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...

This is what I am looking out on at the moment. Okay, the sky could be a bit bluer, but it's rather pleasant, I think you'll agree.

And here's where I'm sitting right now. A real little haven of a place.

Until you turn around and look at this...

and this...

The entire house is suffering from an identity crisis. Every room is upside down. Every room has the contents of a different room in it, rather than the contents it should have. Nobody and nothing is where it should be. This week is really going to test my patience. The hall and living room floors are being sanded and revarnished. The radiators are all coming out. The front steps are being built. Oh and the inner hallways are being stripped and redecorated. This all equates to lots of people, lots of mess and no space for moi.

I'll be breathing a sigh of relief come Friday and in the meantime I'll just sit in my little corner looking out at the view...

The other major event in our lives this year is getting somewhat overlooked thanks to all the renovations.I wouldn't have planned it like this.

Samuel's Bar Mitzvah is less than 3 months away. Actually I think it's nearer 2 1/2 but who's counting? This is an event that we've obviously known about for almost 13 years and, like a child's first day at school, I can't quite believe it's almost upon us.

It's a major milestone and a major celebration. We are celebrating by having a big party in a marquee in a field. We are all very excited...but there is SO much to do.

Invitation design has been top priority. We decided that we needed to design it ourselves...especially after one friend asked if this was going to be a 'Handmade Bar Mitzvah'?...was I hand-knitting the invitations? So the pressure was on...

We went round the houses with so many different ideas (hand-knitted not a million miles away!), but kept coming back to paper cutting. This was greatly aided by the delightful Hazel and her access to a laser cutting machine. With some tweaking from Hazel, I think we are just about there.

As for the uber cute cut-offs...I'm thinking table decorations...

I've had the real Monday Blues this morning. As you well know, and I'll try not to dwell and moan about how awful it is too much, I'm finding it fairly difficult in the house at the moment. Mondays are the worst. We get back to some normality over the weekend and then my peace is disturbed with a bang again come Monday morning.

So without dwelling on the bad any longer, with our 5 steps back and one step forward, every now and then something wonderful happens. The walls done in our bedroom was one giant and fantastic step forward. I am taking much solace from being in there, despite it still full of contents from other rooms that are still waiting their turn.

And just when I was feeling thoroughly rotten this morning, with all the project managing that needed handling, the decorator called me up to show me some exceedingly old wallpaper that he'd revealed while stripping the top inner landing. How amazing is this?

You hope that when you live in a house this old you'd discover some long lost original features. (Matthew is hoping for an original tiled floor in the hallway - I think he may be a tad disappointed)

Beneath it all, I am quite easily pleased. Yes, I'm exceedingly pissed off with sharing my life at the moment, but one little revelation like this and I'm all upbeat again. It truly is stunning and am chuffed to bits that it has been revealed. I'm just wondering how we can preserve it and not cover up this little patch again. Any ideas?

I've been doing a lot of hiding in my studio at the moment. The dust, the noise, the constant tramping through my house by as many as 5 workmen sometimes is taking it's toll. It's taking it's toll on my sanity as well as my creativity. It's fair to say I'm not getting much done in the way of work at the moment.

Yesterday, however, I managed to spend an uninterrupted complete hour up there. I think it had something to do with the fact that the builders didn't turn up and so there was only the decorator here. There's only so much disturbing one man can do.

I've a lot of deadlines to meet at the moment and am so short of time that it's been difficult to work on new things or build up stock. I'm aiming to do a Fair towards the end of March and I am pretty much aware that I don't have much stock at the moment...or anything new for my regulars.

I made a couple of my animal cushions and was pleased with having more of those made up. I then, on a very similar theme, made an initial cushion as an idea that had been brewing. I'm sure you all do it too, but I always trial these with my kids initials. Well, if they don't work for work, they can get something out of it. Guess who's already sleeping on this one?

I'm so glad I got all that done yesterday, because today, well that's an entirely different story...

Take one, make one...

This has rapidly become one of our favourite treats of late. If we want to take a plate of something sweet somewhere this delicious, fail safe, Nigella Rocky Road recipe is what we go for everytime.

The list of ingredients is manageable. Most of which we normally have in. No cooking is required, just a couple of hours refrigerating time.

And a little piece goes a long way. So if you are making for lots of people, don't worry about it not going far enough as you can cut it into little bite size squares and still feel more than satisfied. It goes without saying that you'll be more than happy to have more than one piece, should you need to help clear the plate!

This little lot when down rather enthusiastically at my sister's party last night.

And here's the recipe below if you want to make your own little plateful to take to family or friends.

125g soft unsalted butter

300g best quality dark chocolate, broken into pieces

3tbs golden syrup

200g rich tea biscuits

100g mini marshmallows

2tsp icing sugar to dust

1. Heat butter, chocolate and syrup in a heavy-based saucepan over a gentle heat. Remove from heat, scoop about 125ml of the melted mixture and set aside in a bowl.

2. Place the biscuits into a plastic freezer bag and crush them with a rolling pin until some have turned to crumbs but there are still pieces of biscuit remaining.

3. Fold biscuit pieces and crumbs into the melted chocolate in the saucepan, then add the marshmallows.

4. Tip mixture into a 24cm square baking tin and smooth the top with a wet spatula.

5. Pour over the reserved chocolate mixture and smooth the top with a wet spatula.

6. Refrigerate for about 2 hours or overnight.

7. To serve, cut into bite size pieces and dust with icing sugar.

Enjoy xx

We have made some progress in the house this week. Just about all the previous horrific coloured woodwork has been obliterated. This is no mean feat I can tell you. No more lilac in the bedroom. No more shades of green in the hallway. It's all gone!

I've needed to see some physical progress this week. Juggling work, builders, half term last week really took it's toll, so I am cheered up no end to have a glimpse of the vision we are looking to achieve.

And all the beautiful wallpaper has arrived too. That was quite a strenuous decision making process that has been going on for about 3 months. I don't know about you, but we've only ever decorated one room at a time before, so to split your energies into getting 3 rooms and the hall, stairs and landing as you want wasn't straight forward. Especially when the man of the house refuses to have anything floral.

We got there in the end though and we are both over the moon with what we have chosen and can't wait to have it up on the walls. Honestly, I feel like a kid whose birthdays have all come at once! I've been promised that the paper is going up in our room on Monday. Quite frankly the look I gave John, the decorator, really should have made him drop everything and put it up there and then. I'm not impressed.

I'm not sure if it does it justice just yet, but here's a little peak of the beautiful grey...and the oh so gorgeous white woodwork...

Have a lovely weekend and check back Monday to see those walls ;-)

Amendment: The aforementioned husband has taken umbridge with the accusation of not wanting anything floral. He would like it made perfectly clear that this was with reference to our bedroom only and with regards flowers. He doesn't mind anything that is an artistic interpretation of flowers, as in the ones we have chosen, but not flowers themselves.

Oh, and I need to mention how lucky I am to have a husband who has agreed to have the wallpapers we have chosen.

(This will teach me to leave my blog open where he can read it!)