shop love...

I have not been into this shop for a long, long time. They are only open on weekends which is not the optimum time to go trawling through what I call treasures and the kids call "old junk", or "smelly old junk" depending on the day - although I will admit that it only takes a small amount of humidity to raise a whiff in some of the emporiums of vintage and collectables I love to wander through.

This main shot is the kitchenalia section of the shop, and the treasures within were many and varied, Mothers' Day anyone...

wonderful #37

It's been a while, but Amber and I are back to looking for the Wonderful in our days. Three times a week, things which either take our breath away or make us stop and wonder....

Autumnal tones, Brisbane style.

 The picnic lunch the kids and I had on the lawns of the SA Museum last month. A day when the kids were both as lovely as the weather.

stationery love

Upon a Fold is my new favourite place to shop without going to the shops. I made my first order last month and they arrived in the most beautiful package. Michael opened it - I was away and needed him to put one of the items into a bag and send it as a gift. Being the wonderful husband he is, he also photographed it for me before he ripped it open. This week their newsletter arrived in my inbox and if I still lived a life where the basic formula was: High Disposable Income + High Pressure Career = Mindless Expenditure on Beautiful Things I would buy...

Concertina booklet of shadow puppets - each animal also has a lovely lyrical line about its quirks and nuances

 1/24th Scale model of a bicycle - although according to the info all you need is a sharp knife (check), glue (check) and a steady hand (aaah - anyone?)

 Hoop earrings made from folded paper

A 15cm pop up Dolls' house, complete with furniture - I would love to see the shadows this would cast when it was on the side table under the front room windows - stunning

and

another set of the Apple note pads (I gave these to Kate - I want some for myself)

(Thanks to Upon a Fold for replying to my tweet so quickly and kindly letting me use your photography for my virtual wishlist - I will order again soon)

what child is this?

Admittedly both these acts were committed while holidaying in Adelaide. It seemed that when I crossed the border into South Australia Sam was possessed by the spirit of helpfulness. Don't worry - there was an immediate AutoExorcism on his return journey and I arrived home with the unpredictable and changeable boy I know and love.

one school boy's easter

Sam decided that he wanted to give everyone in his class an Easter Egg. And he wanted to make them a card. "Of course", I said, and we promptly started cutting out (me), addressing (him), sewing (me), and stuffing (him) for the Easter Goodie Bags. Pink for girls, Blue for boys. Of course.

And then there was the Easter Bonnet Parade. He wanted a hat with "Fluorescent colours that looks crazy". "Of course", I said, and we promptly started twisting (him) gluing (me) and painting (him) a hat that was worthy of a Tea Party hosted by the original Mad Hatter himself.

The bracelet was an extra touch he added as he got dressed on the morning of the parade, and I am pleased to say he had the tenacity of spirit to keep it on all day - "I explained to them that it's not jewelry Mum, it's a costume" was his response to boys who dared to query it.

By the end of it all I was exhausted. He was overjoyed. Of course.

better belated than not at all

 I was sick immediately after Emily's birthday, then went away, then had guests, then was swamped by life so have not posted as I meant to. These two photos sum it up quite nicely. Milly's gift from Michael and me was a blanket fringed in large (2" round) pom poms, it is really lovely with a satisfying weight to it. She saw it in the shop a couple of months before her birthday and I was happy to buy it as it wasn't pink but a very inoffensive cream. Amber and Russell sent her a pencil case and notebook set. In the bottom photo she is snuggled under the blanket on the couch taking notes. The other photo shows the pure joy of opening gifts, this one a set of paints from Violet.

inbox delight

This email arrived on Friday afternoon - from Amber. I am sure she wont mind me sharing it ....

May a suavely handsome, dinner-suited spunk be waiting for you with chilled Champagne, a rapier wit, and a desire only to please you.

This prototypical handsome man comes courtesy of stills from the classic 50’s film, Indiscreet (starring Ingrid Bergman and Mr Grant).  

Cheers to interiors blogger Dianne Bergeron for sharing this and other fab pictures from one of my favourite ever film interiors. (Gotta love the wonder of Technicolour!) 

