Hot… just so hot...

It's February which means it's hot. 

Well here in Perth, Australia anyway

I always catch myself wishing for a seasons change just about the time it ACTUALLY does start to change -  and I find that rather comforting - as though Mother Nature can sense that I'm at my wits end with the dust, the flies, the heat and the drought… she knows I need the cooler evenings, the promise of rain and ….eventually…. the crisp cool bite of an Autumn morning. 

I know a lot of people who hate Winter and consider it blasphemous that I want to bid Summer farewell  but I think people are born for certain seasons… it's written in their DNA and their chromosomes can't help but either thrive or recoil depending on the temperature outside…. is that a tad dramatic? 

Actually it is a bit dramatic but hey…. that's in my DNA too.

Hubby and I are facing a small crisis at the moment… you see we have people building next door to us

and they have had to carve up the land like a cake in order to accommodate the pad for their house.

Just to paint a picture here - Kalamunda (my town) is on a hill - which is basically a large rock.

So for about SIX weeks we've had a rock breaker & various other large diggers battering 

away at the ground filling the air with the finest orange dust and shaking my house to it's core.

It's been SH*T 

So we keep running away to the sea, the city, friends… anywhere basically to escape the madness.

I do need to add that they are THE NICEST neighbours anyone could wish for which makes hating the situation all the more difficult ….we have no fence to keep the dog in, dust EVERY WHERE - and I 'aint exaggerating peoples (I can taste it in the air!) a patio that's uninhabitable, a feral cat that keeps spraying during the night and…. well …. its' just been a bit of a muchness really.

Buy hey… At least I have a house. At least there are belongings and items within that need dusting.

At least it's only dust (I've seen the flood damage in the UK… blessings to you all)

So as much as I'm letting off steam I do know in my heart that - as with all things - 

"This too shall pass"

In the meantime it's better to savour what one has rather than long for what is clearly lacking.

I have also been practicing meditation and Kundalini Yoga  - which I am 

sure (POSITIVE) has helped to keep me sane.

Couple that with tea, good books*, chocolate, work, movies and 

family and I'm pretty sure I'll survive what I'm now affectionately terming

 "The Desert Storm of 2014"

*(...anyone else loved Gone Girl? … Bloomindales!! I couldn't put it down!!

In a rather twisted way it made me feel like my "foibles and idiosyncrasies" are 

small fries compared to the likes of those two!!)

How are you all going?

Have you all enjoyed your Summer/Winter this year?

Are you ready for Easter Eggs?

(I only ask because they are sticking them on the shelves

already…. MADness)

What about great films, books?

I'm sooooo looking forward to seeing THIS

and I think I'd like to read THIS next  - I caught the 

RADIOLAB podcast about it and …Wowsers.

Well it's been a post about not much really

Apologies - people

I need to jazz it up I know

I have a backlog of controversial, interesting & debatable topics

I have a dozen or more recipes to share

I have at least a HUNDRED pins that I swoon over daily

I have craft ideas, I have new music love and I have

lots more boring beach shots… but for now I just wanted to say what

I've said and be done with it.

Have a super Wednesday, a fabulous Thursday and then a TRULY

wicked Friday peoples… it's Labour day weekend here so travel safe on the 

roads and hug your loved ones extra hard. Just do.

♥♥♥

Paper love... six ways.

and of course .. my personal favourite ... 

A few facts ... a few tips ... and a quick catch up...

FACTS

I love paper. I love all kinds of paper.... however the heart races for delicate tissue thin writing paper (and if there's a water mark within it.... swoon) anything handmade, linen finish card stock and of course - as is evidenced in this post... pages from just about any vintage reference book I can find. 

There are an abundant number of abandoned books filling the shelves of thrift stores world wide. This fact simultaneously saddens and excites me. The digital era brings with it great convenience and many an environmentalist would argue the decrease of forestry pillaging, yet it also leads to the orphaning of thousands of truly stunning encyclopedia sets and reference books.

There are innumerable ways to recycle these exquisite pages and I'm on a mission to try them all. 

(Aside - Pinterest has been most helpful in my achievement of this frivolous goal)

Christmas is around the corner... I won't give you a minor cardiac episode with an accurate day count, however I will add that little compares to the pleasure of knowing your festive plots and plans are progressing along at a stress free pace.... she says smugly whilst scribbling a foreboding list longer than her arm.

TIPS

You need very few tools to transform paper into handmade loveliness. I find double sided tape, fancy edged scissors and stamps are the only "luxury purchases" required to go from basic cut and paste to... hmmmm ... how can I humbly state this... unique brilliance?? Might I add that all the brilliance lies in the delightful typography, alluring illustrations (think Websters pictorial peoples) and yellowing ageing of these parchment treasures.

Handmade is just hands down (see what I did there) a superior touch when it comes to gift giving. 

(even if the gift is store bought, the effort put into personalising ones wrapping rarely goes unnoticed)

You need not be a crafty bod to have a bit of fun with paper and you don't even have to tear out the pages (sacrilege I hear many of you scream) since the magic of scanning and/or photocopying allows you to duplicate as many of those captivating medical journal images (a gory personal favourite of mine) as you please. 

