pembrokeshire: whitesands

On the Sunday I went on a walk down to Whitesands beach while Ste went coasteering (the main reason we came to Pembrokeshire was to cash in on his Red Letter Day birthday present from his mom). The walk was beautiful and peaceful and only took about 40 minutes from the town we were staying in, but the roar of the waves was the best part of my arrival :)

It really reminded me that I am a country girl at heart :)

pembrokeshire

This is a beautiful place.

I want to go back.

Though I think it may be rainier now.

More later.

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a bunny gargoyle in Bath (second from the right)

such an amazing collection of animal gargoyles :)

morris birds

The Textile Blog has done a post on William Morris Bird design. I liked to find out that Morris himself really liked the bird design and used it in his own home. It's interesting to learn more about the fabrics you know and love- any new information just make the fabrics become more alive.

I like the subtlety of the original colors they used as well.

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kate spade

I forgot that some Kate Spade employees came by the shop a few weeks ago to get hooks for their pop-up shop in London, Covent Garden. They ended up with about 40 hooks, and didn't care if they matched as they were going to paint them all. Tonight I accidentally came across the result!

Not too shabby, I think... A fun way to have a funky look while still staying uniform and letting the merchandise talk :)

toast home autumn 09

The clothes at Toast always look comfy and cozy, which is something I find very important when the weather starts getting crispy (like right now!!). Their photos also make me want to go out into the English countryside and find a secluded cottage to lock myself away in.

However... this weekend I am looking forward to a weekend adventure with friends to Stonehenge and then Bath! Strangely, out of the four of us, I am the only one who has been to both.... and I am the only one who is not British... ah well. :)

yogurt lime cake with blackberry sauce

I made this Lime and Yogurt Cake with Blackberry Sauce on Sunday night. It was/is super tasty, just the right amount of zing! And I did substitute olive oil for vegetable oil, as Ste and I have decided that vegetable makes us break out. But I really like the special taste that olive oil gives when combined with citrus and the sweet tartness of the blackberries!

Definitely try it out!

Cake
1 cup whole milk plain unsweetened yogurt (this is the ideal; however, I had success with 2% Greek yogurt)
1/3 cup vegetable oil (olive oil works as well, for a slightly different flavor profile)
1 cup sugar
zest of one lime
1/4 cup lime juice
2 eggs
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt

Sauce
12 ounces fresh blackberries (frozen should work as well, but you should start with half the water)
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the sides of a 9-inch round cake pan or springform pan with oil (I used a butter and flour spray out of habit, which works as well) and line the bottom with parchment paper if the pan is not springform.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the yogurt, oil, sugar, lime zest and juice. Add the eggs one by one, whisking well after each addition. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together, right over your yogurt batter. Stir with a spoon until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let stand for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the pan to loosen. If you’re using the springform pan, unclasp the sides. Otherwise, flip the cake onto a plate and flip it back on the rack. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Make sauce: Combine blackberries, water, sugar and lime juice in blender or food processor. Purée until very smooth, then press through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds. Cover and refrigerate until cold.

Do ahead: This cake keeps very well for up to three days (or so I hear, but have not practiced), wrapped in plastic at room temperature. The sauce can be made up three days in advance, as well. It can also be frozen for future uses.

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Fifi limited edition pins found here

How cute is that?

Hard to resist, but at $40 I might be able to :/

morris & co

Recently my Mom forwarded me to Morris & Co, a company who still makes William Morris fabrics. After oohing and ahhing over the pictures online and downloading their pdf catalogues to browse through, I saw that you could order free samples of four prints! I made my selections and recently received my four squares of fabric.

top row: Brer Rabbit and Rose & Thistle

bottom row: Bird & Anemone & Honeysuckle Bull

Even though you can't see a rabbit on it, I really like the colors of Brer Rabbit. As I'm sure the prices are well out of range, I guess I'll just have to piece the four of these together and hang them somewhere to display their prettiness :)

swedish house

I just liked the simplicity of it.

Primary colors marrying well with each other is Sweden to me.

