Kittens!

Over the Christmas holiday, we got a call from some good friends here in the neighbourhood with a rather strange but lovely question: they recently had gotten two kittens to extend their family of four, but now it turned out that the dad had developed an allergy for cats. So would we want to adopt their little cats? (They could also have asked us to adopt the dad, but I guess they wanted to keep him ). We didn’t have to think long — Tamar and I both grew up with animals. My dad was a veterinarian and our country home and garden was always filled with all sorts of pets, and Tamar grew up in a farmhouse also full of animals. So here we are now, proud owners of kittens for the past week. Their names are Hunter (a ginger tom) and Kitty (a black queen), and they are so funny and cute. According to the kids, this brings our animal count now to ten: we have Domino the rabbit, Peet the parakeet, Bagel the hamster which we share with our neighbours, kittens Hunter and Kitty, and then there are Pim’s 5 stick-bugs. (Although three escaped overnight and Pim so far only found 2 back!)

I find it so lovely to be surrounded by animals again, it’s so cosy. I also think it’s good for the children to have animals around: if they are sad they always have a friend to cuddle with, and it also teaches them a sense of responsibility (feed their animals, keep their surroundings clean). I wonder, do you have any pets in your house? Or are you thinking about getting one?

xxx Esther

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Sarah Glover and The Paper Creative

Sarah Glover of The Paper Creative is one seriously talented lady. Not only does she illustrate beautiful children’s books, she writes them, self publishes them and has even launched her own line of greeting cards and prints! Her designs are fun, bold and well, contagiously creative.

One of my favourite books of Sarah’s is The ABC of a C-A-T. A picture book totally dedicated to the life and times of cats incorporated into an alphabet book. So unique! I love the watercoloured illustrations and the fun phrases like ‘M is for meow’ and ‘P is for purr’. Florence loves reading along with me. It’s such fun making up the actions too!

Another great book of Sarah’s is Grandad’s Tea. It’s a fun-loving story of a little girl’s time in her grandfather’s garden. It’s all about the make believe and together with Grandad Bert they have such a silly time!

Sarah’s other work includes these super cute prints detailing the words of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. I think it would make a gorgeous new baby gift. And I love her Winter Warmers print. It’s perfect for this time of year. Check out all of her prints and other delights on her etsy shop here.

Enjoy,

Vanessa x

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Play&Go play mat

My friends seem to have baby in cycles – and, at the moment, I am back in the baby cycle with babies popping up everywhere around me – I love it! I do have a lot of fun finding the latest new baby presents and there is one clear winner. It is the Play&Go play mat –  and it is genius.

Basically it is a pretty playmate that, in one movement, transforms into a bag with all the toys inside. I seriously wish it had been around when my kids were smaller. Perfect for when you have visitors and you need to quickly clean up!

Emilie

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Casa Zinc at i-escape

I’m so behind on posting about our travels (I’m blaming slow wifi — it’s been the one major headache of our travels!).  I have so much I want to share with you from the past couple months, starting with Casa Zinc, a wonderful little boutique hotel in Uruguay that we loved so, so much.

We discovered Casa Zinc on the i-escape site last spring when we were doing research on where to stay in South America. While we knew we would mostly be renting homes, not hotels, there was something about Casa Zinc that really appealed to us, and we figured it would be nice to stay in a hotel for our first few days in Uruguay to get acquainted with the area. We’re so glad we did! Staying in Casa Zinc and becoming friends with the super charming owner, Aaron Hojman, paved the way for a memorable month in Uruguay. It was thanks to Aaron that we received many great recommendations, met so many interesting people, made wonderful friends, and had some of our favourite experiences in South America.

But let me tell you more about this special place…

Aaron, an antique collector and design guru, built this hotel just seven years ago (only seven!) using vintage and reclaimed materials. Everything from the floorboards to the bathroom taps! The result is a cosy, charming hotel that looks and feels like it’s been there forever.

We stayed in two connecting rooms, a standard room for Michael and me (and Marlow), and the ‘back to school’ room with three single beds for the other kids. It was perfect. The kids loved the big chalkboard and maps on the walls in their room.

