Embracing new colour schemes in my home

Since moving in with my man, I have been getting used to a new interior style and going with the  existing look of the home, which is amazing and suits the unusual property and its layout. I have been adding my own bits and pieces that complement the look. OH used to paint in a particular style in rich earthy colours, primitive naive art style cows and sheep, oils and textures, a time gone by, it's what he loves. I've come along with my interest in autumn, Halloween, folklore, the macabre, churches and graveyards and so there is now a merging of two lives. I've embraced the rural scenes and added my corn dollies, vintage doll and wooden rabbit. I guess lots of our interests cross over and we are endeavouring to create a real eclectic mix of found items. We've added mini skeletons and things we have recently bought in odd bits and bobs boxes at the local auction...more on this another time. 

OH is extremely creative and also used to be an antiques dealer so has the gift of being able to sift out unusual things and create all kinds of things, such as the dioramas of the bakery and the butchers in the images. I think the colours blend really well together and all have a traditional feel, deep blues, greys, browns and hunter greens, an autumnal ochre vibe and shots of mustard. The shade below was a recent eBay find and I love its slightly sinister feel. OH bought me the soft lime coloured pineapple jug from the local florist that I've popped some seed heads into once I've collected the seed for next year and some faux berries. Also some bargain green pressed glass bottles for 50p each from the florist, a religious icon from a random auction box for some kitsch style, some silver plated ware with owl fairy lights trailed across a toast rack and a funny faced mint sauce pot.

The main colour used within the home is probably green, at least I seem to be drawn to this the most at the moment, forest greens, sages, mossy shades, with ferns and trailing houseplants, jade and emerald bottles for using as single flower stem vases,
What does the colour we tend to use within our homes tend to say about us? Well..... https://www.juliancharles.co.uk/ produced a guide to what your home colours say abut your personality and according to that I am a very patient an collecting person as it is a calming colour. Also it says I don't stick to trends and I probably have a house full of knick-knacks and mismatching furniture......how true!!!

In contrast, at my old house I was definitely more pink - approachable and making the home accordingly so apparently. Pink also indicates somebody reserved and shy which is true of me.

There is much less pink going on in this house, the colours instead are earthy and spicy, exposed brickwork with vintage gilt frames and wooden shelves. However, my blogging room has pink in it but I am becoming more natural, antique loving and rustic, with a bit of Victoriana and distressed furniture, so I can foresee it changing pretty soon. The colours fit well with my love of weird and I feel like I have a lot of scope for creating new areas within the house.

* collaborative post

Star Map for my blogging room

I have a fondness for the stars, for staring up at the inky night sky and the constellations, trying to name a few, spotting Orion's Belt, Cassiopeia, finding the signs of the Zodiac and wondering about those that used them to navigate. There's a mysterious feel to the stars, how they've been viewed before and what symbolism was made of them. 

I have a few stargazing related items around the house, they add a vintage scientific feel and I'm always on the look out for anything with a celestial style. However, it is hard to come by so I was really pleased to hear of Custom Star Maps by Modern Map Art who produce posters of the night sky on a special date to you, so perhaps an anniversary or your birthday, which is what I decided upon. You can have the place name added and choose a title and in addition can select between black or white, navy or grey posters in a variety of sizes. Such a cute way to commemorate something and a lovely gift.

I have put my poster up in my new blogging room, hopefully it will be the start of more starry home pieces to create a bit of twinkle. Totally loving how it looks against the white walls, the poster is good quality and has a gorgeous matt finish to it. I have a few ideas gathered on a starry Pinterest board of vintage space posters and rocket cushions to add to the room. 

*I received a Star Map for the purpose of the review, thoughts and opinions my own.

A dog called Brillo

A walk up Bromlow Callow in Shropshire as the sunset, blanket to sit on and something to drink. Along with the shadows and the last rays came a dog and a pup, a Brillo and a scamp. Long legged and long snouted, coming over for a back scratch and a happy sniff before running off to play on top of the hill in the golden hour grass.

6 Practical Life-Skills You Learn After Being a Dog Parent

While you spend hours training your dog, you probably never realised that your dog was actually training you. The daily challenges of keeping a dog healthy and happy indirectly teach dog parents to do a lot of things. Even though dogs don’t live as long as humans do, the little time they spend with us changes us as people and grants us skills we never had before. Without much ado, the following are 6 practical life-skills you learn after taking care of a dog. 

How to Browse the Internet to Find the Best Pet-Product Deals: 
Providing proper nutrition and creating a safe space for the dog are the two basic pillars of pet care. Achieving those can prove to be expensive. From buying pet beds to finding high-quality pet food, you need to constantly look for deals and discounts to save money on pet products. While you struggle at first, you slowly learn the trick of how to order discount pet items online. You become a pro at finding coupon codes and special offers online to find the best value for your buck. If that’s not a skill, what is. 

