Thank you all for your positive and encouraging comments yesterday. I didn't mean to be all moany yesterday, it's just with the thought of worse to come this week got the better of me. I'm feeling a lot better today, thanks to a little Ikea jaunt with Manda and Lily. Thanks ladies...the distraction was just what the doctor ordered. (So was the tray that you can see featured in these photos!)

In celebration of remaining cheerful I thought I'd post some pretty, beloved objects that make me happy.

I have a bit of a thing for jugs. I don't know what it is about them, but I just can't have enough. Here is a little collection of my favourite ones that either sit prettily on shelves in full view, or get used nearly every day. Some do both.

Starting from the left, this is my latest vintage pick up, which I blogged about a few weeks ago. it's rapidly become a firm milk favourite to accompany my morning tea.

This next one is one Matthew bought for me whilst at The Edinburgh Festival one year. I love the drip marks sliding down the side. It's my favourite one for heating milk up in the microwave for my morning coffee ritual. It's the perfect size for 2, so please pop in and share a cafetiere with me.

This next one is probably my most expensive jug and thus is never used. It sits on my beautiful cake stand in the kitchen alcoves where I can see it every day. It is exquisite and delicate and I could stare at it for eternity.

This porcelain dimpled jug is very special to me. Not only is it unbelievably tactile and sits just oh so comfortably in your hand, but it was my very first item sourced for Blueberry Park. I have used mine every single day for 4 years ever since and have never stopped getting that breathless feel when I pick it up out of the fridge. I know - it's a jug, goddammit! But simple pleasures 'n' all that...

And now for my latest addition to my all time favourite jugs... It was my birthday last week and the gorgeous Kristy, quite rightly, decided that this would be the perfect gift for me (along with this fab bowl too). Not only do I absolutely love it, not only is it just perfect in my home, but the fact that Kristy has come to know me so well, despite us never actually having met. The wonders of the internet that our paths can cross so.

Definitely a day for cheery thoughts...

I don't know what the weather is like where you are, but it's beautiful here today. Cold, but beautiful. I've been on a lovely little run out to Ilkley to take some stock to a gorgeous new stockist, Cakewalk.

This is an absolute gem of a place, tucked away off the main high street and is a collection of a few independent shops under one roof. It's a real Aladdin's cave full of vintage and handmade work, most of which is made in Yorkshire. Cakewalk is run by artist Emma Straw, who has some of her own lovely work on show. I was thrilled when Emma asked is she could stock my hearts and needle and pin sets and even more so when I delivered them there and saw what a find it was.

Of course I couldn't leave without buying something, but I did limit myself to just one thing (even though I could have bought the entire shop). As soon as I saw this jug I knew I wasn't leaving without it. Isn't it a beauty?

If you live in the vicinity, you must go visit. You won't be disappointed, I promise. Ilkley itself is a wonderful little town, full of quirky unusual shops like Cakewalk and you can always revive yourself at Betty's afterwards.