Romantic Treehouse weekend

We were lucky enough to arrange a last minute getaway at Sycamore Avenue Treehouses on the Midlands Meander this month and we couldn't have wished for anything better!

This was our cottage:

It was called the Bottle House. Many bottles have been used in the design and construction, starting on the right of the front door in the plaster.

Bottles formed a light-filled feature around some of the windows.

The chandelier was made of different sized bottles.

I loved the creativity that has gone into all of the woodwork. Just look at the hinges and the tiller-style handle on this door.

The shape of the hinges were repeated in this blanket box:

and this coat rack:

But my favourite, quirky decor item of all was the phrase over this mirror...

Idyllic mini-break

Our weekend away was perfect.

Something for the weekend

I'm really looking forward to this weekend being low-tech. We'll be reading books and soaking up the sun.

In the spirit of relaxation and the proverbial getting away from it all, then...

Simple Living Pledge

Pop on over to Sonya's blog Kanelstrand and join up for the three week Simple Living Challenge.

From 1 February 2012, for three weeks, I pledge to:

• Identify the important things and attempt to eliminate everything else
• Free time to do what inspires me and be with the people I love
• Declutter my mind and my life
• Live frugally
• Slow down and be present in the moment.
• Have a healthy body and home
• Be green and sustainable

Where WAS sanehelen?

Mystery house name

On 31 May I posted a question with this photo. The answer was that I was on holiday in the UK, staying near Kew Gardens. This sign was just on the gateway of a house that we passed on the way to the post office. 

Our trip took us to London (the flat in Kew Gardens), Suffolk (postcard-perfect, rural England), Whitby (also postcard-perfect, a seaside town), York (where everything is within walking distance, and old and new are side-by-side) and back to London. There were many times that I had to pinch myself to check I wasn't dreaming. 

Scrumptious pie in Kew

Near the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew was the most wonderful café that served tea and scones and delicious lunches as well (just look at the photo of the pie I had for lunch one day). The area around Kew Gardens is so beautiful and restful. The streets are tree-lined and there are loads of restaurants and interesting shops. The Kew Bookshop took up a lot of our time. There are so many bookshops in the UK and as a book-lover and newby-writer, spending time in bookshops is a favourite pastime of mine.

Narrow side-street in York

In York I spent some time just wandering around the streets of the city. It is one of the few walled cities and the city centre is a meandering maze of streets which cross over two rivers. 

Make do and mend

Ever since I was given my first cross stitch kit, I've loved sitting quietly and stitching. I bought this kit at Hampton Court Palace where the Royal School of Needlework (who did the lace for Catherine Middleton's wedding dress) is located. 

I'm itching to get started on the kit but first I had to do a little bit of housework. Because I love stitching, I don't mind patching things that need to be given a little extra lease on life. My stitching is very mediocre but I do enjoy it. I have to be very careful darning socks though because I tend to make a lump in the sock that is worse than having the hole!

An old friend once told me that she enjoyed making bead necklaces because she found it relaxing. So on the strength of that I bought my own beading kit but found that it wasn't so relaxing for me. Doing cross stitch or mending does hit the right spot for relaxation for me so I guess it's different strokes for different folks.

These are my stitching housework bits and bobs. I had to patch two bags (left, and below left) and while I was away I had to add some extra velcro onto my bag (right) to keep it closed more easily.

Sometimes the simplest things cheer me up

Today I got home feeling tired and decided to make a cup of tea after I had unloaded my groceries. Washing my hands at the sink, I saw my bottle of bubbles which made me smile (I don't have kids of my own but the bubbles are for my inner child). I decided to use my ridiculously huge "Friends"-style tea cup (to get the most enjoyment possible out of one teabag) and our kettle boils in the loveliest way, so by the time the tea was made and the groceries were away, I was feeling much chirpier.

Relaxation and nature

I am beginning to see that nature has it's way of working things out for itself. Take for example the way my cat can be utterly relaxed...

and out of the window the view of the sea and the sky is totally exquisite without any fancy camera work or filters or photoshop.

Oh what a wonderful holiday

Despite hailstones the size of marbles...

The necessity for a complete getaway took us to Cathedral Peak Hotel for a week. Just looking at their WeatherWebcam showing the tea garden and the mountains in the background proves it's a very restful place to get away from city life and daily worries.

On Monday night (1st November) there was a brief thunderstorm which developed into a hailstorm. We have a friend with a fantastic photo of a bolt of lightning and I was hoping we would get a chance to catch some similar images but the storm was over too quickly. Not that I mind about the rain stopping. My husband tends to get gloomy when he can't take photos.

I got the chance to catch up on some reading (biographies and the latest British Vogue) while my husband added almost 1000 photographs to his portfolio.

I know the break did me a lot of good. I feel as though some of the cobwebs in my brain have been cleared away. Now to set out my goals for the next few weeks and months...