Tent

'Let's make a tent.' We decided. Like the dens we made as kids with clothes horses and warm towels from the airing cupboard, only this one can take up most of our living room and stay there as long as we want. It can have fairy lights, a canopy strewn with dangling stars, pink roses in a blue jug, easy access to books and an old, battered ammo chest with a sweet buffet in pretty jars on top. We kept the tent to ourselves for a few hours until some of our friends came over to chat, eat chunky chipshop chips and watch old horror films. It turned out they were pretty keen on the tent too and we all stayed up until the wee hours enjoying the surprising cosiness that comes of old bed sheets pinned to beams and bookcases.

  

Beautiful Bath

Before last week Bath was somewhere I'd passed through, fancied seeing more of, but had never spent any time.  Most of my Bath knowledge was gleaned from Jane Austen when reading Persuasion and Northanger Abbey - brilliant novels but no Lonely Planet guides! For starters it was much closer to the Peaks than I'd thought at just under 3 hours drive and the surrounding countryside was lovely, all lush greenery and rolling hills.  It's safe to say I was totally under it's spell within minutes of pitching up at the hotel and couldn't wait to go exploring.  Going to apologise in advance for what'll be a picture-heavy post; I couldn't help snapping away, I was smitten.

You all know how much I love tea and the ritual that comes along with it - well there have to be more tearooms in Bath per square foot than anywhere I've ever been!  In an ideal world I'd have popped into every one but there was so much to see in two days.

Everywhere I looked there was something gorgeous or inspiring.

Even the pavement was welcoming.

We did more walking and exploring than shopping but the shops on offer were such a mixture of traditional, designer, high street and many independent retailers.  I'd like to make another trip for retail therapy alone!

Will post the second batch of snaps tomorrow,

Bokeh Teacups

Here are some images taken a couple of months back while experimenting with bokeh, just because I think the effect is ethereal and beautiful . . .

Hope you're all having a lovely day, it is Friday after all and the weekend is so close I can taste it!

Take care,

Jem xXx

A couple of my vintage loves

Having had a play around arranging various teacups for my lovely other half to snap away at, these are some of my favourite images.  This Royal Doulton tea trio was a recent birthday gift and has become a swift favourite, I'm told it is Victorian and dates from around 1895.  I'm fascinated by 'bokeh' and the blurring, twinkling, ethereal effect it gives to light - it seems to suit the warmth of this teacup's colours.

This image combines a few favourite things; china (made by Adams who were part of the Wedgwood group), old books and on the left a British made silver locket

Take care,

Jem xXx