Small cat Saturday

While I was sorting out our study-cum-craft room last month making space for my new crafting equipment from Fellowes I found some old photos. And when you find old photos, there's only one thing to do isn't there?

Yes, dive right in and look back on those memories. 

The photos I found were of my lovely puss cats. 

SMALL CAT #1: DYLAN, ROARING LIKE A LION

SMALL CAT #3: BOB LEARNING TO EAT FROM A BOWL

SMALL CAT #2: TESSA (SNUGGLING WITH HER DYLAN)

SMALL CAT #4: QUICKLY, THE SPOILT YOUNGEST

In an earlier life I had the potential to become a crazy cat lady, clocking up four fiercely independent moggies over a few years.  From top clockwise they were:

• Dylan, a black long-haired softie named after the spaced out rabbit in Magic Roundabout, who was "lovingly" renamed the big black hairy one by MOH and also the one that made my heart melt from the day I picked him up.
• Tessa, a white and tabby soppy thing who idolised Dylan as you can tell from the photo. She was named for Tessa Sanderson in an Olympic year, and years later proved her daftness by completely failing to master our open tread spiral staircase.
• Next came Bob - or Bob Bob - as she quickly became known. And yes she was super tiny and I thought at the time the most challenging (but little did I know!) Bob was born at a local factory and rescued just before a cull, she was too tiny to be away from her mum and I was told off by the vet until I explained the circumstances. She was so tiny he couldn't be sure if she was a he or a her. She was a her and was named for Kate in Blackadder, so that dates her.
• The finally there was Quickly who bewitched us all. Anyone who's been owned by a ginger tom will testify that they really are characters and he was just that. Cats are renowned for doing their own thing and even at meal times they'd often take persuading to come and eat. I'd regularly be calling for "Dylan, Tessa, Bob quickly" before he arrived and so rather than insert a new name, he became Quickly.  And it suited him.

Poor Dylan and Tessa - there was six months between them, but longer between the others and in some ways had an affinity with each other they never had with the others. Bob also adored Dylan, and he was alpha male. Quickly, when he arrived, thought that was his role and he pushed his luck until the occasional swipe reminded him he wasn't.

I should have known he was going to be the cheeky one from this photo alone shouldn't I?  

CUTE AND CHEEKY

AND TAKING ADVANTAGE OF BEING THE BABY

Quickly arrived most probably in 1991 or 1992, so a good few years ago.  They all moved to this house with us and I'm never sure who tolerated who most, and by that I mean MOH and the cats.  Bob was the last to go around ten years ago - she made it to the wedding reception, making a brief appearance for some of the photos, but by then being a grumpy old lady and not too keen on company was happy to head back to her basket.

I wouldn't have been without them, and couldn't imagine how life would be without them, but now it seems a lifetime ago (and one where I had long hair!)

The Robinson garden at Hyde Hall

Now you're not going to believe this. I almost didn't. And before I tell you, we'd already decided on our gabion journey when I saw this garden, but seeing it made me smile and confirm it had to be done.

If you've no idea what I'm talking about then while I might claim this garden as my own, I'm not the Robinson it's named after. The Robinsons were the first owners of Hyde Hall and this, and the Woodland garden were the first gardens here. In 2006 the Robinson garden was redeveloped to "create a contemporary garden with three distinct boggy areas."

So now I've set the scene, would you believe it looked like this:

NEATLY STACKED GABION BASKETS IN THE ROBINSONS GARDEN

I know, I'm seeing gabion baskets everywhere now!  

AN ENTICING SPACE

Although this is clearly on a much larger scale than ours!

It was useful though to prove to MOH it can be done, and can look fantastic. Being the thorough sort though we spent probably far too long looking at how these were put together. I must admit to loving the order of the neatly stacked inners, but I'm still pleased we opted for the more purse-friendly reclaimed look.

IT'S EVEN GOT A CURVE

It was here though that I really appreciated the helicoils and was glad I'd over ordered and we could add them to the joins and corners on ours.

HELICOILS SOFTENING THE SHARP EDGES

AND CURVES, MEAN TRIANGLE SHAPED SPACES. AND THESE ARE PARTICULARLY GOOD!

