Tuesday Teacup - Floral Holiday

I came up with this simple tea blend whilst sitting typing away at my computer one grey, rainy day last week. I found my Damask Rose Tea Buds tucked away in the kitchen cupboard and when I popped the cork of the container my nose was filled with thoughts of Turkish Delight. I decided to add these buds to some Choi Jasmine Pearls, once the two started to infuse together it smelt amazing. The mix of rose and jasmine is super decadent and delicious. 

If you would like to make a little cup of Floral Holiday for yourself then put 7-8 Jasmine Pearls in a cup (if you can't find Choi Jasmine Pearls then look for Dragon Pearl tea it tastes pretty much the same). Boil some water and leave it to cool a little, if you pour boiling water onto green tea it will spoil the taste and destroy a lot of the wonderful antioxidants. Pour the water into the cup over the pearls, I don't bother straining the this tea because it is top quality so there aren't loads of bits that float around the cup. I then drop 3 Damask Rose Buds into the concoction and leave them to float, infuse and make me feel wonderful.  

The Jasmine Pearls are at the high end of my tea hoard, being £15.99 per 100g. They are a little pricey because this tea is made from the young shoots of the green tea plant which are then hand rolled with jasmine flowers! This tea is amazing and worth every penny, its worth keeping in mind that 7-8 pearls per cup will make 3-5 cups of green tea because the quality is so high; so once you look at it like that it doesn't work out that expensive per cup. If you want a cup of tea that makes you feel like an exotic princess this is it! When I drink this tea I close my eyes and just pretend I am sitting on a beach in Thailand soaking up the sun, then I open my eyes and get back to work with the rain pattering on the window. 

If you are local to Nottingham then you lucky things can pop by the Delilah Delicatessen and purchase all the tea featured in this blog and maybe have a spot of yummy lunch while you're there. 

Hope your week is off to an inspiring start <3

xkx

Holiday by the River.

I know I have been super quiet this month, I have been quite busy in one way or another and the early, dark nights just make me want to hide under a rug most of the time when I am at home. Ed and I decided we needed a long weekend away from everything so we booked this beautiful little secluded log cabin in Wales near Hay on Wye (otherwise known as the Town of Books). We had a river flowing outside the cabin, which was a little scary at times with all the rain we have had over the last few days, it rose a good few feet whilst we were there!

We had such a relaxing time and I even made friends with the lovely, little local cat that belonged to the owners of the lodge. We explored the town of books which I think should be renamed to 'The town of books and antiques', there we so many exciting boutiques to search around. I nearly bought a taxidermy badger umbrella stand but I just managed to tear myself away from (mainly because my dad hates badgers and I don't think he would be  very pleased if I had a stuffed one in my home). We had the most perfect Sunday lunch at the The Felin Fach Griffin, the food there was out of this world good with an amazing selection of local cider and ales. It was the perfect get away and Ed and I caught up on some much needed R&R. 

Hope you have had a spiffing weekend and that your Monday was as good as a Monday can be <3

Busy Week Picture Mash Up.

It had been a busy week this week, I have been making the last few plans for Ed's birthday (Happy Birthday lovely husband Ed) and getting back into the swing of things really. The days just seem to have raced by and I got to Friday and hadn't updated my blog for a good few days! I had planned posts but they just haven't wanted to be born so here is a mash up of some of the pics and frolics that Ed and I have been having this week.  

I booked a couple of nights away near the sea side as we haven't been that much this year, due to the rainy summer we have had. And thankfully today it stayed fine, so fingers crossed for tomorrow as we have a day trip to Whitby planned. I am so excited about going to Whitby as I have wanted to go there since I was a little goth! 

Hope you have lots of loveliness planned for the weekend <3

Photo an Hour - Our Wedding Day.

So yesterday Ed and I tied the knot and what a perfect day it was. I thought I would like to remember the day by taking a photo an hour, so here they are.

7am - Ed surprised me with a whole bag of Lush products and a new Swarovski charm for my bracelet. What a way to start a day!

8AM - I do my make up and my hair.

9AM - I finish off preparing the post wedding lunch.

10AM - It was raining, but we didn't let that stop the fun.

11AM - This is my lovely friend Ali and I loitering outside the venue before for the ceremony starts.

12AM - The ceremony is done... We are man and wife!

1PM - We all get back to our place ready for a spot of lunch.

2PM - Having fed everyone, it is time to quickly pack and get on the road.

3PM - We have a long way to go and it is all motorway so far.

4PM - Still on the boring motorway.

5PM - Still on the motorway...

