Happy Halloween

It will be a little quiet here for a couple of weeks as I will be missing in action & leaving my beloved blog to jet off to Florida for my holiday. I am staying with family in Orlando as its my sister-in-laws 50th so lots of celebrating to do & of course a visit to Mickey Mouse is also on the agenda. I cant wait I've packed & unpacked & packed again. I am also looking forward to celebrating Halloween in America & a bit of 'Trick or Treating' & a visit to Harry Potter & Hogwarts at Universal...... 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 

remember never drink & fly girls!!!

Ok so here's a few fab images to leave you with see you all soon..

country living

country living

country living

country living

Read more »

Friends Feature Friday

A lovely warm welcome this morning to my gorgeous friend Katie with her Friends Feature Friday guest post. Wedding & event stylist Katie Daly of katieschaircovers & shares her tips today on winter weddings ...over to you Katie xxx

Whimsical Winter Wonderland Weddings X

The warm summer weddings have long passed, The Autumn weddings are drawing to an end, so it's exciting times to make way for the Magical, Whimsical, Fairytale Winter Wonderlands.

When thinking of a winter wonderland Wedding, some items that come to my mind are snowflakes, blue lighting, ice sculptures, winter foods such as different soups to a variety of meats like steak and stew, winter desserts like your families famous cheesecake recipes & how about surprising your guests with an ice stand, having lots of interesting different flavoured ice creams 000000000 Divine! 
  

O and don't forget the roasted chestnuts and marshmallows with gingerbread houses, very entertaining and scrummy for the littluns!

So exciting, I especially love this time of year, winter is a very pretty season, especially when it snows. Winter is a time you can cosy up on the sofa with some hot chocolate and your luvlee hubby to be.

So many Magical Winter Wedding ideas floating around, below are a few favourite finds I have seen, I hope you like what you see and you get lots of inspiration for your special day

ENJOY!

Capture the essence of Winter, you don't need to limit your decorative palete to the traditional reds & greens of winter, why not try Silvers/Golds/Ivory or Light Blue, these colours can work just as well.

As for decorating your chairs a simple elegant Sash/flower or butterfly, or even a Lace Sash & Pearls can create a stunning yet simple Beauty.

Or go Extravagant with a perfect Celebration.com this amazing Winter Fairytale Setting at it's best, what a dreammmmm x

Katie

X

Thank you Katie what a wonderful post this morning. Friends Feature Friday will be back on 11th November when I return from Florida with talented pastry chef Hannah Jones.

Read more »

Finishing Touch Interiors.....The Boutique!

Well finally I have finished work on the Boutique I am incredibly excited to be on the brink of launching my very own online store a magpies nest of beautiful vintage style teapots to cake stands, kitchen accessories including cute cookery items for the kids as well as for mum, gorgeous hanmade textiles from Charlotte Macey with cushions to tea cosies as well as some special Chrsitmas items too. I cannot wait for you to see it so keep your eyes peeled guys & gals it will launch in  November

Read more »

Real Homes 2

Lets take nose around at this substantial family period home.  Situated in a pleasant village location in Essex this house boasts  delightful gardens, a swimming pool and wooded area extending to 2.84 acres. It is pleasantly decorated & has a beautiful country kitchen. This house in on the market for £795.000.00

Read more »

Set the home fires burning

The cold of autumn has hit me now, I have a sore throat & the shivers so I am craving the comfort of open fires & fur throws. I know I have already posted on this before but my love of an open fireplace on a cold evening is on the top of my must have list for my next house move. I have had a bit of a thing recently for Stove fires so I thought I would share a few of the images I have been drawn too.

 The stove fire works well here in this period fireplace, with the gorggeous exposed brick. This living room has a real country period feel. 



I love the feel of this French style home with its mix of 
armchairs from classic occasional to comfy. The stove fire is a 
real centre piece in this cool toned room. But these stoves also look fantastic in a contemporary setting too. But I better start saving as they can cost anywhere between £500.00 to £2000.00





.................................................................................................................................................

Pop on over to my Cookery Corner page for a mouth watering zesty

 Lemon Drizzle cake recipe  

Read more »

Jo's Fabulous Finds

Good morning all & welcome to my lovely Monday guest writer Joanne Sizer with 'Jo's Fabulous Finds' this will be the last post from Joanne until the 6th of November as I am off to Florida for two weeks holiday on Sunday so things will be a little quiet around here for a while but Jo will be back to kick start things off again on my return. For now enjoy today's post.

