TO SLEEP, PERCHANCE TO DREAM ..........

The other day, just hanging around on my sofa, I was wondering what would make the perfect bedroom ?
There is so much choice out there nowadays, it's enough to give a girl a right royal headache..........

.......... what sort of room would be good enough to take your beloved bunny to have a wonderful nights sleep and dream the night away ?

.......... is comfort top of the list or is the decoration more important ? .......... a good mattress or 10 ?..... or is an en- suite top of your list ? Here are a few that I like .........

Some cool blue ticking sheets and
pillows and a lovely shabby chic mirror ......... make sure that the mirror is put up properly. Could give you quite a fright if it falls on you in the middle of the night !!

I do love an iron bed and the end of the bed is a great a great place to hang your lingerie .....

I love this unusual headboard and you must supply a comfy place for your family pets !! .....

..... how about this for a children's bedroom. Couldn't they have fun, up there in the eaves of the house ?

How gorgeous is this bedroom ? A little bit girly without too many frills.

I really like these sparsely decorated rooms with a couple of over-stated pieces of furniture........

.......... but then again, I love all of these quilts and cushions, pillows and curtains......oh, the choices we have makes choosing so difficult.

I like this look as well. Distressed, just the way I like it, but made sharp by the addition of the black and white throw.

Well, put me in here with a supply of food and drink and I could stay there for days, reading all of those magazines.

If storage is at a premium, hang your undies on the wall !!

I think that clutter can look pretty good. don't you ?

.......... and don't think that the garage is the only place to store your bike..... stick it in the bedroom !!!!

Well, I'm off to dream of the perfect bedroom and float off to sleep on the river of dreams.
What would be your perfect bedroom ? I'm in a quandary.

Jackie

UP THE APPLES AND PEARS ..........

Sitting amongst the fallen autumn harvest of windfall apples the other day, I was reminded of cockney rhyming slang. To explain....a Cockney is someone who is born within the sound of Bow Bells in East London. I think that, maybe, some of you have heard of Cockney rhyming slang. Apples and pears means stairs. Brown bread - dead.......Boat race - face....... Dog and bone - phone ........ Frog and toad - road ......... Plates of meat - feet ......... Trouble and strife - wife and there are many, many more. So, today we are talking about the good old apples and pears - stairs. .......... and how about these for a set of stairs. You do feel a bit dizzy when you get to the top. My friend has a spiral staircase and it's not something to attempt after a glass of wine.....or two !!

That plant reminds me of the plant that is dying when E.T. is dying and then it comes back to life when E.T. starts to get better.......... a lovely old staircase.

A beautiful blank canvass, ready for someone to bring it to life.

I love a collection of pictures on a staircase.

See ..... I told you that spiral staircases make you dizzy. She has had to stop for a while to try and get her centre of gravity back !!

Now, forgive me for repeating myself. This is obviously the same photograph as the earlier one but I didn't realise as this one is much 'whiter' than the other version and it has been taken at a different angle. Someone was obviously playing with photoshop and it has messed up my post, because I thought that they were different staircases !!! Oh, never mind, have another look at it....it is a lovely room. It deserves a second look.

More pictures up the stairs....looks good, doesn't it ?

This one just makes it into the 'Apples and Pears' post. You can just see the stairs in the bottom left hand corner. What a gorgeous open plan house.

Well, I'm off up the apples and pears to my Uncle Ted with a nice cup of rosy lee.

Nite nite.

Jackie

LAMPLIGHT ..........

Laying in bed this morning, fiddling with my dandelion seed heads as you do on an autumn morning, inspiration was at a premium. Then, I thought, I could do table lamps and it would be a bit of a cheat as I can show rooms at the same time so, here we go ..........
One of my favourite pictures, old lace and a beautiful Edwardian lamp..........

.......... a simple lamp but what fantastic shutters and a wonderful view .........

Another simple table lamp in a gorgeous cottage setting ..........

They've gone a bit mad with their lamps in this one, haven't they ? A lovely room though..........

Isn't this a great idea ? Can I class these as table lamps ? ..........

.......... love this one, not just for the great industrial type lamp, but also for the lovely distressed shutter.

.......... the trouble with this one is the flex....it doesn't do it any favours. It's one of the problems of table lamps..........

.......... this is so pretty. Lovely distressed bedside table and a fresh bunch of flowers from the garden.

Do you think that I'm obsessed with distressed furniture ? Well, I am !! Isn't this wonderful ? I love the table, the door, the glass dome, the plants........ oh, and of course, the lamps.

Well, we have come a long way from the time when we lit the lamp to find our way to bed. We are in a new phase now, where we are going to have to use energy saving light bulbs. Maybe, in a few years we will be back to candlelight .......... maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing ?

