Red Boots

Autumn-time in Paris

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 20:38:00 +0000

image

Ok, not quite as catchy as Springtime in Paris, I'll admit, but still equally as amazing. Heck, wintertime in Paris would be pretty special too.

I'd love to be in Paris this autumn. I went when I was 15 on a school coach trip and I instantly thought that it was the most magical place on earth. I immediately set about mentally figuring out how I could live there without any knowledge of French beyond "bonjour" and one slightly risque phrase that myself and my friends learned. By the end of my teenage years, however, I'd discovered further shores so never quite managed to get back to Paris. I should have gone before our scope for going on city breaks was very much reduced, but hey, one day!

If you've got a blog and would like to visit Paris as much as I would then you can enter Superbreak's competition to win a weekend city break for two to Paris. Superbreak are city break specialists, so how does being whisked away to Paris on the Eurostar, and looked after in a 4 star hotel sound to you, all courtesy of Superbreak? Pretty good, no?

If you'd like to be in with a chance of winning then just write a blog post, with your fashion advice for an autumnal weekend break (for example, what fashion essentials you'd pack), and a picture or polyvore board of your favourite autumnal holiday outfit. Then email superbreakcommunity@gmail.com or tweet them @superbreak to share your post with them.

If I was packing for Paris I'd pack something like this:

Dress / Jacket / Boots

I like a pretty dress, but I like to be practial too - autumn asks for a rain coat to ward off any showers and flat boots for miles and miles of walking that we inevitably do on holiday in any weather that is thrown at us. What would you wear?

Get posting - the competition closes on September 18th 2013! And bonne chance!

xx

T&C's: The winner has to pay for any return travel to London. The winner has a year to redeem your prize.

* This post is in collaboration with Superbreak.

A Little Round Up....

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Sat, 07 Sep 2013 19:46:00 +0000

...from Moral Fibres, my eco blog, in case you're not a regular reader. I write there regularly so do feel free to pop by and say hello!

The weather is changing - thinks are getting colder and darker. In preparation for the autumn, here are my top autumnal ethical clothes for women.
It's blackberry season until the end of September - get out and get picking! If you're wondering what to do with your foraged bounty then may I suggest the best jam recipe ever - blackberry and vanilla jam. So delicious on freshly toasted bread.
A great guest post from Jai at Tea for Bohemia on reducing your use of plastic in the bathroom.
How to save energy in the kitchen, by using your microwave, by filling your freezer, and by rearranging your furniture.
Look good when getting from A to B. Some super stylish cycling accessories for women.

Want to dress ethically inside and out? No problem - here are some great ethical underwear for women, and ethical underwear for men (even if you're not interested in men's undies then you can always ogle!).
Like the idea of crafting but not so handy with a needle and thread or sewing maching? Not to worry - here are five great no-sew clothing DIYs.
Looking to reduce your kitchen waste - here is almost everything you need to know about composting.
Sick of throwing out out of date eggs - here's a simple way to waste less eggs.

That Was The Summer That Was...

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 11:30:00 +0000

Lots of countryside walks:

Multiple trips to the city farm...

Lots of cake (from Peter's Yard, of course)...

Relaxing in the Meadows, a lot...

Trips to the seaside..

(where sometimes you can see the most unexpected sights!)

Foraging and making things with my foraged finds:

(elderflower cordial)

Many many trips to the canal to see the "boaaaaats!":

(and this little guy who hangs out near the canal, and who I was ready to smuggle home in the buggy!).

Lots of time out in the garden playing and growing.

We had an explosion of chives this year!

Lots of trips to various soft play centres. A lot of parents hate them - I love them, E gets so excited to be there and always screams "mummy! and gives me a massive kiss to say thanks for taking her there. It's little things like that, that always make my day.

Although, one day I took E to what turned out to the most expensive softplay centre ever and all she wanted to do was play with the lockers... Typical!

And finally, a whole lot of time spent at Mary's Milk Bar:

The best ice-cream in the world, ever. Seriously. White chocolate and cardamom. I need not say anymore. E got an ice-cream as a treat one day, she spilled some on her top and for the whole way home she sucked her top to make sure she got every last bit of ice-cream. Don't know where she gets that from....!

This summer has been particularly wonderful. We've been blessed with some lovely weather and it's so good to get out and about a lot, unlike last year's total washout. I'm hoping we've got a few more weeks of summer left to cram in more of the above! And if you're looking for me, I'll be in Mary's Milk Bar!