Cath Kidston's collection of lovely accessories

Add some beautiful florals to your bathroom with the new Antique Rose Bouquet towelling. Made from soft fluffy cotton, with a pretty pink and green printed design. This pretty bath sheet is ideal for wrapping up after a warm bath and there are other matching items available too.  Also available in Bath Towel, Hand Towel, Face Cloth, Bath Robe, Cushions, Duvet Covers, Pillowcases & Eiderdown.  This bath sheet costs £42.

Cath Kidston does a beautiful collection of toilitries , soaps, creams, lotions etc. The above soap is so pretty in it's soap dish and with the pink bow any bathroom would look truly pretty.

Loving this Cath kidston print of ditsy flowers on a chair from Ikea, it looks fab and goes with any other collection of chairs and dining accessories.  The cat seems to look comfy, maybe you can cover your pets bedding too!! It'll look amazing.  You can buy any material from Cath Kidston online or in any store by the metre.

Buy this hardback book from Amazon.co.uk for £7.50 if you love Cath Kidston everything and want to bring it into your home and everyday life, it's a must have for fans, I love it.

Cath Kidston explains her love and passion for print as an interior designer and that's exactly what this book provides.  A collection of prints and names and ideas to create them in your home, what couldn't be better!  £15.99 from any good book stores.

Read more »

Friends Feature Friday

Happy Friday everyone & very sorry for such a late post with 'Friends Feature Friday '  I have had one of those days where nothing goes at all to plan & I have got nothing done in the office I needed done & am now working tomorrow on my Saturday off so am sulking a lot right now. Blogger is also playing up with my posts (again) to add to my annoyance but here it is (finally) but its worth the wait its a great guest post by the lovely Tracie from Fishtail Cottage......

The true Cottage garden can be viewed as messy and overgrown. But for those of us that love this look in our gardens – we just cannot have enough flowers for every nook and cranny possible in our garden beds. You will love reading this post to find out how you can take just one of those blooms and harvest the seeds for many more garden blooms for next year.

Now that fall has arrived ~ I see my garden still full of life. Well next year’s life that is…You can’t imagine what an amazing (& free) garden you can have if you carefully collect. harvest and plant your own seedlings. 

Years ago I learned to save the packets that came in shoe boxes to place in a paper bag along with my seeds I am harvesting to keep the moisture away – many shoe stores will give you some by the handfuls if you just ask…

Let’s first take this gorgeous Delphinium. Now wouldn’t you just love to have

these gorgeous blooms pop up in your garden. The price of these beautiful plants can range from $5.99 – $19.99 in the nurseries – but if you collect your own seeds – they would be free! Let the flowers go to seed by awaiting for the blooms to fall off and then allowing the seed pods to develop!

You can see in this one pod below there are almost seven to ten plants that could possibly develop from each one. You can leave them in the garden to fall and plant themselves or you can take the pods and put them in a paper bag to complete the drying process. I usually opt for the pod to dry in a paper bag. 

Once the seed has dried, place the seeds in the gardens about an inch under the soil. I usually place two or three seeds in the same hole to ensure that the plant will come up next summer. Sometimes the birdies scratch the dirt & then fly away with the seeds they can find in your garden beds

.

Next are the Coneflowers – coneflowers are so important for the wildlife in the gardens because they bloom at a time when much of the garden cannot tolerate the hot and dry temperatures. 

They attract bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and all types of birds. They come in all sorts of gorgeous colors now – but these too can be very expensive in your local nursery – I purchased one this summer for almost $24.00 because of its unique bloom. I knew I only needed to buy one plant because I could harvest the seeds and replant throughout my garden for next year!

If you let this sweet bloom go to seed – be sure to watch it closely – in the past I have not cut the dried bloom back and had a mess of blooms the following year – yes, there is such thing as too much of a good thing! a garden can quickly become “out of control” if you allow everything to go to seed.

Can you see in the photo above that ever spike is actually a seed? If you pull off all of those spikes and put them in them about a quarter inch below the soil – they too will become gorgeous blooms for next year’s garden. Again, it’s okay to put a couple seedlings in the spot where you want a new plant, because the birds will sometimes carry them away!

Similar to the coneflower – the Scabiosa seeds can be collected the same way as the coneflower. Although – these gorgeous blooms can be carried by the wind or birds or by you by just scattering on the soil.

