Posted By Red Headed Frog on August 3, 2010

The custom designed Graphic art by Trendy Prints really caught my eye this afternoon. I was looking for something that would pop against a yellow wall, and the blue number collage was the perfect solution. I realize the prints are technically for baby rooms, but I am certain I can make one of these lovely designs work in a more adult setting. Each design is professionally printed, and comes in a variety of colors. The photo frame and matte are not included. If you fancy any of the designs below, I do recommend visiting the Trendy Prints website.

Images via Trendy Prints

Category: Art & Design, Illustrations | No Comments »
Tags: art and design, decoration, graphic design, Illustrations, prints

Posted By Red Headed Frog on August 1, 2010

I’ve been spending ages in the garden these past couple of weeks. I seem to have a courgette glut at the moment so I am trading them for other veggies and fruits I couldn’t grow this year. My potato crop was destroyed by ants and aphids. Unfortunately, they became a hazard to have in the garden. Surprisingly, my neighbor had much better luck with his potato crop. He gladly traded some potatoes for a large courgette. I am very happy with the garden right now. It is just full of life with beautiful flowers and honey bees visiting everyday.

Category: Tales From The Garden | No Comments »
Tags: chili, courgette, gardening, potatoes, Tales From The Garden

Posted By Red Headed Frog on July 17, 2010

I am so very happy the garden is doing so well. I did have an unfortunate incident happen to a few of my plants, but I am looking past that for now. Essentially, my neighbor took it upon himself to sprinkle ant poison in and around some of my veggies and herbs. I was absolutely heart broken. All of that time and effort just wasted. I honestly can’t safely eat these plants anymore because the poison he used is extremely toxic to the environment. I actually have to destroy them. Almost half of my crop is gone now, and I am left with only a few plants that I believe are safe to consume. I am taking a big risk as the only reason I know he used the poison is because I caught him spraying and confronted him about it. Goodness knows what else he decided had one to many insects on it in my garden.

Despite this unfortunate set back, I am re-sowing a few plants I hope will survive a late planting. Here are a few of the plants I managed to save, and one of them that is not safe to eat anymore. The green courgette towards the bottom looks healthy, but it’s leaves were covered in ant powder not too long ago. It was such a healthy plant with no pests on it at all. Such a shame when people don’t understand the difference between pests and beneficial insects.

Category: Tales From The Garden | No Comments »
Tags: ants, environment, garden, gardening, insects, poisons, veggies

Posted By Red Headed Frog on July 14, 2010

I knew the oil spill was bad, but I didn’t know it had progressed to this level of alert. We are obviously very aware of what occurred up here in the UK; however, the magnitude of the problem didn’t hit home until I saw pictures in the morning paper and did a bit more digging on the devastation. It is absolutely awful! Worst of all is that nobody is doing much about it. What a shameful day for both countries involved.

Carl Safina gives an excellent talk about the disaster. Author and ecologist, Mr. Safina, explores the situation and gives us a first hand account of the devastation. His inside stories about the spill and the people and wildlife it is affecting are just heartbreaking. Have a view, and let me know what you think.

Image via Jake Williamson

Video via TED Talks

Category: Green Ideas, Greener World | No Comments »
Tags: bp oil spill, carl safina, gulf oil spill, oil spill, ted talk

Posted By Red Headed Frog on July 12, 2010

A few weeks ago, I had the lovely pleasure of visiting the racecourse here in Surrey for the Royal Ascot races. It is a week long event in which the queen visits the racecourse. It is held in Ascot, Surrey and there is a strict dress code for those wishing to be up in the stalls. Many lovely ladies and gentlemen spend hours primping and pruning for the event. Everyone looked marvelous! Here are a few pictures from our time at the racecourse. I didn’t place a bet, but we were sitting next to a couple that won big. We cheered them on as they danced around in glee. It was certainly an event worth visiting.

Category: Wayfaring The World | No Comments »
Tags: ascot, great britain, royal ascot, travel, united kingdom, Wayfaring The World

Posted By Red Headed Frog on July 8, 2010

I had a weird little craving for American style pancakes today. That’s why I took the effort and made a bunch for my husband and I this morning. As I was dropping the batter into the pan, I saw a large strawberry glistening in the sun out of the corner of my eye. I asked Dennis to help me cut some from our hanging basket, and we placed them on our pancakes. They were glorious! I realize there are many pancake recipes out there, but this is the one I use most often. It is very simple recipe and easy to follow. I hope you enjoy.