On Blogging And Tweeting for Cash

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 11:41:00 +0000

I've been blogging for over five years now, which is a little scary to think about, and tweeting for a few years. I mostly enjoying blogging and tweeting but lately I've become a little bit disheartened at the state of affairs, particularly with the 'lifestyle' blogging sphere.

I'm fine with sponsored posts and product reviews, you may even have seen a few sponsored posts and product reviews on here over the last year and a bit, but I think there is a fine balance between posting your own content and sponsored content. A lot of lifestyle blogs now read like constant advertising features and I've cleared out my RSS feed of all offending blogs. Which is a little sad when I think of how much I used to love the blogs I once loved and read religiously to see little snippets of the bloggers lives. It seems blogging is less about sharing the little things in life and more about blogging for cash or free stuff.

Bloggers for a while were also quite good at disclosing sponsored posts, but now with the changes to Google, it seems some bloggers are blogging about products they've been given or writing posts with links they've been paid to place on a blog post without disclosing the fact that it is a sponsored post. I have been approached by marketing agencies wanting to write for cash but not disclose that I have been paid, and I've turned them down, even though the money would have come in very useful, because it's dishonest and insulting to readers. The sad thing is that these agencies go elsewhere and find someone willing to blog and not disclose to their readers.

Taken from a blogger advertising page. The blogger will remain anonymous but this is a common feature on a lot of blogs.

Another, more recent worrying trend is one I've seen on Twitter and Facebook. Some bloggers are selling tweets and Facebook posts for cash - where you can pay around £1.20 and they will tweet/facebook about your blog or brand. They will also sell advertising packages where as well as being able to place a banner advert on their blog, they will also tweet and Facebook about your brand/blog four times a month or so. I'd have no problem with this if bloggers were disclosing on the tweets and facebook posts with a simple three character hashtag - #ad - at the end or start of the tweet - but so far I have not seen one single blogger do this yet, even on tweets that are quite blatantly paid for, advertising tweets, and it is getting harder and harder to trust any recommendations made on social media sites.

Spotted on twitter - showing it's not the done thing to disclose paid for tweets. Replies to this also showed it's not the done thing to use the #ad.

These tweets and Facebook posts are disguised as personal recommendations and for me it completely devalues the blogger's blog and reputation. I've started unfollowing bloggers twitter accounts where I've seen this happen regularly, because I'm fine with being marketed to, but not unwittingly. It's insulting to their readers intelligence, and also against Advertising Standards Agency rules, which not only apply to blog posts but social media sites too.

I get that sometimes blogging is a way to earn an income, perhaps your only income, but there are honest ways and means about it, to earn an income and not alienate and piss off your readers. Simply disclosing on tweets and Facebook posts that you are being paid to write that particular tweet/facebook post and link to a particular site, product or brand takes a second and makes for happy readers.

How do you feel about being marketed to on Twitter, Facebook and blogs without any disclosure?

xx

A Moral Fibres Roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Sun, 04 Aug 2013 12:57:00 +0000

Hello blog! I've been busy beavering away at Moral Fibres lately.

If you're not a regular reader here are some posts you might have missed:

Make your own chemical free cleaning products - your home and health will thank you for it.
Breaking some long-standing beauty industry myths
I've started a series on saving energy simply - each week giving one really easy tip to save energy in the home that can be done without too much effort or the need to buy anything.
Some delicious boozy rhubarb cordial that you can make at home (pictured above).

Want to stop throwing out so much food? Start with learning what to do with black bananas.
A delicious and refreshing strawberry and basil cocktail for the lovely summer's days and evenings we've been enjoying
Shopping ethically and to a budget? No problem with these pick of ladies ethical clothing and kids ethical clothing sale roundups.
Some useful gardening advice for renters.

Thinking about turning vegetarian? Here's a handy list of kitchen staples for vegetarians.
I'm giving the bees more love. Do you ever see bees crawling along the ground, looking exhausted? Well here's how you can revive tired bees really easily.
Fancy a trip to the Isle of Wight? Here are some achingly hip vintage airstreams to stay in.
A roundup of some top DIYs for repurposing old clothes, from some top bloggers.

Noticed that your wine bottle more than likely has a screw top on it instead of a cork? Are you wondering if the screwtop is better for the environment than the cork? Then read this.
A review of the Journey Home - an environmental story book for kids aged 4-6.
Protect your skin and the planet with this roundup of the best eco-friendly sunscreens.
Some eco-friendly holiday ideas for Scotland.
Grow your own snow pea shoots in less than a week (pictured above) to make some cheap and delicious meals with.

Told you I've been beavering away - this lady doesn't lie!

