Garden Inspiration

Landscaping your garden can be expensive and time consuming. I've been wanting to update our, frankly rather scruffy, garden for a while now but can't afford a major re-design or renovation  So I've been have a look online at www.sam-turner.co.uk to see if I can get some more economical inspiration. We have quite a large garden and so I want to add some little features that will make it more interesting. It has to be a relaxing space for me and my husband and offer some fun areas for the children to play in too.

One thing I would love in our garden is some water. I think the sound of a fountain is so relaxing and being near water is good for the soul. However a large pond can take a lot of work both to dig and to look after. Also as I have young children there is the safety aspect to think about too as ponds can be dangerous. So, instead I am thinking about getting a water feature. I love these wall mounted ones as they are so pretty and would make a lovely relaxing feature on your patio and turn a plain garden wall into a real talking point.

I also want to create a peaceful corner to sit in so I have been searching for the perfect garden seating. I want something cosy but also very pretty and I think that this arbour seat would be ideal to create a shaded area to sit with a good book and a cup of tea. Add some large comfy cushions from Cath Kidston and you could sit there for hours! As it has a trellis roof you could also grow a climbing plant up the side such as a honeysuckle or clematis which would look fantastic when they flower and make it smell lovely too!

As a final touch it's always lovely to have some garden lighting. It can make an ordinary garden look magical and is great for summer partys and BBQs. You can string up the lights in the trees or along the fence and they can really transform the look and feel of your garden. I like these multicoloured ones as you can also use them for outdoor Christmas lighting so you get really good value for money.

Summer Style For Your Home

After a long cold winter I have decided it's time to blow the cobwebs away and do a bit of a revamp of our house. We have been here for nearly four years now and although it's a lovely house two small children have definitely taken their toll on it and there has been lots of wear and tear! Summer is a great time to do a re-style of your house. It doesn't need to cost much and you will find that a few changes can make a big difference. I've been having a look at the Oldrids & Downton site to see if I can get a bit of inspiration...

Accessories Count

Changing your accessories can make a real difference to a room. You can use antique style candle holders and vintage china to give a quaint and traditional feel to a room or turn it into a contemporary haven by using modern mirrored photo frames and  retro wall pictures. In this way a few small things can revolutionise the feel of your home. You can pep up worn out sofas with soft chenille throws and invest in some luxurious cushions to bring back the comfort. Don't forget that curtains and blinds can be fairly inexpensive too. Bring some light to your room by swapping curtains for a sheer voile sheet which can look stunning hanging from a simple silver rail. Or you could bring a room up to date with a boldly patterned blind. I love scented candles too and think they also make a room smell lovely!

A Lick Of Paint

Giving your room a lick of paint is a simple and easy way to make a big difference to your room. Have a look around at the your room and decide whether you want to bring more light into the room with a cool colour or if you want to make it more cosy with a warmer colour. One of my favourite colours at the moment is Farrow and Ball "borrowed light". This pale blue looks gorgeous in a sunny room and goes well with traditional ivory furniture or with grey soft furnishings for a more urban look.

Pick A Feature Piece

Furniture is expensive and you probably won't be able to afford to update all your furniture! Therefore it is wise to choose one feature piece of furniture that is both beautiful and practical. A chest of drawers is always a good choice as you can use it for a bedroom or a living room. It can also provide a great storage solution for toys if you have young children. I like theses simple white drawer as they would fit into a small space easily and they look lovely too!

Grow Your Own Pasta Sauce!

I'm really passionate about home-grown veg for loads of reasons really. Obviously it just tastes so much better fresh from the garden but there's also something wonderful and self sufficient about simply stepping out into your back garden and picking some strawberries for your cereal or digging up some fresh potatoes to have with dinner. It's a great activity to do with your children and they seem much more amenable to eating vegetables when they have grown it themselves!

Last year we did really well with our runner beans but as I like to experiment with different things each year we have decided that 2013 is the year of peas and tomatoes  Luckily the very nice people from Heinz sent me and the children one of their fantastic grow your own tomato kits so we now have some tomato seedlings on our windowsill and baby pea plants happily growing away.

Although our tomatoes have still got a long way to go until they make it into our kitchen I thought I would share with you one of my favourite tomato based recipe. Of course you can make it with tinned tomatoes but fresh is SO much better!

