26

My goodness. A whole month has passed since I published one of my many musings here. Currently I'm sat in my living enjoying a rose spritzer in the heat, listening to R jam on his guitar. So, summer finally came. There we were thinking the season had been cancelled when last Saturday the warm, glowing orb appeared once more in the sky.

Lucky me, because on Sunday I turned 26. And a fabulous birthday it was. Friday night I dragged all who were willing to the newly refurbished Princess of Wales in Clapton. My nearest and I remember this pub as a more traditional East-End boozer, but new owners have spruced up the interiors and the menu. The food was average to good, but I wasn't bowled over by my burger and chips. However, the many glasses of wine went down a little too easily. 

Saturday I hung out with one of my fave people, the lovely Mari. Who made the trip especially to celebrate my birthday AND bought me a onesie, culotte jumpsuit. Thanks lovely! He unfortunately was tied up at work Saturday afternoon, so to coax the hangover out of me, I slow cooked a pork collar joint in an oriental sauce, the recipes here and highly recommended. Tasty and easy, if you don't mind the slow part.

For my birthday, Richard set the day in motion with breakfast. Buttermilk pancakes, strawberries and bacon, drizzled with maple syrup, my favourite. He then treated me to a selection of presents, a 60s vintage shift dress which I love, cute porcelain mouse salt and pepper shakers that I spotted last December, and 'Crystallizing Public Opinion' by Edward Bernays (I'm a public affairs/PR nerd by day). His folks got me these Lotta clogs which I love. And they're surprisingly comfortable, wore them all day Monday stomping around London-town with no bother.

My parents drove up to spend the day with us and after spoiling me with gifts including Burberry Weekend (my favourite perfume!) we headed for a Sunday roast at The Castle. The food was reliably delicious, The Castle has become a firm favourite local for quality food and ales. In my usual fashion I brushed off the questionable distance for a walk around the top of Epping Forest. 4 miles in, with 2 and a half miles to go, I admitted that in the 28 degree heat, it was all quite far. Distance is just something that my brain doesn't seem to accept when I'm walking. I could walk forever. However, my feet were incredibly grateful for the cold water bath I gave them on returning home. To finish R dished up the Peach Melba Trifle he had made (I vetoed cake, would much rather have something chilled containing custard). And we were pooped. Not without one last visit from our neighbour down the road with her two kids who gifted me some home-made Elderflower champagne. We haven't tried it yet, but am sure it will be delicious. 

Thank you to all who make this year so special. 

How are all you enjoying the summer? 

Buying a home

Today we dipped our toes into the house buying waters and went to view a couple of houses in East Sussex. For our first viewings we chose the most contrasting properties possible. The first was a 1930s red-brick semi, the second was a out-of-town development of new houses.

Buying a house is not something I ever really ever thought would happen, for both financial and commitment reasons. We're on a tight budget and we've no idea what's out there, so yesterday viewing the differing houses put perspective in our minds about what we do and don't want.

Stepping into the 1930s semi, everywhere you looked there was a DIY makeover desperately crying out to happen. Original fireplaces had been covered, pebble-dash paint was cracking, decades old carpet musting - I'm by no means DIY adverse but this would take £50k and a team of builders to completely overhaul the space. There wasn't one thing that wouldn't have needed changing. Lesson learnt from property 1 - we do not want a huge project. 

In the car, we shot off to location/property number 2. Within seconds of walking into the brand new house I wanted to get out. I hate new houses. Partly because of my distaste for the government schemes they are built upon and partly because of the abundance of magnolia, mdf and plastic. In the UK the government has schemes set-up to allow first time buyers to get the first step on the market. However, the new houses roughly work out at £100k more than an old house. Leading to the poor home owners who sign up for the deals part-owning over-priced property that will take twice the time to pay off and unlikely to ever sell for as higher price. Here are some links to more information about that here: Huff Post Evening Standard

Rant aside. First time house-viewing verdict - this is not something I'm going to enjoy.

xo

Busy bee

Now how did that happen? There we were, plodding along, then all of a sudden we got b-u-s-y. 

To the beginning, my dear Marianne. The girl who 4 years ago saved my bacon by getting drunk with me at a party of people I didn't know, weeks into mine and R's relationship, then in the same evening dragged me to her flat and offered me somewhere to live for when I became homeless a few weeks later. Marianne recently moved to the beautiful south-west city of Bath, so as the boy was away, I planned my own escape for a much-needed day and night with one of my favourite people.

