Thursday 30 August 2012

House move

We have been moving house, and have no internet for a while so here is a quick update whilst I'm at uni for the day.

I secretly enjoy moving house, the sorting and organising and labelling and list making. Not to mention the fact that we were both off work and so I got to spend a week and a bank holiday just hanging out with my husband (where hanging out is doing all the cleaning and manic stuff but also eating random combinations of leftover freezer food, playing boardgames, singing songs to each other and having tea in bed before starting the day).

We had less than 24 hours to move house so everything from upstairs went to live in the garage while we cleaned. Once again my miracle products (Magic Eraser and Biomex) made good work of everything and we were very proud of the results (and the checkout clerk was impressed). We also cleaned half of the kitchen to save time on the day. Then Mike's parents came to help and his mum and I finished the cleaning whilst the chaps packed up the van. It was 3 trips in the end (of 1 hour each way) so we were all exhausted by the end but it's done!

Disappointingly the new house wasn't clean when we got there - they'd rushed to give us more moving time but hadn't let us know so we hadn't even got the van when they called to say it was ready. There are also no picture hooks, and only one curtain rail so it's really hard to personalise. However, we've now got it how we want it with the purchase of a new kitchen island, a wardrobe for the bedroom and a dresser for all my crockery. We personalised the dresser with my stripey green ceramic door knobs and it's all white and lovely. This is now my favourite room in the house.

Sorry there are no photos. Here is one of my mother-in-law and I waiting for the the last van load having cleaned ourselves out of the house:


lots of love

Claire
x

Monday 13 August 2012

Fabric wishlist

We are currently packing our house up to move. This will hopefully be the last time we move to rent. We have loved this house but paying close attention to it whilst cleaning shows that, really, it's only the kitchen and location which are 'nice' and everything else is just a bit tired.

To distract myself from the fact that my house is full of boxes, I took comfort in my pinterest boards. Most of my 'dream house' items are pastel or delicately patterned ceramics, but the fabric items on there are vibrant and (sadly) not husband friendly:

(created using http://www.photovisi.com). 
The ottoman was featured on house and home and now can't be found, the shower curtain and flower bedding are both urban outfitters, the quilt (bottom left) is from not the high street and the yellow peacock bedding is from Dwell Studio

Since we are moving away from our friends, this print is speaking to me at the moment
Home is wherever I'm with you
In the Bible, God says that He goes ahead, clearing the road and " I'll lead you to buried treasures, secret caches of valuables - Confirmations that it is, in fact, I, God, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name ". Taking this verse out of context a bit, I have been comforted that God will uncover treasures for us in a new place, a new way of serving and a new set of people as confirmation that he is a God who knows us and provides for us.

Love

Claire

Wednesday 1 August 2012

Review - The Field Kitchen

On Friday night as a birthday treat, Mike and I went with some friends to The Field Kitchen . It was so good that I want to recommend it to everyone!

The field kitchen is a pop-up restaurant, I shall leave further description to the website:

“Imagine a garden, barn or courtyard filled with low-lit lamps, round and rectangular tables, higgledy piggledy cutlery, glassware, table linen and plates. Complimentary jugs of wine and fresh elderflower and fruit concoctions. Steaming hot Italian coffee. Take a van with a kitchen in it, fill it full of fresh, local and interesting ingredients. Put an instinctive chef in it who is all about passion and giving the best he can. Welcome to The Field Kitchen Oxford.”
On Friday, with the sun beaming, it was held in Hogacre Common, found by walking down a track, crossing a (honestly sketchy looking) railway bridge and emerging into a sunkissed meadow with a pavillion. When we arrived, there were children playing rounders and happy adults enjoying coffee and looking smug after their own meals. 

the field kitchen, in a field, husband looks happy about his pork

We were seated under a granny lampshade next to speakers playing lovely folky music (later replaced by live music). I sent a photo to my mum who remarked 'oh you really did mean eating in a field'.  We received jugs of wine and water and settled down to wait for our first course (we didn't know what we were getting until we got there).On the table were lovely flowers and herbs, and a sprig of lavender on our napkins. The starter was a sourdough bruchetta with a pea and garlic puree and it was a great introduction to the type of food, which one could imagine was plucked straight from the community allotment next door (indeed, some is sourced from that very allotment). The food was served on mismatched crockery, but I managed to get the same set for main and pudding. 

Seabass and strawberry and custard tart.

The others had pork as their main (and see how happy my husband looks!), I had seabass having consulted with the chef the day before. Both were served with a scrumptious caponata - not as sweet as the version I make so that it complemented the fish more. I really didn't expect something as extravagant as seabass for my meal so it was a wonderful surprise. Pudding was an equally glorious strawberry custard tart. 
Snuggled up husband

We finished off with a pot of coffee fresh from the stove whilst listening to the acoustic performers and chatting. By then the sun had set and it had got chilly so on went the lamps and we were provided with blankets from a huge hamper. We had already paid online for the meal and so it was a very relaxed atmosphere with no pressure to leave. Others came and went but we basked in the atmosphere. 


In case of rain, there is a pavillion on the common where dinner can be served, but we were very glad that we got to experience the true 'Field Kitchen'. The meal cost us £30 each, including the wine and we would definitely love to go again (if we weren't leaving Oxford in 3 weeks). 

Lots of love

Claire