Cleaning Up Yucky Stuff Like a Pro: 
Someone who has never owned a pet before may find it impossible to clean up something really disgusting. Veteran pet parents, however, face no problem cleaning up nasty messes. Best of all, seasoned doggie parents are always prepared with poop bags and cleaning agents.

How to Multitask When Walking: 
Walking the dog takes a good 30 minutes every day. Now, if you are a busy person, finding that 30 minutes every single day often proves to be impossible. Working pet moms and dads, often bring along Bluetooth headsets so that they can take care of important phone calls while they are walking their dogs. 

Cooking Nutritious Meals Quickly: 
Buying expensive pet food is not something that everyone wants to do. A better alternative for many is to buy cheap yet healthy ingredients and then cooking them to make nutritious meals for their dogs. The home-made food is not only more nutritionally dense but also cheaper than buying expensive dog food products that offer the same nutritive value. Seasoned pet parents usually learn the skill to use few basic ingredients such as minced beef and veggies to quickly make meals for their dogs.

Reading Food Labels Like a Boss: 
As a pet parent, you are responsible for your dog’s diet. This means you need to be ever-vigilant when picking dog food and treats. One of the skills most pet parents are forced to learn is to read product labels. Instead of being swayed by the fancy marketing claims upfront, dog parents know that the best information is usually labelled in the back. 

 Administering Pills and Shots:
 Administering pills to dogs is a skill that takes a lot of effort to master. Even with special pet pill tools, you need steady hands to ensure the tablet is not spat out. You also need to calm your dog and secure it in position. This is a skill that comes in handy when administering tasteless tablets to any small animal.

*collaborative post

Creating a new garden quickly for summer

I've been moving, gradually, I've probably hinted at it since it's so very hard to contain excitement but also not say too much until it has happened. One of the aspects of the move has been my ferrying of plants and pots from one county to another to their new village location to create a new garden. I love my garden in Cheshire and losing it has been difficult but I love my man more than flowers and climbing roses so I set about changing the front yard into a little country garden. 

I wanted to create a space for us to sit and enjoy the summer, but in the quickest time possible since I'm incredibly impatient and wanted to make the most of any sunshine and build the basics of a garden for the following year. Using what was there was, so some existing amazing planters to be filled, I added more from my house in Cheshire to build up a structure of a herbaceous border but using pots and containers.

In just over a month, we have created a beautiful knitted together flowery front garden, secluded and filled with herbs, perennials, trees in pots and roses. I have spent hours poring over my Pinterest garden board and finding ways to creatively garden using containers. The outcome has been a joy to document and watch, every week, growing and uplifting.

To create a courtyard garden for instant impact I have a few recommendations:

Local plant sales
We have been going to local plant sales, one at a local library and one at a cottage, both selling a variety of flowers cheaply. The sweet peas climbed up sticks we collected on dog walks and have provided scent and deep colour. The philadelphus little white love from the cottage sale and the bear's breeches are thriving and the coreopsis from the local shop is attracting the bees and hoverflies. For a small amount of money, the pots have been filled with colour and we've added some courgettes, pumpkins and homegrown salad leaves in for veggie crops too. Herbs too are providing a scented small garden and have been useful adding to our cooking.

Lighting
For evening use of the garden, some glowing lights for ambience extends the hours and adds a pretty look whilst sitting out with a glass of cider for me as dusk descends. Have a look at Lights for a range of outdoor lighting for patios and terraces with interesting options for every kind of style, contemporary to more traditional and eclectic such as fabulous LED illuminated plant pots and solar mosaic lights. I love the way garden lights create a cosy glow through leaves and casts shadows of flowers. The bedroom looks out over the garden and it looks so pretty and atmospheric with lights positioned around the space and we can enjoy the garden for much longer. I eventually want an electrical supply in the garden for path lights when we develop the space behind the house but for now solar is such a useful, instant and inexpensive solution. 

Adding height
We've added some patio fruit trees to bring height to the garden and interest, cherry, apple and pear trees so we will have in future years some nice fruit crops. I'm most excited about the morello cherries. My clever man has made an amazing arch gate for roses to climb up and over, spilling across and blurring the edges. It's given the illusion of a maturer garden. Different heights and textures using lavatera, buddleia and clematis, quick growers that are working hard already. Runner beans are now escaping over the wall and the garden is bursting with energy. 

Variety of containers
A bit of creativity when selecting containers has added impact to the garden, such as those I found at the cute plant place in Shropshire. Traditional pots are quite expensive so variety by way of crates and baskets has enabled many plants to be grown and a layered structure has been put together to create an exuberant mix of flowers. I've grown seeds in anything possible and we've picked up found items to pop a courgette or two into. Hopefully too creating a garden for wildlife, herbs in old sinks, bee attracting flowers in moss lines wire baskets or a drawer full of frothy butterfly attracting annuals.

I'm so pleased with how it is all looking and leaving my more traditional garden behind has felt like no problem at all as I feel so happy in our new garden and loving the space more and more. I have always admired gardens created in less typical spaces so the challenge is very fulfilling.

*collaborative post