RHS Wisley in the Springtime - pt. 1

Way back in April, I visited RHS Wisley with my mum for a little afternoon out. Having been several times when I was a little kid, I really couldn't remember it too well, so we decided to refresh my memory.  We only live about 20 minutes up the M3 from it, so I was appalled that it took me so long to get around to visiting, especially since I found out they had a gorgeous glasshouse (you know I love a glasshouse).  

I know that I'm a bit out of season with these pictures - but I had so many to resize and edit, because everything there was so beautiful, that I just hadn't had the time to get around it, and it seemed like such a daunting task - so now I have finally got around to it, I think I'll have to split it into a couple of posts...! 

I particularly loved walking around the initial gardens when you come in, in the spring these are full of magnolia trees, cherry blossoms and acers, all sorts of brightly coloured spring flowers to admire as you walk through to the glass house, which really had my heart.
This pink tree is my absolute favourite - I'm determined to get one for my dad for his garden: it's something like a chinese cedar/mahogany, but the name is 'Flamingo' - which is the most perfect pink with white trunks.

Keep reading to see the bonsai trees...!

New in: gold jewellery from Accessorize

Maybe it has something to do with growing up in the early nineties, when gold hoop earrings were the height of 'chav' - but I've never really been one for gold jewellery. With the exception of a few special 'hand-me-down' pieces (which you can read about here in my everyday jewellery post) I generally always opt for silver - until recently, that is..

Recently, I've realised that it's obviously so fashionable for a reason - all these pieces I've been wearing were picked up at different times from Accessorize - who are really knocking it out the park with their new Z by Acessorize range, in particular. I love the shiny gold chains, semi-precious stones, and dainty charms - I want it all. Before you ask - this post isn't sponsored - I just really love their new jewellery!

For work, I wear a lot of plain shirts, blouses and tops - and I really wanted a few pieces to brighten up the outfits - and add a little bit of individuality to my work 'uniform'. I particularly love the plain gold chain, it goes with anything.

Also, please excuse my beautiful, but scratched coffee table, it's a well loved piece of furniture that my grandfather made - but it has seen better days unfortunately.

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weekend wanderings #72

(images from Uncia and Tigris, theprivatelifeofagirl.com and nishaantishu.com)

• This week I made fun of bloggers and their peony obsession (in jest), and shared my recipe for banana matcha ice-cream. 
• More pretties from the upcoming Ikea collection - the cork jars and the soft furnishings look right up my street.
• I've never tried panna cotta - maybe I've been living under a rock - but I'm willing to give it a go for salted caramel panna cotta.
• There are so many places I want to visit - my aunt is sending me pictures from Dubrovnik, and the internet is telling me to visit Slovenia...
• Freya's pictures from Pakistan are so interesting and beautiful, I highly recommend her blog if you have not taken the time to check it out. 
• I want to read more by Margaret Atwood - and Jennie has reviewed The Edible Woman, which looks very interesting. 
• Being nice is something that as a bit of a bitch, I find hard to do - it's something I need to work on. I even make fun of the word nice...!
• I often link things from Spoon and Tamago, an amazing blog that shows weird and wonderful creative things from Japan: but I would suggest it if you love finding odd things that you had no idea you wanted to see. Like this sprawling treehouse, or these sweet little animated gifs, not unlike something from a Studio Ghibli film
• Another week, another ice-cream (I refuse to acknowledge the fact we're half-way through August!): roasted banana and coconut ice-cream. 
• I am visiting the Peak district in a few weeks, and I know that's not quite Yorkshire, but the dales and ridings of Yorkshire county and all that it has to offer is somewhere I wouldn't say no to spending some time. 
• I was eagerly awaiting the photos from Rosie's honeymoon: she does not disappoint. 
• I should not read Alice's blog, it gives me unrealistic expectations of life, generally, but holidays, too.
• Like Kate, I have dreams of planting a wildflower meadow in the garden, but I need to make sure I follow these guidelines.  
• I need to keep telling myself that where I live is beautiful too, because I forget. 
• Cannock Chase in Staffordshire is not very far from where a lot of my family live, but it looks so beautiful - I must make a point of visiting. 
• As per usual, I cannot resist a good garden, this week it's the Botanical Gardens in Berlin. 
• I always forget that my garden birds are not the same elsewhere, they're just such staples in my life, that it would be weird not to see them every day.
• Ruth's tour of the lovely little shops and quirky spaces of the PMQ in Hong Kong are making me want to visit there, also. 

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Banana Matcha Ice-Cream Recipe

There are processes I go through when trying out a new recipe, the first stage starts with that excitable joy. That hope that this it will be the best cake/dessert/dish I've ever made, I'll take it to dinner parties and pass it on to my children in recipe books. Then there is that middle stage, that, I'm not really convinced by this, why are they telling me to use 5 bowls and three pans - that seems excessive, right? Is it supposed to be that consistency? It looks a bit like it'd curdling/burning/falling apart... Then you follow it through to the end, and it's actually not quite good - this ice-cream recipe summed up that process completely.

When this was a mushy greenish paste, I was completely not convinced. But it actually tastes really good - don't let the odd, yellowish green consistency put you off!

Keep reading for the recipe...

Bloggers, you need to stop buying peonies...

I have oft mocked my own breed but we bloggers are an odd bunch - we will find something that we like and we used it to death - be that a product, a prop, a saying, a style... I am also guilty of the the flat lay, the soft focus, the aerial shots of food on a table or coffee in a cafe, but I feel I need to address the elephant in the room: a peony.

Guys, peonies are beautiful flowers - I know. Their time in season is brief, only a few months in the summer and you want to make the most of that - I understand. However, there comes a time when you must break the habit. That time is probably the end of the summer, when they're no longer available...

I know that until that point, you want to make the most of these beautiful, tissue paper like blooms, with their marbled effect leaves, that take so long to open up, it seems like they never will: however, bloggers, you need to stop.

You need to stop artfully scattering them across your bed linen, your marble trays, your hard wood floors.

You need to stop using them in every single photograph, every Instagram, every header and footer on your blog.

You need to stop scattering the petals across your flat lays of spring-makeup picks, of seasonal summer cocktails, and blogger tips and tricks photographs.

You need to stop angling them in the background of every shot.

You need to stop buying out the entire amount in Waitrose, Marks and Spencers, Aldi and garden centres - other people might like a bunch too...

I love you guys and I love peonies just as much as you do (hell, I bought a plant for my garden last week) however I think this is a much needed public service announcement - hell, I need to follow some of these rules myself. Spare a thought for all those other flowers long forgotten by bloggers: tulips, roses, lilies, hydrangeas, freesias, daisies and gypsophila... 

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Also, because incase it is mentioned: I wrote this long before this post, but it is definitely in a similar vein! Please don't take this too seriously... I'm mocking myself, too. ;)