For those of you who do not have any thrifted books on hand fear not - The Graphics Fairy  is a modern day super heroine whose efforts to share vintage images in convenient down-loadable clip art form truly renders her Nobel peace prize worthy. Her website is a cornucopia of visual pleasure and well worth a visit. Obsessed with foxes and rabbits peoples ??? 

I cannot even bear to part with the corners and scraps of the paper I'm using so as you can see I sew them together (the music paper bunting) and/or turn them into mini cake flags. I'm always trying to come up with new ideas so if you can think of any other uses for these leftover bits do let me know.

I made the Monopoly money bunting for my son's room  - a token of visual abundance for all his lofty plans and dreams. Usually I turn vintage children's story books into bunting (and gift it to new mums for their nurseries and kiddies for their rooms & cubbies) yet I have found that just about any paper treasure can be turned into bunting and as for shape/size, uniformity etc ... well they're all silly rules that must be abandoned.

Even if the word "craft" has you running a mile I still think adding a personal touch to gifts and cards goes a long way to making someones day. Hand made cards are especially sacred and too easy when all you've really done is "steal" a page from an old dictionary and hand stamped the message - quick but completely unique.

CATCHING UP

Again thank you for your lovely comments and emails on my last post. I am still pretty inactive however it's only ten more sleeps and I'll have an operation that will put and end to all of this nonsense.

I am enthusiastic, optimistic and ever so grateful. Not only for the kindness and care of loved ones but also for the ability to distract myself by making and creating... twas very cathartic! 

We are back to school and Young Prince will be tackling exams pretty soon. He's at that bold and brassy age where he doggedly believes that study is for the birds and I'm trying (unsuccessfully I might add) to school him in the benefits of regular revision. Hmmm.... we shall see.

My hero of a Hubby made THIS and THIS yesterday (adapted with lemons) so I have no reason to complain about being couch bound with a couple of magazines, a pooch and a new period drama to enjoy. 

We have grandiose veggie plot and garden plans which will swing into action AS SOON as I am able to wield an axe and dig a hole. I. CANNOT. WAIT. In the meantime I swoon whilst looking at these.

How has your weekend been peoples? Have you been crafting lately? What about Christmas? (I know, I know... too early some might say) but have you begun preparations? Stocking stuffers, gift purchases, jam making? (a dream I have yet to tackle) Are you excited about summer days at the beach or are you stoking fires and donning socks? Are you out and about on a jaunt or home bound with cosier activities at hand? Do you have teenagers emptying the fridge and filling the washing machine or are yours of the littler persuasion... nappies, teething, racing around in dress-ups?? Will you be vacationing soon or will your festive season be a local one with family and friends? 

Do tell. 

♥♥♥ 

PS - The chicks are doing really well. Roz is still fiercely protective but hopefully we'll be able to move them into the bigger run soon so that the other gals can get used to them. 

Thoughts in point form...

Lest this turn into a blog that only ever contains photos of flowers, I've decided to steer clear of the blooms today peoples. Although last night's class was absolutely fab (we made wreaths) I was unable to get a decent (that means blog-worthy if I'm to be truly honest) photo. We finished up late and by the time I arrived home from the city I was ready for nothing but bed. This morning was a hectic mix of getting the chickens fed, Young Prince to school, the pooch to a play date and back to the city for work.... breathe.

I'm waiting for Winter. Patiently and with great enthusiasm for all the cosiness it brings to my "heaven in the hills" The chickens get more worms, the herbs water themselves and I get to plan activities that involve a lot of sock wearing and tea drinking. I realise that for many this is blasphemy. Summer is the season for living ... say some. I reason that my absurd love for cold weather actually serves a purpose in balancing out the world's surfing, beach going, sun soaking bods with us knitting, fire stoking, book reading folk. No stereotypes intended.

By hook or by crook I'm mastering bread this Winter. Nothing smells better than a freshly baked loaf hot out of the oven (with the exception of fried onions, freshly cut grass, eucalypts after the rain and puppy breath) Hubby bakes a mean wholemeal but I'd like to try my hand at Rye, Sourdough and THIS BREAD... do yourself a favour and check out that link peoples... my mouth waters EVERY time I see it. Oh and if you think this recipe looks dandy then have a browse around, Sarah has created a vegetarian heaven.

I'm looking for some recommended reading. I've exhausted the pile at home and I'm in need of some written word that will A - inspire B - make me cry C - isn't gory, violent or full of sex and D - avoids all the shades of grey. This is as much a request to you my fellow bloggers as it is a shameless hint to my loved ones (my birthday is only 7 sleeps away) 

And last but not least ... a tiny bit of self promoting/boasting/happiness and glee coming up...

The above image was picked as a favourite by the Design Sponge team for an Instagram competition they ran in February. I'll be completely frank here and admit the truth about the discreet squeal I gave when I saw my name on this awesomerrificlyfabulous site... yes sir. I did the happy dance. Small victories are victories nonetheless no? Anyway you can see it here ... and it will look exactly the same as it does here - but there are other cool images to see and of course all the coolness that is Design Sponge to tempt you from the days to-do-list. 

