This is my attempt at finding a Valentine’s related image that doesn’t make me want to throw up – hope you don’t find it too offensive.  Please excuse this interruption to normal blogging services but, given that it’s the loveliest day of the year, I feel like posting some Valentine’s inspired vignettes for your viewing pleasure.  We never make a big deal out of the Big V Day, or go overboard with OTT pressies or whatever, but I have to admit I am looking forward to seeing Señor Alistair later:

[HINT HINT]

And here are the lovely ladies – whether you lean more towards incorporating pops of a punchy accent colour or swathing an entire room in pinks galore (here’s looking at you Laura!), there should be something here for you.

And here is how not to do it, yikes:

Whatever you’re up to tonight, have fun and enjoy the one day of the year where you are legally obliged to make a big deal of your love.  Ok, I’m off to cook up a storm with my distinctly lacking culinary skills, comedy photos may follow later in the week – wish me luck please… 

I received an email from The White Company yesterday with the image below, and managed to hold out for about half a second before compulsively clicking on it and then spending about 3 hours staring in awe at my laptop screen…  Yep, a marketer’s dream, that’s me.  Luckily I’m unemployed and broke, so am therefore unable to purchase every single item in stock. 

What did catch my attention though, were the really stonking-beautiful garden accessories they have right now, so I thought that with Spring just around the corner in Blighty, for this week’s FF I would try and inspire some green fingers:

Aaaaanyway, I was thinking for this week’s FF I should post some piccies of our new ‘hood so you can see what I am going on about…  Have a happy weekend and see you Monday!

So I thought for this week’s FF I might post some English countryside gardens from a feature in Ideal Home & Garden (I know, not the most hip magazine but they do good gardening features haha, I guess I’m a couple of decades younger than their usual readers…).

Have a happy weekend!

But I digress – back to the olive groves and vineyards and general fields of gold (boom boom).  How’s this for a view?!

Err, yes please:

Loving this pergola!

Lavender = yum:

Have a fab weekend!

Anyway, for FF this week I thought I’d do a post about a gorgeous garden/terrace combo I read about in Traditional Home this week.  It’s situated in rainy Oregon, so I thought it might provide a bit of inspiration to any Brits/Yanks out there as it shows that, even in places with crappo cold weather, it’s possible to create and use a beautiful outdoors space.

It feels very masculine with the focus on green foliage with minimal flowering plants, along with the geometric black and white awnings.  And I especially love the ‘outdoors living room’, complete with limestone fireplace and crushed granite flooring.

Love the use of banquettes here:

The latticework trellis is a nice touch to the ‘living room’ also.

There’s a reference in the article to making outdoors spaces feel more comfortable and cosy by using upholstered outdoors furniture – Lee Industries has a line suitable for use outdoors, and here are my picks of the range.  

Awesome dining chair:

I really love this upholstered shaded sofa – would be perfecto on a sundeck over here actually. 

And for colder climes, this sectional would look fantastic with an outdoors fireplace and a bunch of cosy cushions.

Have a fab weekend!

Anyway, under the assumption that we will be here for a little while longer, we have a rolling list of holiday destinations that we (well, mostly I!) constantly update and tweak around.  Very high up on the list is a trip either to Mendoza, Argentina, or Napa Valley, USA, for some vino sampling.  So this article in Traditional Home caught my eye when I was flicking through the website earlier in the week – the gardens and vineyard of the Staglin family.  I love the various areas within the garden – the patio, loggia, arbor, vegetable and cutting flower gardens, terraced lawns and courtyard lawn.  Maybe we’ll stop by in 2011! 

Anyway, enjoy the pics and have a fab weekend!

For this week’s FF I thought I’d post a few piccies of my attempts at growing things here in Cayman.  We have emerged out of the summer season here and the plants are now no longer just concentrating on not expiring in the heat, and can think about actually starting to grow again!  I’ve just planted a bunch of chilli/herb/flower seeds so hopefully it’ll look more interesting soon! 

The little sticky things on the table are my sprouting avocado stones – my new money-making venture: sell avocado trees to people for a miiillion dollars, reckon I’m onto a winner…

And our windowsill herb garden is perfoming well!  The chillis are finally sprouting chillis too!

And stay tuned for our Caribbean Crimbles Tree next week, have a fab weekend!

There are also a bunch of awesome design and furnishings shops along the road.  People always massively rave about Two Columbia Road but I have to say I found it pretty dull…  There were lots of Art Deco-type pieces but it really wasn’t that inspiring – basically lots of boring wood tables.   However, these two are lots of fun – check them out people, lots of gems to be found (although I have to admit they are very similar to the style I’ve been writing about for the rest of this week!  Must make an effort to avoid cottagey vintage style for a while…!).

And I will definitely be frequenting this eatery on my next visit!  Mmm mm mm (sorry, have been eating an obscene amount recently with my marathon training, am getting a smidge obsessed (not good)).

Speaking of marathons, we’re off to NYC right now so I’ll miss more blogging next week apols – back soon though, and wish me luck please! 

(Last ditch attempt at raising some more money – please please please drink two fewer pints / cocktails this weekend and donate the $10 you save to UNICEF – you’ll save 60 kiddies!

http://inside.unicefusa.org/site/TR?pg=fund&fr_id=1240&px…fid=17150

Thank you and have a fab weekend!)