Admiring the curve

As soon as I saw this wooden curved structure, potentially a bench, at the Chelsea Flower Show this year I suspected the work of Tom Raffield, and I wasn't disappointed.  The wood is steamed and bent into the most fantastic shapes, this one the most ambitious I've seen to date.  I knew that I'd included Tom's work on the blog before, but hadn't realised (until I looked) that it was twice before.  The first was when Tom was one of Kevin's green heroes at the 2015 Grand Designs Live show and then again later that year after he featured in one of John Lewis' creative spaces.

But this was something else.

It'd be great as a garden bench, wouldn't it?  I didn't try it out!

The curves are the same as the lights though, if not a little bit more uniform than I've seen previously.  And just as I was admiring the boundary curves, I spied a circular seat.

Drawn to the simple shape and lines I was soon in front of the circular seat - isn't it fantastic?  I think, even more spectacular than his lights, and that's saying something.

But the lights are still great and i was pleased to see them inside the stand, looking as curved an fantastic as usual.

One day, I'm hoping I'll be the proud owner of (at least) one of these.  I'll need a new house with a proper all or lobby first though...

Until them I'm happy to admire whenever I can...

Post Comment Love and Blogger Showcase 6 - 8 July

Hello there and welcome to this week's PoCoLo, and another hot one here in the UK. If you were here last week it was great to see you, if you're new here then hello, you're very welcome.  Morgan and I are sure you'll find some more great posts again this week, so do take a moment and stop by a couple of the posts.

I've spent the week in Yorkshire and it's been good to get away, I wasn't sure if we'd make it but we have, and you'll not be surprised to learn we've seen lots, plenty of new-to-me gardens, some beer tasting and plenty of cheese tasting too and I even got MOH into a wool shop, which may have been a mistake, but we'll see.

My photo this week is from the Mat Collishaw exhibition at Castle Howard, if I'm honest it was a bit odd but worth seeing.  I much preferred the bird pictures to the main event and I'm sharing one of those bold images with this post.

Blogger showcase: Sarah from Mummykind

1. Who are you?

Hi, my name is Sarah! I'm 22 (nearly 23) years old and I have a daughter who was two at the end of May, I'm currently studying to be a barrister, and am an army wife with a husband who is currently deployed in Afghanistan - life is pretty hectic, to say the least!

2. How did you discover blogging?

When my daughter was 8 weeks old, I had this urge to write her a letter that she could read one day when she was older... She was asleep next to me holding my hand so I couldn't very well get a pen and paper so instead, I began writing my own blog from my phone at about 2am one fine night.

3. Why did you start blogging?

I have always loved writing. I never intended for my original blog to be something I made quite open and public - it is available to the public but my primary focus with that one is just to write letters to Olivia. The reason behind Mummykind is purely because one of us - Amy - had a total brainwave as a result of a morphine-managed endometriosis flare up to start a collaborative blog where we would tell the truth about parenting, things we'd wished someone had told us etc.

4. What do you find most challenging?

Hmmmm... I don't get how it takes sooooo much time!

Seriously, I completely understand how a successful blog is a full time job, and you'd think that with six of us, managing the blog would be a lot easier. But it really isn't. There's always so much to do and so much to say and it's actually most challenging trying to take a break from working on it, because once you start it is so so hard to stop.

5. What's your favourite topic to write about? 

It's not exactly my favourite, but writing my #MentalHealthMonday posts feels important and I get the most reward from them. I like to think that someone reading those has stumbled across something important that just might help them. But they can be quite hard (emotionally) to write. My favourite topics to write are actually recipes - I love sharing recipes with our readers.

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

A bit of both. It's crazy fun, and weirdly it doesn't feel like something I do that's dominated by babies and parenting. It feels like it's something I do just for me. We all have goals for Mummykind, but to be honest we're all just happy to see it grow and to feel the achievements that we've had so far.

7. What is your favourite thing about blogging?

Meeting so many lovely people - it's a whole little community of people, especially in the parenting blogger sphere, that just get it.

8. Have you attended a blogging conference?

Nope, but I would love to so please recommend some to me.

9. What are your three best posts?

My best posts on the blog are:

• Top Tips for Mums Planning a Wedding and Honeymoon

• Confession: I didn't enjoy pregnancy

• Vegan/Veggie Curry Recipe

BUT our all time best blog post on the blog is this one from Maria:

7 Things They Don't Tell Pregnant Women

10. Describe yourself in 3 words

Determined. Busy.  Crazy (I mean, who isn't?)

11. Are you a tea and biscuits or coffee and cake person?

Tea and biscuits! Who eats coffee and drinks cake?

12. What's your idea of a perfect night out?

A night out? You mean, they're still possible after kids?!

It would definitely be a date night with my husband. We had the perfect one before he deployed - a movie, drinks and dinner!

13. And a perfect night in?

Bubble bath, candles, cuddles on the sofa with my husband and someone looking after the baby so that we wouldn't get interrupted every 43 seconds.

14. What would your best friend/OH/Mum or kids say is your best quality?

Ummmm, Olivia calls me a poo regularly, is that a quality? I really don't know, I hate these questions! Maybe that I never give up, on anything, so much so that it actually gets annoying? Hang on I'm going to ask my husband and I'll be right back...

He said honest, dependable and determined (well, I did tell him to keep it clean!)

Thanks for sharing more about you and your blog Sarah, before we link up pop over and if you're not already, give @mummykindoff a follow on Twitter.

If you'd like to feature in a future Blogger Showcase then send your answers to our questions to postcommentlove@gmail.com

An InLinkz Link-up

Rich in colour and pattern

Today I'm sharing a room set from this year's Grand Designs Live and I expect it to be a bit marmite.  Everywhere you look there's colour and pattern, and colour and pattern on top of that.  It is an assault on your senses, and while I don't think I could live with all of it, I do admire it. 

I think I like the patterns individually, but it's rare that many of us would put so many bold colour-ways and patterns together.  But I think, along with the accessories, it gives the room a vintage feel.  One of the things I'm struck by is the flooring, with the geometric black and white pattern overlaid with carpet which has an almost chinoiserie-like feel to it, and somehow it works.

The wall art also contributes to the eclectic feel, with its butterflies forming a wreath complementing the big cat on the wallpaper.  I didn't spot that to start with either.

In fact the table lamps are probably the most staid item in the room, or the shades anyway.  The lamp bases with the glass (crystal?) blobs bounce the colour and pattern around the room, and the jade green oyster chairs bring yet another burst of solid colour.

I think the chairs needed to be a plain colour, or it would be a pattern too much.  But how many is too many?  I think the boundaries may just have been pushed with this room.  The bed too is reflective of the room, and full of colour, with even more pops of colour added above the headboard.  It goes against what we expect for a restful bedroom doesn't it?

Even so though, it's a room that's been cleverly put together, and one that while I admire I fully recognise some might need sunglasses to enter, what do you think?