Doris' Get Ready for Camping List.

Ed and I are hoping to be able to take Doris (our T25 VW campervan) out for our first camping trip together very soon. I am so excited, I just can't wait to go to the seaside in her  read books, have adventures and relax. As I love lists so much I decided to scribble one up to get Ed and I focussed on some of the things we will have to aquire before the first camping trip. We really don't need that much as we have been collecting treasure for her even before we bought her.

So far we have a collection of vintage and new melamine plates and cups. I refused to drink any hot liquid out of the old melamine because I was scared of weird chemicals zapping into my drink (I'm not sure this fear is founded on real fact or not). So I bought Ed the tin VW mug ages ago and Ed bought me my tin camping mug today! It was in the sale at Paperchase and I thought it was super cute. I bought three cushion covers from a charity shop absolutely ages ago and I just never found a proper use for them so I have decided I am going to throw them in the wash and get them customised so they can live in Doris. Its one of my beliefs that you can never have too many cushions (Ed doesn't like them too much though hehe). 

Have you got any trips you are itching to start?

xkx

Antique Shop Treasures.

I absolutely love meandering around antique shops in the little sleepy town near to where my mum and dad live, it is so relaxing. They also have some good charity shops there too! These are my gorgeous treasures that I found in the antique market today. The first thing I saw was this rather peculiar fruit bowl. I think my mum thought it was a bit odd looking but I adored it! I thought the colours were muted and this reminded me of the Sawley 'ugly pots' that I have a slight addiction to. The whole fruit pile does lift off to so that means that I can use the bowl to hide special things in. 

I could not resist these celebratory cups, I blame my dad for this because last year he gave me a cardboard box of old jubilee cups that he had collected many years ago. They had been sitting in the garage for ages and were covered in cobwebs, but they scrubbed up wonderfully. So now I have a whole little shelf dedicated to these treasures and I just can't help but add to them. My favourite was the cup from 'The Great World War' from 1918, to just think that this cup has been in this world for nearly 100 years is incredible and it really stimulates my imagination to what it would have witnessed over the years. I think it has been broken a couple of times and glued back together, but it was £2 and I was in love so I really wasn't bothered. 

What are your favourite antique treasures?

xkx

Lemon-balm-ade

As it has been such a lovely warm day again I couldn't resist to splash up some lemonade with a slight twist. This is a super easy recipe! To make around a pint all you need is 4 unwaxed lemons (if you use waxed you will get icky scum floating on the top), some sugar, around 1 pint of boiling water, some ice cubes and a little bunch of lemon balm.

I zested the four lemons, then chopped them in half and squeezed the bitter juice out of them (a handy tip is to roll the lemons or put them in hot water for a few minutes to get more juice out of them). 

Next I ripped up and added a small bunch of lemon balm. Then I spooned 3-4 tbs of sugar into the fragrant mix and poured over about 1 pint of boiling water. It is good to taste how sweet it is at this point (be careful not to burn your mouth though) if it is still a bit tart then add more sugar but I always think it is best to have it a bit sharper tasting because this tastes delicious when it is chilled. Then I left this in the fridge to cool. Once it is chilly I strained it through a sieve and chucked in a few handfuls of ice. 

I served this lovely-ade out of my little cottage teapot, in china tea cups with plenty of ice and some sprigs of lemon balm. I also made a little cocktail for Ed by putting a splash of gin into it which was rather yummy as well.