Celebrating January with new wine glasses

If you're taking part in Dry January, then I apologise, this probably isn't the post for you. And while I agree it's a great initiative that raises both money and awareness for the charities involved, and brings personal benefits too, it's not something for me. I'm not saying never, just not now.

Part of that reason is because I find January can often be hard anyway, after the social month that precedes it the stark contrast is often already tricky to deal with. This year though the other reason is I've some stunning new wine glasses, which I couldn't wait to use.

I mean, just look.

HAMBURG RED WINE GLASSES FROM HABITAT

If they look familiar, then you have seen them here before. They were on the table at the Habitat Supper Club I went to in December. And I was impressed with them then; their modern design, which is delicate enough but yet still angular and chunky enough to stand out. That evening I was pretty sure that MOH would like them too, even though for glassware he's more of a traditionalist, liking fine stemmed glassware. But as we've found out - with a few smashes - the glasses that we use most regularly need to be robust for everyday (or every weekend) use.

I bought the red wine glasses and they are big, only just about fitting into our kitchen cupboard. Their capacity is 54cl, which when ordering online meant very little to me. If you're keen on a more modest sized glass then I think the 31cl white wine glasses would be a good alternative.

And contrary to popular opinion, the larger glasses don't encourage us to drink more. I mean, when the bottle's empty, it's empty, isn't it?

You can enjoy 10% off your first order from Habitat

I left the Supper Club with a voucher from Habitat which I used against my purchase of these glasses and and a set of water glasses in the same range (more on those another day). By using the following link you can enjoy 10% off your first order from Habitat , no strings attached.

What will you buy?

* This is a collaborative post, but all views and opinions are my own.

Post Comment Love and Blogger Showcase 13-15 January 2017

Hello there and welcome to what could be a snowy Friday. If you were here last week, it was great to see you and if you're new here this week, hello - either way it's good to have you along this week and both Morgan and I hope you find some great posts to read. 

As I'm writing this we've had snow here in Greenwich and the top of my car is white, whether or not it'll remain overnight has to be seen.  And for the first time in however long, I'm not dreading my journey to work in the snowy conditions. In fact I think it's safe to say I'm *almost* excited for it, especially if it is proper and pretty snow. 

I won't be standing on a freezing platform waiting for a shorter than usual train this time round. Or worrying about driving on less than ideal and slippy roads, or worrying about the conditions and how everyone else is driving like lunatics and even more than usual. I'll be donning my boots and heading off on foot into Greenwich Park as usual. And I'm hoping it will be pretty rather than slushy, and also that I don't fall over!

Earlier in the week I made another discovery in Greenwich Park, the yellow flowers of witch hazel. It's a hardy plant that's usually in flower in mid-late Winter. And it brings a welcome blast of yellow, which for me, is never a bad thing!

Blogger Showcase: Luke from Hux Life

1. How did you discover blogs/blogging?

My sister's friend Ashleigh has a blog on all things fashion, love and gin. I read numerous posts and it got me thinking that it's a nice creative means to talk about life and general musings. 

2. Why did you start blogging?

I started blogging - at Hux Life - to document the development of my little boy. I think when you try and look back at key development stages, your mind becomes a little cloudy on the details. At least in years to come, I'll have it all written down and can relive the fond or not so fond memories.  

3. What do you find most challenging?

Finding time to sit down and concentrate on writing a good blog post. Being consistent is hard when you are either sleep deprived or other daily household chores need doing, ahead of sitting down with a laptop.

4. What is your favourite topic to write about?

Seeing as Huxley has now taking over our existence, it seems only natural to blog about him; his progressions and our changing life to include him. It's been a whirlwind journey so far and doesn't look like it will be calming down anytime soon. Gives me a lot of good material to blog about.

5. Are you blogging for fun or do you have goals?

Yes, I'm blogging for fun at the moment. I do have goals to be recognised as a key contributor in the world of dad blogging but its something way in the distance, for now.  

6. What is your favourite thing about blogging?

Hearing other peoples stories on parenting. Sharing knowledge and being part of a small community. I'm the first of my mates to become a dad so felt kind of lost being thrust into a new world. Being able to connect with other dads out there has been a great support.  

7. Have you ever attended a blogging conference and if so, what did you think?

No, for just starting out it's not something that really took my fancy at such an early stage. I did see a lot of people I follow on Twitter attend Blogfest 2016 and from their comments, it seemed a very valuable conference. Maybe Blogfest 2017 has my name on it.  

8. What are your 3 best posts?

In order of popularity: 

• The birth story of Huxley...from my point of view.