I also have a top tip for you about how to peel fresh tomatoes. Simply pour boiling water over them and pierce the skin with a knife. The skin will then start to split apart easily and they can be peeled really easily

So here is "Tarts Spaghetti" a family favourite of ours which we learnt from the wonderful Delia Smith. It's really flavoursome and light and perfect for an al-fresco summers lunch.

Ingredients

10 large fresh tomatoes
tomato purée
basil leaves
chopped black olives
1 small chilli
2 cloves garlic -  crushed
1 onion diced
olive oil

Heat the olive oil gently in a pan and fry the onion, diced chilli and garlic for 5 minutes

Add the chopped peeled tomatoes, olives and tomato purée and let them simmer in a pan with the lid off for around 40 minutes by which time it would have reduced down to a lovely sauce.

Serve on top of spaghetti with lashing of parmesan cheese and a sprinkling of fresh basil leaves.

If you fancy having a go at growing your own you can get your free seeds from the Heinz Facebook Page

Planning The Perfect Garden Party

You really would not believe how happy I am that we finally have some sunshine. Life seems so much easier now that we don't need to swathe the kids in multiple layers of clothing. The children are out in the garden everyday and things are good.

We're lucky that we have a decent sized garden and as there is a big family birthday this year we have been thinking about throwing a garden party. So I've been busy scouring the internet for some fantastic garden party ideas and I thought I would share the best ones with you:

Home Made Drinks

There's nothing nicer than being greeted with an ice cold drink when you arrive at a party on a hot day. For the perfect party drink why not try home made lemonade. It's really simple to make, refreshing and is a great choice for those not drinking. For those feeling a bit more festive simply add a splash of gin to turn it into a lively gin fizz.

To make home made lemonade squeeze 4 lemons and add the juice to 100g of caster sugar and 300 ml of water. Mix the ingredients over a low heat until dissolved  Leave to cool  and then dilute with still or sparkling water. Serve in cocktail glasses or a jam jar for a vintage twist.

Garden Games

Make the most of being in the great outdoors by having some fun garden games at your party. They are a great ice-breaker if people don't know each other and games such as connect 4 or giant jenga can be a cause of much hilarity after a few drinks!

To keep the children amused you could also plan a treasure hunt with clues hidden in various places in the garden and some chocolate coins as the prize.

Fantastic Furniture

One thing that people often forget about is making sure that they have the right furniture for their party. There is nothing worse than last minute panicked calls to guests asking them to bring their own chairs. You often end up with a mixture of uncomfortable and uncoordinated furniture.

To make sure guests are comfy and your garden stays stylish why not consider hiring in some furniture? I love this retro deckchair from Rio Lounge and can easily imagine myself relaxing in it! If you are planning a more formal outdoor party then a really popular look this season is a rattan dinner set like this one.

Cool Canapes

On a hot summers day you really don't want to be sweating in the kitchen whilst everyone else is out enjoying the sunshine so I recommend getting your party catered. This is not as lavish as it sounds and many of the supermarkets not do their own party food delivery service. I have used Waitrose Entertaining service before and they were really efficient. They can deliver on the day of the party so you don't need to worry about where to store the food and their pricing is fairly reasonable

So now you should be all set to go and plan your perfect summer party - I hope you have a wonderful time!

Happiness Is A Sunny Day And A Thermos Flask

It's bank holiday weekend and for once the weather is bucking the trend and staying sunny so we decided to make the most of it and have a stroll down to a local nature reserve this morning. Lemsford Springs is a real hidden treasure and I would probably have never had discovered it if it hadn't been for a walk organised by the local Childrens Centre a few years ago. We had such a lovely time that we now try to make sure we go a couple of times every Summer.

Lemsford Springs has a long history that dates back to the Doomsday book. The watercress beds used to be provide the area with produce in Victorian times which was sold and traded . It is now a nature reserve where you can see birds such as herons and kingfishers, butterflies and fish.

It was also the first outing for my husbands Thermos flask. At the grand old age of 43 he finally decided to give in and slide down the slippery slope to middle age with the purchase of said flask. It was convenient, thrifty, practical and really not very cool. However sipping my nice cup of tea with my feet cooling down in the stream and the sunshine warming my back was indeed paradise and the impending doom of getting older didn't feel so terrible after all.

The children loved it too. They have been coming to Lemsford since they were very small and this was the first year that (at nearly 5 and 3) we could relax a little bit more and they enjoyed paddling and prodding things with sticks and generally doing what children should be doing in the great outdoors.

To find out more about Lemsford Springs you can visit the website here.