Jackie

GREY MATTER ..........

O.K everyone, lets get back to lighter matters, shall we ?A bit of interiors on a Thursday morning never hurt anyone. Today we are talking all things grey. It's my colour of the moment and it can look so beautiful in all sorts of ways. I love this mixture of random objects. They have no doubt been put together for the photograph ( I'm under no illusions here !) but it all looks so natural.
A beautiful, grey silk cushion.

Just a little peep into someones lounge. Don't push the door open any further ...... you wouldn't want to see what's behind there !!. I am amazed at the things that people put together. This is obviously an old house but they have put a modern table and chairs in there and...guess what ? .... it works.

Oh how I love this one. I'm sure that it's in Paris or some other beautiful European city. The cupboard, the chair, the urn, that beautiful cushion ....so wonderfully put together.

So simple and yet perfect.

Just a simple seed head in a glass jar can add so much.

You can't go wrong with a twiggy heart.

I love text on the wall. I have some in my home and I never tire of it. Very Scandanavian.

I just adore wreaths. I'm not usually fond of shells as decoration, apart fron the shells and sea glass that were in my giveaway from Gigi that are on one of my fireplaces, and unless, maybe, you live near the sea, but this wreath is so simple, and tastefully done.

Mmmmm .......

I think that this is a lovely room. If only I had a window like that. Not sure about the garden chair. Looks as if they have people coming round and have had to utilise the garden furniture !

This is obviously a little cafe and I love what they have done with it. I wouldn't mind an espresso in there.

What a beautiful photograph of one of my favourite flowers.

Another home accessorie that we can't do without. I have candlesticks everywhere.

This dress is so cute. Shame I'm too old to wear it now !!

Well, there you have it. A study in grey. A colour that was usually used as undercoat and is now the colour of the moment......... and, as the last photograph says:

' Catch the day

Enjoy the moment '

Jackie

REMEMBERING......

THE ELEVENTH DAY of THE ELEVENTH MONTH at ELEVEN a.m.... WE WILL REMEMBER

From the poem FOR THE FALLEN by LAURENCE BINYON ( 1869-1943 )

THEY SHALL GROW NOT OLD AS WE THAT ARE LEFT GROW OLD :

AGE SHALL NOT WEARY THEM, NOR THE YEARS CONDEM.

AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

IT'S RAINING AWARDS and GIVEAWAYS ..........

Well, everyone.... I cannot believe the awards that I have been given and a couple of giveaways as well ! I started my blog because, like others, I saw those two little words 'CREATE BLOG' in the top right hand corner, and thought I would have a go, and then a whole new world of friendships, advice, new ideas and even helping others, opened up to me. I'm not one who pours her heart out, as I don't have a great deal of pouring out that needs to be done but, if anyone needs to, I'm a great listener and my blog is always open ! This post is to thank some of you for your kindness,so, for people that this is not related to, bear with me ..........

The first award that I was given was from Dustjacket Attic . She has been a loyal and wonderful blogging friend and has the most beautiful blog ever in the history of blogs! If you love fashion, handsome men and the odd delicious recipe or two, head on over there. It is all you will ever need when it comes to the above. Thank you so much, my dear DJA, I am truly honoured that it came from you and thank you, so much for your regular and often amusing comments. I love them.



The next award that I received was from my lovely friend, Luiza from Feelings.
I was one of the first to follow Luiza and, after a couple of weeks I received the kindest email from her. A week or two later, I was the recipient of a wreath, handmade by Luiza herself, as a gift. She is the most creative, kind and generous person and I am so lucky to count her as a friend. Her blog is Scandanavian heaven, with her beautiful, handmade items and her wonderful photographs, so please pay her a visit. She will love you for it.


I then had the same award bestowed upon me by Bonjour Romance. I am so grateful as I am fairly new to her blog so, to receive an award is very generous of her. Her blog is a French fantasy with much Ooo la la, and also has beautiful photographs. It is tres jolie and a delight so, make a mental note to visit.


Then, the other day the same award was bestowed upon me by the lovely Lori at Wildflowers.
Lori was another one of the first blogs that I followed. She is another kind, generous, and loyal blogging friend and we have had so much fun over the last few months. Here is another gifted photographer (I seem to have met so many brilliant photographers) and she writes very well, too. Head over there. She will make you very welcome and you will make a great friend.


........... and then, as if that wasn't enough, Maggie over at The White Farmhouse gave me the Splash award. Maggie is the most energetic person I know. She has a husband and family and yet, she is forever renovating, fixing, hammering and repairing and I wish that I had half of her energy. You never know what she will be up to when you visit. She is also a kind and generous friend who always leaves the best comments. Go over and see what she is up to. You probably won't believe it.

