31.3.16

#myfridayflatlay March

Firstly thank you so much to all that joined in with the first couple of #myfridayflatlay over on Instagram!
Already the hashtag is filling up with your beautiful flat lays and it does look pretty.

Please continue to spread the word by joining in when you can and telling people what you are joining in with. I'll now stop rambling to share my favourite snap!

                                 

I just loved this seasonal flat lay by Janne! Her whole IG gallery is simply stunning! When you have a min- go and check it out! www.instagram.com/jannelford 

Hope to see more beautiful images on tomorrow's #myfridayflatlay 

Emma x

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27.3.16

Happy Easter

                    

Wishing you a very Happy Easter! May your day be filled with chocolate!

Emma x
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26.3.16

Easter nest

                      

                      

                      

                      

Hello,

I found this old black-birds nest whilst cutting back the honeysuckle last year and decided to keep it as I thought it would make a lovely addition to my prop collection.
I re-found it yesterday whilst cleaning out the greenhouse, so I've styled it slightly with some beautiful spring blooms from the garden. 
Taking photos in the greenhouse is fantastic and these were just snapped on my old iPhone, I just love early spring light! 
I'm busy today making a cake for my daughters birthday and I think I've picked the right day as it doesn't look that nice out there.

I just love the Easter break and not just for the chocolate, it's just so special, everything is fresh and bursting with new life. I just love how the house is starting to fill with light, and the added bonus of being able to pick blooms straight from the garden again is a treat I will never tire of!
Wishing you all a Happy Easter!

Emma x

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24.3.16

Spring.

                        

Spring is in bud, everywhere I look as I walk through the woods are signs of life. The robins are singing the most beautiful songs, the deer are dipping low into the tall grass and the trees look like they have a dusting of snow when really it's the tiniest blossom of a most intricate design of nature.

I love Spring! The light is the perfect warm side of cool. Spring has its own special scent and I love those still days when no wind is nipping at my cheeks. I get extremely excited when I see pink blossom and beautiful magnolias!

And the clocks go forward YAY thank goodness, I run so much better on that time zone.
It's been hectic here as we have a new puppy and there just seems to of been one thing after another going on. I'm looking forward to a relaxing Easter break with the children, and doing an Easter egg hunt in the garden. Family will visit too so I'll be busy filling the house with blooms from the garden and making gifts, whilst Mr C cooks a big Sunday lunch.

I wish you a happy Easter and a great wkend!

Emma x
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19.3.16

Spring clean

                     

 Hello,
 I'm having a big spring clean today to get the house ready for Easter next wk.
I do not know where the time goes... I think it's going to be a cold one so I'm really hoping that the central heating is fixed by then as we have family coming for Easter lunch.

I hope you have a lovely wkend!

Emma X 
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18.3.16

#MYFRIDAYFLATLAY

Instagram

#MYFRIDAYFLATLAY


Last Friday was the first of what I hope will be many #myfridayflatlay over on Instagram.

Anyone can join in by styling a flat lay still life of anything they wish, and snapping it on either phone or with a camera, then upload your image to Instagram, tagging @thevintagegoodlife and using the hashtag #myfridayflatlay 

Here are the ones that took part last week that I absolutely loved! 

                                

                           

                           

                            

I will post my favourite on the blog at the end of the month! 

Please note- unfortunately you will need an account that isn't on private mode, as this is a hashtag community, only posts that are not private will show up in instagrams feed.

Emma x




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16.3.16

Natural cleaning

                                    

Having a puppy around is like having a baby/toddler to consider again.
I just love Purdey to bits but she is messy, whilst cleaning up after her I suddenly became aware of the chemicals I was using and worried they may poison her, so with immediate effect I've been frantically reading up on natural home cleaning.
I made a room spray the other day from ingredients I had around the house which was greeted by seriously impressed tones from my teenage daughter, (if it passes the teenage test you know your onto a winner).
And I'm looking into other ingredients for natural cleaning that fit our lifestyle.
 I spend a lot of time washing our floors in bleach but am starting to wonder if a simple soap would be safer.
The trouble with a lot of natural cleaning products out there is, as lovely as they sound, they don't quite fill the gap I'm looking for. So I'm on a bit of a mission!
I'll let you know how I get on.

Emma x

P.s if any of you have any handy tips on natural cleaning I'd love to hear them!


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15.3.16

What to do with a naughty cockerel.