After trawling the charity shops on what has been the hottest day of the year so far (I managed a dress, floral trousers, Mari got the most amazing bright floral jumpsuit) we went to Same, Same but Different - a lovely reasonably-priced tapas bar. We both had the chorizo and butter bean stew - it was the most delicious meal I've had out in ages! The stew was in a creamy, smokey sauce and we indulged by mopping it up with bread. Yay us!

The following week was the great British jubilee, so to make the most of my parents empty house we headed to Sussex for the weekend. Our Ldn neighbours and their baby came down for a few days and we managed to fit in dinner with my brother, his wife and niece too. We opted for a simple dinner of BBQ grilled chicken and salad, but were treated by my sister-in-law who brought over 20 cupcakes for us! We wouldn't call ourselves royalists, so we didn't so much celebrate the Queen's jubilee, as howl with laughter watching bits and pieces of the BBC coverage. Thanks GB, for always being ever-so-slightly embarrassing. We wouldn't have it any other way.

xo

Pretty in pink - homemade skirt and traybake

I love a splash of pink in summer - it makes me think of pink hydrangeas, falling blossom and pink lemonade! Wearing and baking flashes of pink today, my home-spun ways were exposed this afternoon when colleagues found out that not only did I make a strawberry traybake last night but my full circle skirt was home sewn. #Twee #dork.

The pattern used for the skirt was Vogue's V8602. It was as the name suggests, it was very easy. The only tricky bit was inserting the zip, I also adjusted the pattern and shortened the length for mine. The fabric was found on Ebay from the same seller who sold the paisley cotton I used for my robe. 

The traybake was adapted from two recipes on bbcgoodfood.com - here's how I did it:

Heat oven to 180 degrees c. Butter a medium sized tray.

Put the following in your food blender and mix until it forms a rough crumble.

150g self-raising flour

100g porridge oats

200g butter, diced

280g golden granulated sugar

50g ground almonds

Put 85 grams of this aside before you add 2 medium eggs and pulse until roughly mixed. Remove blade and finish mixing with a wooden spoon, don't worry about making it smooth. Line the baking tray with the mixture.

Clean the blender and load with a punnet of strawberries. Once blended pour over mix in tray.

Take the 85g mix that was put to one side earlier and add 100g porridge. Melt butter with 1 tablespoon of runny honey in a saucepan and add the dry mixture to the pan. Mix together over a gentle heat, then remove and spread over the traybake.

Put in the oven for 45 minutes. And voila! Delicious with a cup of English Breakfast tea.

M xo

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RAM - the deluxe edition

The beautiful, warm sun is finally shining over London town and all this heat has put me in a particularly happy and wholesome mood. This generally amounts to dancing in my kitchen while I cook up a feast for me and R and tonight the soundtrack was Paul and Linda McCartney's 1971 album RAM.

It was the first album released following the break up of the Beatles, written at the couple's farm in Scotland on the Mull of Kintyre, and has just been reissued in a particularly luxe guise.

I've never been one for limited editions, but this has totally won me over. Partly, because of my soppy nature and ability to find romance in almost anything with two halves, and partly because of the silliness and fun the couple clearly had recording these tracks. 

Sigh. A photo album of sheep, a scrapbook, the uncut story of RAM, photo prints from the album's recording, a documentary, t-shirt. And more. Unfortunately at £100, this one will have to stay in my dreams. If you're reading Sir Paul, how about some limited edition prints?

Megan xo

The future

It's amusing to watch people react to our decision to move out of London. As if leaving London means disconnecting from the epicentre of all life. Yesterday, the bubble finally burst and my intentions and motivations connected.

Most people assume we want to slow down, grow up. Actually people, that's not it at all. If anything we want to keep life moving. Personally, I've always struggled with settling. Between leaving my family home and moving into our one-bed apartment I've lived in 9 different houses. And as my mother kindly highlighted recently, have clocked up an impressive 5 different jobs since graduating. 

Moving from London is just the next adventure - a chance to try something new. And more importantly it's a chance for us to buy our first home.

Perhaps I should let the master (my all time favourite) D.H. Lawrence explain:
"I got the blues thinking of the future, so I left off and made some marmalade. It's amazing how it cheers one up to shred orange and scrub the floor."

M xo

P.S. Check out R's latest homemade loaf. Yum.

Nesting

In excitement of what's to come, I'm suddenly obsessed by interiors and already nesting. I finally got around to fixing up the terrible sewing job I did in a rush for our cushion covers 6 months ago. After unpicking and re-measuring, using vintage fabric I picked up in the Bexhill British Heart Foundation shop, I remade the removable cushion covers with this easy pattern from The Guardian. 