If you have any suggestions for things that you'd like to see on ther e(or here for that matter) then do let me know!

xx

My Afternoon Routine

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 07:00:00 +0000

Afternoon's are kind of sacred to me. E normally has a nap in the middle of the day, for around 2 hours or so. It's her one nap of the day, and is my one chance for me to work on some stuff (generally the Moral Fibres website) or to kick back, relax, and read a book (or get sucked into a Pinterest vortex), or catch up with household chores. I'm no 1950's housewife (for starters, I work part-time, and for seconds, my mister and I aren't even married!), and truth be told my mister does more chores than me, but sometimes there are some things that need doing. Like laundry. Always laundry...

Regardless of what I'm doing or how busy I am, there is always one constant - tea. My cup of afternoon tea is one thing I will never forgo. I've much documented my love of tea on here and on Twitter (E it seems has also inherited the tea lovers gene, and exclaims "ooh, tea!" whenever I make a cup. That's mother's pride right there, that is!), and although I can be fickle about some things (a few years ago I loved all things cupcake, but now I'm all "pah, who needs them"), tea is not a matter to be fickle about.

I like to mix up the kind of tea I drink, and at the moment I'm all about the rooibos, earl grey, white or camomile tea, however Twinings kindly sent me some tea from their new Everyday range to review: the Everyday Tea & Green Tea blend, and the Everyday Tea & Echinacea blend. These are black teas combined with green tea, or echinacea, and Twinings say they are best enjoyed with milk. With milk? I know, I was just as taken aback as you are. Everyone knows herbal/green tea doesn't work with milk, but the blend is quite subtle and surprisingly it does actually work.

I prefered the green tea over the echinacea - the echinacea was a bit too sweet for my taste. The green tea was just perfect though, really refreshing, and hit the afternoon tea spot. I try not to drink caffeine after 4pm, so for me it's definitely an afternoon only kind of tea.

My mister felt the same as I did about the echinacea blend, he liked it but felt it was a bit too sweet for his taste. However he absolutely loved the green tea blend (from a self-confessed green tea hater as well). He took some of the green and camomile tea bags into his work for his colleagues to sample, and they were both quite a big hit. So much so that he had colleagues asking if he had any of "that special tea" for days afterwards!

If you want to sample them for yourself then both are available in the Twinings tea shop or your local supermarket or good independent store.

Today I'm going to be taking a break from the screen of my laptop and enjoying my afternoon tea break with a good book - looking for grow your own inspiration and ideas!

How are you spending your afternoon?

PS: I bought a new camera! These photos are me playing around with some of the manual settings - I think I like it!

Disclaimer: Twinings kindly sent me some tea to review (my favourite kind of mail day!) but I received no other recompense, and all words, opinions and images are my own.

Our Stockholm Apartment

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Thu, 04 Jul 2013 20:07:00 +0000

When we were in Stockholm we stayed in an amazing flat that we rented through Airbnb.

We had strict criteria - one bedroomed (not studio) (so E could sleep uniterrupted at night), near public transport and local amenities. After a rather shaky start (the first apartment we rented fell through a few weeks before we were due to go), we lucked out when we found this place at that last minute. It came in at slightly above budget, but Airbnb compensated us for the cancelled flat so it turned out we could afford it. That was the happiest day ever, let me tell you, after a couple of days worry:

I borrowed all of the photos from Airbnb as I only managed a couple on the last evening, and they didn't turn out so good!

It was such a stunning apartment, far fancier than our place. We loved the open plan kitchen and living room, and the kitchen was a total dream (with a wine fridge and everything!). The unexpected suprise was an amazing massive secure courtyard garden which teemed with children enjoying the sandpit, slide and toys. E adored it, and every evening when we returned to the apartment she shouted "play, play, play" as soon as we got back as she loved playing there with the kids. It was also full of Swedish families enjoying barbeques and drinks.

The apartment was in Sodermalm - in our opinion the best part of Stockholm. Sodermalm is the bohemian part of Stockholm, and has loads of great bars, cafes, restaurants, shops and public spaces. Our best days in Stockholm were spent just wandering around Sodermalm. It was walkable to the city centre, which was a major plus too.

Our apartment was only available in May and June whilst the owner, a lovely Norwegian pop star(!), was in the States, otherwise I would have totally recommended it to you, but I just wanted to share with you the total amazingness of it. I'd also completely recommend using Airbnb. There are some amazing apartments on there, and despite our bad start with the first apartment we rented (in which I completely rued the day we ever went with Airbnb and not a hotel), after that it was completely plain sailing - everything went without a hitch (our only hitches were completely unrelated to Airbnb - Norwegian Airlines broke our buggy on the flight over to Stockholk; and then a rather unfortunate and embarrassing complete and utter misunderstanding occured with a taxi driver at the airport... The less said about that the better!)

