Greek salad crisp butty

Tots100 and Seabrook Crisps have a challenge for National Crisp Butty Week for bloggers to create a tasty crisp sandwich. I wanted to create a sandwich that reminded me of summer holidays and decided to make a Greek Salad Butty with scrummy Seabrook Beefy crisps. 
2 slices Crusty loaf
Seabrook Beefy Crisps
Tbsp Plain yoghurt
Handful diced cucumber
Sprinkle of oregano
Sprig of fresh mint
Few slices of Feta cheese
4 cherry Tomatoes halved
Sliced Red onion
couple of Lettuce leaves
Handful of Pitted Green Olives
Glug of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Firstly I made a little homemade simple tzatziki with finely diced cucumber, plain yoghurt, chopped mint from the garden and some dried oregano. I used this to spread on the bread.

Add a layer of crispy iceberg lettuce, slices of feta cheese. Then top with the sliced tomatoes, red onion and sliced green olives.

Sprinkle with dried oregano.

Drizzle with virgin olive oil.

Top with the yummy Seabrook Beefy crisps and the other slice of bread.

Voila the Greek Salad Crisp Butty.

Totally a filling and tasty lunch which I will make again.

This recipe is an entry into the National Crisp Sarnie Week competition with Seabrook 
crisps

Dream Living Room

I love dogs and have two of them who are my very best friends in the whole world. After seeing a fab competition held by Little Stuff to design our ideal room I decided to put together my perfect living room that included my dogs for they are welcome to cuddle up next to me on the sofa or by the fire in a snuggly bed. I also love dog related homeware items so I've picked some autumnal and canine pieces for my dream living room to relax in. 

Tweed Dog bed, Pets at Home £60 // Long Island grey sofa, Sofa.com from £1480 // No Dogs Allowed Cushion, NOTH £21// KARLSTAD Armchair, Husie orange, Ikea £205

My dogs deserve new beds and these look like the Heritage style I am aiming for. A corner sofa so they can hop on would be wonderful but lets ignore what the cushion says :) I adore orange especially in autumn so the chair from Ikea would be a fantastic colour pop by the bay window in my living room. 

Fox Terrier Clock, Etsy £15 //Bird on a Wire Curtains, John Lewis £120 //Mr Fox Rug, John Lewis from £159 //Ready for Rehoming Candle, NOTH, £15.95

I love quirky items so the clock is a great find along with the dog candle - definite talking points in the room. The Mr Fox rug combines the grey and the orange scheme and the curtains also combine the grey with an autumnal yellow. 

Craig & Rose Period Colours - Eau de Nil, B&Q //Foot Rest, Next £45 //Wallpaper, Laura Ashley, £29 per roll//Coasters, Etsy £15.47

Soothing grey paint and a multitude of dogs on a feature wall. A warm Heritage foot rest and some cheery dog coasters for my cup of tea. I love the heritage look and checks, perfect for this time of year. 

TV Cabinet, Oliver Bonas, £465//Lambswool check throw, Next £45 /Copper and glass terrarium, Oliver Bonas £36//Calendar, Wilkinsons £4

An amazing feature in the room would be the TV cabinet from Oliver Bonas, that pop of orange once again and of course a checked throw to keep warm under with my two dogs beside me. I love terrariums at the moment, so trendy and a great way to introduce greenery into a room scheme. This cute decorative calendar from Wilkinsons is an absolute bargain and the colours are perfect for my living room idea. 

Jute dog cushion,  House of Fraser £38// Dachshund doorstop, Anthropologie £48//Obey the Jack Russell print, NOTH, £30 /Dog Lead hooks, The Stylish Dog Company, £42

More doggy cushions - even though my naughty terrier pushes them all off with his nose when he jumps on a sofa. The front door opens right into the living room so it is also where coats and leads for walkies time are kept therefore a lovely new set of hooks would complement the scheme and be practical. My terrier is half Jack Russell so the jazzy print speaks for itself.

Ceiling light pendant, John Lewis £255 / Dog print storage boxes, Laura Ashley £21 /Bright orange side table, Habitat £35 /Stanley Dog lamp, Cath Kidston, £48

A few more bits and pieces and a very bright side table from Habitat that I have fallen in love with but not as much as the lamp with Stanley the dog - perfectly kitsch. 

Terrier Mug, Emma Bridgewater, £20 //Price's tin candle, Scented candle shop, £4.95

Finally a new mug for my cups of tea with a dog that reminds me of one of mine. Although I am welcoming of the dogs into the living room there is absolutely no denying that sometimes they are a little pongy - sorry dogs, so a Price's candle to freshen the room up is a must.

