Fishy BBQ

Last nights dinner was a fishy feast! Its so hot here at the moment and so going out during the daytime is really quite difficult. For that reason goig out in the evening is the only real way to enjoy the sunshine without it being too uncomfortable. 

We have been eating out in the garden every night and last night I was inspired to go for fish. The mackerel recipe I use is one of jamie olives and couldn't be more simple.

• After preparing and cleaning the fish, pat dry with kitchen towel and rub salt into the skin and cavity.
• Then stuff the cavity with fresh rosemary sprigs
• Place into a grill trap and cook over coals for 3 minutes each side

The little fish above are sardines fresh from the market. There is no recipe here just put then into a grilling trap and cook until done... not long at all. My french family then eat them whole but I am a little funny about bones so I try my best to get the tiny fillets off :)

Im a fan of the evening drink and as it was a special occasion as one of my closest friends had use arrived from New Zealand to see me we prepared italian bellinis. There are many versions on how to make this drink ad having travelled so much of Italy and the world, together we decided on how we liked it best

• Skin and mash some white peaches and mix with a little sugar
• add this to the bottom of a glass, about 2cms
• crush ice and fill the glass to the top
• Then fill again with cold prosecco or champagne and garnish with mint

yum :)

Recent happenings

Meet Bird Bean... I awoke the other morning with really loud cheeping in my ear so went to investigate thinking that my other half had left the door open and a bird had flown in... after half an hours search I was dumbfounded... eventually I realized the voice was coming from above me... so up a ladder i went and pulled down a light fitting and there peeking out was this little fellow... So cute... He's taking food well but he's very young so Im doubtful he will live but I will keep you informed :)

Another thing that we have been upto is collecting figs from the garden trees. We have so many this time of year that I never know what to do with them and i hate to think of them going to waste on the tree. Last year I made fig chutney and stores of that are now low so I will be making another batch of that as soon as I find time.

Baby hens have been released out into the garden now... Always a bit of a worrying time of the year as we have had little ones wondering off and not finding their way home. We live on the edge of a big forest and Im sure Mr Fox has been sniffing around even with our dog guarding 

And lastly I thought Id share with you a pic of me and Evie walking up in the mountains last weekend. We are so lucky to live on the coast and an hour from the Alpes. Best of both worlds really :)

Summers begun

`

Its starting to really hot up here in Southern France and we are definitely starting to feel the heat. Ive been spending a lot of time at garden centers and to be honest I've managed to buy much more than my garden can handle I think. So when I came home to plant out all the new herbs I had purchased I was a little worried about where to put them. 

So Ive decided to try out something I have seen somewhere, perhaps a magazine or television program. Its a herb garden on my windowsill which is meant to stop mosquitos from coming through the window. I have to say that its been going a couple of weeks now and it really does seem to be working. Ive planted, chives, basil, thyme, sage and parsley 

Dorset Trip

Just wanted to share with you these few photos I took when I went to visit Dorset for a weekend.

It was the first time in my life I had seen first hand beach huts along the English coast and I fell in love. They are ridiculously expensive and considering the weather is always so bad in the UK I can't ever see myself wanting to purchase one but I still think they are really sweet and such a cute English tradition.

Bluebell Meadow

Spring Flowers

Some photos I took a couple of weeks ago in the garden as it was such a beautiful day. Once I got inside and looked through them I realized that there was a correlation between them all, they are all purple/pink. Im not a very pink person but obviously on a subconscious garden level I am...

Pink strawberry blossom

Apple tree buds

Jubilee Stamp

This little piece I made to celebrate the queens jubilee this year. Im not overly patriotic but I love how Britain pulls together for such events and feels like one united country. Living in France I felt I was missing out a little to I decided to make a little something to put on my wall so that Im in a little way involved.

Ive hand sewn it although once I was done I decided that glueing the fabric ridged would have probably worked best so that the fabric didn't tread out. i think Im going to make another one just to see if my hunch is correct but for now Im pretty happy with this and it looks lovely on my wall.

I like to look at it while Im drinking my tea in the morning :)

Crafty Family

My aunty plum (as we call her) is my mothers best friend. She is the most amazing, creative person and I thought I would spare a minute to show you what she has given me and also one of her paintings.

She's an artist by trade and a vert eccentric one at that. She experiments with all forms of creativity from papier mache to painting.

She's had many exhibitions over the years and will be having another one soon show casing her new projects which are fairies... slightly mad and drunk looking ones at that hahaha!

Also wanted to show you the mouse that my God mother knitted for Evies first Birthday. Its delicate and Evie is quite boisterous so I won't let her have it until she is older, which suites me fine because he looks great sat in my tea set cupboard :)

rape seed

These are just two shots that I wanted to share with you from my trip to England recently. Spring is one of the most beautiful times to visit the countryside as its fields are often full of these flowers and it looks amazing

Wild Strawberries

Its hotting up in the garden and theres been just enough sunshine to let these beautiful wild forest strawberries ripen in the garden. 

When we bought the house it was in fact very overgrown and not looked after. As we live in an area where there is a large risk of forest fires we were told by the local council that we needed to cut the perimeter of the land that we own. That was two years ago now and it seems that lying dormant in the ground were hundreds of wild strawberry plants as they have popped up everywhere!!! 

Evie now, every morning leaves the house in search of the sweet red fruits and knows all the secret spots in the garden!!! So funny!!! She won't share though 

Diego

Soooo, soothing else I wanted to share with you was my friend Diegos work. We met seven years ago when I was living and working in Genova Italy. I must admit I was smitten within the first few seconds but nothing ever came of it just friendship. He always joked about using me as one of his models and so one day a few years later I agreed.

Imagine a typical artists apartment studio. At the top of a very old building in a historic area down the dark streets of Genova, the room only lit by candles and glasses of wine ready. Im sat on the best and he tells me to undress. Should have been something out of a romance novel except my uncomfortable looking new boyfriend at the doorway clearly not happy about the chemistry in the room.
I didn't undress however and Diego took photos to capture the light how he wanted it. A few months later and the ink drawing was produced and to my surprise the oil canvas.

I love his work, he has such an eye for detail. it is however, a little un orthodox but there is meaning behind each piece.

Check out his website :)

http://www.diegotoscani.com/

A Romantic Table Decoration

Its always helps when creating a table setting to have handy tableware such as napkin rings and different colour napkins. 

                                                                                                                             This is a fairly simple setting where I tried to mimic to colours on the plate with the centerpiece. Not having blue placemats I used black (which I prefer)  and the yellow flowers mimic the golden detail on the plates.