Summer Strawberries

Just outside our office is a raised bed. A couple of years ago we were wondering what to do with it and we thought it would be a good idea to plant it with strawberries and boy are we glad we did!

This year we have had a bumper crop of the most delicious strawberries.

I can't remember all the varieties that we planted as they were picked up here and there, however I bought a couple of 'Emily' strawberry plants from a plant stall at a village fete and they have rewarded us with the best fruit this year.

The only problem is that its only too tempting to sneak outside and snack on a few while nobody is looking!

Our Clearance Sale Is Now On

To make way for the new ranges that we will be stocking over next few weeks we have decided to have a bit of a sort out here at Homes & Dreams.

Here are just a few of the bargins that are now available in our clearance sale.....

Heart & Stripe Oven Mitt - WAS £5.50 - NOW £3.50

Love Letters - WAS £18.00 - NOW £16.00

But make sure you are quick as there are limited supplies!

A Hidden Gem

There has been a great series on BBC2 recently called 'Country House Revealed'. Presented by Dan Cruikshank the series visits great country houses in private ownership and not open to the public, in one of the episodes he gets to take a look at a house called Wentworth Woodhouse.

Now I have visited the village of Wentworth many times as my favourite garden centre is located there (the restaurant on site also serves a mean slice of quiche at lunchtimes). In fact the garden centre is situated in the old walled garden that belonged to the house, however I have never actually seen the house in person and it remained somewhat of a mystery to me.

After watching the program (if you're quick you may still catch it on Iplayer) I was even more intrigued and armed with the knowledge that a public footpath crosses the estate I set off to see it for myself.

Wow! I knew that the house is one of the largest privately own houses in Europe however I was amazed by the sheer scale of the place......

Quite something isn't it! Even the stable block is of the same impressive scale.....
And I couldn't resist taking a peep through the gates.....

However it is apparent that time is taking its toll on the building and it left me wondering about its fate.

The Basics

Simple basic design is timeless. There are some great household staples out there that have been around for ages and whether in response to difficult financial times or a desire to embrace traditional values the trend for nostalgia is becoming increasingly obvious in the home.

At Homes & Dreams we love the aesthetics of good old fashioned kitchen classics. Take the humble wooden scrubbing brush! There is just something pleasing about using a natural wood and bristle brush rather that its modern plastic counterpart.

Practical and durable, a pressed glass lemon squeezer is a great tool to have in the kitchen for producing small amounts of citrus juice. Its not surprising that this age old design is still being used today!
There are some wonderful vintage classics out there still being produced. Take the glass Kilner Jar - both utilitarian and smart, they look and do a great job of storing dry goods or for preserving as they were originally intended.

These pared down, functional basics still do the job that they were intended to do when they were designed many years ago and in our opinion should continue to do so for many years to come.

Oops....

I can't believe that its been a year since our last post! Doesn't time fly.......

In the last year Homes & Dreams has been steadily growing, we've been developing our existing ranges, we've introduced a Wedding & Celebrations range, been involved in supplying vintage display items for an international retailer and looking after our customers both new and old.

I know that its no excuse but perhaps you'll understand why this blog has been neglected!

Please accept our apologies and I promise that we won't leave so long until our next post!!!

Blooming Lovely

At last a little bit of sunshine after all that rain and a chance to assess what needs doing in the garden.

The weeds have grown like crazy but luckily so have the things that have been planted.






I think we will be eating salad leaves for a while!

Fig 10

As you may have read way back in the blog I do have a fondness for my car!

Well this weekend we took her to her very first car show - Fig 10, which was held at the Heritage Motor Centre near Warwick.

We arrived at the Heritage Motor Centre on a very sunnySunday morning to a glorious sight
There were certainly some head turning cars.

Including this Boden print Figaro which won the car of the show award!