Saturday 25 October 2014

Grey days....

are made for…. 


….baking cookies
the smell of cookies baking in the oven is so heart warming
I can’t get enough of it




….woodland walks
so much to see and explore 
 LoVe
the time we spend together
without any modern-day interruptions


…. woolly jumpers & tweed
it's like wearing a comforting warm hug 




 ....wellies 
best invention ever



….wearing splashes of red
LoVe
 red on a dull day,  always makes me smile




….hot cocoa
served with all the trimmings
 hApPiNeSs 
in a cup



....finding beauty wherever you look!


There is a reason for grey days,
you only have to appreciate the magic of them.

Have a great weekend
 XXXX






Sunday 19 October 2014

My favourite season....

Autumn is in full swing in Berlin, 
everywhere I look there are pretty little reminders 
of this beautiful time of year. 


Loving 
the last Roses in our garden!
 I’m always besotted by natures diversity of colours. 

 
I’m in LoVe with this Autumn♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
A feeling of change is in the air. 
 Autumn
has it’s very own beauty....
    even on a grey day  ☂ 


I have noticed changes in me
that comes with the beginning of Autumn....

Perfumes, colours, textures, Music, Films, TV and even Food.
My tastes in most things change.... 
I move from fresh soft airy open to warm cosy cuddly comforting.


Loving dark greens, browns in rich shades and strong blues 
mixed with a splash of red.
It’s not like I don't like my Spring / Summer colours any more 
but I’m drawn to the cosy.


On a recent shopping trip for fabric
I noticed that even when choosing cotton fabrics, I was drawn to dark blues
with browns & prints that are so not me normally.
 I’m in LoVe with woollen tweeds & tartans 
mixed up with a bit of denim or corduroy at this time of year. 


Autumn also brings a taste changer in food, 
I love light uncomplicated food,
BBQ is a firm favourite of mine all throughout summer. 
But by this time of year I’m all Barbecued out
and I crave old school comfort food
savoury & sweet pies, roast dinner, even soups
....I’m most definitely not a soup kinda person the rest of the year.


Loving 
this roasted vegetable soup made all from locally grown veggies, 


served with homemade soda bread and salty butter. 
I always make way more than can ever be eaten on one night 
as this soup taste just as great for lunch the next day. 


The only thing that doesn’t seem to ever change is my loving of whimsy 
lovelies ....pretty  ....kitsch, 
call it what you like,  I’m a sucker for it all year round.
Anyone that knows me knows
I just LoVe LoVe LoVe pretty packaging....


When I saw this salt shaker in a French Department-store
 here in Berlin, I just had to buy it.  
My friends would say now ....that is soooo you Anna.
It makes me smile everyday.

Autumn my favourite season.... thinking about it, I have come to realise 
I’m definitely a seasons kinda person. 
I wouldn't like to live somewhere were the change in seasons are so subtle 
that I hardly would notice them. 
I LoVe the changes that comes with each season. 
I can’t tell you which is my favourite, 
if you ask me today the answer is Autumn 
but if you ask me on a beautiful cold crisp winters day or a lovely warm sunny spring day, 
I change my mind. 


Have a lovely Sunday.


XXXX

P.s Have you got a favourite season?

Friday 3 October 2014

Our adventure is called....



Hello everyone is so lovely to be back, 
I have been away from here for much longer than I had anticipated or planned.
A move like the one we have just done is not just stressful, it is at times a little overwhelming 
and I have been on a emotional roller-coaster with 
extreme lows.... a few highs.... twists & turns and plenty of my tears over the past two months.    
 Amazingly both the Paperdolls & Mr Mc have coped much better with all the changes.  
Me.... I just haven’t been feeling myself.


Our adventure is called BERLIN.... 
for the moment.
We are doing the “multi generational living” for a few months.  
Sharing a house with my parents whilst they are waiting for there new home to be finished.  
It’s going surprisingly smooth keeping in mind they have had their house all to themselves 
for the last fourteen years.  
Peace & quiet.... now there is a teen and a wannabe teen rattling through the rooms, 
that is a big change, especially when your last time living with teens 
and the tantrums that come with them is twenty years ago. 
 My Dad escapes to the Golf Course most days. 
To put it in my Dads words “any wise man is always at the Golf Course at times like these”. 
We are all now living in a semi state of packed & unpacked 
my parents are semi packed, we are semi unpacked. 
And like a family from a time long gone by, we enjoyed our meals together, 
played boardgames and even watched the same TV programs together. 
It has been a great experience & exercise for us all in being understanding, 
tolerant and respectful of the others need.  I’m kinda enjoying it.
So you may wonder why I said for the “moment”, simply because I don't know 
if I ever feel settled enough in this City to want to stay for good.  
Berlin is fast pace, people are always rushing and it’s a very anonymous place.  
Coming from where I have just came from, it's an extreme contrast, one I need time to adapt too.  
I guess in many ways I have turned into a real country bumpkin or maybe it is my age not sure, 
but I like a slower pace of living, knowing my neighbors, having my friends near by 
and being part of a community.  
Hopefully with the Paperdolls starting to settle into Schools and most of the 
mind-boggling German bureaucracy out of the way, 
we can now start to enjoy this City and appreciate it for what it is & has to offer.
 We have only been here a short time and 
I have to give Berlin a chance, as Mr Mc reminds me most days!!!


Wishing you all a beautiful weekend from a autumn coloured BERLIN! 


XXXX