What's your stylescope?

On the recommendation of Jessica Jones of How About Orange, I spent a fun few minutes the other day, finding my Stylescope by taking a short quiz on the HomeGoods Stylescope website.

I had to pick five images that "spoke to me" from a selection of 36 and when I clicked to get the results,  I was given a label that defined my style, a paragraph describing my style and then some hints and tips on how to style my home in this way.

The idea is that this picture becomes my facebook timeline cover - what would that say about me?!

I ended up falling into the Classic category, which I was a little disappointed by - it's not really very cool is it! Having said that, there are some elements of Classic that are probably me, although not necessarily the part that exudes "undisturbed calm"!

Apparently Classic, "knows there's a place for everything - and everything belongs in its place". I wish! "She's a perfectly tailored dress." Hmm. "A smooth, 4-tiered wedding cake". Well, we had three, but it had little pink sugar flowers all over it, so it wasn't at all smooth. "And she embues her sense of structure" (this perhaps is a little of me)  with a graceful elegance, an undisturbed calm, and of course, an irrefutable beauty." Ahem.

I also don't like the idea of entertaining by filling, "a crystal centrepiece with faux or real roses". However, hunting for "an ornate, antique mirror frame" does sound like fun.

Oh well, perhaps not so accurate, but it was interesting to be labelled in a way that made me think about how I actually define myself and then rile against their label!

These are the five images I selected - does classic style spring to mind for you?

I'd be interested to hear if you take the quiz and feel it gives you an accurate description of your style.

Can't stop looking at . . .

Each week, I'll be sharing with you something that has caught my eye. It may be a picture, blog, product or website.

We made it to the end of the week! This week has gone s...l...o...w...l...y! Torin's settled in well at nursery school, but it has made him completely exhausted and as I'm sure a lot of you can appreciate, an exhausted three year old is not the most fun person to have around! When he woke up this morning he said, "Mummy, I just didn't have enough sleep!"

So, we're just going to have a relaxed, fairly quiet weekend just sorting things out around the house, and seeing a few friends. I'd love it if I had this cosy space in which to while away my time . . .

Image from here.

Have a wonderful weekend!

New beginnings.

It was a big day for Torin (and me!) on Friday, as it was his first day at nursery school. He'll be going every morning and so this will be his first full week. As you know, he's been at home with me since he was born so taking this first big step of independence is quite a big deal around here. I have to admit I did feel a little bit wobbly while I was walking home after leaving him at the nursery on Friday.

He was so excited on Friday morning - he couldn't wait to get into his uniform and put on his backpack. In fact, I think he was walking around the house with his backpack on his shoulders for a good half and hour before we actually left!

I wanted to take some photos of him in his uniform on his first day, and I thought the shed would provide a good background - the morning light was lovely and clear too.

I keep looking at him in his uniform and thinking he looks so grown up and yet so tiny at the same time!

What Martin did . . .

While my mum pottered in our garden, my dad set to work fixing things in the house. If having my mum in our garden is like fairies doing their thing, having my dad in the house is a little like the Elves and the Shoemaker - I find if I've left out the raw materials (not that I do this on purpose of course), things get magically fixed, tightened, and screwed to the wall!

One of the many jobs my dad over the weekend was put up my souvenir from our stay on the Isle of Wight. I saw this print in a lovely interiors/gift shop in the village where we were staying, but every time I went back to the shop it was closed. On our last day, my dad went for a little walk and surprised me when he returned with this picture wrapped in bubble wrap under his arm.

I thought it would look good in our living room next to the heart shaped light and red vases.

I also like the fact that it catches my eye each time I walk into our living room. If your eyesight is as good as mine (!) it reads:

I love Seaview Isle of Wight in the summertime

I love the fact that I have a permanent reminder of my thirtieth birthday celebrations (in addition to all the other wonderful gifts I was given) and that it's also funny, as one of my abiding memories of Seaview is that it rained every single day we were there, so "summertime" is perhaps a little optimistic!

Thanks Dad - I'm very lucky that you have such brute strength for all the wonky walls in my house, and that you have such a kind heart that you want to fix all my broken things xx 

Fairies in the garden.

I have actual, real life fairies who come and make my garden look pretty. My parents came to stay this weekend and as usual, my garden is now looking a whole lot better than it did before they arrived! Torin spent a fun couple of hours potting up autumn-flowering plants and spring-flowering bulbs with my mum on Sunday. Here's what they got up to:

I now have a pretty bucket of delicate violas in front of the shed.

The pot that should have had a wonderful hosta in it this summer (pesky slugs!) now has a lovely display of pale heather, purple hebe and a beautiful bright cyclamen that should give me a colourful view from my back door for the rest of the year.

I've also got black tulips and white daffodils to look forward to in the spring (once they've woken up, as Torin says!).

Thanks mum, I'm very lucky you're so green-fingered and incredible generous xx