Herman baked...

Just to let you know that Herman turned out alright. As I'm not too great at following instructions he probably didn't get quite as much care and attention as he should have done. However Day 10 came and we added apple and chopped nuts to the undesirable looking beige gloop that we have been cultivating and put it in the oven.

Out came an enormous and tasty cake that has kept both hubby and boy quiet for 4 days. That I call a success.

So if someone offers you a tub of stuff and claims its a friendship cake, think twice before bunging it in the bin and bear with it!

visually beautiful

today i am having a "stop the world i need to get off" type of day. jo and i had arranged to strt ploughing through our vast collection of bits and bobs and all things fabric to start making some hardaker & pope goody bags for the vintage handmade textile fair, yet at the same time i had a million (slight exaggeration) emails to deal with and doing mood boards for a christmas photoshoot for a leading interiors mag. a big mouth ulcer and a scarcity of anything to eat chez Hardaker made me a grumpy old bag today - sorry Jo!
Anyway whilst trawling for christmas images i fell in love with this from Atlanta Bartlett ' s book Easy elegance - a favourite inspirational read at the moment. i am now inspired for the photography of the new collection - just need to get christmas (in july) out of the way first!!!

bed

Baby had a little accident in bed the other night, leading to one of those late night, bleary-eyed, bed making solutions. In this case her sleeping bag and eiderdown had to make do.

But I've been rather remiss about making the bed up properly since. Partly because baby loves her sleeping bag, but mainly because I'm loving the pattern combinations on her bed at the moment. Every time I walk past the girl's bedroom door I stop and take a look, and what's worse (or better, depending on how you look at it) is the fact that the unmade bed version of this look is even more appealing to the eye.

It is funny how something can really catch your eye and make you smile, perhaps this is how Tracy Emin felt!

the perfect antidote

It doesn't matter if you're a harassed house wife and mother of 3 or a stressed out London business woman, it always pays to take the opportunity to take time off and do something for yourself. Which is exactly what I did this week.

I've been dying to get to the V&A for ages. In my London days museums weren't free so I don't think I've been since studying History of Art A'level - quite a few years ago then! And of course there was the much talked about Quilt Exhibition and the Grace Kelly exhibition too. I went straight from Paddington to the Grace Kelly exhibition; I've always loved the Hollywood star to Princess story, and admired her wonderful style. It was great to see the clothes she wore but a still dummy does nothing for costume. But there were plenty of photographs and film clips that illustrated how graceful and beautiful she was.

Then I met up with 2 school friends to visit the Quilt Exhibition. A fascinating insight into the history of quilt making and has left me desperate to sort out my fabrics and make a couple of quilts for the girls beds. Though I think a lack of time and space may hinder my progress! Excuses, excuses.


But of course you can't catch up with friends properly in an exhibition so we stole off to The Humming Bird Cafe for a gossip (intellectual gossip and little talk of children, wonderful) accompanied by an iced coffee and a 'Black Bottomed Cake' and I bought a selection of cakes for the family. If you can't make them, buy them!

Next day, I tried to recreate it at home. Cakes survived the train journey and I whizzed together a frappe in the magimix, but it wasn't really the same.

Much as I love my family it was great, and refreshing, to have a day out to be Me. I recommend it to all.

meet herman...

.... the latest (potential) answer to my baking problems! Both Boy and Hubby have been not too subtley hinting that they would appreciate a few more home baked cakes. Unfortunatley, as I've mentioned before, this is not my strong point. Those that are more successful than I have told me that precision is one key to successful cake making, so I've been trying really hard to follow instructions accuratley and to measure out ingredients perfectly and the results are improving but still not perfect. Though I must say neither Boy nor Hubby are complaining about the taste testing.

Any how I'm hoping that Herman may help. A friend came for coffee and bought 'him' with her. It's a friendship cake and the tupperware full of beige gloop that I was given is actually a yeast mixture that we have to stir and feed occasionally over 10 days before adding the final ingredients and wacking in the oven, then eating.

I'm intrigued. The children have taken responsibility for stirring him and tomorrow is our first feeding session, but what exactly are we going to end up with?

cornish inspiration

while I was in St Ives (i think i will be boring you for weeks with this!) i came across various artists whose work i was immediately drawn to. One of which was Hannah Cole, a brighton based painter who had some fabulous seascapes of the beaches around st ives. i love the composition of the paintings, and the musted seamisty colours.

cornish inspiration 1

we have just returned froma beautiful week in st ives in cornwall. When the sun shines on the English seaside it is stunninly beautiful. I can see why st ives was so attractive to artists, the quality of light was truely amazing. I have returned full of ideas and inspiration, so more of the seaside later this week.

loving...cow parsley

It's June, it's pouring with rain and it's a shame to say goodbye to May, one of my favourite months. In recent years May has brought fantastic weather and the English Countryside is in it's prime, the trees and fields are green and the hedges absolutely brim with Cow Parsley. It looks good on the roadside, but also looks fantastic in jugs as an easy, rustic 'flower arrangement'. And I've noticed some lovely outdoor examples of this recently.

As well as the cow parsley being in flower, the cows are back on the Common for the summer it seems only apt to mention this great wall paper, designed by Belynda Sharples. I came across it while having a latte in Boston Tea Party in Barnstaple over Easter. They had it covering the walls. But the piece de resistance was half way up the stairs where they had a shelf, on the wall, with a row of simple glass bottles filled with cheery, bright daffodils. The contrast looked fabulous and it was one of those moments when you really wish I'd had the camera.

brunel broderers

Like my discovery of Russian textiles this years Textile Festival also lead me to discover a collaboration of textile artists called the Brunel Broderers. They had an intriguing exhibition called Curious Drawers and both myself and the children were captivated. I love it when interaction is encouraged and here gloves were provided, enticing the visitor to touch the exhibits, open the drawers and to discover what lay inside.