My Friday evening reality was a little different. Michael arriving home exhausted to a house with an extra two children playing at vast volumes, a full scale hissy fit over the bath followed by a dinner of curry on the couch. But the thought was there.

for the grandparents (and other readers who love my kids)

Sam is reading like a madman. He reads each reader numerous times then reads to Milly each morning. He has mastered his latest list of sight words, is starting to inject some expression into his reading and every second sentence seems to be a declaration that he can spell something (and then demonstration of his ability). I went to the library to get him some readers and combined with a new bedside lamp he is now reading in bed for ten minutes each night. The upside of this (other than his literacy development) is that he is going to bed ten minutes earlier.

lost

I can't find the usb cord for the camera. Until I do I am either not blogging, using my iPhone camera or sourcing shots from online. So far I have been going with option A. The lost cord dilemma is exacerbated by a sense of being insanely busy and trying to keep on top of things - end result is that no blog updates. The problem is that blogging actually makes me feel like there is a sense to my days- i think about what I may post, look for things to photograph and have a sense of purpose to doing things. So apologies for the quality of the iPhone photos, when the usb cord reappears there will be a glut of posts.

As for the chance of finding the cord, it has to be considered in the context of the craziness that my home seems to have descended into - Yesterday I could not find a refill bottle of liquid soap I thought I had put on the kitchen bench when I unpacked the shopping. After searching for a few minutes I asked the kids if they had moved it. Milly piped up with "Yes, I will get it for you", then reached deep under the couch and handed me a bottle of shampoo. Shampoo - NOT the liquid soap - shampoo. Apparently I now live in a world where personal toiletry items can be produced from the depths of soft furnishing at any time.

For the record, the soap was in the laundry. Now for some posts...

with apologies to Amber...

The kids and I found a new activity to keep us busy in the holidays. Tye Dying paper towels using food colouring. It is fantastic, quick and highly satisfying. I am not sure what we will do with the 5 inch high stack of coloured paper we now have but anyone having a birthday soon, expect your goodies to be wrapped up in it.

And I know - the Football top is horrific, but it makes an appearance every time Shirley (who gave it to him) comes to stay. As for her nudity - a necessity when doing anything this messy.

felt flowers

Milly and I had a play today before she went to Kinder, making felt scenes from very fiddly felt pieces I bought in an op.shop months ago. Her flowers were very precise and her people were obviously slaves to fashion, opting for this season's layering look.

artisan beauty

 On Sunday morning I received a tweet that Anthrolopogie were featuring an Australian ceramicist called Samantha Robinson in their April catalogue. I had never heard of her and continued about my business. My business that day was to drive down to Queenscliff with Michael and the kids to stroll around the town, have lunch, look in some of the lovely shops and generally relax. A very nice day of business it was too, especially when I wandered into a shop called "artists at work" and saw the most gorgeous hand crafted porcelain pieces by none other than Samantha Robinson. Her work is simply beautiful.

 

fountain wishes

Since they could talk I have used a potent combination of conviction, folklore and guile so that my children are fully fledged fountain wishers. They can not go past a fountain without asking for a coin (Milly asks for a "penny", which I adore as it makes her sound like a poor Dickens' orphan, begging). With coin in hand they race to the edge of the fountain and (if there is a perch) plonk themselves down, carefully place the coin in their flattened palm, close their eyes, then pitch it over their shoulders while they make a wish.

This is Victoria Square fountain in Adelaide. Emily wished for Lego and Sam wished for fish and chips for dinner.

at the moment I am...

...reading

Julie and Julia. I am enjoying this more than the movie. I know as a BlogHer I am meant to have LOVED the movie, and I did - but not unconditionally. Amy Adams and her breathy-ness kind of annoyed me after a while. The book, however I love. Julie is so much more likable (funny, self deprecating, vulgar) autobiographically.

...watching

About four weeks worth of Spicks and Specks episodes. Evidently over the past month I have been either too sick, away or busy with visitors to flop on the couch on a Wednesday night.

...not listening to anything at the moment, that needs to be rectified, it is a sign of a too-busy life.

clarification...

...for those who have asked - THESE tall plants are Verbascum (see my post about the abundance of seeds I have harvested)

I have cut so much of the garden back and it is showing its autumn bones but when I look at photos taken during summer (these are from December 20th) I am impressed with my gardening skills.

aaaah

how can you help but be soothed by this colour coded glory? The pencils on Milly's art and craft table. Although I just spotted an orange and a pink in the green jar, now that is all I can see.

autumn rain

Sam bought Emily a new umbrella for her birthday.

market fare

I took the kids to the Adelaide Central Market on Tuesday. It is years since I went there, we wandered around and bought lots of delicious morsels for a picnic which we took to the lawns of the SA Museum. It was a day where I remember why I love Adelaide SO much.