The plants weren't bad either...

But this garden wasn't just about the gabions, stones and helicoils. The plants had my name all over them too. 

ALLIUM SEED HEADS

I need more alliums in my garden - must remember that when the bulb catalogues start arriving! But I have plenty of these hart's tongues ferns though - they grow in the old stair well alongside our conservatory.  Every year or so I scrape a load off the wall and plant into a pot and let them grow on. That's how I had enough plants to fill our gabion baskets that we used as planters.  It drives MOH crazy I'm sure, but this summer for the first time ever he saw why it was useful to have some plants that grow in our garden mature enough to be useful.

HART'S TONGUE FERN

The astrantia below should also be on my plant list. I've lusted after it for a while, in fact since I first saw them at Bosvigo in Cornwall in 2014.

GORGEOUSLY DELICATE ASTRANTIAS

The plants were totally at home with the gabion retaining wall, and happily clambering up them.

PLANTS WERE HAPPILY CLAMBERING OVER THE GABION WALL

It's an impressive space, and one that helped us have the confidence to really push forward with ours.

And you never know, maybe the future is gabion basket shaped!

I'm still not sure if I'm spotting more gabion baskets because I'm tuned into them, or if there's more around...

The bedroom and bathroom room sets at this year's Ideal Home Show

Unbelievably I visited the Ideal Home Show almost five months ago - I'm not sure where the time has gone. Equally as unbelievable is I've shared very little from there, and from the Grand Designs show a month later, here until now.  Over the next few weeks I'll share the room sets, the houses and the garden sets from both shows, because, well because it's a great way to see the interior trends, and there's nothing better than having a look at how someone else decorates is there?

This week I'm starting with the bedroom and bathroom room sets and the rest of the rooms will follow.  I talk a lot about texture here on the blog so you can imagine my delight when I saw this bedroom stuffed full of textures, and with a yellow back wall to boot. The faux wall was an interesting idea that could work well in the right sized room.  It provides a great focal feature which you can frame, as they've done here, with a bold colour.  I'll not tell you what's behind there until later.

Yes, this bedroom was all about snuggly texture. The throw on the bed is just insane isn't it?

I also liked the simplicity of the seedhead wallpaper and how the muted colours and patterns all worked together, but I think that string of pom poms on the headboard would be a real dust collector.  The bedside tables are also a design hit with me, the A frame works well doesn't it?

Every bedroom needs a mirror and somewhere to put stuff and this bedroom managed that stylishly too. Although not copper, the mirror perfectly complements the copper hairbrush and eyelash curlers. I never knew copper had become some entrenched, and it looks like it'll be around a while longer doesn't it, but... copper eyelash curlers?  I don't possess any (curlers not eyelashes) but I've a feeling I might need these...

And behind the wall?

The cutest office space. With room for a desk and chair, and a brightly coloured rug it looks a completely different space doesn't it? And a very clever way of keeping a workspace out of sight. Although this one is pretty enough to actually be on display...

The rug fits well with the seed head wallpaper too and I think brings the space together.  I'd happily find room for this in my house too. Along with that tower of white drawers, although I'd resist adding labels and then never remember which drawer I put anything in.

Even now looking back over these pictures I love that bedroom. MOH didn't like the big chunky throw, but he wouldn't need to have any of it would he?  So moving on...

To the bathroom

A completely different look here, and a dramatic one too. I've seen lots of black and white in bathrooms, and there's a good reason for that, and that's because it works. This one has touches of grey, wood and metallics as well as plants. Of course it's completely unrealistic size-wise but there's some great ideas here too.

I like the inbuilt tiled shelf for pots and jars - but only stylish ones obviously, and the black ladder towel rail against the black wall. You'd think it wouldn't stand out, but it does.

With the bath in the centre of the room there's another faux panel to frame it and add decorative touches. We'd never be able to have such prettiness in our bathroom as I'm sure it wouldn't last too long before being knocked to the floor. I'm not usually a fan of standalone baths, but I like this one with its own wall close by.

So there's the first two room sets, both inspiring, but both very different. What did you think? Would you - or do you - go for either of these styles?