Hope you like my dog inspired living room, I know my dogs would be very happy with it.

A child's garden - Ideas from RHS Tatton

 Whilst at the flower show at Tatton Park I saw a lot of ideas for children's gardens to make them colourful and fun so here is a round up of what I saw. 
Firstly, using old play equipment to plant things in like this mini tractor with nasturtiums. Maybe when Little Bird's old Cosy Coupe has weathered another winter we will use it to plant flowers in as a quirky display in the springtime. A bit of Narnia here with an old wardrobe decorated, some fairy lights and there were rows of white plant pots. Got me thinking about creating a theme to the garden next year. LB's preschool had a Frozen themed area of their huge garden and it was really cute and used lots of sparkly Christmas decorations. 
Or maybe a little village for the small folk or paint up some old bricks to liven a dull area up. We always seem to have stacks of bricks down the side of the house so being arty with them would used them up, maybe to line a plant bed with.  Junk and scarecrows, this is my style.
One of my favourite garden was the children's sensory garden with plenty of colourful planters and flowers mixed with vegetables. I love the outdoor xylophone although I know that they cost a LOT of money! The plants that they used were ones which encourage the senses such as grasses like Carex, herbs such as Rosemary and of course wonderful smelling Lavender. Yummy things to eat were included such as tomatoes, strawberries and carrots. The designer was Janet Leigh and there are some really good ideas for schools and especially special schools could look to when designing outside spaces. 
 The garden won Silver Gilt and it's no surprise why. So imaginative. I love the sensory panels on the wall that you can see above, I think it would be easy to make a homemade version of these. The perspex is a super idea too. Little Bird loves looking through coloured perspex paddles so would enjoy these. We might have a go at spray painting coloured circles onto the pathway too. 
 Then onto the Eric Carle garden **squeal** at the colourful cuteness of this one. Love the plant pots that could easily be copied at home - spray painted white and then paint big circles onto it. Check out the sweet stepping stones although they look pretty creative - above my skills.  Woollen spiders webs - I could do this. More painted paving stones, this time in an Alice in Wonderland theme. I'd like a little sandy patch too in the garden and could make little camels I'm sure. LB could help paint them. Every garden needs a hobbit house. I would absolute love a hobbit garden, if I were rich I'd have one of those fancy ones made like this. Jolly plastic bottle fishes but they need cane toppers to make them safe.  One of my favourites was the Stig of the Dump garden complete with Stig den decorated with broken wheels, rusty garden tools, pieces of hosepipe and old Wellington boots. I could hide in there with my morning cup of coffee.  Back with Mammasaurus for How Does Your Garden Grow?

RHS Tatton- Part 1

We decided to visit the RHS Tatton Flower Show having not been since 2011! How time flies.The day was an absolute scorcher and of course I took so many photographs so I will need to break them up over 2 or 3 posts. Little Bird came along and we had one of the best ever days with him - perfectly happy and smiley despite the heat and the crowds. We walked his little socks off and took shade for a while in the grand floral marquee looking at the wonderful displays. 

The flowers in here are immense and we were surrounded by the heady scent of roses and crowds of perennials that made the air so intoxicating. I wanted to buy so many flowers but we are having a clear out in the garden this autumn, so maybe next year. It was very tempting though especially when I saw all the gorgeous hydrangeas which I adore. Spires of Hollyhocks, buckets of bulbs for next year, pretty seed packets and prize blooms. Many of the displays by the plant nurseries had won RHS medals. 

Back outside and a look around some of the traders - so hard to not spend! They really do have some beautiful wares for the garden. I did buy some seeds as they were in such a pretty packet  that are on my Instagram feed. I also bought a sun catcher for Little Bird that is hung from the washing line casting glints of light across the decking area. We would love this cow in our garden, he'd be a lot of fun. Not for sale although the compost lady told me that many had been asking - lots of wealthy people at these shows!

Posh greenhouses that I covet. Fancy show gardens. It really was so hot though and a lot of the plants were suffering. It made me sad to see the trees they had planted around the site wilting - give me that hose! 

There were some fun bedding plant displays that are normally my least favourite part of the show but these were pretty good. The BZZZ was made of something foamy that made a bzzz sound in the wind - very clever. Got so much more to show you, I was snapping away all day and even made a little video, something I am enjoying doing lately although Windows Movie Maker has had me more than a little cross at times.  So until the next installment I'll leave you with the video that was the bane of my life for a while ;)

                   Back with Manneskjur for How Does Your Garden Grow?