A little bird told me....

The Vicarage Hotel, Holmes Chapel - We Are Converts!

by Melanie Griffiths

The Vicarage Hotel, Holmes Chapel - We Are Converts!

Please note: we were unable to resist inserting a few vicar-related words or phrases into our post.....how many can you spot? I’m not sure how many...
Posted in Hotel, Travel

"I Know What Goes With Stuff": Interior Design Tips from Liam Gallagher

by Melanie Griffiths

"I Know What Goes With Stuff": Interior Design Tips from Liam Gallagher

The first in an occasional series of celebrity interior design advice Part 1: Liam Gallagher It’s bizarre what you can find when poking about in t...

Beach Hut Chic: Nautical but Nice

by Melanie Griffiths

Beach Hut Chic: Nautical but Nice

A gorgeous sunny winter’s day and a stroll along the beach at Hengistbury Head near Bournemouth.  If you’ve never been here it’s definitely worth ...

Llamas, Botanicals, Bamboo & Flatulence Pants: a day at Spring Fair 2018

by Melanie Griffiths

Llamas, Botanicals, Bamboo & Flatulence Pants: a day at Spring Fair 2018

To the NEC’s Spring Fair, and a day spent wearing out a considerable amount of shoe leather walking through the 19 – yes 19! – halls of trade stand...
Posted in Spring Fair

Buns in the Oven: My Attempt to Make Fika-friendly Cinnamon Buns

by Melanie Griffiths

Buns in the Oven: My Attempt to Make Fika-friendly Cinnamon Buns

I am not a natural baker.  On the rare occasions when I make a cake or a batch of biscuits, I am not showered with compliments (the words ‘you shou...

Fika: is eating cake Sweden's secret to happiness?

by Melanie Griffiths

Fika: is eating cake Sweden's secret to happiness?

A cup of coffee with a pastry or slice of cake.  A treat once in a blue moon?  A once a month chance to catch up with friends?  Something that only...
Posted in Food, Scandanavia, Travel

Five Go Mad in the Quantocks

by Melanie Griffiths

Five Go Mad in the Quantocks

    To Somerset, and a walking weekend in the Quantock Hills.  An annual get together for five of us who attempted the Three Peaks Challenge a few...

The Pursuit of Happiness

by Melanie Griffiths

The Pursuit of Happiness

  Congratulations to those of you that live in Leamington Spa – according to yet another new survey published this week, it’s the happiest place t...
Posted in Happiness, Hygge

Spitbank Fort - It's the Fort That Counts

by Melanie Griffiths

Spitbank Fort - It's the Fort That Counts

As Portsmouth's Spinnaker Tower faded into the distance, the speedboat upon which I was precariously perched leapt through the water towards a gre...
Posted in Travel

Photo Finnish

by Melanie Griffiths

Photo Finnish

My son and his girlfriend have recently moved into their first home - an unfurnished rented apartment in a converted Victorian house in Bristol.  T...
Posted in Nordic interiors, Photo Finnish

Keep Calm & Stay on Trend...

by Melanie Griffiths

Keep Calm & Stay on Trend...

The world of fashion, interiors and gifts moves quickly.  Christmas 2014 saw everything adorned with owls, and the following year the same products...
Posted in Keep Calm & Stay on Trend

The One Where I Visited Friends

by Melanie Griffiths

The One Where I Visited Friends

Sometimes, one of the most memorable things about a film or tv show isn’t the actors.  It isn’t the dialogue.  It isn’t the scenery.  It’s the prop...
Posted in Friends, Travel