A ROSE IS A ROSE IS A ROSE ………. OR A CLEMATIS !!!! ……….

Roses seem to be especially good this year. The above is our David Austin ' St. Swithun' . The flowers are HUGE and there are so many this year that the whole plant is weighed down by them !! Each bloom has hundreds of pale pink petals and have that traditional old rose perfume of Myrrh and, after the first major flush of flowers in May/June, it flowers continually until October.

I picked these to bring indoors with some alchemilla mollis.

We planted this creamy rambler years ago and one on the other side of the garden and they are both smothered in flowers.

 We planted this one to tumble over our rusty arch about three years ago and I've lost the label so I don't know it's name. Not very Monty Don of me !!!! For non UK readers, Monty Don is a gardener on UK TV !!

….. and, finally, because they are out, are these clematis. They only grow between 1 and 2 feet and bloom from May to September. The purple one is called 'Bijou' and the pink one, 'Filigree'.

What a blooming lovely late Spring we're having !!!!

All photos by me !!

Let's go outside....

...in the sunshine! It's a four day weekend here (don't you wish every week could be like that?!) and the sun's shining here in Southern Sweden - wooohoooo! So today I'm taking things outside for a little al fresco dining inspiration...

Tia Borgsmidt

Nordic Day

Oslo terrace - Photo: Birgitta Wolfgang Drejer / Sisters Agency - Interiormagasinet

http://divaaniblogit.fi/

Spanish house outside Barcelona - Nuevo Estilo

Nuevo Estilo

Zhenya Grid

Ooo, I do love evenings out on the deck don't you?!

You can see a complete tour of the Oslo terrace here. Anyone would think you're in the med?!

And speaking of the med...there's a tour of the inside of the Spanish house, located just outside Barcelona, on Nuevo Estilo - so beautiful, don't you think?! 

Take a tour of Nordic Day's terrace here.

And what about this hanging bed in the garden?! Bliss!

My outdoor space is tiny, but I dream big...and if I were to wave my magic wand and create a garden of my dreams it would have an interrupted view of the ocean (obvs), my sailboat bobbing on a bridge waiting to be taken out, and a hammock or possibly just a swing like this one. Occasionally I'd put down my book and go for a dip. Or maybe in my swimming pool which would look like ANY of these (really, I'm not fussy....). And in the evening we'd all get together like this. Who's in?!

How would your dream outdoor space look?!

Have a wonderful weekend and see you Monday!

A relaxed apartment with a touch of blue

I love blue. It's not a colour I've used in my own home but I grew up in a house with blue velvet chesterfield sofas exactly like this one (for a modern update check out the one in this apartment). I particularly love the combination of dark blue and beige or cognac, it looks so smart don't you think? It was the blue sofa (from Funky Furniture) and rattan rug which inspired me to show the San Francisco home of Kate Davison and her partner Jesse today. There's something extremely relaxed and yet very cool about their space over all. I could pad around here today, how about you?

Kate Davison, Craetive at Mashery

I have to say, I love the string lighting in the back garden. My sister recently bought this outdoor string lighting for her garden. probably the nicest I've seen. Although I do love some twinkly fairy lights  at Christmas too (remember my 'dream' party post?!).

You can find out where nearly everything in this is home is from here.

For more blue and beige / cognac / copper inspiration it's well worth taking a look through all of these lovely home tours.

 A big thank you to Kate for sending me the images for today's post, I do love to receive home tour pics in my inbox - please do send me yours too!

Have a lovely day!

PS I'm excited to see Great.ly are offering free-shipping from now until 2nd December. The right time to pick up a cushion or print?!

A dreamy little space to call home

One of my dreams is to have a a work studio in my (future) garden which doubles as a pretty guest house for friends and family. Do you share a similar dream?  Then I came across this shed conversion on Design Sponge and my idea was immediately brought to life! Over the space of two months designer, stylist and artist Paige Morse converted a shed in her back garden into a stunning Scandinavian inspired black and white retreat. Her goal was to create a space from which she can work, She was so thrilled with the outcome she now actually lives in the 'Casita' and rents out her house to afford the lifestyle she so desires: to work on her creatives full time. What an inspiration?!

Before:

Photos Cody Ulrich. Paige Morse. Via Design Sponge with thanks. 

Be still my beating heart!

This really is the casita of my dreams! The only thing I would add is a turf roof as seen on this and this home. How about you? Could you see yourself working / living here?

You can see the full before and after shots over at Design Sponge and read more about Paige's work here.

Other fantastic, unusual and alternative garden shed conversions here and here.

Have a lovely day!

The perfect Norwegian home for a summer's day

When the sun shines in Sweden I feel the need to spend the entire day outside (I guess this isn't the case when you live somewhere warm and sunny all year round?!). But there is an exception to this. The Norwegian home of blogger and photographer Elisabeth Heier is one of those spaces where you could easily flit between inside and outside on a beautiful day, depending on your mood. Not only is the home bright and airy but it also has several different places you can sit and relax with a book or magazine - window nook, dining table, outdoor terrace....and still enjoy the warmth of natural sunlight and the nature beyond. I could spend a summer's day here could you?

Elisabeth Heier with kind permission

Elisabeth is such a wonderful photographer and her blog is almost entirely made up of pictures she has taken of her own home. So impressive!

See previous posts from her home here, here and here.

I spy a few classic items I love: Knoll Diamond chair and Eames side chair DSR.

I hope you have a lovely Wednesday!

' FLANEURING ' …...

 I think that I maybe the female equivalent  of a flâneur….. 

….. the above photograph of me sort of proves it, doesn't it ?!!!! ….. actually, my childhood name was 'flanno' ….. I just added that as I just remembered ….. makes me even more of a flâneur !!

I've done a great deal of  'flâneuring' in the garden lately ….. our garden is always at it's best at the end of May and beginning of June, and, most of our plants and flowers are way behind most peoples as it's a north facing garden hence the abundance of hostas and ferns.

….. Astrantia 'Superstar' …..

….. wild geranium …..

 

….. phygelius 'yellow trumpet' …..

I cannot tell you how pleased we are with our rusty arch and gate. We bought it at Chelsea Flower Show a couple of years ago and we were very surprised that it was such a reasonable price that we bought it on the spot !! Growing up the arch on the right is clematis flammula which will look like …...

….. THIS ….. in a couple of weeks. I've forgotten the name of the rose !! Hopefully, it will grow over the arch and intermingle with the clematis.

We also bought this bench from the same man at Chelsea. I can't get over how reasonably priced they were considering we were at the biggest gardening show on earth !!!! He could have really gone to town with his prices, couldn't he ?

….. philadelphus …..

I planted this rose a couple of years ago and can't remember if it's 'Rambling Rector' or 'Seagull' ….. I'm pretty sure that it's 'Seagull' and it has been GLORIOUS !!

This photograph reminds me of Frances Hodgson Burnett's 'The Secret Garden'. We have lots of robins in our garden who follow me around when I'm digging ….. I could have done with one when I took this photo !! ….. now, what shall I put in these little old Victorian terracotta pots ?

I shall be glued to the television for the next two weeks as Wimbledon starts on Monday …. here's hoping the weather holds !!

image 1: via kero i am, image 10; via teline, all other images by me !!