blue skies

Blue Skies - East Preston, West Sussex

i'm just back from a fab few days at the seaside with my friend Emma and her two beautiful burp-monsters Rex and Greta.  it was a bit of a lastminutedotcom as a Emma needed a half term escape, i needed a little holiday and a friend of hers offered his beach house "Blue Skies" in East Preston (near Littlehampton) for the week.  we arrived on sunday and sadly the weather wasn't blue skies...more like grey and rainy skies...but the beach was right outside the back door and the house was an old-skool beach house gem - full of quirkiness, religious iconography (very catholic family), with a funny little dining room, cupboards and laders, bedrooms with sea views and an upstairs dormitory which reminded me of school.

dinner in the b&b style breakfast room

dormie-style...just like school!

some interesting reading in the libary

the house is looked after by the gardener, Tony (Macaroni) an ex-pat from Sicily who collected me from the station with a hug & kiss (we're not in London now!) and was so chatty we thought he'd never leave - but he told us the previous tenants had been some international visiting monks on a retreat and that we had a pretty big challenge to beat in wine-consumption as he'd never had to take so many empty bottles to the recycling!  he also informed us that all the single girls who stay don't remain so and that i should stand on the bedroom balcony and wait for passing suiters - sadly tho there were just a bunch of wet dog walkers passing by!

 room with a view

the first day we took a trip to Brighton (poor little Rex couldn't quite get his bemused brain around why we were driving 40 minutes away to a beach when there was one out the back of the house, in fact we subjected him to this confusion every day until we finally took him out and flew his new kite on wednesday) where we enjoyed a great fish & chips lunch at English's and did a bit of shopping in the lanes, ending at JB's american diner - where Rex & Great were in heaven watching Tom & Jerry cartoons.

 

on Tuesday i was awoken by the little monsters all done up in face-paint - Emma had been up for hours doing tiger faces and making cup cakes - a mother's work is never done!  Greta then had a go at doing me - tho i'm not sure whether she was going for the afghan hound or domestic violence look!

 

 hhmmmm...how do i look? one HOT MESS!

we took a drive to visit the east beach cafe at Littlehampton as i had raved about the Thomas Heatherwick design (which Tony called a rust-bucket!) but sadly it was closed.  so then we carried on toward Arundel and planned to visit the castle - but that was also closed!  in the end we walked around the lovely town and managed a couple of antique shops and picked up a few more bargains before Mr Wobbly Legs had had enough!

 Emma, Great & Rex - with Arundel Castle behind

 Greta, me and Mr Wobbly Legs!

 Emma's star purchase...a lovely chinese jewellery box

on wednesday we finally launched the kite Rex got in Brighton (on the grey-est, wettest, but windy-est day - great fun) and did a bit of beach-combing. then we had fish & chips again at Fred's in Littlehampton (an excellent recommendation from Tony Macaroni) before hitting the amusement arcade and then going home as the sea mists rolled in and i had to reluctantly head back to London on the train. 

 let's go fly a kite!

 one happy little boy!

 kite over Blue Skies...

 it had to be done

 there's a bear on the beach!

 yum yum!

 

HOT CHICKS!

the first thing i did was unpack my lovely little beach watercolour that i picked up for a fiver in Arundel and then while out yesterday i spotted a matching beachy cushion in habitat and just had to have that too - to remind me of my lovely trip. i miss all my beach buddies and hope to go again when the sun is out and the skies are properly blue!

 

pebbles

i've been dying to go to Pebbles at Winchelsea Beach in East Sussex for a long time now.  i've even told a couple of friends who have been before I have!  now my mate Emma's hubby has instructed her he has lots of work to do and has suggested she go away somewhere to spend half term with her 2 little'uns.  she's looking at a few places and she has invited me along for company as she thinks she might need some help (no, not with the kids - with the requisite drinking of wine and smoking fags of an evening!).  i've suggested Pebbles (2 double bedrooms & a 2 min walk from the door to the beach) as they mentioned on their facebook group that it might be free. fingers crossed - but, if not, i will have to go another time and i'm sure wherever we end up we will have a blast!

gay Pareeeeeeeeeee...

am planning a trip to Paris in May with some girlfriends - to hook up with a couple of boys from the bad old days when we all worked in advertising together circa 1988!  can't wait as i know its going to be a total blast.  think i need to start exercising my liver right away. we are looking for somewhere to stay and i found the amazing looking Mama Shelter - i love the masks on the bedside lights.  sadly i think they only have one room free so i will have to save this for another time.  am so looking forward to great food, great wine, great company and trawling a few flea markets.  i'll definitely take full advantage of Design Sponge's Paris city guide as they are always invaluable.

brussels guest house

 

spotted this gorgeous guest house on style files where the owner has converted an old mirror factory into a stunning bed & breakfast.  i have close ties with Brussels as a dear friend lives there and i have visited often over the years and made many lovely new friends.  there's always a bit of a joke that Brussels isn't the most exciting place to visit - though with fab shopping, scrumptious eating and places like this to stay in - i think that's a misconception.  even tho i know i will always have a place to stay there - i quite like the idea of booking this place out, bringing a bunch of friends over and having a weekend away in this place...hmmm...maybe the birthday next year...better start planning!

hotel sweet

 

 

another top tip from the brilliant style files - the fabulous Maison Moschino in Milan, Italy.  all 65 rooms are inspired by dreams and fairytales...yummy.

 

santorini

  

 

with the current freezing temperatures and snowy  winter weather that has befallen London town recently i'm dreaming of a holiday in the sun.  check out this amazing place Perivolas in Santorini, Greece....wow. i think i've just found my heaven.

 

castle home

 

 

 

 

i just watched a Grand Designs repeat on the telly - perfect for a bit of house porn and domicilliary envy!  it was the episode about the restoration of a 15th Century peel tower in North Yorkshire by Francis and Karen Shaw. pursuing a childhood dream to live in a castle, the couple worked closely with English Heritage and local specialist craftsmen to restore this ancient building and the results are fantastic.  i was particularly taken by the addition of a new roof containing a large penthouse suite with a terrace - perfect for enjoying a gin & tonic and stunning views of the Dales.  happily, if you wish you can see it all for yourself because they offer boutique b&b and self-catering at Hellifield Peel Castle with the amazing attic apartment and other rooms - with four-poster bed options if you really want to go for the whole fairytale thing.  heaven. 

bubblicious (snow)

 

 

 

wow...this place looks amazing - normally i just don't 'get' cold holidays at all - i'm not into skiing or...um...being cold, get enough of that at home.  however, i am partial to anything pod-like and was in absolute heaven on a trip to this bubblicious place in Raon l'Etape, France, last summer - so i would definitely be up for braving the snow for a trip to the luxurious whitepod in Les Giettes, Switzerland....stunning...but i think i'd mostly be staying indoors....brrrrrrrrrrrr (spotted via bliss).