{through the keyhole: into your house}

Over this holiday, we've stopped in to see many of you, family and friends. Perhaps you invited us in for a cup of tea. Perhaps you gave us lunch. Maybe you even let us stay a night (or ten). And now how are we going to thank you? By showing the world your secrets. Your stylish secrets.

Swing low, sweet Tilly! Our cousins, C & A, hung this giant swing from the centre of their playroom, and it was the perfect way to amuse a very energetic two-year-old, a curious Tilly, and a gobsmacked seven-month-old. The large mesh seat could happily hold two children, and looked much more comfortable than the wooden plank versions you usually see in edgy New York apartments (like these).

Again, there's something unusual hanging from the ceiling -- can you tell what it is? This was the dining room in the summerhouse where we stayed (or 'the Oasis' as our cousins, K & K called it), and ripe bunches of grapes dangled above our heads. As you can imagine, fresh fruit was always on the menu.



A stylish house of a smaller size! We spotted this playhouse in the garden at L & JP's housewarming party, and couldn't stop thinking about it. (On the DIY list? More like on the garage floor!)



Another idea from L & JP -- this sweet letter C is on the wall in their daughter's nursery. Unlike the usual painted or ModPodged wooden letters, this beauty was soft and stuffed and covered in fabric. If I can get over my initial dilemma (an 'M' for Matilda, or a 'T' for Tilly?), I'll have a go at making one myself.

And one more shot before we leave them alone... the white nursery, with a single red wall. Beautiful. (Ignore Tilly's slightly non-plussed expression -- she did like the colours, but was a little miffed to have been removed from a large stack of Dick Bruna books and popped into a cot with four other children, simply for the sake of us mothers taking a photo!)

Another red wall, this time at our cousins K & K's real home (as opposed to their summerhouse). I've got a thing for houses. For two years, while studying art, I only painted pictures of houses. This might have rekindled the obsession.

Ever been to someone's loo, and emerged with one of their paintings in your hand? This seaside piece, by St. Ives painter Susie Brooks, was hanging in our friend L's bathroom, and she kindly showed no signs of alarm when I came out holding it -- with clean hands, of course. What I love is that while the sea is painted, the land and houses are left white, simply outlined in black. Landscape painting gone modern?

Though her house is green green completely green, L added a red pepper to the salad to make us feel at home. (And Marimekko napkins for lunch -- the height of luxury!)

And last but not least, a quick shot from I & I (aka Mum and Dad), who have managed to squeeze a gigantic collection of Chinese ceramics into their new home in England. This set of Mao figurines, on top of a cupboard in the kitchen, brings back many happy memories of Dirt Market bargains.

Thanks to all of our wonderful hosts -- we have but a week left now in England before flying home. Tomorrow, we'll be celebrating my grandfather's 90th birthday, so stay tuned for a special party post. Pass the parcel for ninety-year-olds. It's going to be great!

Weekend Away

What a fun weekend! We took a little mini-trip up to Dallas, and had the best time relaxing in the sun, playing a little golf, and eating the most amazing barbeque creations.

Greg and Justin have been friends for almost fifteen years, and still get on so well. And as an added bonus, Greg and his wife, Cari, have just found out they're pregnant, too! Their favourite name for a girl is Lilly... how sweet! We're sure Lilly and Tilly will be great friends!

Justin really enjoyed getting to hit some balls again, and as he'd only brought cowboy boots with him, I agreed to putt for him whenever we got onto the green. (Golfers are very strict about no heels on the green). I got very very lucky on my first putt, and got the ball in from about fifteen feet away... and was so excited I jumped up and down! Unfortunately, golfers don't like that, either...

Luckily, the ranch was so beautiful, I kept myself occupied taking photos!

And, just because I rarely get Justin to take photos of my belly, here's a silly shot we took on the drive up to Dallas. (We're pretending to visit Loreal and Stephen, who live in Athens, Georgia. Athens, Texas is rather a lot smaller!)

Hope you all had a great weekend, too! I'll hopefully have lots of crafty stuff to show you this week, as the College is on Spring Break right now, and I've got plenty of free time to create!

Christmas fun!

I'm not sure if I mentioned this already, but this year, Justin and I had parts in the Christmas nativity scene! Here's a little group photo:

(I'm Mary, on the far left, with Justin/Joseph hiding behind me!)

It was such a laugh, as all of the wise men, shepherds and angels are our good friends, and so we filled the long hours backstage with chatting and playing my new favourite game:

If you've never played this, go grab it for Christmas! It costs five bucks, and is totally addicting. And unlike real Monopoly, it's normally over in fifteen minutes. Seriously!

Justin and I actually realized we'd bought it for each other for Christmas when there were two suspiciously similar-shaped presents under the tree... so we ripped the wrapping off one and started playing right away! I love game time!