Meet Bwian, my bantam cockerel, and thank goodness he is a bantam as Lord knows how I'd handle him if he was any bigger.
He was in such a grump this morning as I was cleaning out the hen house, and he was giving one of his girls an extremely hard time whilst coming back to give me the occasional peck on my boot.
Needless to say I just had to stop what I was doing and cuddle him, yes that's right cuddle him ha. Squaring up to a cockerel simply doesn't work, they are always ready for a fight. The only way to deal with this behaviour is a quick movement (with gloves on) to pick them up, then hold them against you with their wings secure, this demeans them and they soon realise who is boss!
Now unfortunately for Bwian I was in an extra hurry this morning and simply did not have time to stand and cuddle him, so he had to do time in the pantry! Needs must... I have to say I think the 5 mins time out helped massively, and he walked out muttering apologies to me and his girls! 


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13.3.16

Spring blooms and sowing sweet-peas.

                      

Hello everyone!

I just love this time of year, and always know we've reached that turning point into spring when I pick the first of the pretty blooms! Such gorgeous pastel shades. It also reminds me I need to get things sown and growing, even more so this year as I have the job of growing all of the blooms for my sisters wedding party this August!

The first seeds I sow are always sweet peas! I like to get them going from now onwards. I like to soak mine for a day first, many packets say no soaking required, but I find it helps to get them going. Then in about a 5" pot, I pop three seeds around the outside in grow bag compost that's already been watered, poke them down with your finger to a depth the packet suggests, then cover with cling film and pop on a warm windowsill. Keep an eye on them, and when they start nudging the cling film- remove it. Don't let the soil dry out, I always pop my pots on a tray and pour water in the tray for the soil to soak up, this helps prevent the seeds from rotting. Stay with me and I'll talk you through the rest of my tips in a couple of weeks.

Also this week I'll be potting up my dahlia tubers, I always start these off in deep tubs in the greenhouse before planting on outside, my favourite is Avignon with its dinner plate blooms, and this year I've also added cafe au lait to my collection as it blew me away when I saw it in bloom at Wimpole gardens last year.

Happy gardening X 
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Winter blossom still life

      
       

Have a beautiful Sunday x

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12.3.16

Saturday snaps.

                         

Yay it's finally getting Spring like! I've just bought my first seeds of the year- sweet peas and cosmos, and have been pottering in the garden all morning. It makes such a difference to have the extra daylight, I feel like I have tons more energy!
I hope you have a great week end!

Emma X 
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11.3.16

Tips on using your iPhone camera

I remember getting my iPhone for the very first time and heading straight to the camera on it to see how it worked and if there were any cool settings, well there wasn't any cool settings like shutter speed or ISO, by it still has some nifty little features, features I thought most would know about, especially my tech savvy younger sister who has just got herself a new iPhone 6s! I have rose gold envy...

                          


We were out together last wkend and I'm due an upgrade so had a play with her phone, when I started tapping the screen and snapping pictures she snatched it back saying 'how did you do that?'.
It was then that I realised that the iPhone's camera tricks are quite well hidden, now don't get too excited yet, there's only a couple of them, but they can make a huge difference to your photos!

First open the camera on your phone and find a subject to snap like a flower or a tea cup. 
When you take a picture you'll see a box appear and focus on an object, now if you tap different areas of your screen you will see the box move, this does two things- adjusts exactly what you want the camera to focus on, and depending on shadows can lighten and darken your image.
The next tip is with that box again, tap your screen- see the box? There's a sun next to it, slide your finger up and down over the sun, this increases brightness.

For flat lay shots I like to turn it on its side as I like a wide picture, but if you like things neat then the square mode gets everything in nicely too.

Hope you've found this helpful.

Emma X 
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8.3.16

Re-loved lamp with Edison bulb.

 
                     

       

Hello lovelies,

I just wanted to quickly share with you my lovely lamp upcycle. It was a bit of a nightmare keeping a brass lamp clean and the glass shade had long gone, I have to say, it was looking a bit sorry for itself.
I gave it a couple of coats of paint in Farrow and ball Mizzle from a tester pot I had from a previous project, and I found the amazing pearlised amber Edison bulb on Amazon for £7.00.

I now love it, it lifts the corner of the room where it sits and the bulb looks so pretty on and off!

I just love a quick upcycle with minimum cost and maximum prettiness!

Emma x

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3.3.16

Meet Purdey.

      Purdey love!


       

If you follow my Instagram then you've probably already met Purdey as she has started to dominate my gallery. 
We brought home our little beagle bundle last Sunday and she has made a massive impact on our family life, it's like having another baby, ok, maybe not quite the same, but she does take all my attention.
I'd been forewarned about beagles having a very strong nature and being incredibly stubborn, but on the plus side they are incredibly loving.
She follows me everywhere and looks at me with those adorable puppy dog eyes pleading- cuddle me!

I can't wait until we can go walking over the fields together every day, there's nothing quite like walking a dog in the open countryside to fully appreciate the seasons!

Emma x



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