Have to admit, until fairly recently, we'd never heard of the butter bell. We just did what I suppose most people do - keep the butter in fridge, where it's always too hard and cold. Or, leave it...
Lifestyle…
Slow design. Slow life.
This doesn’t mean we’re lazy – far from it. It just means that we’ve stood back, taken stock and slowed down the pace of things. We’ve (largely) stopped the 9-5 working day and we spend more time living. It hasn’t been easy making such big changes – coming from a city that never stops to a rural village has taken some getting used to, but we’re getting there. Our whole lifestyle is becoming much more balanced.
Our lifestyle now much more takes into account what we buy, what we eat, how we cook, how we relax. How we’ve largely weaned ourselves away from convenience and are now taking a much considered approach to how we live our lives. We still work full time from home and we’re planning our next adventure, but we do try to make time to live life.
Slowing down has had such a positive impact, that we want to share what inspires us and what has enabled a shift in our lifestyle.
What we’ve done isn’t rocket science. It’s just about savouring moments that we might have missed before, because we were just too busy. Too pre-occupied. And even if it’s just watching a sunset, getting in the car and having a night away or making a spicy curry on a Friday evening, listening to Kylie Minogue, well – we savour it…
recent lifestyle blogs
the renovation : where have we been?
If you've been wondering why the renovation updates suddenly stopped, you're certainly not alone. When we bought our Andalusian townhouse, I had every intention of documenting the journey as it...
*why*?
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a mouse in the house
To be honest, a mouse in the house, was probably the last thing we needed after the last couple of months of storms and leaking roofs and the onset of a big repaint job throughout the house. But I...
the easiest recipe, ever…
If you are a fan of curry, then this is a perfect recipe. I found this on Instagram, and just had to give it a go as I couldn't believe that a curry - or, soup, as the recipe calls it - could be...
ikea mash soup…
Yep, you saw that right. We really did use a packet of IKEA frozen mash in a recent soup recipe. And, believe you me, it was a bit of a game-changer. Our freezer often has a few packets of this...
sprout and stilton cheese quiche
Stilton cheese and brussel sprouts, combined, to form the filling for a quiche. I mean, what's not to love? We adapted this recipe slightly - the original recipe called for the sprouts to be halved...
structural gardens
Over the years, our gardens have evolved. The front garden has become more private as we have had walls constructed, not only to denote our boundaries, but also to provide us with privacy. The rear...
bacon and brie bake
When we go to Lidl - either here, or in Slovenia, which is probably the closest one to us - and they have a Special Week, we often stock up. When it's Greek Week, the trolley is full of smoky tuna,...
cheesy irish soda bread
A while ago I discovered the easiest bread recipe using just four ingredients - plain flour, baking soda, salt and 0% fat plain drinkable yogurt. For the record, Siggis yoghurt is the best. By far....
creamy mushroom stroganoff
We made this last night, and it is utterly delicious. It's super simple to make and requires very few ingredients that you'd probably have in the cupboard anyway. what you'll need 2 tbsp...
savoury summer tart
I'm so glad summer is here for lots of reasons, but one of the main ones, is that our food intake changes. Gone are the stews and heavy soups of winter, which are delicious, but can be just a bit...
creamy roasted pepper soup
It's definitely red pepper season here, as supermarkets are bursting with them. We picked up a big bag of them recently and made a super spicy chilli at the weekend, full of these flavoursome ruby...
retro sunbeds
We decided this summer, with the garden revamp and everything, to replace the wooden sun loungers. Bought when we first moved in, we committed the initial rookie error of never oiling them, and then...
one pan dahl recipe
If you're a fan of a dahl, and also a fan of not using lots of pots and pans and creating lots of washing up, this is the recipe for you. It uses one pan or casserole dish, a chopping board, a bowl,...
time for tea…
We do love our tea in this house, but we like tea which is very uncomplicated. I have bought leaves and strainers - and even went so far as to bring back rose petal from Morocco - but the just ends...
spicy salmon curry
I had to share this recipe as it's the easiest - and easily most delicious - curry, we've made in a long time. And, we are trying to extend our curry repertoire as we currently don't have Indian or...
homemade hummus : a recipe
I've dabbled in the past with making homemade hummus, but it's never become a habit. Hummus is so widely available that it just seemed a bit of a faff, and I could ever get a consistent recipe that...
our friend, the mosaicist…
Many years ago, when we had a website called Didsbury Life, promoting independent businesses in Didsbury and West Didsbury, we had a beautiful office, right on Burton Road. We designed the logo for...