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William Morris Rabbits

newest acquisitions

A collage of my newest tile acquisitions. Wasn't so sure about the top left corner one until Ste pointed out it looks kind of Native American, so now I'm quite attached. I have finally added some German art nouveau tiles to my collection as well (middle in top row and middle in second row).

Many of the German tiles are extraordinary, very geometric and... German? Don't know how else to describe them. Hopefully I will be able to add to my knowledge of Belgian and German tiles soon :)

The one on the far left in the third row is very fun, if fit together in a whole set of the tiles, the shells interlock and repeat. The one right next to it (third row, middle) is a Voysey design, and Ste refers to the one in the bottom left hand corner as a "Transformer" tile (yes, like the movie).

Which is your favorite?

time for a post

Sorry I have been MIA, this past week has been very busy and tiring and all I want to do in the morning or evenings is fall fast asleep and try to recoop lost hours. More regular postings will resume shortly :)

source

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Band of Joy Rabbits (and one frog) courtesy of CJ's new Band of Joy album cover art

Is it possible that Robert Plant will always be attractive?

raindrops

I love these photos of raindrops on the ocean.

I miss the sea sometimes. There's something primordial and haunting about staring at an ocean's horizon and listening to the sounds of the waves for hours.

source

the addiction continues

My newest purchases? The two lovely Sherwin & Cotton Stag tiles.

How can you resist their majestic heads and desolate landscapes? I especially like the reflection in the pool of water on the left one. Can you resist?

I can't :)

1950s Lunchtime

I thought this was very cute, I especially liked how you needed to comb your hair before lunch :)

What good manners! You don't want to be Mr. Bungle!

fall weather

I know that officially back in the States it is not fall yet, still end of summer, but over here fall came like a wet blanket over a month ago. If I had any reservation about fall's arrival, it was squashed last night when I left the Royal Albert Hall to be confronted with a great grey sky blanket of rain. We contemplated waiting for the rain to slow before biking home, but after taking one look at that wet sky, it was clear there was no slowing.

Motto for the night?
At least once you're wet, you're wet.

end of summer

For the last summer vacation of 2010 we went to Lyme Regis for a long weekend to go fossil hunting :) We came back with lots of fossil loot- if you want to see a photo skip to the end- and had an all around very fun time, especially as the sun graced us with its presence on the Monday :)

walking on rocks after the tide is out

Lyme harbour (tide in)

can you imagine a place more beautiful?

when the tide is in, adventurous fossil hunters (us) climb out on the slippy rocks to get to the beach with good fossils...

seaweed rock

I have a thing for rocks, it goes back to when I was little and would come home with rocks in my pockets. I like these knobbly, sea-worn ones

You can see how the cliff breaks away in layer on the left. That's why there are such good fossils always to be found.

mega-ammonite

whee :) :) :)

big ammonite someone carved out so you can see better detail

And our loot!!!

stories

Very sweet and very happy and very sad.

Danny & Annie from StoryCorps on Vimeo.

I've downloaded some of the StoryCorps podcasts from iTunes NPR. I like the idea behind StoryCorps, preserving our modern stories for the future in an age when most stories are not written down and preserved in any other way. Recording oral traditions sounds very positive to me :)

tile

I caved, it was too beautiful to pass up :)

the pine-scented air

How cute is this? I wonder what other poems he knows...

william morris

A while ago The Textile Blog posted some of William Morris' original artwork, and I just can't get enough...

Jasmine 1872

Acanthus 1874

Honeysuckle 1883

Rose 1883

I think these illustrations are almost even more beautiful than the finished pieces of fabric and wallpaper themselves. I wonder if there are any prints of these to hang on walls?

P.S. Yesterday they posted a great entry on William Morris' Holland Park Carpet

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fairy tale living

Lately I've really been liking these alternative quirky homes, I think mainly because they remind me of fairy tales and children's books I read when I was younger (and not so younger).

Can you imagine living in a house in a hill (literally) or dug in like a cave or sandwiched between rocks? I can :)

Stone House in Portugal

Rogner Bad Blumau in Austria

'Villa Vals' in Switzerland

all seen on Black*Eiffel