On trend: Coastal style

 I have returned from a wonderful week in Portugal where we stayed in the lovely coastal village of Burgau.  The sun was HOT and the scenery beautiful.

It is no wonder that coastal beach style living is so on trend at the moment. Summer is almost here and we want to surround ourselves with holiday inspired treasures. Here are a few of my favourite interiors that reflect a stylish coastal surrounding.

Beach Sign – Live, Laugh, Love.

Hand carved sail boat door stop – The Beach Hut

Enamel Mussel Pot – The Beach Hut

Hand Quilted Picnic Blankets – Nordic House

Seaside Sign – The Seashack

 

A short break in the Lakes

If you’re thinking of getting away for a few days then I can’t recommend the Lake district enough.  I didn’t realise how much I needed a little break until we went to Penrith for a few days last week.  We stayed in the beautiful Temple Sowerby Hotel, where we were given a very warm and friendly welcome.  The highlight was the outstanding food that was offered in the restaurant, I think it was possibly one of the best meals we have eaten.  We retired to the lounge and sat by the log fire with a little tipple, feeling very satisfied indeed.

From left to right – Canapes(mushroom soup, Salmon croque monsier, Sweet and sour pork – roasted rump of Cumbrian lamb, slow cooked shoulder, pease pudding,lettuce, smoked onion, lamb juices – fragrant slow-cooked feather of local beef, carrot tagine, cous cous, rose veal shin pastilla, braising juices – banana cheesecake, toffee ice cream, confit watermelon, toffee popcorn – regional farmhouse selection with walunts, celery and Ash’s own home-made chutney.

While we were there we enjoyed a couple of lovely walks in the sunshine and revelled in the peace and quiet.  It is certainly a place we will visit again, the perfect way to clear your mind and gain a fresh head.

Pooley bridge – waiting for the Ullswater steamer to take us to Howtown.

Beautiful views – walking from Howtown back to Pooley Bridge.

Holiday fun

I’m back!!

Well what can I say, I had a wonderful holiday in the Lake District and we have certainly overdulged in a lot of delicious food and drink.  The Olympics have inspired me to get a bit fitter and start being a bit healthier (I certainly need to after our indulgent holiday), so I’m feeling quite refreshed and excited about getting back to normality.  Here are a few photographs from my time away. The Lake District really is beautiful, there is so much of it to see that we’ll simply have to go back and do it all again.

Watching some Olympic fun in Manchester.

A trip to Elterwater near Ambelside and a hilly walk to Grasmere.

Today is the last day of my holiday sadly but I’m dedicating it to doing Sweet Mabel things which means I’m as happy as can be.  Oh and I’m about to go and put a chicken and chorizo stew in the slow cooker so it really doesn’t get better than that.
Have a lovely day!

Happy August

Hello lovelies.

I just wanted to let you know that I will be taking a little break from blogging for a couple of weeks.  Partly because I’m suffering from writers block and also because I’m going on a little holiday next week.

It’s been a busy month and I’ve been working my little socks off to get my Etsy shop up and running, so I feel like I need to have a little rest and recharge my batteries.  The good news is that when I’m back I should have lots of fresh ideas to share with you all.

It’s my birthday next week and my man is taking me to the Lake District for a few days.  I’m really looking forward to some nice walks and a relaxing time in the spa, preferably followed by a bottle of champagne and a good meal. (It is my birthday after all.)  I’ll still be using Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (sweetmabel) of course, so you can still find out what I’m upto if you so desire.

I’ll leave you with a few photographs of some projects that I will be working on over the next couple of weeks.  Fingers crossed they will be finished for when I see you lovely lot again.

Back to reality

Good afternoon everybody!

I’m back  from my holiday in Rhodes, a little browner and feeling very relaxed.  Maybe a little too relaxed, as I don’t seem to have the motivation to do anything right now but I did have a wonderful time. We ate some delicious food, drank some heavenly cocktails and saw some very pretty sights.  I’ve jotted a few ideas for Greek recipes in by notebook so hopefully I’ll find some time to experiment with them soon.  Here are a few of our holiday snaps.

So now it’s time to get back to normal and unfortunately go back to work tomorrow, booohooo!  Still, it’s now October which means we’ll soon be embracing Autumn (this unusually warm weather surely can’t last much longer).  I’ve got lots of ideas to share with you all, like updating your home for the colder months ahead, creating some home crafts and there will be lots of comforting food to keep your bellies satisfied.  I can’t wait to get started.