my first plant in the ground.

This is it.
It's a big moment....
My first ever plant put in to the ground in my first garden!
It had to be my favourite, Foxglove. And when I saw this pink beauty looking at me in B&Q (not very proper but I needed timber!) I couldn't resist.

The bees seem to be enjoying it.

It was a damn pain to get in. The earth was packed solid and I have no proper tools expect a hand fork and a (now very dented) rusty old trowel.

I'm not looking forward to digging up the rest of the borders (when I can eventually see them). I'm trying to think of it as a good whole body work out now I'm not a member of a gym.

starting basic.

I'm supposed to be waiting for our letting agents to organise a gardener to come in and clear our garden. But with a bad start to the week (general blues and a friendship-gone-bad continuing to circle over my head) I needed something to pick me up and for the first time in a long time, exercise didn't seem like the answer. And I didn't have any beer.

So I started clearing out our jungle of a garden. I know I'll be told off for taking it in to my own hands but I couldn't help it.

I should have taken a better photo of the brambles on the right. Clearing them felt a lot like this:

Except I was the horse.

But in all honesty, it was one of the most relaxing things I've done in a long time. Enough concentration required to not be monotonous but never strenuous.

I think I've found my meditation.

settling in.

The boy I share the new flat and a large chunk of my life decided that earning money whilst on a beach in Guadeloupe sounded like a much better idea than earning money in a potentially rainy UK.

I can't say I blame him. I can say I'm jealous of him.

To distract me from my loneliness in a new city, my best friend came to stay the weekend before also leaving me for more exciting climates (Slovenia).

I'll get my holiday revenge on both of them one day but until then, Oxford has proved somewhat delightful in the sun. Helped endlessly by FINALLY having a garden!

Okay so it's more of a small meadow than a garden. But it's covered with friendly bees and even has a small bistro set.

onwards and upwards (i hope).

A lot has happened.

A lot and not very much at the same time.

That random boy I met a few years ago? The one I moved in with with my two closest friends? He's now one of my closest friends. And I now only live with him. And not even in London (the horror).

We made an alarmingly quick decision to FO out of London and then, for once, did what we said we were going to do. We were spurred on by insane house prices, my desperate need to grow things, general disdain for the city and increasingly undesirable living conditions.

And now we live in Oxford.

And we have a spare bedroom.

And a garden

And a cat. The cat is still to come. Who am I kidding...cats.

I'm still working with the same costume team. But now I have a desk and a named parking space and I get to learn from an amazing designer every day.

I still have a shit car though.

And I still can't do my taxes properly (I have to phone my mum every year for that)

I'm semi-adulting.

And it's nice.

is this the end?

The apocalypse is happening in the UK in a very British was indeed. Slow and boring but relentless. In other words, it has not stopped raining.

I work in Shepperton studios which has somehow managed to stay as isolated as ever and seems totally unscathed by the drizzle of doom.

Something very weird happened today though. Whilst at my desk, imputing data (the glamour) I realised I was…warm…There was…sunshine…

I’m now making elaborate plans for the summer that will inevitably never happen. Mostly involving roller skates, long boards, beaches and taking cocktails really seriously.

there's always room for more sparkle.

because when is glitter NOT a daily essential?

I believe this comes from here?

quietly Lohan-ing.

collecting.

For some reason, England decided to stop playing up and blessed us with sunshine this weekend. It was deeply confusing and highly exciting.
We decided to take a trip back to our university town to source some pieces for the new flat. We were lucky to catch a very out of the way place just before it closed and picked up what I can only describe as the sexiest cutlery set I've ever seen.

I've also been stuffing my little face quite heartily! We've promised ourselves we won't go out for dinner most nights every night.
We'll see how long that lasts.

 

going home.

A lot has happened.
The most important thing being putting an offer on a flat with two of the most important people in my life and some random boy I met last year who I have become very fond of.
I'm considering this to be my proper move to London. We will finally have social space, a kitchen that is actually big enough to cook in and the one thing every home should have, a craft room.
We're all very excited and I hope to document the transformation of the flat. Probably a very empty threat but hopefully it will be a thing to be proud of!

 

I was away.

But now I'm back. Ready to cocktail my way to the end of 2012.

let's fly away.

William Egglestone. Untitled (Glass in Airplane)

amen.

Source unknown. Found via Phoenix

father's day.

Happy Father's day to Father Harding.
I love him very much and I am of the firm belief he is one of the funniest people alive. And one of the best cooks. My sister talks about him in a far more amusing way than I do. She's one of the other funniest people alive.
I just post pretty pictures.

 

the "hideously expensive leather jacket" conundrum.

A lot of people have been there at some point in their clothes buying life. You spend ages (in my case, years) looking for something perfect, determined to not buy anything until the one comes along.You don't want to settle for a series of cheap mediocre items that amount to the price you would have paid for one expensive version you would keep forever (this is how I feel about T-shirts but that's a whole different story for a whole different post).
I have spent years looking for the perfect leather jacket. I found it. It was named, aptly, Perfecto. It was by Joseph. It was £945. Yikes.

 

 So when, one day, driving down the King's Road, I spied a similar shape, with gold zips peering out of a leather shop window, I got a little more excited. Maybe it's cheap! Maybe it's just as beautiful! Maybe they'll give it to me because they can see no one will love it like I love it!

I thought about going back for a few months. Yesterday I went back. It wasn't cheap. It was less than half the price of the Joseph number but still by no means cheap. So I did the proper thing and sat down with a coffee and made a list.

 

Only went and bloody well bought it didn't I?

 

I regret nothing. Though I am now not buying anything other than food and tickets to Batman for a long time.

 

 

late breakfast

I'm starting to discover what I actually enjoy for breakfast. Sliced Nectarines and pork liver pate on Ryvitas is a winner so far.
But only when my best friend isn't in the flat. The sight and smell of pate makes him feel very nauseated.
All I need to add is a delicious coffee.

 

polished.

I'm not really a wearer of nail polish. I do a job that involves a lot lifting and moving and general movement that isn't the best of friends with a manicure.
But I couldn't resist a 3 for £12 deal at Model's Own. And this colour combo is so very pleasing to me!

 

the need for green.

I felt a little blue yesterday. I decided it's because the only landscape I'm seeing at the moment is my phone wallpaper. A trip to the Lake District is due I think.

breakfast.

Work is calming down a lot now which means I have time to eat breakfast at my own pace and actually talk to my best friend. I find breakfast to be the most romantic meal of the day.

upwards.

I feel an itching to climb. I've never done it properly. Photos like this inspire me to start. I have no idea who took it and I can't remember where I found it. But ain't it beautiful?

cos.

The deisgn team at Cos need to be investiagted.
Every season I feel like they've crawled into my head and extracted every fashion fetish I have. Including ones I had no idea I had (Neoprene, I'm looking at you)
I have never bought anything in there, partly because of the (I believe wholly justified) price but mainly because it's very difficult to wrap and pack an entire shop's worth of clothing into bags and carry it home on the tube.
But after an accidental, yet highly successful, shopping trip on Friday, I brought home my 3 new favourite items. Two tops and a beautifully simple clear sphere necklace.

 

Now I just need to try and show some restraint and not buy the rest of the shop.