FF: Fashion {02 Lavender Love}

I hereby declare that my wardrobe looks nothing as glamourous as the sets I am creating in Polyvore. But as promised on Wednesday, here is my fantasy lavender-inspired outfit.

I had some real fun making this. I’m enjoying my growing imaginary wardrobe. I love the sandals. I’ve actually seen a variation on that bag and fallen in love with the way the zips are designed. The umbrella sports the only Cath Kidston pattern I’d ever been seen with. I’d probably never wear that ring twice but I’d put it on when I blog just to add some bling to blogging…whatever. I submitted the set to the Polyvore Designer for a Day contest anyway, just for fun. Feel free to go over and like it if you like it – all in the spirit of frivolity! 🙂

1) Wildfox Couture summer sweater 2) TopShop nail polish 3) Mykita sunglasses 4) Yuh Okano summer shawl 5) Victoria Beckham skinny leg pants 6) Cath Kidston polka dot umbrella 7) River Island mini messenger bag 8) Blue Nile cushion cut amethyst ring 9) Vera Wang Lavender Label high heel sandals

I hope you like my defiant British Summer look – I’m wearing sandals, but I’ve got the obligatory scarf and brolly just in case because it doesn’t stop raining. But who knows, the sun might come out and a pair of cool shades might be in order…it’s only early-ish July, anything is still possible! Have a beautiful weekend…

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Lavender Love

My first memory of lavender is of walking past a low wall bordering a neighbour’s front garden on the way to school. Lavender was planted along the top of the wall so that it spilled over the side. I fell in love from those early days. Our relationship was unequal however, I admired from a distance. Despite its accessibility even to my shorter self, I soon preferred to cross over on the other side to avoid confronting the large number of bumble bees hovering busily from bud to bud.

My kitchen has been filled with the beautiful heady scent of lavender recently. I inherited a well-tended, mature lavender bush that has bloomed in abundance this season. (I was going to say summer there but I thought I would be kidding myself…) So far I have harvested less than five percent of the stems and it barely shows. I have a lot more work to do, to make sure there will continue to be generous flower yields in future.

One of my best friends once commented that I say “wow!” a lot. Yes I do. It’s the only thing I can muster when I just can’t describe that awe and pleasure derived from something amazing: I just love lavender. Its perfume is wonderfully calming and invigorating at the same time. The colour is intense, with shades of blues, purples, greens and greys. Absolutely gorgeous – I must do a Frivolous Fashion post based on these hues on Friday – watch this space!

Buttery Avocado and Egg Slices

As if you didn’t know already, I love avocados. I have been craving avocado for months, literally. I refrained from paying £1 each for miniature versions that have been hanging around the supermarkets lately, or risking the ones in my local roadside market not knowing whether they would all ripen too quickly once I’d taken them home. Then last week, I went to a trusty avocado seller and came away with a haul of five.

The avocado is a subtle fruit, rich and gentle, with its smooth buttery-green flesh encased in a glossy olive-brown skin. There is something inexplicably captivating about the texture and flavour that I never grow tired of. I love to eat it with a spoon, straight out of the shell. Scoop by scoop, savouring each mouthful and regretting it every time I’ve scraped the last stubborn slither out.

I also love eggs (and lavender – I’ll come to that tomorrow). Versatile, nutritious, flavoursome. Alchemy in a fragile shell. Absolutely delightful and satisfying. Perfect for someone feeling ravenous before supper.

I wouldn’t even call this a recipe. I simply halved an avocado, cut some of it off the bottom to create a flat base and gently heated it in a frying pan. I cracked an egg into the hole and continued to cook until the whites were no longer transparent.

I didn’t want to end up over-frying the avocado so I had to cover it to make sure the egg was cooked. Next time I’ll try heating extra oil on the side and basting the egg during cooking to get a sunny side up properly! No matter, it was absolute yumminess served simply with some freshly ground black pepper on top.