These glass candle boxes will be in stock soon! Hoping by the end of the week.
Winter Cottage and Waiting for Summer, both by Kirsty Elson.
I still have a few of each of the candle votives in stock - these are the large and small fluted ones together with the cupcake votives. I have had mine for a few years now and they look lovely year round.
So far so good. The January blues haven't hit me yet. I'm not sure if it's because I've had a change of direction in my life or because I've been taking vitamin D supplements, though I suspect the former. It's dark enough to trouble any SAD sufferer though, wouldn't you say? It has been super grey here today and by 2pm I had to admit defeat and switch a few lights on.
It *must* be dark, because the Amazon delivery man has taken to wearing a head-torch. I was engrossed in something at the dining table earlier this evening and he gave me the shock of my life when he tapped at the window and caught me in his full beam. Too many episodes of Criminal Minds over the Christmas break has, admittedly, made me rather more jumpy than usual. (Saying that, it's no surprise I'm jumpy when you consider my upbringing. I have a mother who thinks it is beyond hilarious to make her children shriek with fright. If you knew the amount of times she leapt out from behind a bed/door/sofa in my youth to shout 'boo', you'd forgive me for being the nervous wreck that I am. Unfortunately for Andrew, I too find it hilarious to leap out unexpectedly to frighten him. I can't resist it if I'm in a room and he doesn't know I'm there when he walks in. I keep telling myself I must stop, it probably isn't good for his health.)
Inspired by lots of lovely light, bright and white interior photos on instagram this morning, I decided to spruce up the living room a bit. Having removed all of the Christmas decorations, the house felt a little bit less cosy and it suddenly felt like there was too much empty space everywhere (seriously, what did I keep on the dining room sideboard before I set up my winter village? I have no clue.) I started by giving the inglenook fireplace a good going over with a damp cloth and the hoover. Bad move. It was so full of cobwebs that I had to tuck my trousers into my socks and wear a hanky on my head (my Cath Kidston ones are lovely and big for that very purpose) in case of abseiling spiders. Perhaps more alarmingly, there was so much dust that when I turned back around to see Lizzie blinking at me from the sofa, I thought someone had set off a smoke bomb!
I felt a bit deflated cleaning the living room, I'll be honest. We chose this house because it is small, cosy and quirky but in these light-starved mid-winter days I wish we'd picked something with higher ceilings and bigger windows. I gave myself a talking to and pulled out all of the candles and lanterns I could find, to cheer things up. I'm pleased with the living room now, it is sparkly clean and fresh. I am definitely going to paint our oak furniture to help brighten things up a little, though.
Speak soon,
Nicki
x0x
PS Did you see the little Kirsty Elson piece in my photos above? It was a birthday present from my grandma and it's called 'waiting for summer'. I think it looks lovely on the skinny shelves in our living room next to the winter cottage piece I bought for myself just before Christmas.