bake i hear you ask . . ?

. BumpkinBetty herself baked a gluten-free chocolate berry tart .

. { another } Betty . from . TheBettyStamp baked some gluten-free date & banana energy bites .

. Emma . from . Emma'sPicturePostcards made her mum's { naturally } gluten-free pavlova .

. Angela . who writes . OnlyCrumbsRemain . baked an egg-free lemon mousse cake .

and

. Sophie . who writes . ALadyBakes made flourless chocolate brownies .

if you love baking & would like to join in then you can join the club here . & . you can read Jaclyn's { aka.BumpkinBetty} lovely write up of last months ' Spring has Sprung ' theme over on her blog .

. have a sweet & hAppy dAy .

. drEam . bElieve . dO . rEpeat .

as you may be able to tell from the very significant lack of blOg pOsts, this month has been a busy one . busy . but . such fun . i was lucky enough to travel north & south . catch up with family i'd not seen in a long long time . meet family i'd not met before . revisit places i'd not been to in a long time . visit new places that i'm already longing to return to . & . it's safe to say i lived up to my jUne quOte in enjoying the journey .

so into jUly we go . midsUmmer has now passed . but . i don't believe it's too late to dream of what the rest of the year may bring .

. drEam . bElieve . dO . rEpeat .

. july 2016 .

. july 2016 .

. have a hAppy dAy .

. hAppy fridAy .

. 1 . denim + stripes + pigtails = cUte .

. 2 . stripes + smocking + curls = cUte .

. 3 . spOtted on pInterest . prEtty birds flying high . 

. 4 . spOtted on crEativeBoom . painting with { real } flowers .

. 5 . spOtted on mymOdernMet . gOrgeous gowns become art . 

. 6 . botanical drawings + white leather = NikeCourt x LibertyLondon .

. 7 . there will be no miracles here . installation by NathanColey .

. 8 . thought for today . & . lets hope . despite the uncertainty . that this is true .

but in the meantime

. 9 . lets dream of a pretty cupboard full of cake . baked by LoveCrumbs .

. & . finally . attempting to recreate their { gorgeous } vEgan chocolate cake . 

                     with this { equally gorgeous looking } recipe .

. have a hAppy weekEnd .

. hAppy fridAy .

. 1 . spOtted on pinterest . lOoking back to the Aw'13 Emile et Ida cOllection .

. 2 . spOtted by Milk Magazine . uPside dOwn at Lynzy&Co . 

. 3 . a perfectly sweet combination of Liberty & Pineapples . at Plumeti .

. 4 . a perfectly sweet illustration for MarieClaire . by Babeth Lafon .

{ and . thankyOu to ArtisticMoods for sharing } .

. 5 . a travel dream for many that became a reality for Walter .

. 6 . lOving the idea of { random } portrait paintings scattered around the hOme .

{ and . the fun of making up stories & histories for these strangers ! } .

. 7 . lOving the idea of { double } denim outfits for the sUmmer .

. 8 . thought for today . & . for all those trips and holidays this year .

. 9 . a charming father // daughter moment . & . hAppy fAther's dAy to all dAds .

. & . finally . being tempted by these empire biscuits seen in sO many coffee shops in scOtland . 

{ so . something to be baked when i get back home } .

. have a hAppy dAy .