We are in summer, real summer (last one was 2006) with  the almost forgotten sensations of  sticky heat on skin, cooling  swims at the Lido and the garden smelling more sweet  and meadow-like as the mercury rises.  The heat seals the season`s scents: ziplocked sweat ,rose petals ,hot pavements, bbq sausages and factor 30. I keep cool and fragrant with a squirt of  cologne  and and eat ice cream. My sister  piles a carton high with blackcurrants from  her garden which I simmer  in sugar and water, cool whisk into whipped double cream and freeze.
A friend emailed:  "George and I made your lemon ice cream a few days ago -which was simply sublime especially eaten before it had set`  See said ice cream from the summer section of my book  Pure Style Recipes for Everyday

What a treat to duck under the shade of the  apple tree and read the 2nd issue of The Foodie Bugle mag.  It is like a well stocked larder of delicious information and visual inspiration. Immediately drawn of course to the piece entitled `The Taste of Portugal`"

 

 
The house is a busy shoot destination this summer, and props and crew can spill over into the garden without the threat of a drop of rain.  
Just as well, when Coca Cola turn up with  plus 30  individuals, fridges , ovens, turkeys  and enough Coke to keep the area`s dentists in work for years. The theme is Coke and food, and involves a  Coca cola `family` most of whom look like you and me, except for a brooding model  hunk who spreads across the doorstep in between takes like a shaggy dog .  

Just as it`s so good to waft about in summer frocks and bare legs, the hot weather gives me so much pleasure on the housewifely front.  When the washing dries warm and toasty in the space of an hour  I feel a flush of domestic euphoria. Similarly I`ve been itching to give the rush mats a good scrub  and here I am, hosing them down with gusto.

Pink poppies are  welcome garden invaders maybe encouraged by the sun because they didn`t appear last year.

 The sprinkler and he hissing of summer lawns couldn`t be more suburban and cool.

Want to feel cool and floaty? invest in a hippy cotton nightie from  Denny Andrews

Cool sea blue ceramics by Sue Binns are summer essentials. (Green string,  an Olaho hardware shop stalple)

  Pink white, purple and green , the cool colours of summer in a  jug of flowers on my table.

 

Tags: summer, garden, roses, floral fabrics,

The wind continues to cut like iced knives, but at least there`s some green shooting going on in my shed. These are the sweet pea seeds  I planted last autumn, and I`ve been pinching out the top leaves so that side shoots are encouraged to grow. Look at them stretching towards   the light.

Good Friday.  I make hot cross buns from the recipe in my book. My version only requires one proving of the dough which means they`re heavier than buns made with two.  But less fuss to make, and  delicious  toasted and spread with butter.  The mighty mxing bowl, my favourite , is part of an order  to replenish stocks of house kit that has worn out or gone too far gone to repair. The last bowl met a shattering end on the kitchen floor.

A clump of self seeded violets  in my vegetable patch is  visual treasure. The flowers are edible, too.

New  white towels, are almost as exciting.

A  friend back from Fogo  has saved my toes from  more destruction by chilbain with a gift of  slippers  handknitted by islanders

Hoping that this won`t be the last of the rhubarb!

Tags: spring, natural fabrics, homecooking, garden,

   



  Handblocked spots  on cotton from Les Indiennes  



    One of my favourite Liberty tana lawn sprigged floral prints  - great for little blouses and floaty skirts as well as cushions and other home ideas.      



    More simple handblocked Indian cotton from Les Indiennes - great as detail in schemes with larger prints      



    As above....  



    Milly Molly Mandy,  hollyhocks, ,  tea and cake on the lawn: as  thirties`   in feeling  as this Liberty tana lawn    



    Paisley power  is in this season,  not that the  little teardrop/fertility symbol is  ever  out.      



  As above...    



    Modern retro  yellow dandelions on cotton by Angie Lewin  from St Judes    



  Native  Heath on cotton, by Old Town, also from StJudes

Tags: fabrics

 



  Friends say they don`t know how I put up with  a disrupting  stream of photo shoots at home.  I suppose, like anything it`s how you choose to look at it.  For the most part,  the family are cool about the shoots, plus they know that it means income.  The childrens`  rooms and my husband`s study are off  limits and so there`s enough private space.  I`ve been a home worker for so long anyway and am used to combining an office with mashing the potatoes.  In a way we`re living over the  shop,  or, as when I was a child, living over my father`s  surgery.  It is important though to be laid back enough  to let strangers waft around the  house shooting mail order  catalogues, or  Christmas cakes from the  Great British Bake off.  There`d be  no point  if I  twitched  every time a cup and saucer were  moved. Actually,  quite a number of clients, photographers and stylists aren`t  strangers at all but long lost faces  from my magazine days.  `Still hanging on in there, we rib  each other`.  I also meet new faces - and it`s a chance to chat and brainstorm.  And when you know that it`s not your stuff  but someone else`s monkey then even days of rooms piled high with boxes and camera equipment don`t raise the blood pressure.  Apart from the odd set painter who doesn`t  know how to control a paint brush,  the most stressful thing is when a domestic drama is being played out behind a closed door. This generally involves two siblings warring over some item of clothing that one  has pinched from the other without permission.  "Be quiet we have a shoot "I  hiss, and  barr  the way to the flouncy behaviour  spreading further - more Miss Trunchbull than the smiley location house owner that the clients meet at the front door. One rather wonderful advantage of the shoots is seeing all sorts of wallpapers, fabrics, paints and things, here in the flesh -  window shopping chez nous. I am sighing over this beautiful yellow printed linen from Bennison Fabrics that is playing a leading role in a magazine story currently being photographed.  I have managed to sneak a little sample to show you how rich and  mustardy it is, and the perfect colour to go with something blue .  



  Even the shoot leftovers can be inspiring.  My compost bin last week looked a picture,  see below,  with the floral remnants from a summer flower catalogue job.  And, of course the house smelt rather lovely and garden borderish, too.  

Tags: colour, fabric, Simple

More brilliant ideas from the Pure Style design files.



    Mellow yellow:  simple Daisy pattern wallpaper from The art of wallpaper.  Also comes in a good sludgy blue, brick red, and charcoal.  



      The clocks will be going back soon and there will be a great excuse for investing in a really good desk lamp - I love this one from Anglepoise.    



  Blue and white striped Cornishware mugs feature in all the kitchens that I have lived in over the years. I love their utilitarian cheerful feel. From recently rescued TG Green – and also in red.    



  Indian summer’s over – it’s time for tea and toast. This smart glass jar comes with spiced fig jam, from Toast. Recycle it for your own jam making efforts.      



More autumn leaf yellows (THE colour this season) in wool knit by Danish company Kvadrat cover this 50’s Scandinavian style easy char in oak, from Heal’s. It also comes in leather, but I’m not so sure that works so well.      



  Yes I know linen sheets almost need a mortgage, but treat them like investment dressing and save up for a set from Volga Linen to last and last.  



  I love the way denim fades when you wash it. Get the look with this squashy bean bag made in the UK and covered with indigo denim woven in Lancashire, from Ian Mankin.  

Tags: autumn, colour, fabrics, home cooking, interiors, Simple, wallpaper