Speaking of... I have a job to get back to and sneaking in blogging time is not part of the job requirements so I'd better sign off and wish you all a very happy weekend filled with all that's groovy.

Please not - I know these images are completely unrelated but I was afraid of new comers visiting my blog and thinking I do nothing but stare at flowers all day long... which I do... but still. 

Mr Darcy....

Mr Darcy: Miss Elizabeth. I have struggled in vain and I can bear it no longer. These past months have been a torment. I came to Rosings with the single object of seeing you... I had to see you. I have fought against my better judgment, my family's expectations, the inferiority of your birth by rank and circumstance. All these things I am willing to put aside and ask you to end my agony. 

Elizabeth Bennett: I don't understand. 

Mr Darcy: I love you 

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

I'm such a sucker for a happy ending. 

I hope this commercially drowned day of love and flowers and cards and romance and disappointment (let's face it there are a lot of puffy eyed teenagers out there tonight*) and proposals and dinners and gifts and chocolates and... and ... have I forgotten anything? 

Well anyhoo .. I hope it was what you wanted it to be♥♥

* and if you are a puffy eyed teenager then know this - it gets better... I PROMISE!

Wonder ...

“One of the most terrible losses man endures in his lifetime is not even noticed by most people, much less mourned. Which is astonishing, because what we lose is in many ways one of the essential qualities that sets us apart from other creatures. I'm talking about the loss of the sense of wonder that is such an integral part of our world when we are children. However, as we grow older, that sense of wonder shrinks from cosmic to microscopic by the time we are adults. Kids say "Wow!" all the time. Opening their mouths fully, their eyes light up with genuine awe and glee. The word emanates not so much from a voice box as from an astonished soul that has once again been shown that the world is full of amazing unexpected things.

When was the last time you let fly a loud, truly heartfelt "WOW?"

Not recently I bet. Because generally speaking wonder belongs to kids, with the rare exception of falling madly in love with another person, which invariably leads to a rebirth of wonder. As adults, we are not supposed to say or feel Wow, or wonder, or even true surprise because those things make us sound goofy, ingenuous, and childlike. 

How can you run the world if you are in constant awe of it?..."

(Jonathan Carroll)

Seven Thousand Ways to Listen...

Listening is a personal pilgrimage that takes time and a willingness to lean into life. 
With each trouble that stalls us and each wonder that lifts us, we're asked to put down our conclusions and feel and think anew*

Unpredictable as life itself, the practice of listening is one of the most mysterious, luminous and challenging art forms on earth. Each of us is by turns a novice and a master—until the next difficulty or joy undoes us*

Our friendship with everything larger than us opens us to the wisdom of Source. This is the work of being. Our friendship with experience opens us to the wisdom of life on earth. This is the work of being human. And our friendship with each other opens us to the wisdom of care. This is the work of love*

In a daily way, listening is being present enough to hear the One in the many and the many in the One. Listening is an animating process by which we feel and understand the moment we are in, repeatedly connecting the inner world with the world around us, letting one inform the other*

For the living Universe can be entered at any time by listening to our inmost self. This begins by meeting ourselves and opening our minds to silence. It helps to think of silence as the connective tissue for all life. By listening to silence, we can be nourished by everything that is larger than us*

* Mark Nepo "Seven Thousand Ways to Listen"

Hi there peoples... 

Truth time

I have been under the weather and bogged down

with a mental state of mind that is most certainly not conducive 

to achievement, happiness or satisfaction... the clouds are

parting though... deep breath. This too shall pass.

♥♥♥♥♥

You will begin to touch heaven, Jonathan, in the moment that you touch perfect speed. And that isn’t flying a thousand miles an hour, or a million, or flying at the speed of light. Because any number is a limit, and perfection doesn’t have limits. Perfect speed, my son, is being there.

 To fly as fast as thought, to anywhere that is, he said, you must begin by knowing that you have already arrived…

Each of us is in truth an idea of the Great Gull, an unlimited idea of freedom..

Words from 

Jonathan Livingstone Seagull

by 

Richard Bach

(a favourite)

Oh Deer!

Let me introduce you to Mr Deer...

Who now has his own little forest...

Cute yes?

I was inspired by the book 

Terrarium Craft by Amy Bryant Aiello

which is filled 

with amazing (and very easy) terrarium ideas

I've always loved "little worlds within worlds"

so you can imagine how much fun I have sourcing

a variety of containers to create mini vistas in.

This one is made up of a large Spanish glass vase,

 beach sand, 3 vintage bottles, 

maiden hair fern, a few white pebbles and 

a very cute "Have You Met Miss Jones" bone china deer

It looks lovely from all angles and 

(in my humble opinion)

is just the sweetest way to display a bloom!

I placed him outside for the photo but indeed he'll have to live inside

 (maiden hair ferns are very sensitive plants)

If you use a succulent you could create something more suited to 

the outdoors, your patio table, a sunny window etc

The book has a multitude of ideas using a variety of materials and plant

species - think crystals, ornaments, charms, shells, toys

 (fun to make one with the kids!)

 You really are limited only by your imagination...

I hope you are inspired to create a little 

"display with a difference" now?

Have a lovely one peoples!