I also bought these gorgeous hand block printed napkins from Lulu & Nat and these retro placemats from ebay.

And finally, here is the dress I am halfway through making. It's a Cynthia Rowley pattern by Simplicity (2215) and seems to be going ok, apart from the missing invisible sewing foot needed to finish. I'm hoping to complete once I'm paid and can buy said zipper foot next week.

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

M xo

Sunshine and sewing

There have been moments over the past 3 weeks where I thought it might never stop raining, thankfully this weekend we finally saw the sunshine in London. It's been a peaceful, music-filled weekend at home having spent the last few weeks travelling up and down to Sussex organising the collection of our new car.

After countless hours searching for my perfect bathrobe (yes I am that fussy), I decided I'd put my GSCE textiles skills to the test and attempted to make my own. Using some paisley printed organic cotton I dissected my old robe to create a new pattern. While the finished result isn't a complete disaster, it wasn't the best. The issue was the fitting around the neck, which on hindsight was something which could have been easily rectified - the old robe had a hood, the new one didn't. Oh well. To help with future projects I have decided to invest in a dress-makers dummy.

As always, I'm on a budget but after a bit of searching I found I Love Vintage Mannequins who have created dress making forms for a range of clients including Madame Tussauds and the Victoria and Albert Museum. They are currently selling on Ebay with auctions starting from a £1 (they're normally £79). I've got my eye on the Bohemian Rose and Shabby Rose busts, I'm just trying to decide between the cast iron or wooden base. And also where the heck I would put it in our bijou home. 

Happy weekend!

xo

Listening to: HelloGiggles Mix Tape on Spotify

Watched: The Bridge on BBC4

Ate: Kohlrabi remoulade, fresh organic beetroot, parmesan chicken and R's home-made bread

Traditional craft revival - Solva Wool Mill, Wales

My friends often tease me for my folky ways, but thanks to my father's hippy roots I've grown up to love traditional crafts. On our recent trip to Wales, we stopped by a working woolen mill in Solva. Not only did I fall in love with the woven rugs, blankets and knitted accessories but also found the most adorbs cat clambering atop of a bin of cardboard and offcuts.

Solva is the oldest working mill in Pembrokeshire and the only one in Wales specialising in flat-weave rugs, carpets and runners. Over the past 30 years, the domestic trade has declined greatly. With us importing wool and brands choosing to manufacture abroad, it's likely the majority of our wool products promote air freight and are potentially sourced from countries where animal welfare is not a priority.

When we move next year, I'm hoping we can upcycle and reuse where possible, but if we're buying new, be supportive of traditional crafts and promote more thoughtfully resourced products. I fell in love with the geometric traditional tapestry rugs. If you're interested in visiting a working Welsh mill, there are more details here: welshmills.org.uk/millsopen

Here are some of our snaps from Solva and check out the links at the bottom for stockists of traditional welsh products.

Solva Woolen Mill
Blodwen - Modern welsh traditional products

Eco fashion finds for earth day

It is no secret that I'm a bit of an eco obsessive and over the years it's become increasingly important to me as a consumer to find out more about where my purchases come from. Everything we do has an impact, so I do my best to follow St David's motto and 'do the little things'. This includes getting organic veggies, dairy and meat from the lovely folk at Riverford, buying fair trade and sourcing second-hand wherever possible.  I'm also a huge supporter of ethical fashion - as someone who studied and worked in fashion for a number of years, it's important to me that as consumers we're not coerced into buying instantly disposable garments from dirty companies but invest in the brands creating good fashion with great values.

Earth day isn't really a big deal here in the UK, but in celebration I'd thought I'd share with you my current eco fashion faves:

1. Breton-style organic dress by Amour Vert, $79 / 2. Big Sur organic cotton/recycled polyester sweatshirt by Poketo, $52 / 3. Blue bin trench from Anthropologie, £99.95 / 4. High-top trainers by Ethletic, £40 / 5. Supa Skinny Organic cotton jeans by Monkee Genes, £52 / 6. Hand-woven ikat downtown Satchel by Push Pull, $169

Megan xo

Spelt and Jam

After being spectacularly drenched this week on my cycle home from work, I have decided to stage a sit-in this weekend in protest at all this bloody rain we keep getting. I know, I know - it's great for the grass, so for gardening reasons I'm grateful. But that doesn't mean I need to be outside in it.

