Last Friday, My Mum and I had a summery day out together. We both love scouring antiques shops/markets for vintage home and garden bits so when we heard about The Country Brocante in beautiful Midhurst down on the South Coast we knew that we had to go. It would feature some of our favourite Instagram sellers and the photos from the previous fairs looked just up our street. Some photos and more details of our visit below, everything there was seriously swoon worthy. 

I've blogged about days out in Brighton before {here and here} but we've tended to go in the Winter rather than summer which is crazy given that it's a seaside town made for hot sunny days. My Brother has been at university down there so it's become a favourite place to visit and see him at the same time - he's just about to graduate so future trips won't be the same. A couple of weeks back we went down for the day to pick up some chairs from Hove, it was so warm and sunny so I couldn't resist sharing these photos from my camera roll below.

We now have a kitchen sink, and worktops, and a shaker peg shelf that I've dreamed about forever! I'm so so happy that the kitchen is almost finished and before I start sorting through all the photos to write a post about the whole thing, I thought I'd share Ben's DIY shelf today which I feel really helps to finish the kitchen off. And it's also been one of the most requested posts through Instagram. He's made one for the utility too and I can't decide which is my favourite; in different colours and settings they look so different. You could use them for a million things, the kitchen shelf so far is more decorative whereas the utility is more utilitarian with brushes, colanders and towels hanging from it. I love that you can use both the top and the pegs and would look equally good in a child's bedroom or by a back door for coats etc. A how to guide below;

Summery sunny hot days in England, you just can't beat them. Last summer was crazy for us going away a lot in June and July and house renovating {we didn't move in until late August last year!} so we didn't have much time to enjoy England at her very best. This summer though, with the house almost finished, a heatwave and staying home for a while, we've been making more time for summer day trips. I have so much to blog at the moment but just not enough time {and when the sun shines, I always make no apology for not staying in on my laptop as much in the summer months}. But I know that I want to look back on these day trips and photos so I'll start with our day out to Mottisfont National Trust rose gardens, the most famous in the country, and an evening in Winchester - we hadn't been before. Photos and a little diary below if you'd like to see; {next up, Brighton, West Wittering Beach and Marlow}. Where are your favourite places in the summer? It can feel like a mini holiday if you plan it right.

I love this time of year for the garden when everything is in bloom. I've been meaning to write more garden posts for a while, I've got so many photos ready to go with this year's update so far {you can see last year and how we got to this stage here and this Spring here}. People have also messaged me about writing a post for planting in borders and roses, so I promise all of that is to come as soon as there's a rainy day but for today I'd love to share some grass secrets. I'm my Father's Daughter when it comes to lawn appreciation, he's obsessed with his lawn and cuts the most perfect stripes. If it was up to Ben he'd dig all of this up and use it as a vegetable plot! But I'm very traditional when it comes to gardens, and whilst I'm all for wild looking overflowing flowers and borders, I think you need some green grass to lay on and define the whole thing. So when Flymo got in touch to see if I'd be up for a challenge in the garden cutting stripes into the grass with their new lawnmower of course I said yes. Lots of photos of our garden currently below and my thoughts on the Flymo Chevron mower.

Part Two of our Mykonos trip. We left Rocabella and headed down to the south of the island for the famous beaches and Ornos Bay where we were to stay at Kensho for the last two nights. {you can find part one here}

Meringues make for the best summer puds. So yummy, so easy and with a few berries and a dollop of cream they can look really pretty. Walkers Shortbread have a new range of meringues out and asked me to create some new recipes for the summer. Last Sunday I was on pudding duty for a family BBQ so decided on mini pavlovas with a rose flavoured cream, white chocolate and berries. They were demolished within minutes and I've been craving that delicious rose flavour again ever since! Full recipe below.