Breaking the fast

Christmas? No not really. Like many, many families around us, we spent it on our sick beds while torrential rain continued to fall, flooding roads and fields. Thankfully, I'd managed to drag my sorry bones out and get all we needed so we were able to just lock the doors and stay in our jarmies. And sleep. Lots and lots of sleep was had. There are worse ways to spend a week.

This morning I was up at almost a normal time. Dogs to let out, breakfast to make for people just rediscovering their appetite. But first, tea and a little toast for yours truly.

I like this time in our kitchen. It's a funny mish-mash of a room but being half underground, it's cosy and dark in the mornings. When we moved in we brought with us an even more mish-mashed collection of kitchen equipment. Some of it from a time before we were together - yes, THAT old.

When Argos offered me some goodies I took the chance to replace some of the old stuff with pretty new things that actually match. I chose cream because the kitchen units we inherited here are that colour and it works.

I love a traditional-looking kettle - if we had gas here I'd probably go for a stove-top model - and this Prestige version is nice and strong and chunky. And quiet. I like a quiet kettle.

To go with it I chose a Dualit toaster. You can't really see from these pictures but it's covered in a rubberized material that's nice to look at and easy to keep clean. And it toasts to perfection. Our old one was a burner. Ahem. My only regret is that our little kitchen doesn't have room for the four slice version.

I have other things to show you. Evie's room got some treats too.

Blanket coverage (see what I did there?)

I like to collect woollen blankets and rugs. Nice plain ones and, when I'm very lucky on my thrifting adventures, perhaps a beautiful Welsh one. See this one? Mine cost me three pounds and it was brand new. I know, I'm like a bargain bloodhound.

And because of that trait I was keen to find something 'reasonably priced' to store my blankets in, in the living room. I'd fallen in love with a big canvas thing available in a trendy high street boutique but seriously, no way I'd pay the price tag even if I could. Wicker baskets are always good but we don't have the space for one big enough. See also: child with tendency to spill food over large areas. So flicking through the Argos catalogue I kept an eye open for something that would double up as a blanket box. My first choice was out of stock - being a most excellent bargain - but then I spotted another option.

Billed as a laundry basket, it's white and sturdy and looks just right in our living room where we have a lot of other white furniture. Most importantly it happily holds some blankets too. I think, given  its compact size, it's actually a better fit for our house than my original choice would have been.

I admit to being a bit of a flat-pack fan - and put this together one evening before I'd even taken my coat off from coming in from work - but this was very simple to put together. It's good quality, everything lined up, all the holes were where they're supposed to be and all the screws and fittings were present and correct. Sweet.

Comfy

We have one cosy room in our house...well, two if you count the kitchen, but since the back door warped and fell further off its hinges the kitchen is really not that cosy. So we have the living room. A 10ft x 10ft space with four doors, one big window and a fireplace with a stove in it. That doesn't leave a lot of room for furniture so there's a two seater sofa and two small chairs. Fortunately, we have two small dogs too, who fit on the seating while Evie and I tend to prefer the floor. Charlie has to fight for a space against the four-leggeds.

I'm an unabashed cushion person, much to the irritation of the other residents of our house. Even the dog throws them on the floor in disgust but I am not put off; I will not be deterred. So some of the things I chose from Argos are cushions. Bwahahahaha...

First, is this pretty little heart cushion which sits nicely on my fave Freecycled chair. Which is standing on my favourite thing, this rug.

Then there's a nod toward Portland with this little owl cushion. Argos know how to put a bird on it. And yes, there's the rug again

I think this is my favourite, the cable-knit cushion. Happy sigh.