6PM - I was so excited to see the Angel of the North.

7PM - The coast roads are far more exciting than the motorway.

7:30PM - We are so close now!

8PM - We made it and wow Edinburgh is absolutely stunning!


We can't wait to get out and explore today! Hope everyone is having a fun day too. 

Plant Sale Adventure in the SUN

I woke up this morning... and it was sunny! If you are not from the UK you may not be aware of how much rain we have been having the past few month. So when I saw that delightful fiery ball in the sky I knew I had to go and see what adventures there were to be had. Ed and I meandered down the street from where we live and there was a plant sale. I don't have many vices in my life but books and plants (especially herbs) make me weak at the knees. 

 I love having a good fondle of the leaves. 

 I thought the pink and yellowy cream of these flowers were just beautiful, kind of pudding colours. 

I love this bloom so much, unfortunately I was so excited about the prettiness of it I forgot to see what it was called. The colours reminded me of poisonous mushrooms.

I couldn't believe how big these bulbs were! I think they were for some sort of lilly, probably that grew right up to the sky.

Lavender *sigh* one of my most favourite plants in the whole world. But I am a bit of a purist and my affection is plainly pointed towards English lavender, I just think it is prettier and smells nicer... but maybe I'm just biased.  

All the colours, all the beautiful knowledgable little labels peeking from behind the plants like a joyous paper headstone.

Daisies always remind me of my lovely mum, they are her all time favourite flower.  

I have to be a little restrained at plant sales or I would just buy everything. I was very good today and only bought one plant, its possibly one of the cutest herbs ever, it's a thyme called Rasta. The leaves are so tiny and it has miniature, lavender-pink flowers that open from crimson-red buds in summer.

 The colour of these make me think of tequila sunrises *yum*.

We ended up walking past the green grocers and I couldn't help but buy some local raspberries that Ed and I shared in the park in the sunshine. It was a very relaxed morning. Now I have to get ready for my hen do tonight *eek*. 

Sunny Hunny & Crabs at Wells!

As we were nearish to the coast after the wedding we (Ed and I) went to we decided a little seaside trip was in order. We were lucky because it didn't rain all day! (for those of you not in the UK we have had a rather wet summer so far). We started our adventure in Hunstanton, which has some lovely sandy beaches to frolic on.

This is the state of our British summer this year (and this was on a good day). But we have to make the best of what we get. When the sun does shine here though it is rather special because of the West facing beach it means you can actually see the sun set over the sea! That is something I would love to see one day.

This is the Wiley the Wash Monster. This amazing beast is an ex military vehicle that was created in 1967 to be used as a landing craft by American forces in Vietnam. But now he is used as a 60 seater tour vehicle that chugs around the coast. Ed and I went on this a few years ago and it was so much fun.


We decided, after a look round Hunstanton to go to Wells by the Sea. This is one of my favourite places in the whole world. Its so lovely to so and have a look around and they have amazing sea food there as well. This was a very cheeky duck who wouldn't leave us alone whilst we had our lunch.

There are always people crabbing here and we have watched people many times filling their little buckets with the crafty crustaceans. So we decided to pop our crabbing cherry and have a go at it ourselves. We hurried along to get a crab line (the one we bought had no hooks just bait bags because we didn't want to hurt anything). We filled our meshy bags with bait and plopped them in the water... And waited... 

We didn't have to wait long. My favourite crab has to be the one covered in barnacles, we nicknamed this one Barnacle Bill.

Before my Friend's Wedding.

On Friday my partner Ed and I went to our friend’s wedding. It was a super lovely day, despite all the rain. This was us whilst we we settling into the hotel room before the wedding began. As you can see I love men with beards hehe.

This is the first time that I have worn this dress and I absolutely adore it. This dress was handmade in the 40s, I love the thought that this dress has been alive for over 70 years. If only dresses could talk, I'm sure it could tell me lots of little secrets. This dress was an Easter present from Ed and we bought it from one of my favourite vintage shops Violet Rose Vintage. I have picked up some beautiful clothes from here and I hope to do a post on them in the future. 

And last but not least I better not forget to mention the shoes...

I spied these shoes in the sale! These little beauties are by Irregular Choice and I have got to say that I have never had so many compliments on a pair of shoes before. I have only wore these twice so far, but everyone seems to just fall in love with them. The are really comfortable as well, which is a massive benefit for me as I usually wear flats. The Irregular Choice website is definitely one to go and have a browse through, it is one of those pages that I look at if I am feeling a little bit glum as all the wacky, colourful designs cheer me right up.