You can join Airbnb here free, and then ogle all the amazing looking flats, particularly in Stockholm. Every time I look I end up mentally packing my bags and figuring out how to move me, my mister, E and the parrot over there!

NB: not sponsored, just sharing the love!

A bit more of Sweden...

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 11:13:00 +0000

On one of our days in Stockholm, we hoped on the ferry from Sodermalm to the little island of Djurgarden, and headed to Skansen, a park about all things Swedish, heritage wise. Our visit to Skansen was timed terribly: it was ever such a hot day and completely unaware to us it was also National Day of Sweden - a bank holiday (on a Thursday?!) - so as well as every Swede on the planet congregating at Skansen (all wielding flags), there was also a National Day of Sweden celebration concert being hosted there.

When we were all crammed into the boat over to Djurgarden we were regretting our decision to go, but we had paid £18 return (ouch!) for a 10 minute boat ride over there and back so weren't going to turn back. Luckily for us Skansen is big enough for us to have avoided most of the crowds all day.

Skansen spans 5 centuries of Swedish history, so there are several different areas of the park devoted to different aspects of their heritage.

Lovely little yellow house

I loved all these wooden houses with living meadow roofs.

Shingles a go-go

This man (not a member of staff) called out and all of a sudden a red squirrel came out of nowhere and climbed up him. A very bizarre sight!

Traditional Sami hut.

Cobbled streets

Telephone box

It's a very pretty place for a day out, and there's a lot to see and do, even a zoo, and a children's zoo (which is a lot of fun!). We would have gone back if it hadn't been such an expensive day out - it cost us over £30 (for two) to get in, on top of the ferry, and then food was ridiculously priced (we had two tiny toasted cheese sandwiches and it cost us £16!). Value for money is not Sweden's strong point.

xx

I Feel Like Dancing

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 18:00:00 +0000

We've been on a Daft Punk kick for the past few weeks since we got the new album. I love a bit of Daft Punk - this is me in 2007 when we went to see Daft Punk play in Melbourne, Australia:

We had the most fun ever! Go see them if you get a chance - you won't be disappointed (and hopefully you'll get a mask too!).

Anyway, getting back on track, Get Lucky has been on constant rotation - doesn't it just make you want to dance? If has that affect on me anyway. Then I found this video which shows some amazing dance moves, which I've just GOT to try!

Don't mind me neighbours - I'm not having a spasm - I'm just dancing in my kitchen!

I also like the video because it reminds me of my all time favourite You Tube video. I always play this one when I feel like dancing, when I'm feeling a bit blue, or I need some inspiration:

Stick with it for the music coming in at 2:00.The man has got the moves - he's my disco dancing idol!

xx

ps: this post is a bit random - I've got dancing on my mind today and nothing else!

Stockholm

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 11:44:00 +0000

We're just back from a fantastic week's holiday in Stockholm. It was our first proper holiday in three years, and it was very much needed! It was also our first holiday with E, and let me say, she's a natural born traveller! Although, the change in clocks and light (Stockholm has lighter mornings than Edinburgh) was not particularly easy on us - cue lots of early early mornings!

Stockholm is such a beautiful city, particularly the old parts of town - which felt like the old town of Edinburgh but on water. We walked miles and miles and miles each day whilst exploring, but the benefits of this was outweighed by the number of vanilla cardamom buns we ate - vaniljbullar - which I am going to have to attempt to make at some point very soon. So very very tasty!

Here are a few photos of Stockholm, from Gamla Stan and Helgeandsholmen, two places where we spent a lot of time:

Dala horses everywhere!

Pretty colourful buildings on Gamla Stan

The winding cobbled streets of Gamla Stan.

I could not get enough of the colours!

Museum of Medieval Stockholm, Helgeandsholmen

Guards parading on Helgeandsholmen

It's a bit different going on holiday with a toddler. In the past we would have probably gone to a lot of museums and galleries, and bars, but this time we focused on spending time outdoors and doing toddler friendly activities, hence why we did so much walking and exploring outdoors rather than taking in more cultural activities. We also hit up a lot of play parks - we played in practically every park in Stockholm! Play parks are much better in Sweden - there's one on every corner, with more fun things to do, more sand, and lots of rosy cheeked Swedish children in colourful clothes (Polarn O Pyret of course) running around, while their achingly stylish mums and dads sit nearby drinking coffee. The only minus point is that the Swedes don't do idle chit chat - which was the only thing I missed. My mister on the other hand loved the lack of awkward conversation. Swings and roundabouts!