So, after a bit of proper work, I helped the boy out with his first loaf of Spelt bread. Last week while visiting my best friend Mari at her family's new home in Bath she made delicious bacon and egg sandwiches using a Spelt loaf from the local bakery and I was desperate for us to try it at home.

We're supporters of the real bread campaign and haven't bought a packaged loaf since December, with the River Cottage Bread book becoming one of R's most treasured tomes. I couldn't recommend this book enough if you're interested in becoming a regular bread baker, not only does it cover a wide variety of recipes but thoroughly explains the science behind being a good baker somehow making all the kneading better justified.

To accompany my sliced spelt, I decided to whip out the Rhubarb and Vanilla jam I made last week. One of the girls at my work had harvested her garden rhubarb and brought in a load so I decided to make my first ever jam! From the kilo of Rhubarb and a spare vanilla pod I had in the cupboard I managed to fill 5 jars which were duly delivered as gifts to various friends and family.

Rhubarb and Vanilla jam
** Whatever you do, don't scoop off the scum as directed in the recipe. Simply place a knob of butter in the finished jam before pouring into your sterilised jars and the stir. This means all the lovely vanilla won't disappear with the scum.

Oh and I almost forgot. Listening to this and wanted to share:

Thanks for reading,
Megan xo

Fields of praise, Wales

Here are some snaps from our long weekend in Wales. Despite it being my family's native country, this was my first time exploring Wales outside of the Valleys. Staying with the boy's family on the coastline near Haverfordwest, highlights from the trip included cantering a horse named Speckles along a sandy bay, visiting a working Welsh woolen mill and feeling overwhelmed by the abundance of vivid hues on offer outside of the city. Will post more pictures this weekend  but below are some of my favourite colours from the weekend offered up by the Welsh countryside.

Hope you like them,

Megan xo

Review: Bill's Islington, London

I could not quite contain my excitement last week when I spotted a postcard for the new Bill's Cafe in Islington. For a few years now, we've been fans of the Bill's in Brighton (pictured) and Lewes - they're almost always the place I get to spend time with my dearest and oldest friends, catching up over Eggs Florentine (which fyi in England is pretty hard to come by!) and giant milkshakes. So earlier in the week, with the draw of a free bottle of wine to celebrate their opening, we decided to try out the new location.

To start we had some veggies with hummus to share and got started on the house wine. The hummus was lovely but the carrots/celery were a little on the thin side. Anywho, we got on with enjoying our meal and for main both had the Bill's burger (pictured) - me with guacamole, him with cheese. The burger was delicious - served in toasted brioche, which I have to tell you I was sceptical about, but nevertheless the combination of buttery bread, avocado mush and home-made burger worked. 

Next up dessert. I ordered the cheesecake with lemon curd and he ordered the pavlova. Unfortunately they were all out of pavlova so instead he ordered an ice cream sundae. Both were nice, although staff had failed to notice the pumpkin seeds that had attached themselves to mine before serving and R enjoyed feeling like a 5-year-old eating his sundae.

So what did we think? Well, I think we both agreed that the atmosphere just wasn't the same. The food was great, but the reason we love Bill's so much back in my home county is because of it's warm, relaxed atmosphere. Perhaps it's because they haven't quite found their feet but Bill's Islington felt like it had been Londonified in a way. Oh well, just another reason for our move to Sussex.

Megan xo

Budget style survival - how not to spend money on clothes

So, I'm broke. El skinto. Brassic.

And it's tough. As much as I obsess over ethical foods and fashion I am a terror of consumption and, as him can testify, I buy too many clothes. As part of my 9-5, I attended a workshop about defining sustainable fashion consumption and we spend a lot of time discussing what drives women, in particular, to shop. Because let's face it, my closet takes up twice as much space as my man's and it goes the same for almost all my girlfriends too.

Within the discussion it was uncovered that research is suggesting women don't shop to buy into the trend-led nature of fast fashion. But the key reason women buy more than they need is because of how their clothes make them feel.

It made my heart sink a little bit to hear that. That women might feel they need to buy material happiness and also, that I'm more than likely to be one of those women. I'm not gonna lie. Buying fashion makes me feel good.

While ideas were played out for how we deal with modern fashion gluttony, such as training women to shop like men or teaching mending skills at schools. It led me to thinking that perhaps for women, including myself, to be more sustainable fashion consumers, actually, we just need to make ourselves feel great in whatever we wear.

