ALL SAINTS CHURCH YORK

A few months ago I travelled up to York for my brother's wedding and whilst there he gave me a tour of his latest archaeological training dig location. If, like me, you can't quite bring yourself to pay £10-15 to see York Minster perhaps All Saints Church is for you! Although small it has a lovely tiled floor that has been painstakingly reconstructed and some stunning medieval stained glass. A bonus is that the dig is sometimes open to the public and the best finds are on display in the church!

The tiles were copied from ones found on site and were made in Bulgaria, the only place they could find the techniques involved still being used. The result is beautiful. Here you can see an original tile that was recently found on the archaeological dig at the church.

The colours in the stained glass are wonderful and I'm tempted to start redecorating my house (despite only just finishing) in rich blood red, royal blue and golden yellow!

The window above depicts the apocalypse including stars falling, everybody dead and the world on fire. Charming!

For more history see their website (All Saints Church North Street) and for all you time team geeks check out the archaeological dig twitter feed (Archaeology Live Twitter). Some of their most exciting finds are on view at the moment.

VINTAGE LACE AND EMBROIDERY COLLECTION

I should probably start trying harder with my titles! They are rather matter of fact. I should try being whimsical or witty but I'm not sure I'm either of those things. I only come up with naff ones like 'Racy Lace' (which would attract people interested in VERY different things) or 'Embrace Embroidery'. Ugh. If you have a better title for this post please comment and I'll change it to the best suggestion!

I thought I would share some of my growing lace and embroidery (and crochet and linen etc.) collection. The majority was bought when I was 15 at auction. It has since been stuck in a box at the bottom of the wardrobe. I can't bear having it hidden away any more so have chosen a few to put around the house. My house is starting to look more and more like my great grandmother's but hey, she probably had great taste.

A little crumpled and delicate but my sister says if a pin the doilies out on a board (like they do when making them?) it'll straighten it out.  

My FAVOURITE is the pansies :)

LONG LIVE THE DOILY

LATEST FINDS III: IN THE PINK

Life has been totally crazy recently hence the lack of posts. End of summer term always tends to consume what little time left over. I have been meaning to share these three items for a while. I definitely would NOT consider myself girly in any way, but I seem to be gradually turning my bedroom into a pink boudoir! Next post I will have painted it soft pink and bought a mirrored dressing table complete with feather boa flung over the top and Martini glass on the side. I've always wanted one of those fantastic vintage gauzy dressing gowns and slip on high-heeled slippers. They even make rollers look glamorous! Okay, perhaps I am secretly a little girly :)

So, first we have a thirties pink glass lamp shade. After falling in love with my blue one (Latest Finds II) I couldn't help getting another. Then comes the slightly crazy bedside cabinet. I was assured that a crazy person has not attacked it with spray gold paint and this is how it would've been originally. I've got used to it and now quite like the gold.

Finally, one of my all time favourite items in the whole world. This has been my bedside lamp since I was about fourteen and had pride of place in my beautiful childhood home. A home I miss like mad now so this is even more precious. The only thing I haven't managed to do is find a fitting lampshade for this glorious base. That's next on my list.

Oh how I love you lamp!

TOP THIRTEEN DAVID AUSTIN ROSES

A slight departure from the traditional top 10 but I couldn't stand to leave out any of these roses from the list. I saw them all at the David Austen Roses Plant Centre which is in full bloom at the moment and well worth a visit.

1. Graham Thomas CLG 'Ausmas' (English Musk Hybrid) David Austin page

This was planted against a wall and has a lovely variety of colours in the flowers, from pale cream to vibrant sunny yellow.

2. Ferdinand Pichard (Old Rose) David Austin page

This was one of only a few variegated colours I saw so it stood out amongst the others.

3. Lady Emma Hamilton 'Ausbrother' (English Musk Hybrid) David Austin Page

This has a fantastic fruity fragrance and the new foliage is a deep burgundy. 

4. James Galway 'Auscrystal' (English Leander Hybrid) David Austin page

A climbing rose that can be trained along a wall or over an arch. The flowers are perfect.

5. Crown Princess Margareta 'Auswinter' (English Rose) David Austin page

6. Jubilee Celebration 'Aushunter' (English Rose) David Austin page

The colour of the flower is what attracted me. It is an unusual dusky pink with hints of gold.

7. Tranquillity 'Ausnoble' (English Musk Hybrid) David Austin page

8. William Morris 'Auswill' (English Leander Hybrid) David Austin page

My favourite is the side of the flower when it is half open; layered and with pointed petals.

9. Spirit of Freedom 'Ausbite' (English Leander Hybrid) David Austin page

This literally smells like turkish delight!

10. Scarborough Fair Rose 'Ausoran' (English Rose) David Austin page

11. Jacqueline du Pre 'Harwanna' (Modern Shrub Rose)

12. Sir John Betjeman 'Ausvivid' (English Rose) David Austin page

13. Queen of Sweden 'Austiger' (English Musk Hybrid) David Austin page

DAVID AUSTEN ROSE GARDENS

My sister visited yesterday and we spent the afternoon at David Austen Roses near Wolverhampton. It was like a dream. I died and went to rose heaven! We were lucky because we caught the gardens at their absolute best. 

I was very tempted to buy everything in the shop but restrained myself. There's too much to do on my house without the added stress of gardening. My garden will have to wait until spring.

My favourite of all the different gardens was the 'Renaissance Garden'. The semicircles of clipped box, pavilion and square pond looked wonderful against the big, blowsy roses.

Outfit

Skirt: My Grandmother's 

Top: Warehouse

Shoes: New Look

Bag: TU at Sainsbury's

Necklace: Holiday buy in Istanbul

I'll be posting again with all my favourite roses from the day, as well as a few other flowers.

SMOKED SALMON AND PRAWN PASTA SALAD

Having spent rather a lot of lunch times recently eating McDonalds, Subway and pork pies I decided to make a big batch of something nicer. It lasts three days in the fridge so if I make it Sunday night I'm sorted until Wednesday. It costs about £6 so it saves some money too.

RECIPE

6 portions

Ingredients

1/2 cucumber, chopped

600g cooked pasta

200g boiled new potatoes, chopped

120g smoked salmon trimmings

200g cooked prawns

300g low fat natural yoghurt

1. Put all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix. 

2. EAT.

TIPS AND TWEAKS

You could replace the natural yoghurt with a mix of mayonnaise and tomato ketchup with a pinch of paprika. You could add a little dill to the yoghurt. 

Happy Experimenting!