PATIENCE PAID OFF

13 JULY 2014

It's been a little while since I've written on here, but to tell you the truth I've been in a bit of a whirlwind. 

You may remember a few months ago that I told you about my experience of being a first time buyer and trying to find our first home in a competitive market full of cash buyers. I decided to take a step back and employ some patience - our perfect home would come along eventually. And it did.

Here's our gorgeous little home. Not the biggest in the world, but it's ours, and we couldn't be happier.

We picked up our keys on 26th June and walked through our front door to find the house immaculately clean, the garden tended to and a vase of flowers and a card on the table. Feeling a little overwhelmed at such a sweet and thoughtful touch, we went round to visit the previous owners to say thank you.

The owners were executors for their parents' estate who had been looking after the property since their father died in January this year. We were welcomed into their home, and as we sat and drank tea with them, they shared their stories about our home - the home they grew up in and which their parents had bought as first time buyers in 1952.

We left with a feeling of warmth knowing that our home had been dearly loved over the last 62 years. It was an emotional experience for them, selling the home in which they had been raised, and I think it put their minds at ease to have met with us. For us, we feel blessed to have bought a home that has borne so many happy memories.

We are now in the process of decorating pretty much every room, so get ready for plenty more posts as our design project unfurls!

MULTIGRAIN SPELT LOAF

2 JULY 2014

A colleague of mine inspired me to find and try this recipe after I found out she hasn't bought bread for about 20 years. Every few days she makes her own, low gluten, high fibre, preservative-free bread from scratch. Full of admiration and feeling inspired, I decided to make my own. Using the recipe she described to me as a guide, I scoured the internet and found the perfect recipe on the fabulous cooking blog, Belleau Kitchen. Click here to follow it for yourself.

For my loaf I substituted the white flour for half wholemeal and half spelt flour (trying to be good, you know). Give it a go, and if you're worried about the fennel, don't be, it really adds another delicious dimension to this healthy homemade loaf! Here's how mine turned out...

BBQ CHICKEN

23 JUNE 2014

So much sunshine! Tom and I just had to make the most of it and have a barbecue yesterday. Not wanting to indulge too heavily, we stayed true to form and invented our own recipe for BBQ chicken using only herbs and spices that we already had in the cupboard. Just marinate for a couple of hours before throwing on the barbecue!


INGREDIENTS:

1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp onion granules
1 tbsp garlic granules
1 tbsp golden caster sugar
1 tsp sea salt/pink salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp allspice
A pinch of freshly ground black pepper


METHOD:

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Rub into your chicken pieces (leave the skin on!) and leave to marinate for a few hours before barbecuing.

HOMEMADE SCONES & RASPBERRY JAM

1 JUNE 2014

Happy June everyone! And what a beautiful start to the summer today has been. With the sun shining and flavours of summer in the air, we felt like indulging in something delicious and quintessentially British. A quick scout around our fridge uncovered a punnet of raspberries, and with it came my inspiration for a home-made cream tea of raspberry jam and freshly baked scones.

This was a double-team effort by myself and my boy. Whilst I tackled the jam, he donned his apron and got baking! As recipes go, I definitely got the better end of the deal with the jam as scones are notoriously difficult to perfect. Good job my boy is good at baking because these scones were delicious - well done baby!

Fancy your own summer cream tea? Have a look at the recipes we followed from the Women's Institute and Paul Hollywood. Simply follow the links and enjoy.

INSPIRING WORDS

23 FEBRUARY 2013

It's been a difficult week for me. I've heard before how stressful buying a house can be, but I never really believed anyone until now. 

In case you hadn't guessed, my boyfriend (Tom) and I are looking to buy our first house. We are first time buyers, desperate to find that perfect house and get ourselves on the property ladder before interest rates go up and property prices rise beyond our budget. The last few weeks have been a never-ending emotional roller-coaster of house viewings and stressful financial decisions. 

After a disappointing viewing early in the week, Thursday came with the promise of perfection - a project house, under budget, and in a near-perfect location. We left our viewing with visions of what we would do to the place and eager to make an offer. I rang as soon as I could the following day, only to find that an offer had been made and accepted by an investor. We were gutted.

Anyway, with a free weekend ahead of me, I had the chance to take stock and snap myself out of my miserable 'nothing ever goes right for me' stupor. So, I decided to do this the only way I know how; by getting creative.

With some encouraging words from friends and family, I have begun to realise that my impatience to nest has been getting the better of me. Despite the fact that things feel miserable right now, I know that another 'perfect' house will come along soon enough - I just need to be patient. So, I thought I needed some inspiration to wake up to in the mornings. I found an old frame and a piece of vellum, and painted that word on it in the hope that it will remind me that good things come to those who wait.