I'm already mentally figuring out when we can next go back!

xx

Lately...

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 08:00:00 +0000

...I've been enjoying this new song by Tunng (one of my favourite bands):

I've also been doing some crafting for Moral Fibres, my eco blog. Keep your eyes out for my crafty endeavors, coming very soon!

And enjoying some much needed sun on my shoulders - the sun we've had lately has been glorious. We've played in a lot of parks lately I'll tell you, chutes are where it's at - swings are so passe. According to my 17 month old that is!

And finally, I've been enjoying 99 Roots - a new website with lots of very pretty gardening inspiration. Lord knows I need some, my garden currently bears much resemblance to a jungle. We had a heap of rubbish piled up in it (we're those kinds of neighbours!) but a neighbour helped us clear it on Sunday, so it's all ready for some TLC now.

xx

Sideboard Love

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Wed, 29 May 2013 14:17:00 +0000

If we had to label our living room's style, I'd call it traditional. There are lots of wooden pieces, including a lovely traditional oak mantlepiece (below the mirror) that a craftsman made for us. Our living room is cosy and feels like a proper family room. Our house is also old - over 100 years old - so it suits the building well.

When our daughter was a couple of months old we found ourselves swamped in toys, with no way of storing them neatly. For the sake of our sanity, we needed an easy solution and fast, so when our parents were in town we took advantage of their car and took a trip to that giant blue box, Ikea, and bought a small flat-pack shelving unit.

So far it's served it's purpose (housing toys and acting as a TV table), but the white more modern style doesn't really fit with the rest of the room. So when Furniture Choice asked me to review their traditionally styled Michigan Oak sideboard I knew exactly what it would replace - the shelves!

So we said goodbye to the shelving unit - which has been relegated into storage in my papa's loft - and said hello to the Michigan sideboard!

First off it's a really solid, well made, rustic piece, so I know it will last for years and years to come, and crucially won't look dated in five or ten years time. I also love it's traditional styling, that works so well in our room. So far it's the first thing that visitors comment on, and we've had so many compliments on it already.

But as space is at a premium in our tiny house, furniture can't just look good: it has to be practical as well. We work our furniture hard - everything has to have at least two purposes otherwise it's been cast into storage. Thankfully the sideboard houses all of the toys with plenty of space. And, as an added bonus, I have two drawers that we can use as storage for our things, like DVDs. As any small space dweller knows, storage is everything, and the sideboard provides us with all the storage we need from it in our living room.

The other bonus is as it's made of solid oak it's sturdy and heavy, so there's no danger of the TV falling off - something I worried about with the Ikea shelves, which, as they were made of MDF, was quite flimsy. I'm also always a bit wary of things I've assembled myself - I don't have much trust in my DIY abilities - so have something delivered to us that required no assembly whatsoever was also reassuring.

The icing on the cake for me was that the delivery men carried the sideboard up to my living room, unpacked it for me, and took away the packaging, which made one happy mama, is all I can say!

In short, we love the sideboard, and I quite often catch the mister giving it admiring glances now and again, which is his way of saying "it's good, really good".

Furniture Choice don't just sell lovely Red Boots approved living room furniture - they also have heaps of great furniture for every room of the house. I was particularly taken by their great range of dining room furniture, including some seriously stylish dining tables and chairs - I have my eye on this table for when we move and hopefully have room for a dining table!

xx

NB: Furniture Choice kindly sent me the sideboard to review. I received no other recompense to write this post, and of course, as always, all words and opinions are my own.

Snippets...

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:46:00 +0000

...of life lately. I haven't done one of these lately and I have heaps of photos to share, some from months ago, when there were barely any leaves on the trees. Now I'm sitting here in a summer dress, and we've just been playing in the park all morning and admiring the blossom on the trees.

We used to be quite content pootering around at home most of the time, but now E is older and, since the end of January, walking (nay, running!), our house seems much smaller, and she requires more by way of entertainment to stave away boredom. I make sure to fit in at least one exciting excursion a week and then do lots of little things around home.

A little while ago E and I went to the Museum of Modern Art in Edinburgh for a morning out. It's in such a beautiful setting:

I hadn't checked which exhibition would be on before going - it turns out it was From Death to Death and Other Small Tales, which is all about how 20th and 21st century artists have approached the subject of the body. Which, invariably, was pretty much all about genitalia. I'm no prude by any stretch, and some of the art was very good, however I felt a little uneasy showing my toddler the art. Less uneasy though than the parents of the 10 and 8 year old kids, who walked into a room that housed a massive bronze cast of a penis and balls dangling from the ceiling! You can imagine how that went down...!

