Oil and vinegar

Or as my new bottles say Olio and Acete, a recent purchase as a momento from our break in Italy along with a new butter dish. And not surprisingly I’m embracing the yellow, so where better to photograph them than on the dresser in a particularly yellow spot.   

We often bring something home from holiday to remind us of our trip, and quite often it’s something that catches our eye, rather than something that’s planned. But it’s always something we’ll use, or have a use for. 

On this trip it was very nearly a decorative plate that I fell for on our visits to the local town of Todi. In the maze of a town, or our circuitous route around it anyway, even I was surprised I managed to find the shop again on our second visit. But of course I managed to.  

After some longing and oohing over the ceramics, we asked the price and tried not to look too shocked. It was pricier than we expected, and I wasn’t sure if it would fit where I had in mind at home, let alone in our hand luggage. So with a last look we walked away, but even MOH was getting smitten and said to buy it if you want it.  

But I resisted, as I really wasn’t sure on the size. Although a new plan was forming, so back we headed to the shop again.  Only this time it was our final purchases that I had in mind.  

We’d seen many sets as we perused the shops in town, but none this colour and none squished like this so they nestled together. Clever, huh?

And then came the breakthrough.  We needed a new butter dish.  Yes, needed. (The glaze on ours has gone and butter seeps through the pottery and leaves a greasy mess on our kitchen worktop - so I mean needed).

But, I didn’t want to be without one. I’m a butter fan, and don’t like it fridge cold and so our butter is out and at room temperature year-round.  So when the butter dish hd been decided on too, and I’d agreed to get rid of the old one, MOH couldn’t quite believe his ears. He’d proffered replacement butter dishes over the years, but all had been rejected. Until now. 

And it was worth the wait. It’s quickly replaced the seeping dish in my affections, but sssh! don’t tell MOH, I think I’m only going to crock** half of the dish, as I realised the top half would make a great cover for cheese...

** and yes, to crock - that’s a verb, to break crockery to use as drainage “crocks” in plant pots. A great way to use old crockery as it’s satisfying to smash (as long as you look out for flying pieces) and when you next empty your pot, you never quite know what memory you will quite literally unearth! 

Furniture that's stylish, and good for the environment

Often at Grand Designs you find things you wouldn’t find at other shows, and often they’re things that, especially at Grand Designs, are good for the environment, but often they make you stop and admire them too. So that’s quite something, and the furniture in this post is all of those.

It was the lockers that made me look twice at the X-Ply stand, both their finish and the uniformness of the design appealed. I think they’d work really well in a hall, or a utility room, or even a craft room. I don’t have either of the first two, I’m closer to the second but there’s no room for any additional storage, sadly, but I think they’d be a great addition on their looks alone.

When I learnt more about the ethos of the company, I liked them even more. The company are committed to reduce the single use of plastics and so the X-PLY range has been developed using only recyclable materials - plywood, aluminum and steel - and doesn’t use any plastic in its construction.

They’re aimed at a more business market, but could be adapted for a home use too, whether that’s the desks in a home office or the lockers just about anywhere really. The desks come with pre-cut cable holes, which is a great way of getting rid of messy leads and something that’s usual in office spaces and less so in home environments, but there’s no reason why, is there?

The team desks - basically large desks that more than one people could work at - would be great in a large home office, or even as an informal dining table. And thinking about it more it’d also be great in a craft room for laying out quilts, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself here though, it’s not as if I’m a mega-quilter is it, I’m still making slow progress on my scrappy quilt…

So what do you think, could you, or would you incorporate these into your home?

A quick change in the loos

You didn’t think I’d go to The Grosvenor and miss out on photographing some loos, did you? Of course I didn’t. We were hoping our room would be ready (it wasn’t), which was disappointing, but on the other hand it did provide the perfect reason to go on a loo hunt. We opted to head away from the toilets nearest reception on the ground floor thinking that these would most likely be busy, and that seemed to pay off as the loos near the function room were quiet, in fact it was just like having my own space.

The thing that struck me was the door and the corridor leading to the loos, it was the narrowest I’ve seen for a while and loaded up with a bag, hat and brolly, I did well to manoeuvre through the entry challenge. Once in though the room was tastefully and understated, which is just what you’d expect I think. Something that was a bit too way out there, is more likely to jar in this environment.

But it was a space I quickly made my own. Here’s the before shot.

The during, or the takeover shot…

And the after.

A loo series with a difference this time round, but the first with a quick change.

Nice hat missus!