Images from the UK editions of Elle Deco, Vogue, House & Garden and Homes & Gardens with a few of my photos thrown in.

I don’t normally like to blog about the same things on this blog and on Living Gorgeously but I thought readers here might like to see the ‘mood board’ I put together for February trends over on Gorgeously.

I used to put mood boards together the old-fashioned way – with scissors and glue or sticky tape – and found them invaluable in focusing and informing the buying process.

Unfortunately since she’s been walking the Minx and scissors and glue don’t really mix, so I haven’t made a mood board for some time.

It then occurred to me to do it online (er doh!), so I spent a happy afternoon today cutting things out of magazines and choosing images that worked well together and illustrated the trends I was reading about.  I find it really fascinating how you can start doing this and realise that magazine after magazine and advert after advert is focusing on the same trends.

All I need to do now is find some money to buy more stock in.

 

And a Happy New Year to you all!

Apologies for lack of recent posts.  I’m still having an absolute ball here in London. 

However, I can finally show you what Helen and I have been working on over the last few weeks.  It’s a happy new blog!  Full of seasonal ideas for enjoying a sumptuous and delightful 2007.

Please come and play.

A glorious winter’s day, the Sound looks like the Aegean, fish and chips for lunch and a stunning sunset to finish things off.

And all within fifteen minutes drive of our front door.  Sometimes I do really like Seattle.

Today we went to the Farmers’ Market in Ballard – a rather funky neighbourhood to the north of downtown.  It looks like it would be a really cool place to live with some great shops, lots going on and plenty for the Minx to do – unfortunately, though, the Husband’s commute would be pretty gruesome.

Am not entirely sure what this shop was all about but the Minx and I both loved the window for different reasons.

 

If you were organising the Seattle Marathon, it would make perfect sense to run it in November.  Wouldn’t it?

I don’t think I’ve ever had chowder before, so was very excited to come across Pike Place Chowder yesterday just in time for lunch. 

The exciting part is that the chowder they serve is apparently the best in America, having won this year’s Great Chowder Cook-off in Rhode Island.  Being a chowder virgin I have no idea whether it was that good, but it was very delicious indeed – full of flavour and bursting with seafood (my goodness, the seafood in this place is goooooood!).  My only gripe was that it was a little too salty, however I’ve noticed that everything over here is incredibly highly seasoned.

The chowder was further enhanced by this strange and delicious condiment which I’ve never come across before, which is made from sherry and Scotch bonnet peppers.

Apparently the name ‘chowder’ comes from the name of a French cooking pot ‘chaudiere’ (etymologically similar to the English ‘cauldron’).  For some reason I did know this trivia food fact, but you’re just going to think I found it online.