We did very much enjoy this installation though, which was essentially nylon filled with spices. As you can tell, I'm no art expert and I'm not going to pretend to be, so I can't tell you what it represents. I can tell you the smell in the room was incredible though - just like being in the Moroccan Souks again:

We've also enjoyed LOTS of walks to see the ducks and swans in our village. The walk there is not much fun, at all, but once you're there it's beautiful. I think these photos are from March:

We've also been on lots of forays around Edinburgh:

Botanic Gardens

Morningside

West End

Trinity

And after all of that walking:

Coffee! This one was at Peter's Yard, one of my Edinburgh favourites.

Speaking of coffee, you probably deserve one now after having made you look at all of my photos! Go! Enjoy!
xx

April Showers (in May)

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Sun, 19 May 2013 14:45:00 +0000

The nice people at Joules sent E and I some wellies to review - what a very exciting mail day when they arrived, let me tell you! E immediately shouted "shoes!" and tried to put them on by herself. After a helping hand into them she seemed pleased as punch with her boots, and kept looking at them rather than where she was going, which consequently led to a few bumps! And I'll admit that I also kept giving my feet admiring glances (thankfully I remembered to watch where I was going!). I'm a fan of Joules and their clothing (this dress in this post is a particular favourite), and already own a few Joules pieces, so it was great to be able to incorporate some Joules style on to my feet!

I chose the navy floral print wellies from the women's wellies range. I love a good floral print, and I thought the navy would be good at disguising mud!

For E I chose the ditsy pink wellies from the baby girls range. I don't normally dress E in pink clothes, and I almost went for these lovely stripy ones, but in the end the floral ones were too cute to resist! Joules have some gorgeous girls wellies, but sadly E is a bit too little for them yet.

We then went on a walk in our village to test them out on a particularly damp day:

Looking for sheep, sadly none to be seen.

The only problem about walking on a damp day is that the rain is never far away, and consequently we got drizzled on (including my camera, which has since dried out thankfully!):

Pesky rain spots!

Then the rain came on a bit too heavily for my liking so we hurried home before I got a chance to photo my beautiful wellies in a bit more detail, so after a quick wipe down at home here they are:

As pretty as they are, I'm sure you'll be wanting to know the important things - such as how comfortable they are and if they kept our feet dry. Well, the wellies ran true to size, and are really comfortable to walk in, even on rough ground. The soft insoles provide a nice cushion for your feet and they didn't rub our feet. The rubber is soft and flexible making them easy to get on and off, but in typical Joules quality they feel sturdy and well-made, and I have no doubt that they will last for years and years. Most importantly of all, they kept our feet dry, even when we decided to jump in some puddles, which is always the most important criteria of welly boots!

Now, bring on the great Scottish summertime (re: downpours) and we'll be all prepared in style!

xx

ps: If you fancy treating the little one in your life, Joules are currently running a half-term promotion, where if you spend £20 online on Little Joule clothing for girls and boys you get £5 off with voucher code LJ20. :)

---

Joules sent us some boots to review, but I received no financial recompense. All words and opinions are my own and of course I'd tell you if I didn't like them!

Eco Happenings Over At Moral Fibres

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Mon, 13 May 2013 20:35:00 +0000

It's been a busy old while over on Moral Fibres, my eco blog. If you're not a regular reader over there then here are some posts you might have missed:

Some hardwearing and stylish ethical men's clothing from Cornish company, Seasalt.
A really great crochet DIY on how to make your own reusable cotton wool pads for removing make-up.
What to sow in April and May.
An update on how I've been getting on at reducing my consumption of palm oil
My first ever eco-fashion outfit post!
Introducing Greenterest - a prototype social networking site for gardeners.
How to plant a bee friendly garden, and if you don't have a garden, how you can be more bee friendly.
A slightly more ethical alternative to Google that benefits the environment whilst you surf.
How to stop junk mail in it's pesky tracks.
And an introduction to solar water heating.

Now that I'm feeling much better, and even getting some rest in the evenings now (after a fun couple of weeks of a toddler refusing to go to bed!) I'm even hoping to blog here a bit more often too!

xx

If My Blog Were An Outfit

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:20:00 +0000

The other day Kirsty asked if your blog was an outfit, what would it be.

If Red Boots was an outfit it would look much like this:

Dress / Bag / Shoes (by Radley, now unavailable) / Sunglasses

A retro inspired quirky printed dress because Red Boots is all about all things pretty, quirky and vintage-esque.