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour

• 1 tbsp sugar

• 1 tbsp baking powder

• 2 eggs

• A pinch of salt

• 1 1/2 cups of milk

• butter to serve

• strawberries to garnish

• olive oil ( to fry pancakes in)

Directions

1. Dabble some olive oil into a frying pan and cook on medium heat.

2. While the oil is warming up, place all of the dry ingredients into a medium sized bowl and stir well together.

3. In a separate bowl, beat the two eggs together until you get a little foam. Now, add the milk and stir well.

4. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. Stir until mixed together. Make sure to leave a few lumps in the batter.

5. Now, once the oil is glistening, take a ladle and pour your pancake onto the frying pan. Turn the pancake over when you see tiny bursting bubbles on the surface of the batter. Repeat until you are done with the batter.

6. Now, take a knob of butter and place it on top of the pancakes. Pour a bit of maple syrup or agave nectar onto the cakes, and cut up a few strawberries as a garnish.

Category: Everyday Sam, Tales From The Garden | No Comments »
Tags: Everyday Sam, recipes, strawberries, Tales From The Garden

Posted By Red Headed Frog on July 7, 2010

Artist and fashion designer, Tani Marie, creates these lovely retro style swim suites from her studio in Portland, Oregon. Each design is hand made to your size once ordered, and she ships her designs to you across the globe. She grabs inspiration from classic pin up girls and cinema along with art nouveau and a myriad of different styles she comes across. Her work is absolutely beautiful to me. I am especially fond of the vintage Barbie inspired swimsuit. If you fancy learning more about Tani Marie and her designs, then I recommend visiting La Drama Queen via Etsy.

Images via LA Drama Queen

Category: Style Find | No Comments »
Tags: etsy, la drama queen, retro swimwear, style find, tani marie

Posted By Red Headed Frog on July 6, 2010

I am absolutely thrilled that my tomatoes are starting to swell up. They must have been growing there for a week at least, but I hadn’t noticed them until today. I hope we are clear of tomato fungus this year. I Had some last year that did quite well in a similar spot, but this year I planted them in a hanging basket to give them that extra edge. I’m crossing my fingers for a good crop.

The rest of the garden is doing quite well. The pumpkins and courgettes are massive, but they did have a case of black fly. I sprayed them with a vinegar solution, and that seemed to be doing the trick. We will have to see what the outcome is. I do hope I get pumpkins this year. They will be the stars of my garden come autumn.

Here are a few pictures of the flowers starting to appear in my little front garden. The lavender is my favorite. The scent is amazing.

Category: Tales From The Garden | No Comments »
Tags: blueberries, british garden, chilis, gardening, marigolds, New growth, poppies, raspberries, sunflowers, Tales From The Garden, tomatoes

Posted By Red Headed Frog on July 4, 2010

TED Fellow and urban designer, Joachim Mitchell, gives this inspiring talk about sustainable and organic architecture. He introduces the concept of growing your own abode by training plants, specifically trees, to create an organic architecture suitable for sustainable living. Additionally, he speaks about his company’s current research with tissue engineering for the purpose of creating a tissue based architecture.

I realize it sounds far fetched, and I personally would probably not want to live in the current concept. However, I do feel the research he is doing is amazing, and great things could arise from their findings. I see great potential in this. For more information on Mr. Mitchell, I recommend viewing the talk below and visiting his biography page on TED.

Image via Rodrigo Roveri

Video via TED Talks

Category: Art & Design, Green Design, Green Ideas, Green Living, Greener World | No Comments »
Tags: architecture, Art & Design, green ideas, Greener World, growing homes, ted talk

Posted By Red Headed Frog on June 29, 2010

Romantic fabrics and old world styles are certainly phrases I would use to describe the beautiful designs found via Sarah Seven. I’ve been looking for something a bit more feminine than my usual colorful attire, and these designs certainly hit the nail on the head. I love the flowers and the soft colors the designer chose for each piece. My favorite is the Mustard Beau Skirt and Tea Top, but I don’t think it is the best look for my body time. I can always dream, though. If you fancy having a look at more of their designs, then I do recommend popping over to the Sarah Seven website on Etsy. You can find more information on the shop home page.

Images via Sarah Seven

Category: Style Find | No Comments »
Tags: sarah seven, style find