A tough feat I know, but to start us/me off, I put together 10 tips for how to feel great in your fashion:

1. That dress you've had for 4 years, that has seen better days. Don't get rid of it. You've had it that long because it never fails to make you feel good. Because when you feel good, others will think you look great - holes and all.

2. Never lose sight of your personal style. I let this happen because I thought my style was no longer in vogue. And actually, my style not being in vogue made it cooler. Individuality wins.

3. Always shop in thrift stores/charity shops. This will be where you'll find that one-of-a-kind dress which never fails to secure compliments. The reason people like it is because it's unique and they want one. Don't let yours get away.

4. Do-it-yourself. Sewing is surprisingly easy and will open up your wardrobe to endless opportunities. Vintage tea dress in organic cotton for £10 anyone?

5. Make a plan. At the beginning of the week I try to plan all my outfits for my working week and use this as an op. to try new things/experiment with accessories/etc. Not only does this save me lots of time, but for some reason planning outfits on Sunday night creates way better results than 5 mins on Monday morning at 7am.

6. Buy lipstick. Compared to a new outfit, a new lipstick starts at around £4 and it will completely revolutionise how you feel about your look. I have about 20 shades on rotation at the moment, my current fave is Barry M Lip Paint in Baby Pink. Think Thakoon's pink hair sort of pink - delish.

7. Buy nail varnish. Step 6, repeat with nails, join pinterest, search nail art. Nuff. Said.

8. Always have a plan B. Some days an outfit planned out earlier just won't feel good/right. Maybe it's the weather or just a mood - but when I'm in a nasty fashion funk, I pull out my fail-safe, feel-good outfit. This is usually step 1.

9. Host a clothes swap. Easiest way to detox a wardrobe guaranteed.

10. Ignore the media. The majority of the images you see are not real. As someone who has worked in fashion, I know the process photographs go through to make models look perfect and no-one has legs that perfect!

Megan xo

Seasonal cooking - Broccoli and anchovy pasta

In this week's Riverford box we got some purple sprouting broccoli. The Roman relative of the standard green stuff, we decided to make it the star of tonight's meal with a classic Italian-style pasta dish.

First heat a tablespoon of oil in a large saucepan, once the pan starts to warm, pour in boiling water. Grab a large handful of spaghetti (this should be enough for 4 people) and hold in the pan until it starts to soften, bend in the pasta until it's submerged.

Next pour in a tin of anchovies (around 6-8) including the olive oil in a large frying pan and heat gently. Remove the leaves and, once washed, put about 12 florets cut to 5cm long of the purple sprouting broccoli in the frying pan. Use a wooden spoon to break up the anchovies and coat the broccoli in oil.

Next add two mashed garlic cloves and a tablespoon of capers to the frying pan. Continue to cook on a low heat until the broccoli just starts to soften. Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, a good pinch of dried chilli flakes and 250g of rocket, stir and remove from the heat. Drain and throw your pasta into the saucepan, mixing everything together.

To finish, sprinkle with Grana Padano, or a similar Italian hard cheese. A tasty, quick dinner for Monday night!

Happy Mother's Day - banana brunch muffins

After calling my mum, to wish her a lovely mother's day and check she had received her presents (a pair of sheepskin slippers and jewellery starter kit), in honour of all mums out there I decided to make banana brunch muffins. These are great if you have a bunch of over-ripened bananas to use up and are delicious with a nice cup of English Breakfast tea.

(Adapted from the BBC Good Food Breakfast muffins)

Pre-heat your oven to 180 C and prepare your muffin tin, I made cases using greaseproof paper, but muffin cases will work fine. Sift 125g wholemeal flour, 125g plain flour, 2 tsp baking powder together and add 100g fairtrade dark muscovado sugar. Throw in a handful of currants and a couple of pinches of nutmeg and cinnamon.

Next in a separate bowl pour in 100ml sunflower oil, 2 beaten free range eggs and 2 tablespoons of milk. Mash in 4 bananas and mix together until all the large pieces of banana have disappeared and you have a lumpy liquid.

Pour the dry ingredients into the liquid and use a large wooden spoon to bring both mixtures together. Mix until you have one lumpy mix, don't worry about it being smooth - over-mix and your muffins might be too heavy.

Put two large tablespoons of mix into each muffin case, then put in the oven for exactly 20 minutes. When ready, remove the muffins from the oven and leave them to set in the tin for a few minutes. Remove from the tin and place on a rack to cool down. To serve, we like to slice them in half and smooth on crunchy peanut butter. Enjoy!