Cross Stitch Initials

Hopefully these will grace our Christmas table tomorrow morning.  I have two more to do.

It's hard to tell in these night-time photos, but these napkins are a soft grey, sage green linen.  I picked them up at Williams Sonoma earlier this year.  I have done the cross stitch in the same colour - just one shade darker.

The alphabet pattern is from this book, purchased a few years ago.

There is one for each member of the family. 

I just have the "K" and the "T" to go.  Max and Tom are at a midnight Christmas Eve church service with Will's mother, the presents are under the tree, Father Christmas has already been to our house and the rest of the family is asleep.  

It's time for me to put the kettle on and get stitching.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Sweet storage dreams

Over two years ago I wrote a post about some lovely storage jars I'd found.  I also wrote about my dream of having a blow-your-mind pantry and laundry one day.

The architect we chose has a reputation for his amazing kitchens, and also for his very sympathetic and timeless renovations of period houses.  That ticked two pretty important boxes for me, so he became our man.

So what became of my dream for a fabulous kitchen?

I'd have to say it's been well exceeded.  This is our scullery, taken from the door into the garage.  The scullery continues into a laundry.  That full height cupboard houses the washer and dryer.  Beyond that are my six sorting drawers - one for each member of the family's clean clothes. And the next full height cupboard is our drying cupboard, with hanging rails and room for a clothes airer.

My storage jars have found their home.  

Right now I have my washer, dryer and dishwasher going. There is a pork ragu slow cooking in the oven, and I'm as happy as a lark.

Casita night light

We have moved!  We are all settled in our new house and loving it.

But before we get on to that, I wanted to tell you about another favourite house of mine.

This gorgeous little house is a night light made by a blogger I follow - Daniela - who lives in Atlanta.  I had been following Daniela's blog, Trebuchet, for a little while and it was one of my faves.  So late last year when Daniela announced her new venture on Etsy - her gorgeous night lights - I quickly placed an order for one.

It arrived in divine packaging and was even cuter in person. I've been keeping it wrapped up for over a year, waiting to set it up when we moved and Adelaide had her own bedroom.

We call it the fairy house.  It sits on this little table between Adelaide's two windows.  Our nickname for Adelaide is Birdie, so there's a little bird in a nest, and some cute animal cutouts I found in Le Bon Marche last year to keep it company.

Here's a photo of the same night light taken from Daniela's Etsy site:

Isn't it just the cutest?