Elle Deco

We have five weeks until my due date, 12 August, and it feels like we're a million miles away from being ready. Thankfully, this weekend we have some help with thinning out some furniture. I'm sure the end of our decorating will then be in sight. I know that I'll feel ready once we've been able to suspend the baby cradle in our bedroom, even if the baby's room isn't quite ready. Still need to buy the cot (in white) and chest of drawers, but do have the toy box on order ready for end of September delivery.

As part of our preparation, a couple of weekends ago I parted company with 10 years worth of Elle Deco, but not before I sat and flicked through every copy... January 1998 to December 2007.

I remembered how much I used to enjoy features which no longer appear, such as the "48 hours in..." travel articles, "Eating Out" and "Eating In" recipes for dining at home or in the garden... it was also interesting to see how much things have gone up in price...

- Alvar Aalto Stool 60 January 2000 issue price £55, now £160
- Iittala Mariskooli bowl in red October 2004 issue price £21, now £69
- Jean Prouvé Standard Chair August 2003 issue £395, now £517
- Isokon Plus Penguin Donkey 2 March 2002 issue £255, now £410
- Robert Welch Hobart candlestick in red March 2004 issue £35, now £50
- Kristian Vedel Architecht Made wooden birds March 2004 issue £32, now £44

Kastehelmi

If you need new plates, I doubt these would be on the top of your priority list. I don't need new plates. I don't even need one new plate, but that didn't stop me buying six Kastehelmi pressed glass side plates yesterday from Iittala as I was ending my work trip in Berlin.

Designed by Oiva Toikka in 1964, a selection of the original collection has just been re-released - it's only been on the shop floor for four days. Toikka named the design Kastehelmi, dewdrop in English, because he was inspired by lines of dewdrops on blades of grass on summer mornings.

Aalto vase

I'm completely smitten with this Alvar Aalto Savoy vase in purple and white by Iittala.

Happy Easter

A very Happy Easter from our house to yours...

Joy of joys

I needed to pop in to town today because I wanted to pick up another set of grey dotty bedsheets from Cath Kidston.

Task completed, I made my way to one of my favourite coffee spots, Nordic Bakery, where I treated myself to a lovely cup of coffee and the best freshly baked cinnamon buns I've ever tasted. It was just out of the oven, and so was hot and soft and sweet and gooey in the middle, and deliciously crisp on the outside.

If this were not enough pleasure for one day, joy of joys, Nordic Bakery had for sale something which I have been dying to get my hands on for an absolute age... Tillmans of Sweden organic rhubarb cordial.

I bought some a few months ago from Raoul's Deli in Maida Vale, but it's a bit out of the way for regular visits. I absolutely LOVE it, and since then have not been able to find it closer to home...

Well this isn't strictly true. Living in London it's easy to fall in to the trap of paying over the odds for nicely packaged goods in cute independent stores, especially if the goods are hard to come by elsewhere.

A few weeks ago I spotted some bottles of this cordial in Verde & Co., a delightful grocery store and café in Spitalfields. Can you believe they were asking £12.90 a bottle for it! I was so taken aback that I actually laughed at the shop assistant when he told me the price, which in hindsight was a little rude of me, but really... I ask you!! Don't get me wrong, I will still visit Verde & Co. when I am in the neighbourhood, as it does carry such an interesting range of food stuffs. I am after all a sucker for a nicely packaged box of tea, or paper wrapped delicacy, or...

Anyway, here's to Nordic Bakery for coming to my rescue!

Feisty brew...

Part of the reason that I'm pottering at home today is, aside from my ankle still feeling fragile, I am suffering from a bout of laryngitis. Along with feeling poorly, I have a very sore throat and no voice whatsoever. None.

In an attempt to combat the problem, I’ve just knocked up a feisty brew…

Juice & zest of 1 lemon
2 table spoons of orange blossom honey
Half pint of boiling water

I'm not sure if the zest adds anything useful, but it's nice to chew on when you get to the end of the cup. Fingers crossed that it does the trick…

Simply Breakfast

I love breakfast, it’s my very favourite mealtime. The only problem is that I don’t manage to have a proper breakfast during the week. Like so many other people, I have the bad habit of surviving until lunch time on a “double-tall-skinny-wet-latte” from, well, you probably can guess where…

Combining a love of breakfast with a passion for reading the myriad amazing blogs out there, it is no surprise that I really enjoy stopping by Simply Breakfast to see Jen's beautiful compositions. I can't deny that more often than not, I find myself wishing that I'd started my day like her.

It's Saturday, I'm home alone this morning as P is working, so I decided to share my breakfast with you... my photography does not have the desirable quality of Jen's I'm afraid.

A pot of my favourite Tanzanian Chagga coffee from the Algerian Coffee Stores in Soho, with some warm milk, and a scrumptious chocolate croissant from Euphorium Bakery in Islington, warmed through in the oven for a few minutes...

Mariskooli

Our small collection of Mariskooli bowls make me very happy. They're such beautiful objects. They're made by iittala for Marimekko.

I am especially fond of them tonight, as one is doing a magnificent job of looking after some Belgian chocolate covered peanuts and raisins... delicious!