After a delicious breakfast in the dining room each morning, we did homeschooling in the charming courtyard for a few hours before hitting the beach. In the evenings, we would return to the hotel to play bocce ball (often with Aaron’s son Milos) before going out for dinner in one of the local restaurants. We loved the relaxed atmosphere and the cosy interiors. It truly made us feel right at home and welcomed in beautiful Uruguay.

Uruguay is such a gem of a country, like a hidden secret sandwiched in between its much bigger neighbours, Brazil and Argentina, which often receive more hype. It’s safe, it’s beautiful, the people are extremely warm and friendly, and there are so many charming beach towns along the coast, all within easy driving distance. We loved it so much and definitely recommend visiting if you get the chance. You can read more about Casa Zinc and view availability on the i-escape site.

Courtney x

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Moulin Roty rag doll

My sister flew to New Zealand to meet us for Christmas, arriving late on Christmas eve after the kids had already gone to bed.  The children woke extra early on Christmas morning because of the excitement of seeing her and were even more excited to see that she had brought them each a small present. Lucky kiddos.

Meaghan gave Marlow this soft rag doll from Moulin Roty, and it’s so, so cute. I love the pairing of the pretty fabrics of the dress and the bloomers, and the little knitted bonnet is so sweet. I also love that it’s cosy to sleep with and squishes up into a suitcase or backpack – perfect for travel.

I know the gift-giving season is over, but this is a good one to bookmark for upcoming birthdays or other occasions. There’s a similar version of the doll at Cottage Toys as well, equally cute. And a boy doll as well!

Courtney x

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Orlando (The Marmalade Cat) A Seaside Holiday by Kathleen Hale

In the October half-term holiday we took off to Cornwall for a few days of much needed rest & recuperation.  We had no expectations about the weather (well this is England!) we just packed our wellies and braced ourselves for fresh air, exploring new territory and plenty of fish & chips out of the paper.

We found our beautiful Georgian sea-front holiday house through Kid & Coe and it couldn’t have been more perfect.  Our hosts had thought of everything!  When we arrived they greeted us with open arms and whilst they filled us in on all the activities we could do over the days of our stay, the local fisherman turned up – we bought a Dover Sole (caught only hours before).  Then we realised it was late on Sunday and we had no provisions to cook it with so our hosts came round with olive-oil, lemon, potatoes and mange-tout and helped us prepare our welcome feast.  We knew then that this holiday was going to be great.

The house was equipped for everything and whilst I had bought a stack of books for the kids it was far more exciting rummaging through the books in the sea-trunks in the bedrooms.  With her impressive eye for detail, our host Antonia had filled the trunks with classic stories of the sea.  Our children plunged right into them.

We have an Orlando book at home but this story of ‘The Seaside Holiday‘ was new to me too.  Whilst the book has a taste of the ’50s (when it was written) the book still feels fresh and the characters even more so.  In this story Orlando and his family (I adore his fabulous wife, Grace!) take up the offer to go to the Seaside with Vulcan the cart-horse and his wife and foal.  It is a story of friendship, conflict, heroes and bad-guys turned good.  The story is a little crazy and jumps between adventures but everything comes together by the end and you are left quite satisfied by the journey.

A great book to read snuggled on a sofa looking at a sea-view (if you can!).

You can buy this book on Amazon UK here or in the US here.

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A simple knitted beanie!

One of my many New Years resolutions (which I started over the Christmas period) is to continue making things – just because it makes me happy. ; ) I love watching movies in the evenings, but I also like keeping busy so I have started to try to find simple projects that I can do while relaxing in front of a good movie – which is easier said than done!

My first success story (and there have been a couple of fails, I have to admit) has been this simple pattern for a slouchy beanie. I have made it for my friends, I have made it for my daughters and as a present for my friend’s little twin babies. It is so easy and I love the result. The genius thing about it is that you knit it on a round needle so you never have to do anything other than a simple pearl stitch.

Do let me know if you have any other suggestions for simple projects. I would LOVE to hear!

Emilie

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