No need to bury them. The seeds are found in the center of the flower which you will see after the blooms have faded by just bending the center in half – the seeds will just fall into your hands.

Scabiosa blooms are such a whimsical plant in the cottage garden!

Marigolds again, are a fabulous fall flower. 

In bloom when there is not much going on in the garden beds – a happy surprise for natures little miracles to see while scouting for food and nectar.

You can see the photo below that by just bending the spent flowers remains – the seeds will just fall apart – allowing you to spread in the garden where you hope to see a bloom next year.

Just scratch these seedlings into the soil allowing just a small amount of soil to cover them.

Commonly named as “Bread seed poppy”, but correctly named the “Opium Poppy” is one of my most favorite garden plants one could possibly have in a cottage garden.

The color above is the only color I have – they are difficult to find – so if anyone out there wants to share seeds – please don’t hesitate to ask! I would love to introduce another color of this gorgeous plant into my garden! Allowing the flowers to fall off – and leaving the pods in the ground to develop from the gorgeous green to the fall colored brown will allow the top of the pod to eventually show the holes where the seeds will eventually fall out by the wind. There are thousands of seeds in each pod – I love spreading these seeds everywhere in the garden because they are gorgeous in numbers. They only need to be spread on top of the soil – which allows a number of reasons why they fail to appear the following year. Reasons are the birds and wind will carry them off. I have many times come out to the garden to find the pods have been gone missing – culprits being people (yes people steal these), rats, mice, squirrels, deer and anything else looking for the full meal deal!

  

A few annual favorites that are necessary in the cottage gardens are petunia's – most people don’t know that they can collect these seeds for next planting in the spring next year and just throw the leggy plants out at the end of the season with all the other annuals. Not me, I love trying to start these garden gems in small pots in the spring and watch them develop into fantastic plants that I move to the gardens when ready!

Alyssum seed packets may range from $1.49 – $1.99, but why spend the money when you can spread your own? either collect the seeds and scatter in the fall or spring – up to you, it doesn’t matter! They are such a fabulous filler wherever they pop up! Scatter above ground and let the flower appear where they may. This gorgeous bloom – one can never have too many! I pull them out (root & all) at the end of the bloom season & just lay the plants all over the gardens for the seeds to replant themselves – once it looks like the seeds have all fallen off – I pick up an dispose of the remains.

Pansies and Johnny jump ups are all the same the way I collect and respread their seeds. After the bloom have fallen off, a pod will form – I usually only take the larger pods that have formed and spread them in the garden beds by just pinching them and letting them fall where they want.

Some come up and some are taken away & so easy to pull out & move if I want to naturalize another area with these sweet little plants. When they grow leggy cut them back to the ground or just pull them out root & all – within a few weeks of spreading the seed – another 100 or so plants will appear! Many of these little plants will bloom throughout the year! slugs will devour the pods if able – but there are usually so many pods to choose from – it’s fine to share!

  

Lavender is another cottage favorite for most gardens! Actually almost any garden adore the lavender in their garden beds. These too will spread by seed on their own. but I want to show you how to collect their seeds if you’d like. The gorgeous blooms will disappear – once they have disappeared you will see what to me looks like a skeleton of the bloom. If you catch them early enough right after the holes appear – you will be able to collect their seeds as well.

The gaillardia is exactly like the coneflower family – only difference I have found is you must allow it to loose it’s flowers and turn brown – if you peel the seeds off to early they will not work – These too should be scratched into the soil to help establish a root system.

  

My absolute favorite cottage flower is the snapdragon. These can come up individually, or in masses in my garden – regardless of the color – I love them all and cannot have enough. Very much like the delphinium – allowing the blooms to fall off and collect the pods is all you need to do – spread them atop of the soil is the only difference here! they can be put out in the fall or spring, but find spreading them in the spring is the better way to go in my area!

As you can see – most flowers can be started from seed. Although it takes time and energy and sometimes saving the seeds in a paper bag till next spring – it is definitely worth the time to do so come the following summer. Not only do you save money, but you can enjoy what becomes of the creation you have allowed because of your hard work and dedication.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post & hope you will become a follower of Fishtail Cottage! To see what I am linking to this week – please check my “ Cottage Links ” label…xoxo, tracie

PS - Fishtail Cottage is now on Facebook

Read more »