I have also won a couple of giveaways as well. Aren't I lucky ? The first was from Anne at Annechovie . It's from Envirosax and it folds down sooooo small and is brilliant to put into your handbag for shopping. You never know when you might find a beautiful candlestick, cushion or, if I have to, food and need a bag to carry them all in !! I love it and it also looks good.......so much nicer than a tatty old carrier bag and much better for the environment as well. Thank you so much Anne.

The next giveaway that I won was a beautiful cushion from Michelle over at Petit Coterie. The above is a cushion that I had already bought from Michelle, I haven't received my giveaway yet, but I wanted to do all of my thank you's together, but the cushion that I won is very similar. They are the best grain sack/ burlap cushions, and very reasonable as well. Thank you so much Michelle. I am one lucky girl.

.......... and then, I received this wonderful letter from Koralee from Bluebird Notes. Koralee decided that the art of letter writing was in decline and asked if anyone would like a letter. My hand shot up and, after giving my address, a week went by and then......... look what turned up in the mail. There's a sheet of bluebird notepaper, a card with chandelier stamp, a little card that, when opened, has wonderful and inspirational words, a beautiful gift tag, stickers, ribbons and all sorts. Thank you so much Koralee., it must have taken you ages as I know you sent many out.

Now, I'm meant to tell you seven things about me you didn't know but, I did that a little while ago so, I won't bore you with that now. I will give out my seven awards. I just want to say that I will be giving out more awards later but, it took me long enough to do these so all the people who are thinking how horrible I am 'cos I didn't give you an award, be patient as there will be more coming. By the way,the recipients of these awards might want to shrink them for there sidebar !!!! Here are my first seven :

This one is to dear Lori. She knows why it's a cocktail and Lori, we are really going to be drinking them together one day. I know it.

This one is for my dear friend Luiza who so thoroughly deserves it. She puts so much into her posts, with the most beautiful and inspiring content. She's Swedish you know, so there's nothing more to say. Beautiful sums it up rather nicely.

Here's Maggie's. Constantly on the go, renovating and mending and changing things.... and she does it with expertise, as well.

An award for Bonjour Romance. A wonderful French inspired blog .

Fantastique.

Magdalena from Color Sepia is another wonderfully talented person. More fantastic photographs and beautifully made cards and gift tags and more........ and she is a lovely person.

One for Koralee.......... again ,talented, interesting kind and generous. Her blog is so pretty.........

.......... and last but certainly not least, an award for the talented Michelle. I already have a couple of her cushions, have won one and have ordered more !!!! That's how much I love her cushions. I'm so into the grain sack look.

So, there you have it. I have given seven awards and will be giving out some more soon. Thanks everyone for my awards and everyone who comes and visits me and takes the time to comment. I am amazed at the response that I get and thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Jackie

REMEMBER, REMEMBER, THE 5TH of NOVEMBER ..........

Remember, remember the fifth of November

the gunpowder treason and plot.

I know of no reason

why the gunpowder treason

should ever be forgot.As the 5th of November approaches, here in the U.K., children stand on corners with stuffed figures of a man, holding collecting boxes and ask, 'A penny for the Guy ?'

The GUY in question is an effigy of the arch-traitor, Guy Fawkes. When the evening of November 5th arrives,.........

.......... the guy effigy is burnt on a bonfire ..........

Guy Fawkes Day commemorates the foiling of a plot by Guy Fawkes and other Catholic extremists, to blow up King James 1st and his Parliament, in 1605. Guy Fawkes belonged to a group of Roman Catholic restorationists, who planned the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

Their aim was to displace the Protestant rule, while King James 1st and the entire Protestant and even most of the Catholic aristocracy were inside........ but the authorities foiled the plan and captured Guy Fawkes while he guarded the gunpowder. Guy Fawkes was executed on the 31st of January 1606 and was hanged, drawn and quartered. To this day, Yeoman Warders search the Houses of Parliament, at the opening of Parliament, for explosives. The Gunpowder Plot was never to be forgotten, and in late January 1606, Parliament passed a statute entitled 'An Act for a Public Thanksgiving to Almighty God, every year, on the 5th of November', which has lasted to this day.

The money that the children collect, goes to charity and to buy fireworks. Whilst standing around the bonfire, there is hot soup ..........

.......... potatoes baked in the bonfire...........

.......... coleslaw..........

.......... toffee apples..........

.......... sparklers ..........

.......... and fantastic firework displays..........

.......... in every city, town ...........

.......... and village ..........

.......... and this celebration of thanksgiving is all because of Guy Fawkes and his conspirators plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament on the 5th of November, 1605.

REMEMBER, REMEMBER THE 5TH OF NOVEMBER,

THE GUNPOWDER TREASON AND PLOT.

Jackie