A classic satchel because Red Boots is never about fads or fashions, it's more style that doesn't date.

Some comfy shoes because visiting Red Boots should feel like you're wearing your comfiest of shoes - relaxed, informal and just all round pleasant.

And a pop of colour because Red Boots is all about colour, never about the beige.

Also all of these things are way way way above my budget because I'm a perpetual daydreamer!

Thanks for letting me play along Kirsty, and if you haven't checked out her blog, A Safe Mooring, then you're missing out. Just sayin'.

Apartment Therapy

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:45:00 +0000

The doctor today told me this morning that I've got a viral infection. I was at the surgery with E in tow, who was trying to climb out of her buggy, despite being strapped in, and the doctor said to me with a straight face to get some rest and not lift anything. I looked at her waiting for the punch line. Turns out it was no joke. She clearly has never been in a position of care for a toddler. Rest and no lifting do not go hand in hand with toddlers. She then told me to take paracetamol, because of course I've not been taking any paracetamol for the past 8 weeks!

I felt a bit deflated after leaving the surgery that I went home, made a cup of tea and perused Pinterest while E slept. I looked at beautiful homes - which works way better than anything at making me feel better. Doctor schmoctor! Turns out today I'm all about the color:

Images 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

I must say, that green kitchen soothes my soul better than the paracetamol has been doing so!

xx

Lust List: Yellow Owl Workshop

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 18:17:00 +0000

Apologies for the lack of posts around these parts lately. I've been ill since March (yes), which escalated into full blown flu two weeks ago. And then E got ill as well. Consequently we've been ever such a happy household lately. Thanks very much, nursery (such breeding grounds for germs)!

While I was ill I was perusing the internet and came across Yellow Owl Workshop. I initially went to their website to look at their lovely stamp sets, but totally got sucked in by their beautiful and colourful necklaces:

Heart / Terrarium / Colour Wheel / You & Me / Canning Jar

Oh the pretty colours! I'd take them all, but if pushed I'd say my absolute absolute favourites are the canning jar and the terrarium.

While I've been ill I've also been researching things to do in Stockholm, for our upcoming holiday. The best thing I've found so far is the very soon to be opened Abba museum, where apparently you can sing and dance on stage alongside life-sized holograms of all four members of Abba! Yes, I kid you not! Life-sized mother-flipping holograms! My mister has unsurprisingly vetoed this idea but there's still time to talk him round...! Wish me luck!

xx

Lately on Moral Fibres

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:00:00 +0000

I've been busy over at my eco-friendly lifestyle blog, Moral Fibres, with a variety of different articles. Here are some of the highlights:

My experience of using washable nappies for a year.
Why I'm reducing my consumption of palm oil in the foods I eat and products I use
My un-green habits which I'm trying to change or having difficulty changing
Stylish eco-friendly leather bags
It's follow up post: stylish vegan bags
An ethical guide to the high street - with some surprises on the leader board. Before you click through, where would you place New Look on a sliding scale of ethicalness? Be surprised!
A review of supercream - Weleda Skin Food
If we get some nice weather then this gardening with kids article will be useful :)
And finally, a thought provoking thought for dinner time - can eating insects save the world?

Hope you enjoy reading!

As always, thank you for your kind support and words. It means so much.

xx

Goodbye Google Reader!

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 12:28:00 +0000

Google Reader will be no-more come July 1st and this video sums up how I feel:

Altogether now: "...my favourite RSS feeder..."!

Never fear though, you can subscribe to Red Boots through Blog Lovin'.

You can also subscribe through my Google Reader replacement of choice - Feedly - although it's not perfect. I don't like how it works on the iPhone, but it's a trade-off I'll take at the moment.

xx

Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Colouring Book Review

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 12:43:00 +0000

Laurence King Publishing kindly sent us a copy of Johanna Basford's new book - Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Colouring Book to review on Red Boots Blog:

"Tumble down the rabbit hole and find yourself in an inky black-and-white wonderland".

Johanna Basford is an illustrator inspired by the flora and fauna that surrounds her home in rural Scotland, and the inspiration for this book came from Brodick Castle on the Isle of Arran (a place dear to my own Ayrshire heart) where her grandfather was the head gardener.

Johanna says that she "spent her summer and winter holidays in the rambling grounds of the castle gardens, playing in the summer house lined with pinecones, searching for the hidden beehives and watching the robins nest in an abandoned teapot", and this inspiration really shines through in the book.

