I also discovered the wonderous site called smitten kitchen, which so inspired me, that despite the heat (and that he'd just come back from the land of toblerone) I made a welcome home chocolate stout cake in his honour. OMG. Yum.
Both jms and I have a serious addiction to toys and childrens books.
The discovery of a Powerful Owl feather in the (very suburban) park across the road from our house got us all excited some months back. Having moved back to the big smoke after a stint in the bush, we very much missed our native neighbours. In the context of the current fashion for stylised owls on craft, t-shirts etc I decided to celebrate this discovery with my own little homage to the ultra cool children's artists of my youth such as Dick Bruna and Attilio Cassinelli.
Its some months old now - but it is an important reminder to me of the ability of nature to continue to do what it does best in spite of our suburban sprawl. We may not have a resident kangaroo in our front yard any more - but its nice to know the local park can support a large native bird of prey.
I still miss my eagles tho' : (
Yay! Jms called about an hour ago - and as I type his plane will be taxiing out - the first step in a near 24 hour journey home. Quick I better go do something so it doesn't just look like I've been sitting around pinning all this time! The dali cats and hotdog will be so happy
Only 4 rows of eight completed - realisically I could have pieced it all together but I figured if I had any hope of returning to normal sleep patterns I ought to pretend to go to bed (I still read till after 3am...)
As it is, I'm glad because when I did surface this morn/noon/ish - I realised that just because I was awake, didn't mean I was actually competent... so there was a bit of unpicking to be done. How is it that I can sew a set-in sleeve without too much fuss and line a jacket with a minimum of pain - but getting basic squares to line up? Aaarrgghh. Give me kilometers of 2mm edgestitching to do any day.
Anyways - pox photo - the bedroom colour scheme aint really that lurid (the fill in flash made everything stark and ugly - so I went for blurry and oversaturated). Think burnt orange and sky blue against a bone background (not nuclear Murakami flowers coming to kill you in your sleep) And the quilt itself is predominantly soothing olive tones with turquoise and red highlights. Yes this is part of ongoing obsession with all things turquoise. A certain italian lamp from my friend Suey is to blame. I tried to add a photo of that too - but I'm getting the feeling this will not be one of those blogs with sumptuous pics of my latest projects. Just me prattling on about latest projects. Bugger.
Well since my boy went os - the art of sleeping seems to be something I've lost the knack for. Admittedly its been stupidly hot for too long now - and the house hasn't cooled down at all, despite being left open all night (with a security door that won't lock which no doubt adds fuel to the insomnia fire). Not sleeping is something I'm not very experienced with - quite the contrary. The past two years (admittedly a side effect enhanced by certain prescription drugs) I have been not so happily able to sleep anywhere, anytime. Snoozes on the train to Uni, kips on the couch, and afternoon lie - downs in order to build up the energy for a big night of sleep (I'd average about 13 hours a night with more on days with no early starts). Getting me out of bed often requiring several cups of tea, breakfast, lunch or in many a case, loud exclamations of joy or horror from the boy to rouse my curiosity as to what he was doing.
Nights of wringing my pillow into a shape reminiscent of chewed gum led to stealing his less tortured pillow. Even an application of his fragrance to a freshly washed and made bed (mattress turned, pillows plumped and everything) gave just a few hours of respite before I was startled awake and couldn't settle again for the night.
In desperation I went out yesterday and bought a new latex pillow. Following an application of soothing verbena linen water (yummy L'Occitane) - my head and neck slipped on to the beauteous caress of cool marshmallow... unfortunately the rest of my body twisted an tangled and rebelled and eventually sort to find space for it too on my new cool little cloud, and I ended up koala style clinging to it for dear life. In the end I committed the worst possible crime and instead of patiently breathing and waiting for the next sleepy train, I got up and started sewing. Oh and then did some dishes (hey - it was finally cool enough to face a sink of hot soapy water!). And then checked my email...
But the good news is only one more night to endure - so much for independent living. Pacing the house trying to find things to fill my days until he comes back and I can feel a sense of routine and order. Please tell me its just the heat and everyone else feels equally stretched thin and blob-like.
Spent the day noodling around - yoghurt, did some dishes, more piecing on my quilt, had cups of tea and pondered where Jms was in the universe (hence the clock addition). Wandered lazily about the house - noticed a certain slant of light in the bedroom that made blue bear and monkey look kind of swish all cozy as they were on the bed. Got out the camera to maybe blog their technicolour beauty - setting up the shot - just straighten the pillow - what the... Eeewww! The remains of Sprocket's "I'll just repack the contents of my belly" last minute decision.
Needless to say blue bear and monkey did not stay sitting contented but were flung to the nether corners of the room whilst Cato stripped and sanitised the bed. Certain slant of light waned. Cato spent the afternoon wishing the laundromat was internet capable. Oh well - did get to read Inside Out cover to cover and will no doubt dream of Eames chairs and ittalia glassware tonight...
Me thinks it best I spare you the photo for this entry.
Well.
I can't help but feel self conscious with this, my first post.
To be honest I thought blogging would be more like an opportunity to commit my internal monologue to "paper". But this is something far more awkward than that. I'm typing and meanwhile my internal monologue is backseat driving - screaming "you can say that - it's lame" or "just get to the point" amongst "be more pithy/witty" "don't self edit " meanwhile I barely type a sentence before I [backspace]
Urgh. I guess it gets easier with practice. I really want to find a voice that is not so self conscious. I guess I'm concerned about who YOU are. Do I know you? Is it better that I don't?
I've spent many an hour trolling the interwebs reading others posts - and they are frank and honest in a way that I casually assumed I could emulate. But looking at this dialogue box there seams to be a pressure to perform I didn't expect. I guess most people started blogging because they want to be famous or at least acknowledged, linked or listened to. I'm not sure that I even want to be read. By anyone. ever. Easy! I hear you say - just uncheck that box on the setup thingy! Yessss, but... then I won't ever be discovered...
Mmmm. Inside every shrinking violet is an underfed ego screaming for attention.
Then why blog? Why not just write in clandestine journals that shall never see the light of day? Well, yes I guess I do want to be read and linked to and be delicious'd. But perhaps only when I am confident of the things I have to say. Perhaps THAT is what this is all about. I want to find my voice - I want to have the opportunity to explore my ideas and interests in a way that can be catalogued and complied. A diary cannot link to other peoples exciting things or even encompass all the exciting things I have planned in my head that I need an excuse to commit to physical existence (even if only in a digital way). And at the end of the day - all that scrapbooking and careful attention one can lavish on the pages of a diary may never be found - chided perhaps by the self as indulgent or one day emotionally shared with a beloved...
But for me - embarking on a way to crystalise all the trillion ideas I have - the simple blog seams to be a way of creating a tether for all my creations, both personal and professional, whimsical and intellectual. So that one day I might be able to stand back and say - yes - that's me.
Pretty big ideas for a blog that may only last until the boy comes home from OS!
Mmmm. In a world of infinite possibilities it is hard not to be paralysed by choice...
