Greek Wedding Extravaganza

We've just got back from the most magical wedding weekend in Greece.  Two of our best friends, barefoot on the beach with 200 friends.  The bride organises events for a living so it was always going to be beautifully done but this was something else...

Something about beautiful stationary on a beach...

Chaz and the lads

The beautiful bride

Indi with Matthew Williamson

Have you ever seen a more beautiful table setting?

Speeches

HB and Eddie in the ceremony

me and knitwear genius, Alex Gore Brown

Look at that dress...

Blackberry Arranging

I was very tempted to give myself another whole year to finish my latest book, Inspire.  The only reason being that it would have meant my all time favourite wild rubus (blackberries)- could've been included.

I didn't - and now every time I pass a blackberry bush I kick myself wishing my timing had been better.  I went to the flower market at Nine Elms this week and the first thing I fell upon was an enormous blue bucket, bursting with blackberry stems.  

I think there's something so magical about these shiny, jewel like berries.  I adore them in arrangements and they're pretty hardcore and long lasting too so are great in bouquets too - just remember to remove the spikes on the stems beforehand.

Buckets full at Covent Garden on Monday

 Classical urn arrangement

Dahlias and berries

Tomatoes, berries, beans and apples

Heavenly scented rose, sage and berries from the Real Flower Company

My hedgerow pickings before they turn into actual berries

Love this one

Proper blackberry vision from Franse vaas met bramen

My 'This is your Kingdom' Contribution

Sunday morning croissants and jam at Worton Organic Garden near Cassington.

I have a slight obsession with cafes. My dream is to one day open my own; a flower-shop-come-coffee-shop-come-gallery, all under one white-washed, rustic roof. I still can’t get over the fact that it took me a whole year to discover Worton. After moving from the South of France to Oxfordshire three years ago I was desperate to find somewhere special that I could escape to; somewhere beautiful with proper coffee and cakes. I made do with character-free coffee shops for months until one wet morning I found a postcard advertising Worton Organic Garden. I was there in a flash.

After getting very lost (it’s hidden down a long, bumpy track, almost in the middle of nowhere), I pulled up in front of a small, grey, wooden hut. Behind closed doors was the most delicious looking organic fruit and vegetables I’ve ever seen, eye-wateringly beautiful, home-grown flowers and steaming towers of freshly baked breads and croissants. And even better still to come was the cafe which sells, hands down, the best coffee I’ve ever tasted.

The weekly changing menu is full of organic, locally-grown, quite ‘girly’, Ottolenghi-style food and everything I’ve ever tried is absolutely delicious. We take ‘the Cubs’ on a Sunday morning. They pretend they’re still in France and order hot chocolates and croissants with Jostaberry jam while I work my way through as much of their patisserie section as time will allow. Sitting still and small boys don’t go hand in hand, but Worton is perfect for them as they’re free to run around the garden, talk to the chickens and throw sticks for the owners’, David and Annekes’, dogs. It’s upsettingly only open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (if I could, I’d be there all day, every day) but it’s a relatively hidden gem that I cannot recommend highly enough.

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