she danced and sang and twirled about

these past few days have been so beautiful and warm, the way an english summer should be. (hint hint rain)
so whilst out in my parents garden, between spinning around in the sun and lazing on the grass, i managed to click a few photos to cheer me up when the rain comes back.
i also got just a little bit inspired and then just a little bit excited and so started making these plaited, beaded rings.
perfect for the festival i can't wait to get to! :)

mums roses, our chickens and our carousel donkey

vegetable garden

fancy treating your inner hippy? rings are availible to buy here

love and all that summery jazz x



pretty thing you make my heart sing

a few photos of pretty little moments that made my tummy smile...



tea, jam and doodles



coffee that turned into a cat

taking a pretty little trip

ladybird wearing a top hat

a rainy jubilee

good drinks with good friends

the one and only beanie baby

love and all that jazz x

coffee cigarettes chocolate and you

there is nothing more

the sunshine is everywhere

it drips from the sky

a liquid happiness that is golden and warm

(full version here)

looking forward to getting there

coffee for two

yummy gifts from T

at the train station on my way home

once home, sugar is the only cure

i wish so much that amazing weekends never had to end...

love and all that jazz x

little happiness

i wrote about this a few years ago, but thought it was a good kinda time to share it again :)

i thought i'd share my little step by step guide for instant happiness. there is no equipment needed, doesn't cost anything, and it really does work. how much happiness you get really depends on how much of yourself you let go. if you only give a whisper, then it will feel like a teaspoon of sugar; sweet but short lived, but if you give a scream then it will last you all day. But if it does wear off after a while, don't worry, you can always spin again!

ok, first of all think of your favourite place in the entire world. then, if it is possible, go there right now. if it's not possible, then go someplace you feel welcome and warm, someplace calming. for me, it's the woods, but it doesn't have to be anywhere far away or complicated, it could be as simple as stepping into your garden, or near a favourite bench.

once there, stand very still, arms by your sides and close your eyes. think of all the things that are bothering you, let the images and words flicker through your head like a movie. and the more you think about them let them become smaller, grainier, like its an old black and white movie. then stop. stop thinking about anything, if you can, clear you head and open your eyes.

then raise your arms up and out from your body. start to spin round and round, slowly at first, imagine all those images blurring with the world around you, they blur so much you can't even see them anymore.

now close your eyes and spin faster and faster, it sounds strange but you won't be able to hang on to those images, all your energy will go into trying harder and harder to keep standing, but you must keep spinning and spinning faster and faster and faster-just like you did when you were a kid-you wasn't afraid then was you? keep spinning, that's all that matters.

you'll start to laugh, little giggles at first but then you won't be able to control it and you won't be able to control yourself much longer. at some point you'll fall.

don't worry. you are supposed to fall over! it's the whole point, you'll fall and you'll realise that it didn't hurt as much as you thought and you'll lie there laughing and not caring about getting up.

and you know what? when the world is upside down, it's not so scary.

it's great to do by yourself but also with other people, the frantic happy energy rubs off on everybody.
HAPPY SPINNING!

love and all that jazz x

LET ME EAT CAKE

cake cake CAKE. i am aware of the fact that there may be such a thing as too many photos of cake....but i ask you to just indulge me for a bit...after all it is my birthday and you can never have enough sugar right? :)

jelly and icecreeeeeeam

and as if the sugar wasn't enough to spoil me rotten...

would any of you lovelies like a piece of cake?

i wana take a small space here to say a little 'sorry for being a grumpy old woman in my last post' speach. but you have to admit, turning twenty four is a damn scary thing and, i believe, would turn the most normal of girls into a crying-whilst-eating-everything-in-the-fridge-mess.

but of course now that it is actually here i can see that i may have blown the whole thing ever so slightly out of proportion...because i'm looking out of the kitchen window and that mole hill my mother was mumbling on about a mere few days ago has now got a guy selling oxygen masks at the bottom of it.

soooo i am once again a happy little chocolate cake eating bunny :)

hope you all are having a splendid week? anybody else get a year older and have a small freak out?

love and all that jazz x



goodnight

i'm twenty four tomorrow. this is the first birthday that i almost wish wasn't happening. all the other twenty three of them have been received with glittery excitement, i used to love celebrating the day i was born. but now it's a strange thought to think i've been here twenty four years, i know everybody says this, but i really don't feel like i've been here anywhere near twenty four years.
in fact, tonight, curled under the blanket in my old bed in my old room, trying not to cry too loudly, i feel about five again.
there is a memory from when i was five; i had been watching television downstairs with mum and dad, it was some kind of comedy show and it was comforting to hear my parents laughing every now and then and the way the fire was glowing and crackling was making me sleepy.
i must have fallen asleep and been carried up to my room because the next time i opened my eyes there was only darkness around me. i was confused and disorientated and i remember that sickly fear creeping across my skin and the panic that made the blood run loud in my ears. i closed my eyes as tight as i could and screamed for my mum before pressing my face into my pillow.
my fear was short lived as within minutes my mother was clicking the light on and by my side. with the room illuminated and wrapped up in warm arms i was once again calm, and this time when i drifted into sleep i didn't emerge until the morning sun flooded through my window.
but i'm not five anymore, and it's not only the dark that's making me cry. i can't shout out because no body's coming, and even if they did i know clicking the light on isn't going to help me sleep.
x

we're guna stay 18 forever

 

saturday night saw four friends taking a little hop skip and jump back in time. dancing and spinning through a night dusted only lightly with a nostalgic glitter, making it blur softly around the edges.

there was margaritas and the lemon and the lime made me bite my lip and immediately crave the sugar that was dripping down the glass. we chatted through smoke and kept bad balance on our heels whilst lighting our cigarettes and smudging lipstick over pouted lips.

that night, it felt like we were all very much younger, not caring that the music was making us dance like we were from the 60's and not even noticing until the morning after, the dirt from the floor smeared across our ankles.

love and all that jazz x