15.11.11

From tiny acorns



I was hoping to do a big "Ta-da" and jazz hands, but that would have meant you all waiting a bit longer.

The new webshop is here, it isn't as full as it will be in a few days, but i thought perhaps you might like a glimpse of it.

and the cards are on it....

I have to be honest, i did think it would be easier to do. Mucho respect to people who sell on the internet, but as the title says.....

also i made a website, but i havent got it onto the domain yet, for the curious you might be able to see it here?

Not so much a leaping from the curtains with jazz hands and a sparkly bowler.

More a parting of the curtains and a fishnet stockinged leg peeping through.

Which let's face it, is far more us.

Feedback please.
xxx

12.11.11

Heaven is a place on earth with you


Tell me all the things you want to do
I heard that you like the bad girls
Honey, is that true?
It's better than I ever even knew
They say that the world was built for two
Only worth living if somebody is loving you
Baby now you do

Lana Del Rey a bit addicted to this song.

and old school Christmas wreaths with sprouts

and paper snowflakes

and a reindeer has wandered in, and brought his own forest.

and the cards are selling fast, every time somebody buys one, i make The Hound get up and do a dance.

he's loving me today.

and the most beautiful man came into the shop, and I made a joke, and he didn't get it, and I laughed really hard to compensate.

Awkward.

10.11.11

Cooking for a boy


The differences between men and women are great. The differences between what men like, and what women think they like are even greater....

It's a lot like when magazines do that article on what men fancy. We all think it's the tall very skinny blond wearing a trilby with impossibly long legs and shiny hair, and actually it's the one with the biggest pair of....

and out of all the SATC girls, the one they least fancy is Carrie Bradshaw - she's the one we all want to be.

and you will recall the dilemma of the summer, incidentally they are together, in a romantic way. He sends her flowers, the message is "i am into you" I hope they get married.

So when cooking for a boy, i tend to keep it simple and meat based - unless they are vegetarian, that would be cruel.

Pulled pork, it is the stuff of American blogs, they talk of using pork butt, which i found out is actually just a shoulder joint. Sneaky. This is a hybrid of about 4 recipes, because i didn't have all the ingredients for any 1.

1. In a pestle and mortar grind up chilli, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, clove, garlic, salt and pepper and instant coffee.

2. Rub into the joint and leave overnight in the fridge.

3. Place joint in a roasting tin, add 2 cans of ginger beer, cover with foil.

4. Place in an oven at 150 degrees C for 6 hours.

5. Make sure your oven doesn't have a safety feature that means it switches itself off after 4 hours.....

6. Turn onto suitably chichi platter and pull apart with 2 forks.

7. Place forkfuls into a bap.

A man once said to me that all men really need is sex, meat, beer and sport.

and 3 out of 4 ain't bad.

9.11.11

It's beginning to look a little like......



These arrived yesterday.

My baby boy The Hound.

by the artist that is Anna Wilson-Patterson.

They will be available to buy online on Tuesday, when we launch our new shiny webshop. Which is when i should have blogged them in a whole buy now with a link sort of thing.

but i am too excited to wait.

and they are in the shop for sale now.

The shiny new webshop will also sell vessels and things for the home all with an old quirky aesthetic.

Stay tuned.......

8.11.11

A weekend


Spent doing clinical trials on kale. Will it last in water in exhibition hall conditions. It would appear so. Joy.

Also purple potatoes, hundreds of cocktail sticks and an oasis cone.

Car boot treasure of a school satchel, once owned by Marie Claire, and a TLR camera.

and i cooked pork for hours and hours in ginger beer. Recipe to follow. Definitely food to win the heart of a man.

The Hound stood guard at the oven door for many of the hours.

and then yesterday a trip to Harpenden. Email, Twitter etc. all very well and good, but sometimes you need to jump in the car and have a lunch.

and i learnt that i can manoeuvre a pushchair in high heels, with 2 children in it.

Did you have fun? Are you an earth mother too?

xxx

5.11.11

Christmas wreath course 2011


Monday 5th December


10-5


at the shop: 7 St. Paul's Street, Stamford, PE9 2BE

£180 including all materials and lunch.

You will make a Christmas door wreath the proper old fashioned way with a brass ring and moss, and bountiful foliages and anything else your heart fancies.

Then fuelled by a lunch at The Tobie Norris, and a glass of something alcoholic you will make a table centre, and flowers for your hair.

We will also show you how to the principles of making garlands and swags and planted arrangements, whilst we gossip.

Wrap up, flower shops aren't the warmest places on earth, and wear sensible shoes, you will be on your feet all day.

Everything you make you take home, so bring a bag/basket/shopping trolley/packhorse.

For further details, or to book please email flowers@misspickering.com

Spaces are limited. book early to avoid disappointment. I will tidy the shop and everything.

4.11.11

He calls her the chocolate girl


'cause he thinks she melts when he touches her.

I am having a day of pure frustration, you know the type. When you wonder if you have suddenly started speaking a foreign language, or if everyone you speak to is intellectually subnormal. Tell me you have days like these? Counting down the hours until the gin.

still we have rediscovered the joys of Deacon Blue 1988.

and Narcissus Paperwhites. Heavenly.

and Lapelman is on the internets again. This time it's more than just his Lapel.

Tomorrow details of the Christmas course.

3.11.11

Just like the old man in that book by Nabakov


Gordon Sumner, when he was still hot, you know before he married Trudi and over shared what goes on in the bedroom.

Hyacinths are here in all formats, long stemmed heather - where was that in the summer when i was wiring up short pieces for countless weddings?

and rather aptly after yesterday's post, everything has suddenly gone Christmas.

and now we have a one-armed bandit, a table top one. Not a full size one, that would be ridiculous.

also today i am answering questions on Lotte and Bloom

and almost everyone i hold dear to me is on an aeroplane today, some going, some coming, so you know, no ash clouds and stuff. Thanks.