One artist (sorry, I'm scant on detail as I had children with me) had made a collection of these incredibly delicate draws out of tissue paper stitched together and filled with Victorian-esque (made up word) paraphernalia, they were absolutely beautiful,

and look at the gorgeous labels. I'm wanting to dig the tissue paper and sewing machine out as I write!

My little girl's favourite was this tiny cabinet with lots of draws and doors to open, and she was especially pleased to be given the magnifying glass with which to examine the contents. Butterflies, beetles and bugs lived within and all were subjected to much scrutiny.


I really liked this simple seaside piece. I love the way the textiles have been created to suggest all manner of beach findings. The foam of a wave, or shingle, the shapes made in the sand by tiny sea creatures. But what I also liked about this was that it could very easily become the basis for a child's project. When we're at the sea we love to collect all sorts of things that we find lying around and I think to make it into some kind of memorabilia is a great idea.

Then finally there were these Jars of Joy. They weren't actually part of the exhibition, just for sale. But again I love the idea of collections with memories and I thought (if I knew where to get hold of such jars) it would be lovely to catalogue trips or holidays with one's own jars created and collected over time. Again, potentially, another great project for the kids.

weekend reading and blog etiquette

this weeks reading is a lovely blog called moth design which i came across a little while ago via a comment here on hardaker and pope.
Which brings me onto the subject of blog etiquette. A couple of weeks ago i was talking to a customer, who also readsd our blog. She used to write her own - and very good it was too. why did you stop i enquired? she told me it was because it was taking too much time and had ceased to be fun. why is that i asked, and her reply saddend me. she said it was because she felt she had to leave a comment on everybodys blog that had left a comment on hers as she didn't want the people who had left comments to feel slighted. I then felt a bit bad, as i am rubbish at leaving comments on blogs. I read loads, i dip in and out daily, I love knowing what people are up to, and i feel a connection with alot of these bloggers, in a way that if i was passing by their house i would be able to ring the doorbell and say hi and stop for a cuppa, but still I don't often comment.
I would be really interested to know do you feel slighted by me not commenting? I hope not, feel safe in the knowledge that I read you on a weekly basis and just because i don't comment often doesn't mean I don't love you!! it just means that i try and squeeze my reading in while children are otherwise occupied - so i am maximizing reading time and minimizing typing time!!

. Anyway back to Erica and Moth design, Erica is an interior designer based in Canada, I love her style, and if I was in any way a clean, tidy person whose kids didn't leave a trail of muck behind them everywhere they went I too would dream of a house like this!

I really really want one of these little little 'lapa' rooms - lapa is zulu for 'over there'.

anyway enjoy your weekend.

pressing flowers

I've been a bit slack on the old blog recently and my excuse this time.... photo back log!
When our hard drive went kaput we were fortunate to have most files saved externally and felt quite smug. However we didn't bargain for the fact that a new hard drive also meant new software! It's taken us a while to adjust to updated programmes and to find a new photo editing package.

For the last couple of months I've been relying on hubby to do all the editing for me. Since this coincided with the beginning of his golf season, this has meant very little productivity. However, tonight he was home early from the golf course and gave me a quick tutorial so I can hopefully edit my own pictures again and be a bit more of a regular contributor on the blog!

Back to the point. No one can have failed to notice how the plants have been loving the weather we have had recently and our little girl hasn't failed to notice how many flowers there are taking over our garden. It's been a perfect opportunity for her to try out the flower press she was given for Christmas and has been desperate to use.

I still have the flower press I was given as a child. There is something quite exciting about choosing your flowers, putting them away in the press and waiting........ until the moment, days, or even months, later, when you decide to unscrew those 4 corners to reveal what's inside. I always manage to forget what flowers I'm pressing and it's intriguing to discover how well they have worked. It is certainly true some flowers press better than others, some retain their colour, whilst others just disintergrate.




So today was a big day as our little girl opened her flower press for the first time. Wonderfully most of the flowers had pressed well, which meant that the girls spent a happy morning with paper and pritt stick making cards and gift tags before returning to the garden and filling up the flower press again.

beside the seaside

we have just got back from a fabulous (and very cheap) weekend away by the sea. I have travelled all over the world both with family and with work, but there is nowhere quite so lovely as the british seaside on a sunny day (well there are more lovely places obviously but nowhere quite so nostalgic!)

deckchairs, ice cream, the smell of the sea, happy children....................so full of nostalgia

we went to Beer on the Devon, Dorset border about 5miles from Lyme Regis . The weekend was organised by a friend an parent at our local village school - she is the dynamic owner of a large event company, so she managed what the rest of us always talk about doing but never actually do - booking a family weekend away that wouldn't break the bank. Group excursions can be the stuff of nightmares and bad sitcoms however off we set, 16 adults and 19 kids, straight after school (ahem Hardakers late as always!!). Our accomodation for the weekend was the YHA at Beer. I can almost hear the snorts of derision now from some quarters! But I have to tell you it was fantastic. we hired the whole hostel for about £135 per family, we had masses of space both inside and out, the rooms were lovely and clean as were the ample (but communal) bathrooms. The manager (great, friendly and very hard working chap) ordered us a keg of Otter ale for the weekend and they had a licenced bar as well

What was so lovely was that although with siblings the childrens ages ranged from 3 to 13 there was no squabbling or arguing and none of them said " can we watch telly" all weekend.

on sunday morning some of the dads went out on a mackeral fishing trip in the bay, they came back with quite a haul.

we were sad to leave on saturday afternoon, but when we arrived home - to a house like an oven , Mr H lit the barbeque and we had chargrilled mackeral for tea. happy days!!