It was a wind blown road trip with my flatmate and friend to Southbourne early this year that established my contact with Coastal Creatives. My flatmate gave me a small voice of encouragement to talk to the shop owner about my little home thrown wares. And I am so glad I did, Louise Mitchell and Rachael Johns are as lovely as their amazing shop, full of coastal delights. All the items are made by British Artists and beautifully displayed by these two very talented stylists.
I am overjoyed to have the opportunity to sell my little pots in their gallery/shop. It was only in January that I was making my new year wishes, (which never get met) but launching my Etsy shop Home Thrown Studio was one of them, I had no idea that actually selling my little vessels in a shop would happen this quickly. It's amazing what can happen by a quick conversation with like minded minds, so if you are thinking of setting up your own little creative venture, do it! I found this quote "A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something" by Frank Capra. I strongly believe in this, I never feel more content then when I am making!
If your local make sure you make a visit! This week Coastal Creatives have a Pop Up Exhibition on the Theme of Flotsam and Jetsam. I loved the sculptures and images made from an array of seashore bounty! My Dad was very impressed with them all, but especially the Whale. Louise and Rachael also find the time to run a fantastic beach wedding styling service!
In recent days the sun has been shining and my mind has been distracted on summer; hazy long days, BBQ's on the beach and afternoon picnics that venture into long evenings chatting around a home thrown fire. Some how that same feeling is reaching my belly and it is craving delicious salads, new potatoes slathered in butter and fresh, colourful produce.
So I thought I'd use this new sense of energy to hunt down some new delicious recipes. I like most foods I can cook quickly preferable eaten from a bowl! So you will see a pattern here. I am also going to cut down on the amount of meat I eat and will try and buy local and eat as fresh as possible. Here are my favourites so far! Click on Images for Recipes
2. This is one of my favourite quick and easy spring Squid salad, Oh and Sophie Dahl's cook book is stunning!If however verging on Utopian! I wish I had more time on my hands to sit and watch Squirrels! (Skip to 1min in if you can't bare to watch Sophie looking whimsical on a park bench)
3. I love writing this blog, as I am always falling upon other great bloggers who are endless sources of inspiration. Like this one - 101cookbooks This Roasted Squash Chile Salad from the Kinfolk Table book looks the bees knees!
Image property of 101cookbooks
4. I can't wait to try out Kinfolks Hobo Meals - All I need is a warm evening, a few logs, some jumper cladded friends and a roaring camp fire.
Images & Recipes co Kinfolk
Recipe: Herbed Butter
Ingredients 1 stick of butter, room temperature 1 bunch of chives, finely chopped 1 bunch of garlic scapes, finely chopped 1 lime Salt, to taste
Method Place butter in a bowl and add chopped herbs and the juice of 1 lime. Mash with a fork until the herbs are incorporated. Season to taste and serve on top of sweet potatoes.
Serves 4
Recipe: Fireside Quinoa
Ingredients 1 cup quinoa 1 3/4 cup vegetable stock 1 cup toasted pepitas, chopped Salt, to taste
*2 large pieces of tin foil
Method Rinse quinoa thoroughly. Make a pouch out of the tin foil and place rinsed quinoa within. Pour vegetable stock over the quinoa and securely seal the edges of the tin foil. Leave space within the pouch for the quinoa to expand and double in size. Wait for the fire to die down and place on coals. Check after 15 to 20 minutes, making sure the quinoa is cooked through. Fold in pepitas and season to taste. Serve on top of sweet potatoes.
Sunday evening we finished an amazingly warm weekend watching The Grand Budapest Hotel. Maria and I had been urgently wanting to see it! I am not going to critique the film here, I'll leave that to the critics. Only it was an absolute Marvel to the eye! (I think Gustave H would have described it in this way)
Here are10 reasons why I feel that Wes and I would make the very best of friends.
Images are from my Favourites: The Grand Budapest Hotel, Mooonrise Kingdom, Life Aquatic, Rushmore, The Darjeeling Limited, The Royal Teneabaums
He clearly loves people - All his characters are warm and funny and likable (Apart from his awful villains, who are greedy and spiteful and deserve to face their flaws)
We both LOVE the colour yellow
He loves childhood memories - Tents, Music, books,
He loves hand written letters
He is obsessed with detail and the very fine touches that makes things 'real'
His attention to costume and set design is amazing - I would definitely hire him to be my personal stylist
He loves a good old adventure
He celebrates friendships and families in every film
He makes outsiders cool
His world through a camera is better and brighter than life itself and he's not afraid to be silly!
My oldest friends and me have all had boys. Honestly-there is not a girl in sight! Between us there are 7 boys under 7-one for every year-and, I know this sounds nauseating, but they all get on famously. I think I must still have some baby hormones floating around in me because lately just watching them play together makes me well up a little. They are just amazing.
A little while ago we took them out to the woods for a play. Boys being boys they found sticks and branches and hacked at things as they walked/ran along. They raced, scooted, fell over and had to change trousers, ate sandwiches with mucky hands, and tried to drag back trees that had fallen in the storms. They found dens built by previous visitors and hid out in them, and collected sticks, pine cones and stones to bring home. At times they felt brave and wondered off the path a little, but always within sight of their mamas. All in all it was a perfect afternoon.
