found: five great reads

One of my great loves is, and always has been, reading; it doesn't matter what it is, as long as I can either get lost in it or be inspired by it. My Mum gave me a great book for my birthday; Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan tells the story of a young woman called Polly, who moves to the outskirts of Cornwall and opens a bakery. I started it last night, and am already a quarter of the way through - it's a little like Katie Fforde books (another firm favourite - anything set in the country is always a winner!), and features bread-making, house-decorating and beach-visiting, which makes it pretty much my ideal book.

I've found some great blogs and websites online lately, so I thought I'd share them here - I always love discovering new writers, photographers and illustrators, and these are my five favourites from the last month.

I discovered the lovely Liekeland blog via More Tea Vicar, another favourite - Lieke is an illustrator of wonderful things, and her blog is full of pictures of her work, photographs of the beautiful home she shares with her partner and their cat, and tales of the time they spend in their garden. If the video documenting their vegetable garden doesn't make you want to start growing your own food, I don't know what will.

Visit Liekeland here, and watch the brilliant vegetable garden video here.

Although we don't get away as much as I'd like (read: never at the moment, due to being absolutely skint), I read a lot of travel and adventuring blogs, so I was really happy to discover It's Nice Out via the gorgeous Instagram feed of Cold at Night. Founded by graphic designer Philippa, the site is packed full of articles, beautiful photographs and information relating to the great outdoors - from camping in Pembrokeshire (my Aunt lives there!) to recipes using locally grown produce, It's Nice Out is perfect for anyone who likes to spend most of their time exploring the world and everything in it.

Check out It's Nice Out here.

I found the blog of Hilda Grahnat on Pinterest - I was looking for images and information on houseplants (namely, ones that don't mind darker rooms) and accidently stumbled across the top image. When I clicked through, I found more of the same, plus gorgeous food photography, snippets of her home and posts on getting out and about. A photographer, stylist and designer, I fell in love with Hilda's beautiful calming images and plant-filled home.

Visit the Hilda Grahnat blog here, and be sure to visit her professional portfolio here (because it really is beautiful!).

Finding It's Nice Out was a doubly happy experience; firstly because it appealed to the outdoors-lover in me, and secondly because it led me to discover Bless the Weather, possibly my favourite of my five new finds (how's that for alliteration?!). Siobhan lives in South London, and writes one of the most beautiful blogs I've seen for a long time; she's a photographer and knitwear designer who loves to bake, meaning her space on the internet is packed full of yarn-y goodness, homemade cakes and bread and gorgeous landscape photography. One to add to your blog reader, for sure!

See more of Bless the Weather here, and get more photography goodness via Siobhan's Instagram feed.

Another happy find courtesy of More Tea Vicar, Schorlemadchen is written by Maria who lives in Australia, and who captured my heart with her series of posts on New Zealand. I lived there for eighteen months, so it was a real pleasure to see some recent photographs (which are all incredibly beautiful - you absolutely have to have a look) and read about the places I still remember. An analogue photographer, Maria's work is incredible, and I spent a very happy hour reading back through old posts.

Read more of Schorlemadchen here, and visit Maria's analogue photography shop here.

All images used are the property of Liekeland, It's Nice Out, Hilda Grahnat, Bless the Weather and Schorlemadchen. Do not copy - link with love!