Weekend Snippet

I don't know why the FF Garden is covering itself in so much Glory Bloom Wise, but I am very grateful. Maybe it's all the rain, maybe the evil varmints are taking a sabbatical from eating everything. Fingers and toes it lasts. My pink iceberg roses look pretty.
Last night Mr FF and I went to a fantastic dinner party at one of the most beautiful homes I have ever been in. Just look at this Missoni fabric:
Next time I see this chair it had better be nailed to the floor, because I am thinking of stealing it

even the peonies were perfection

It belongs to Anna Spiro, and it is my Dream House.

Mr FF certainly got into the swing of things. Here he is at about midnight channeling a sort of crazy cigar smoking combo of Fidel Castro and Aristotle Onassis

It was such a fun night, I wish we could do it all again.

Meanwhile, if you've been reading you know the Whippersnapper who does the lawn is AWOL so Mr FF got his mitts on a mower that hadn't been used for 12 years and still worked(!) and actioned the grass. I never love him more than when he is actioning domestic chores.

Look:

and his Industry did not end there. Behold him actioning pruning tasks:

So then we went to Anouk for a soothing brunch

where I ate these corn cakes and was recognised by a blog reader who wasn't brave enough to say Hello (say hello next time!)

and then I heard the siren call of the FF garden so I spent the rest of the day pottering about its wild and messy traps and actioning various exciting things like the Washing and the Vacuuming. I know. The Glamour.

I have a really busy week ahead at the Coalface and on top of that, things are planned for every night. Better get organised now. As soon as I make some apple chutney for my roast pork.

xxx

Self Gifting and My Weekend So Far

Isn't this a Killer Day Lily?
A lot of gardeners won't plant orange flowers, but I'm a Fan Mr FF asked me the other day what my 5 favourite things I bought overseas were (because I am a Committed Self Gifter). I couldn't get it down to 5. So here are my 6 favourite things in no particular order.
With my newfound obsession of neutrals, I luff this Chanel tortiseshell brooch 11/10.
I love my Hermes scarf with the longest Hermes scarf name (Thankyou Maitai for letting me know!)
I love my beige furry collar thingamy and my leopard cardy (sadly still AWOL in the box sent from Jersey Cow. Will I ever see you again?)
I luff my Hermes Kelly scarf with the fuchsia trim

and I love my furry gilet vest thingamy too. I wore it non stop when I was freezing (which was every day almost)

Last night Mr FF and I went to a fancy pants 21st Birthday Party at Giannis at Portside (I know. Fancy). I wore this necklace that my sister left here (she isn't getting it back. I'm not kidding) and a BCBG Max Azria Bluefly silk blue frock that is lined. With Side pockets.

That YSL Y Mail clutch's been good to me.

See those little birthday cupcakes? They were delicious.

The demographic was thus -120 Young People and 50 Old People. Mr FF and I fell into the latter category. I know. It made me sad too. 21 year old girls roamed free looking Beautiful and Tall and Slim and Tanned and Covered in what can only be described as Unbridled YOUTH. Their hair was Good too. The 21 year old boys looked a lot less glamorous and sophisticated. I don't know why. They just did.

Lisa from Privilege blog sent me a divine Christmas decoration from a swanky shop in San Francisco called Gumps. I've got in on the tree and it looks fantastic. I put it right next to my pixie. Thanks Lisa- I'll treasure it. The Thank you note's in the post.

I miss being overseas and travelling but it's nice to be home too. This morning I caught up with my girlfriends at Eurovida and did brunch

and then we went to Cupcake Couture to consume these little darlings

A few people have asked about Christmas shopping. My family is not exchanging gifts this year, excepting for Niece and Nephew FF. It gets too expensive and we have everything we want anyway (see the level of Hardcore Self Gifting from recent overseas trip above). It's our 1st year of doing this. We are still going to send birthday presents though. Just not Christmas presents.

xxxx

1 Month 'til Christmas

Hope your trees are up, time's running out. I haven't had time to lie under my tree and stare at it much lately as I've been pretty busy. But sometimes I have a quick stare. These Tods shoes have been good to me.
Meanwhile the garden is looking nice but the whippersnapper mower man's gone AWOL. Where is he??

I love plumbago. And nothing eats it either

Pity the same can't be said for roses

Might decorate my office at the Coalface next week.

xxx

Hermes. Honkers. My Garden.

Ok, so I lived on the edge and bought another Hermes scarf arrangement. I thought it looked pretty snazzy in this photo until my sister helpfully pointed out that I was wearing it back to front.
I am going to miss Honkers a lot
On my last full day there my sister took me out for a beautiful Italian lunch

This pudding was amazing. I think it was a burnt butter and rum icecream.

I love Hong Kong's mixture of crumbling buildings and technology

I saw the H & M/Lanvin window displays

You just know it'll sell out

In the afternoon we went to Sevva for drinks. I love it up there, the views are amazing. Order the high tea. You will not be disappointed.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am attracted to a modern, well organised, clean, efficient airport. Honkers ticks all the boxes. Plus you can check your luggage in at Central and hop on the world's cleanest train to the airport. Talk about a Good Idea.

I never hop on a long haul flight without eating a lot 1st and without packing lots and lots of snacks, because frankly, there might be a long long time before you get something tasty. This was the vegetarian ramen at Ajisen. It was very comforting.

The moon looked attractive over the South China Sea and I busied my self by rewatching season 2 of Mad Men

I'm at home now. Mr FF liked his Barbour scarf. Good enough for the Queen, good enough for him. Meanwhile, worryingly, a large box of giftsI sent from Jersey has gone AWOL. Hope it turns up.

And can I just ask why I am paying $35 for a MAC lipstick in Australia and about $17 for the same thing in Hong Kong? I am so tired of paying hand over fist in this country for Everything. Do not get me started on the costs of groceries and food. I got viva glam 2 and Russian red and some blush called Her blooming cheek.

I missed my garden a lot and spent hours in it yesterday pruning it and actioning other glamorous stuff like killing weeds.

these dianthus looked good

my mint's gone crazy and is sending out runners everywhere

I'm back at the Coalface and it's been fun catching up with my Fellow Coal Miners. Everyone wanted to know about Blighty (the blogger not the country). I told them the truth- she is very funny and kind and generous (she had never purchased a panettone and bought me one! I know. So thoughtful). My FF asked me what my 5 favourite things I did were and what my 5 favourite purchases were. I thought these were excellent questions, so I might action a post about that shortly.