eating again

What Katie Ate Raspberry Friands. Oooh la la.

forager's feast

Just yum. Baking Blackberry pie with the babes from my favourite, favourite book 'A Table in the Orchard' written by Michelle Crawford at Hugo and Elsa. Just yum.

clever

After much success with our vertical herb garden we've expanded into vegetables.

Amazingly rewarding though truly a labour of love tackling the caterpillars and possums... and who knew that dogs loved strawberries? Audrey's been staking out the strawberry bed and making short work of the ripe ones before we get to them.

Self-sufficiency is probably a bit ambitious but home grown salads every night are definately worth it.

hmmm... perhaps it's time for chickens?

she's back

Hello Spring, I missed you.

salad

The girls and I have had a busy day in the garden. Thank you
the little vegie co.

... now we just need to distract the possums!

enjoying home

feeling grateful

'The earth laughs in flowers.' Emerson

Painting outside on a perfect Sydney day to the smell of all the jasmine in bloom. Lucky me.

spring in our garden

'She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbour:
Winter is dead.'
A.A. Milne - When We Were Very Young

herb garden

'To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow' Audrey Hepburn

A busy, lovely, afternoon planting.

new crop

Proud 9 year old tomato grower.

new courtyard

I have been painting and planting more in the new courtyard. Silhouette and Elizabeth-Rose seem to be pleased with the result.

returning to normal

'Do more of what makes you happy.'

A busy month has passed. I'm still completing lots of house pieces... painting the old bathroom, finishing off incomplete bits of flooring, touch up painting, toilet rolls and towel rails, plus need to overhaul the old laundry... all the bits that will go on for some months yet I suspect... but also reclaiming a bit of normal. 

The last month included two new additions to the family for Babe 2's recent birthday - Guinea pigs (Pip and Miss Daisy), getting back to yoga a few mornings a week before work (my old bones need it), entertaining family and friends in our lovely space (joy), reading (I really missed reading through the build) and even a little bit of painting. 

It's good. Getting back into the world is good.

addicted to chocolate

One set of hooks from Margarita at Chocolate Creative (dresses below) just wasn't enough so I've added a new set in the outdoor room by the pool (towels above).

Hopefully everyone else (i.e. small people) will also find them irresistible and choose to hang their wet towels on them... rather than in a puddle on the floor.

Always beautiful Margarita, thank you... again.

dunlin home

I am trying not to buy any beautiful objects at the moment... all funds are going into steel, timber, concrete blocks and insulation... but I have to mention a beautiful new Sydney online shop, Dunlin Home... full of beautiful objects... there's no harm in browsing!

wall dots

Have been meaning to share some of the treasures given to me at Christmas. The girls gave me these Wall Dots by Muuto coat hooks which I have coveted for many years... and now that we are building a beautiful new foyer (oh how grown up) on the extension I have just the spot to put them. Also the Lovely One has been travelling a lot for work this last year and on a recent trip to Rome he picked up this delicious coffee (with equally delicious packaging) as a Christmas treat for me. yum.

christmas is coming

...and we've already starting celebrating with some tiny decorations around the place.

Red felt tree - IKEA

Sweet white bone china reindeer - Papaya

packed corners

I have just realised that I have neglected my posts on 'a corner of home' and soon enough all the corners will be packed away and relocated to their new rooms. So here are some elements of our current dining room which will be converted to Babe1's bedroom next year.

Timber swallows - Design for Use
'home' timber letters - David Met Nicole
White porcelain flowers - a gift from my big sister for my birthday
White bone china origami bird hanging in cage - Have You Met Miss Jones
Bird cages - Berry markets (country NSW)
Marimekko fabric canvas that I made about 8 years ago for the kitchen in our Surry Hills terrace (and I still love it) - Chee Soon & Fitzgerald

come fairies...

'Come Fairies, take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind and dance upon the mountains like a flame! '
William Butler Yeats

The sun has finally come out in Sydney, a beautiful weekend and all seems rosy again. The babes spent two hours after school last Friday under the Crepe Myrtle tree creating the most intricate fairy garden, fairy queen house, elves river (complete with water and bridge) and very clear directions (written on gum leaves of course) to the bird bath should they wish to bathe in this beautiful sunshine. Simplicity.

The next morning at 8.15am my very special friend gave birth to her beautiful new baby girl and I wondered if it may have been somehow related to the fairies that played in the girls fairyland that evening.

Welcome to the world little fairy - we are so looking forward to getting to know you.

[glass raindrops and zinc stars hanging above the fairy garden - heaven in earth]

wall necklace

I saw, and promptly fell in love, with a great big bag of these timber beads. The larger ones are 25mm diameter and they had a 'please hold me' aura about them. So I threaded them up into this wall necklace (the larger beads being threaded into a length of about 4m or more). Now everyone who walks past tends to touch it so the 'please hold me' aura seems to be universal.

When mum came to visit she asked if it was inspired by her beads? She bought these Rosary beads at a street market in Mexico City about 30 years ago and they have always hung on a wall in their home. They too are about 25mm diameter timber and are about 3m long beads and of course they must have been my subliminal inspiration - though I didn't quite realise at the time - which lead me to thinking, again, about inspiration vs copies in my work and that that I observe online.

Having working in TV and Radio for most of my professional career, copyright and appropriate sourcing of material are topics close to my heart. If this is something you're interested in reading more about then you might like to check out these discussions:
- Design Sponge's great 3 part discussion on Online Etiquette and Ethics
- Decor8's real talk column DIY is not Duplicate It Yourself!
- and Bloesem's discussion Find the Differences...

rise and shine - a corner of home

I'm not much of a morning person. I love to sleep. This is a corner in the hall just outside my bedroom door. It's far enough from bed to know that when I read it I've already managed the 'rise' part and I find that just saying the little mantra can sometimes help with the 'shine' part. After all... 'rise and grump' doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

[Scrabble letters from David Met Nicole
Porcelain feathers from Have You Met Miss Jones]