Winter Warmer.

Photos credit, Roland Persson/IKEA Livet Hemma

Are you feeling the cold where you are?  I know am, even though we don't have snow, the temperature is hovering just above freezing and the wind chill is making it feel a little colder, so  how about some lovely warming soup to warm as all up.  Today's offering comes courtesy  of  IKEA's Livet Hemma blog, a colourful tomato soup, don't you just love that colour combination, makes me feel warmer just looking at it.

If you intend to make the most of the winter snow this weekend why not take a flask of soup with you to keep out the chill.

Tomato soup with lemon creme fraiche (4 people)

10 medium sized tomatoes 

1 large onion 

3 cloves garlic 

olive oil, 

about 6 cups water 

1 liter chicken stock 

fresh thyme, 

a little sugar, 

black pepper and salt

1 can of creme fraiche 

zest and juice of one lemon 

honey 

salt and pepper

Click here for instructions and Table ware all from Ikea.

Weekend finds and little updates.

Well so far the snow that has been falling in  the UK has passed us by this weekend, but even so its been a bit chilly outside, so for the most part I have stayed in the warm at home, which has given me some time to do a bit of updating of my desk area, and a little DIY in the form of some spray painting.  

I don't know about you but we always seem to have keys laying about the house that we have no idea what they are for, so I thought that I would give a few a little enamel face lift.  Not sure how I will display them at the moment but there they are in the photo above.

Some other changes that I made were to  update  my tins and string container with some new washi tape, (don't you just love washi tape?) and pretty pink spotted paper, which I found online here  and printed off on the printer, its amazing how just making a few changes can make all the difference to a space.

Other weekend finds

Jamie at Home Launch party came to town, introduced by Joanne Graham,

 so I popped in to take a look. Anybody done or been to a party?

Missed the first issue of 91 magazine but discovered the second , its got 

a pretty peachy home tour on page 62.

Discovered a new blog via Pinterest , The Painted Hive and a 

great Tutorial and free download its getting a lot of pins!

Wishing I could of made it to the spring/summer

Tine K Home Fair, but loving the 

photos by Anna-Malin from Quite Simple blog of the day

Wouldn't want to get a Tattoo, but this Tattoo bowl 

from Future & Found  caught my eye.

Spring collection from Swedish Home interiors company 

Ordmärkt, Pattern with a story.

Getting Organised.

Its Friday already, how did that happen?  I have to confess to being a bit distracted this week, recently my Hubby bought me a new lap top, yeah!, (no more being crammed into the corner of the living room on my computer with not much space!) and I have been trying to reorganize everything so that I can get rid of  move the computer desk out of the living room, and move these units along the wall to sit more centrally, I have a thing about everything being straight and central, which living in the house that we currently do, is not that easy as we don't have a straight wall in the house, it can be very frustrating, just when you think you got it plumb.....

So I'm up for a bit of moving things around and finding ways of storing bits and pieces, like leads for the computer, pens and pencils etc,  so the tin cans that I spray painted way back here, a plant pot, and a black tray that actually started out as packing for a pancake set,  are being put to good use as storage. And as I haven't done any DIY projects since I painted my dresser, I''m getting a little bit restless and on the hunt for something to transform....

So with the cold weather that is  heading our  way this weekend, it looks like I might be staying in and seeing what DIY mischief I can get up too. Do you have anything to tackle this weekend?

Postcard from France.

Hello all did you have a great weekend, I hope so. Mine started with a last  minute trip to France on Friday eventing.  My step daughters dog has had pup! so that provided the perfect excuse to hop on the boat for a quick weekend visit.  

I love a visit to France, less than an hour on the boat and  there's a wealth of culture, food, sights and smells to take in, and if I'm lucky a trip to Ikea in Rennes!   Here's a few quick snaps that I took with my mobile phone camera.

A little Calm from IKEA

Hello how are you doing?  I've been feeling a little washed out of late, what with the winter grey skies and general feeling of being under the weather, plus everything at home is a bit topsy turvy, some times things just seem to happen all at once don't they, towards the end of last year my washing  machine packed up, quickly followed by my cooker dying on me, and now there is work going on in the down stairs flat which affects our home up stairs,(our bathroom has been slowly leaking into the kitchen below us) so everything seems to be in a constant mess at the moment, and yesterday work men showed up to put in new telephone connections so I'm feeling less then relaxed this week.

So it was kind of nice to find these lovely relaxing photos in my in box this morning, from the Ikea Livet Hemma blog. Just staring at the photo above has already reduced  my stress levels, with its  calming colour palette and use of natural textures and materials -so relaxing.
Our environment has a huge effect on our well-being, (which I'm currently discovering firsthand) but  the use of   light colours give this look a feeling of calm and quite, and I always find that wood and wicker baskets with their  unique grains and distinct natural element are always comforting and relaxing.

One of the trends for 2012 is Pure and Simple and taking inspiration from Japan, Ikea Livet Hemma take a look at raw materials such as untreated wood and and natural fibers to help create this calming and natural look for the home. Although I can't quite picture me sitting on these lovely banana rush foot stools drinking Japanese tea anytime soon, (I'll never get off the floor) I can appreciate  the uncluttered calm feel of this space, with the mix of  the natural textures and the clean lines of the units and tables., and I also love  plain white table ware to serve good food on, so simple.

 

All photos Nina Broberg/IKEA Livet Hemma