• My top 5 things for the month of September. A linky series with @suburb4nmum.

• Discussing public baby changing facilities for dads or lack of. A collaboration post with Sudocream for their Changing Room Awards. 

9. Describe yourself in three words?

Caring, witty and a perfectionist.  

10. Are you a tea and biscuit or coffee and cake person?

Coffee and cake all day long... Since having a baby I seem to be fuelled on coffee! Oh, and a slice of carrot cake if you're asking. 

11. What’s your idea of a perfect night out?

Starting at a small cosy venue with a group of friends and some good cocktails, then on to a late night disco party, dancing into the small hours. 

12. Your perfect night in?

A night on the sofa with the OH, a good film, deluxe cheese board and copious amounts of red wine. 

13. What would your best friend/OH/mum or kids say is your best quality?

My good sense of humour and wicked (sometimes inappropriate) laugh.

Thanks Luke! The cheeseboard and red wine sound like a great evening. 

We all like a little bit of Social Love, so make time to connect with Luke here:

Blog  |  Twitter  |  Instagram

An InLinkz Link-up

My current obsession: Scrappy quilts

I've always had a thing for patchwork quilts. I've even made a few in the past; more recently that fondness has manifested itself in the patchwork bread bag I made.  You'll know I planned to make another one, but somehow I haven't yet, and that's because something else has been gnawing at me. And that something is bigger than a bread bag.

It's a full blown quilt.  Well, actually it's more than one.

I know, crazy huh? 

It's not like I have plenty of spare time, is it? But I can't shift the desire to make a quilt, or two. So I've been looking around for what type of quilt, and what pattern I want to make. I know I'll need something relatively simple, and something that grows quickly too. As I've a feeling that if the first one is too hard, or something I perceive to be too hard, then it'll likely get stuck.

I already have some material, well quite a lot in fact. I have a bundle from Prestigious Textiles of yellows, greys and white geometric prints that I always planned to make into a quilt at some point. And I still will but I've realised these will be my second quilt. As while the material is gorgeous, and will be perfect in our bedroom, it suits a more complex design, and isn't for my relatively simple and quick growing quilt.

The design I've chosen for this material is Lori Holt's picnic star quilt, which you can see on her website - scroll down on that link until you find the red, white and blue quilt, and you'll know why it's on my list, and why it's not in top spot, yet.

So what kind of quilt will I make?

The other reason for rejecting the yellow and grey star quilt as my first quilt, is that to me it won't be truly scrappy. I think scrappy quilts should be more, well scrappy. But coordinated scrappy, if I can. When I saw Lori Holt's Great Granny Squared book I knew this was the kind of thing I had in mind. There's enough of a design, enough fabrics repeated, but still scrappy enough to qualify as a scrappy quilt to me.

But how to make it happen?

I could buy the material to make this quilt, but again that defeats the point of the scrappy quilt.

I've material that has been amassing for some time now. Some I've bought, some left over from my earlier quilt making days, which is quite a feat as it's survived several clear outs and has hardly been touched since we moved here some fourteen years ago!  Some more material I'm sure has come from my mum, who is a big sewer. And more still has come from clothes I've cut up instead of throwing out. 

And so, the thing I'm wrestling with, is do I have enough material to do the scrappy approach justice. I'm hoping that by mixing in materials that hold memories the quilt will have that extra-specialness I'm after. MOH's initial reaction was that I couldn't use old clothes for this, but soon backed down when I asked what he thought the origins of patchwork quilts were. It was the easiest win I've ever had, I can tell you. He doesn't know yet, that the space freed up using material is only making space for future treasures, but then again perhaps he does.

I *think* I have enough scrappy material, but I need to work that out for sure before I start. I'm telling myself that "I only need 33 two and a half inch squares" as a minimum to make it work. I mean just thirty three squares, that's not so many is it. In fact I need quite a few sets of thirty three squares, which is where the doubt and uncertainty creeps in. So I think next weekend you'll find me looking for enough similar and contrasting materials for the main part of the quilt. And hoping I have enough. And if I'm lucky, actually cutting some of those squares, but we'll see.

I'm less worried about the background as I have that sorted. I have a king-sized duvet that we no longer use, that should be plenty big enough to at least provide the background for the top of the quilt. While it's cream (which I like), it's design is a bit too fancy and it doesn't look so good un-ironed (I'm less keen on those) and so it too has been relegated for another use. If it doesn't to the back, I've plenty of time to come up with a plan for that.

So wish me luck, acknowledge my craziness and definitely look out for some updates along the way!