Love this #81: Balls of fire, or garden fireballs

I saw these at the Ideal Home Show much earlier in the year and now that the weather is turning a little chillier it seemed a good time to share them, as we try and extend the use of our gardens for as long as we can.  You might have thought about a fire pit, and we have, but what do you do with it when it's not in use, they're not always so attractive looking are they?

Which is where the garden fireballs are different, there's a range of designs and sizes available in these steel balls for fire.  Whether you want a traditional leaf design, the stag or as I've seen on their website a dragon design, which really would breathe fire wouldn't it?

I spent a fair amount of time at this stand admiring them all, and wondering where I could fit one into my garden.  As you'll know I didn't leave with one - you'd have seen it in my garden by now, if I had, but I did leave seriously impressed. The designs are great, although I'm not sure which I'd choose if it came down to it, but also because they can be left out in the garden year round, and while not in use keeping you warm will bring a decorative element to your garden.

There's a practical element too, each comes with a drain hole so they won't become waterlogged and not be ready.  I think they could quite easily sit within a border over winter, and act as a reminder of warmer days.  I've definitely got one earmarked for a future garden, and if MOH had been with me then it's more than likely we'd have had a serious conversation.

What do you think?  They're definitely on my Love List!

Love this #80: Mini seed tins

I shared a snippet of these on Monday, and told you how they played to my organisation obsession and my love of tins, which rivals that of notebooks.  And they're full of seeds too and while they're available from Suttons individually, it's better value if you're buying a few tins to opt for one of the two sets.  

Individual tins are £4.95 each, but the salad or root vegetable collection of six tins cost £24.  That sounds a lot, and you're right it is a lot for seeds, but each tin has three packets of seeds in, so that doesn't make it quite so bad.

And of course there's six tins which look like seed packets, that could be used for things other than seeds.

RARING TO GROW

I chose the salad collection and now have plenty of seeds for pak choi, spring onion, chard, lettuce, leaf salad and rocket.  Lucky that they're all things we eat plenty of, and the type of crop that I expect to grow more of once my new pots arrive (that's another story!)

The root vegetable collection contains two varieties of beetroot, two of carrot and two of radish, which might work better for you.  I suspect my tins will be around for a long time, and not necessarily always for seeds.

What would you use them for?

This isn't a collaborative post, I saw them, bought them and love them.  And that's without eating the evidence - yet!

Love this #79 - but don't tell MOH

A picture of this wallpaper arrived in my mailbox recently and I couldn't help but like it.  The email that accompanied it called it an accidental homage to the Tour de France which finishes today.  He's been very into following the race, each stage, who wins and of course the crashes and the protests. And that's why you can't tell MOH, just in case he gets any ideas.

I'm not totally oblivious to the race, and will Geraint become the first Welshman to win the tour? 

You'll know we've recently added a map wall on one of our curved wall, which I love.  And although I'm rather taken with this one, I think one mural wallpaper per property is probably enough.

BICYCLE RACE MURAL WALLPAPER

We don't have a wall for this to go on either, so I know it's not an option for us but I was thinking what room it might work in best.  I could see it in a breakfast room, or an office perhaps, but really I think it'd work anywhere where you needed a bit of a boost, what do you think?