Rather than describing it as a colouring book, it's more of an interactive activity book, full of puzzles; drawings to be completed by your yourself or your child; and a hunt for lots of tiny little birds, animals, insects and objects:

Johanna's intricately beautiful pen-and-ink illustrations make this book such a visual delight - and with so many stunning hand-drawn illustrations of flowers, insects, small animals and birds to colour in, there are hours upon hours upon hours of colouring-in to be done.

Although E isn't old enough for colouring books like this yet, I wouldn't say it's just for kids - I'm looking forward to tackling it with some watercolour pencils, once I get some, as it's definitely a treat for grown-ups too. In the meantime E and I are having fun finding all the different animals and looking at all the different insects (a budding David Attenborough!)!

Here's a really lovely video about the book which pretty much sums up the whole feel of the book:

You can buy your own copy of the book here - it comes highly recommended from both E and I!

xx

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Laurence King Publishing kindly sent me a copy of the book to review. I received no other recompense to write this post.

Snow Days

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 12:45:00 +0000

Of course, about two minutes after I posted my last post about Spring a big black cloud blotted out the sun, and snow began to fall, and it hasn't really stopped since. Typical!

On Friday we got more snow. That really fine kind that is so hard to photograph. It fell like confetti for most of the afternoon, looking very pretty and serene, but intensely cold. After I was done working for the day I padded in to my kitchen, and whipped up my favourite winter warmer - a chilli non carne (meat free) - and then greeted my two favourite people in the whole world as they returned home with their frosty noses.

On Saturday we deemed it too cold to do anything but stay warm at home, so we spent the morning listening to old Smashing Pumpinks and James Iha and Billy Corgan stuff (back when he was good). Here are a few of our favourites:

Of course!

Controversial perhaps, including Zwan, but I do love this song.

xx

Spring Lust List

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 12:08:00 +0000

After snow, snow and more snow, the sun is finally shining today and I have to say (despite falling down my stairs this morning...) I am full of the joys of Spring!

I've been browsing the internet, creating a fantasy Spring shopping list. You can tell I'm dreaming of sunny days at the seaside with a camera in hand (ice-cream in the other perhaps!):

1. Louche Skippy Boat Print Dress - Joy The Store
2. Shoes - Office
3. Chelsea Collection Satchel - Cambridge Satchel Company
4. La Sardina Camera - Lomography.com
5. DVF Sunglasses - ASOS
6. L'Atalante Necklace - Apres Ski

What's on your list?

xx

Scandinavian Chic from Barnebys

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:35:00 +0000

If you're on Pinterest you'll have had to be living with your head under a rock not to notice the Scandi trend that's been going on for the past couple of years.

I thought it was a bit of a design fad, until the past couple of weeks, when I've spent hour upon hour looking at Swedish apartments on Air BnB for our upcoming trip to Stockholm. One thing that struck me about pretty much all of the apartments was the sense of style - all white walls, and a mix of antique furniture and cheap and modern Ikea pieces. It was like looking at a real-life Pinterest board:

Some Scandinavian style apartments found on Pinterest: 1. / 2. / 3. / 4. / 5.

What I like about the Scandinavian style is that it doesn't seem to try too hard - even with all of that white paint, homes look warm, cosy and inviting. And well chosen older pieces of furniture mixed with Ikea pieces means it isn't too hard or costly to replicate in your own home.

Looking to replicate this style, I found a few gorgeous pieces of antique and vintage furniture from Barnebys that would fit right into a Scandinavian styled home:

Chest

Trunk

Dresser

Sofa

I'm in love with them all, especially that dresser and sofa!

At the moment Barnebys mainly operate in Sweden and Finland but are very shortly going to be launching in the UK, where I'm hoping to find such lovely treasures! I'm on their mailing list waiting to find the date!

xx

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This is a post in collaboration with Barnebys - an online niche service that shows auctions from all auction houses in the one place.

National Museum of Scotland

noreply@blogger.com (Red Boots) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 09:49:00 +0000

My lovely mister had a couple of weeks off work, so we made the most of having him around in the week and we made lots of plans, only to be beaten by the weather (Gorgie City Farm, we will visit you one day, promise!).

After a few days of cabin fever we ventured out to the National Museum of Scotland, which turned out to be just the ticket on a cold wet day.

The last time I was there I was six months pregnant, so it was a bit different being there with a toddler, but it's such a great place for kids. E ran around everywhere at full speed, looking at everything, and generally had a blast.

Other things I love about the museum - there are so many other kids there all making noise that it doesn't matter too much if your kid makes a noise. It's also free. And they have an area for you to eat your own packed lunch, which is a big win!

The natural history section was a big hit. The Scottish history section is also fantastic but having spent so long in the natural history section we didn't get that far. Next time!

xx