The beauty in January

If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, or perhaps anywhere, you might be forgiven for thinking immediately that 'beauty' and 'January' are oxymoronic terms. I am a pretty committed January basher myself. In England, this month is particularly brutal. I saw it described online the other day as a 'miserable f#*king bastard.' Sorry for the language, but you can't argue with its accuracy. 

Then yesterday something slightly magical happened. The morning looked something like this:

The frost glimmered and sun shimmered and all morning long the countryside glistened. 

When January is endless days of enveloping shades of grey, when the air is damp and thick with mizzle, when the sky feels like it is mere inches above your head and you haven't seen the sun in days, it can all get a little too much. But the frosty mornings, cold and crisp as they are, become a joyous antidote to the seasonal glum. 

This year, somehow, January has felt less glum. It might be the uncharacteristically clear blue days, the early appearance of snowdrops, or it might just be my deep commitment to my pj's/hot water bottle/book. 

Long may the frosts bring sparkle to our January.

Happy New Year.

Kate  x

Winter Solstice

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,

Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,

In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;

Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.

In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed

The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day,

Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;

Enough for Him, whom angels fall before,

The ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,

Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;

But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,

Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;

If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;

Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

It is the Winter Solstice today, and my gosh am I feeling these short dim days. I swear the sun set at 3.30pm today...

Still, it can't last forever. From here the days will get longer, brighter and the spring blossom and bulbs will arrive.

Kate  x

In praise of simple pleasures

It might be the cold weather, the shorter days, or the inevitable mid-year slump, but we find ourselves indulging our desires more and more at the moment, and damn the calories consequences. Before I share what we are loving (and slathering in double cream) in our nest right now, let me just also note that we imposed a little dry period for the first few weeks of June. I am alcohol-free most of the time anyway, however Alex tumbled from the wagon when he had a beer with a seafood platter lunch. In his defence it was the long weekend, and the sun was shining. And we were next to the water, looking at pretty sail boats and a frolicking seal. But not all of our weaknesses come attached to excess calories. Mine are usually floral related. Or found in vintage and thrift shops.

I am taking full advantage of the early spring flowers that are available right now. I bought a bunch of poppies to give to my Mum on the long weekend. Then I snuck out to the camelia bush in my Nan's backyard to pick this pink beauty. It has resulted in a new appreciation for these wonderful and DIVERSE FLOWERS. If only they in turn appreciated being cut and put into a vase. Camelia is used almost exclusively for its leaves in floristry. The flowers have little commercial value as they die quickly. 

We've been eating SCONES too. Quite a few scones actually. Two batches and counting. The food related indulgences have me most worried, because it's not limited to scones, jam and cream. There is also an increase in the amount of crusty white bread being eaten. Melting moments, FUDGE, chocolate brownies and copious amounts of french onion dip have also made appearances. 

The up-swing of scones is the chance to indulge my current obsession with silver spoons. Jam spoons, teaspoons, mustard spoons. I want them all. My preoccupation with CUTLERY is unshakeable. I'm having a serious love affair with cutlery right now. HERE, HERE & HERE.

It is funny almost sad how excited I can get over a good INSTAGRAM hashtag these days. I think the lack of flower flinging in my day-to-day life recently has left a creative void that needs filling. I am attempting to self-teach better prop styling and photography. Instagram hashtag competitions are a wonderful prompt for this practice. I love the monthly #7VIGNETTES, and @ITS_MY_WEEK run a fantastic weekly competition with a new theme each Monday. But given my adoration of vintage cutlery, I participated in #THESPOONSERIES tag with much enthusiasm. My entries? HERE, HERE and HERE.

Other tags I recommend exploring?

#MYMONTHOFSUNDAYS

#FRIDAYFAFFINGCOMPETITION

#SEEKTHESIMPLICITY

&

#PROPSTYLERS

The gym is calling me back.

Kate  x

Styling and photographs by Moss & Vine

Fudge (pictured) from TILBA TREASURES Ulladulla Aus

Pinkspiration

I've always been a pink loving girl. My adolescent bedroom was the ultimate homage to the colour pink. I've matured a bit in the years since I moved out of home. And so has my taste in colour schemes. Now I favour navy blue, mocha, sea breeze green, emerald, and rose gold. No matter what the colour inspiration is for your wedding, you will find endless examples of it on the world wide web. And I really do mean endless. 

Below is a particularly comprehensive link from the Queen of colour palettes, Martha Stewart.

Wedding Colour Palettes

And just because I still have a (secret) soft spot for pink, here is the prettiest Winter Wedding inspiration shoot featuring pink pops of colour. I can't get enough of that bouquet.

Winter wedding

K xx

Ranunculus boutonnière and photo by Moss & Vine