Thursday 15 August 2013

Sole mate

Well, I am unsure whether this will be as much as a revelation to you as it is to me but I have recently discovered the wonder of insoles. (Ha. This sounds even more ridiculous now that I've typed it on screen!)

So, I have dodgy feet - one bigger than the other and they are quite narrow (thanks to my mother and her super slim feet.) This means I can struggle to get shoes to fit.

I wanted some new flat 'work shoes'.  In an ideal world all these would belong to me:

Charlotte Olympia - Kitty embroidered animal-print calf hair slippers
Ferragamo - Varina patent leather pumps
Tory Burch - stitched logo chelsea ballet flat
Bertie - Livia double buckle monk shoes

Anyway, back down on earth...


First port of call, where I've managed to buy shoes in the past, was to Office. I spotted these loafers but as per usual the UK size 5 was too small and size 6 was too big - frustrating!  I explained this to the patient member of staff who's response was 'have you ever tried insoles?'.  'Erm, no...' I swiftly had a pair of latex insoles in the size 6 shoe and a smile on my face.  Result.  

Watch out shoe stores!  (sorry, bank account)

CB

PS. some examples of shoes that my 'dodgy' feet have actually been able to wear ;-)


All photos are by me 
SHARE:

Monday 12 August 2013

British Summertime

I am a little late publishing this post.  Anyway...

The British Isles had recently been blessed with a wonderful few weeks of sunshine.  (Yes, it is summer and this is what we should expect but the UK weather god tends to forget that part.)  Cue my husband and I deciding we would sort out our rectangle of mud  garden.  Pre-makeover, I was ashamed of it and banned family and friends from even looking at it, never mind actually going in it! 


(Ok, so the above is not my garden - but you get the picture)
The main reason for my embarrassment was that I had been trying to avoid investing any money in the garden because, in reality, we hardly ever got to use it.  However, a few days of sunshine soon got me thinking differently!  


Before - nasty broken paving slabs (and Bella saying 'hi')
First port of call was pinterest to get some ideas.  You can see my garden inspiration board on my account here.  Feel free to follow and I will happily follow back :-)

Luckily the OH has a work colleague who knows his stuff about decking and so the new patio area was soon built and looking lovely.  We also replaced the broken and battered fence panels with new.  


Decking in progress
Now, I am sure there are some women out there who can relate to this next part...my husband wanted a 'man shed'.  This was none-negotiable and so like a spaceship landing from another planet the new shed was erected in next to no time.  I wasn't quite expecting it to glow the orange hue that it currently does but apparently this will calm down over time (here's hoping!).  


Finished product - shed and all
Lovely lavender
Finally got to hang our honeymoon fish!



Our thriving bedding plants 
Rose plant - sorry I don't know it's name






































So a few bedding plants later and there you have it. Our finished garden!  (for now)

CB

All photos are by me 
SHARE:

First post

Finally, I've sat down and sorted this first post out!  

I wanted to start this blog to make a record of the good things in my life.  So here I am...

I've been reading a selection of blogs for a while now, and so thought it's about time I put all the inspiration I've gleaned into something to call my own.  I want to share snippets of the things, people and places that bring joy to my life.  

I'm on a quest to find that thing in life that makes me tick.  The thing that makes me want to bounce out of bed in the morning.  The thing that I want to dedicate myself to (obviously not counting my husband, puppy and cat ;-).   Unfortunately, I am yet to realise this dream, where my job just so happens to be something that I love (so it can be a little difficult emerging from my duvet from time to time - especially on Mondays!)  I feel that in my current predicament I need to remind myself as often as possible of the good things I have going on.  The daily grind can get everyone down so I am going to attempt to fight it with posts full of pretty.  

Here we go...

First up, my fave flower.  I guess it's kind of an obvious one but I don't care.  Peonies are beautiful in all their forms, shapes and colours.  This particular perfect-looking specimen was purchased at Aldi, of all places.  

Stunning.  

Have a good day! 

CB  
SHARE:
Blogger Template Created by pipdig