the weekend that was

i had a nice weekend catching up with my dad and my siblings. i got to see my nephew for the first time in ages—he is so big now (almost two) and so fun to hang out with. my bro and i went to the 24 hour book sale and we found some neat books. my best find was this book called “down easter bunny lane”. it is quite strange, like those walter potter tableau, but at least the animals in this book are still alive (I think)…





i also found one of my favourite childhood books, “the sailor dog” by margaret wise brown and illustrated by garth williams. it is about scuppers the sea faring dog. the part that tickled my fancy as a kid is the part where he is shipwrecked, and he makes his own wee house…



i found this lil' vase in an op shop in wanganui on the way up to new plymouth. i raced over to the salvation army during our 25 minute lunch stop. hee, it's too cute!



and one of the nicest things i got to do over the weekend was to hang out with my sister. we went for a lovely jaunt along the walkway in new plymouth. i just wish we lived closer to each other...

another flash friday

it's another flashback friday. this is me and my brother in the 70’s when my family lived on the east coast. both the pink koala and the baby’s bottle were actually mine, but i don't seem too miffed about it. i'm off to new plymouth today to see my pop. hope y'all have terrific weekend!

fudge, toast and wildfire

this past week has been very busy. i've been doing quite a lot of writing lately, so this ol' blog has been stagnating a bit. here are a few highlights from the past day or so. i made some lavender-scented fudge last night but i realised this morning when i found a cake pan of runny goo, that I hadn't cooked it long enough. so i gave it another good boil. the soft-ball stage is really hard to figure out, but since i didn't have a thermometer i just kept testing a droplet in some cold water. it turned out ok. it is a bit crystalline and the lavender an acquired taste. i took some over next door for my neighbour and she said her dog would eat it if she didn't.



when i got home today i found a package in the mailbox from the delightful and talented Toast. inside was this beautiful bag...



we did a swap and she made me an amazing hoody out of the fabric i bought from global fabrics. it fits perfectly and is so pretty. what a clever lass...



the felt horse looks so celestial and magical against the diamond fabric. thank you so much rhiannon! you must check out her etsy shop.



finally, as the afternoon was so calm and warm i took my scooter out for a ride. poor old wildfire has been sadly neglected for months, so it was surprising he started up on the first try. i ran out of petrol and had to push him a couple of blocks to the station. then we were off! we flew like the wind to owhiro bay.

odds and sods

i'm camera-less again, so let me take the opportunity to introduce you to the time-sucking vortex that is stumbleupon. basically you sign up, plug in subjects that are of interest and it randomly finds sites for you. there is a lot of junk to be seen, but just keep stumblin' and before long a gem will fall into your lap. as i won't be posting anything for a while, this link will hopefully keep you occupied until i come back. these are just a few sites i discovered (with the help of my stumble buddy a.g)...


ice worlds


storm clouds


vege art

birds and bbqs

the other day i printed out some of the images from the victorian birdhead series and framed them. my intention was to sell them at juniper but my paint job on the frames was a bit sloppy so i kept them and hung them on the wall...


the kingfisher boy was also framed


today we trotted over to a friend's house for a bbq. i made a lemon and rosewater cheesecake to take. i thought you couldn't really taste the rosewater, but it ended up going down a treat ;-) the bbq was yummy and the company most excellent. hopefully there will be more barbies as the weather gets warmer

flashback

i thought i would jump on the bandwagon and partake in flashback friday (even though it's saturday here in nz it’s friday still in the states right?). this somewhat relates to this weeks theme of weddings/formal/sunday best. this is me on my parent's wedding day. mum gave me a bath outside and dressed me up for the occasion. but being a wee water baby i was determined to take another dip...

books to enchant

when i worked at powell's bookshop for a year in portland, i discovered some beautiful children's books. one day i will show you some of the contemporary illustrators i adore, but today i want to show you a few of my favourite illustrators from the first quarter of the 20th century. the first, and perhaps the finest, is kay nielsen (1886-1957). his wonderful illustrations mix rich, sumptuous details with minimalist, zen-like compositions. these images are from the twelve dancing princesses...








another inspiration is edmund dulac (1882-1953). his illustrations are a little warmer, less rigid than nielsen's, and his use of colour was gorgeous. these images are from the nightingale and the little mermaid...






and last but not least is arthur rackham (1867-1939). his palette is somewhat more sombre than the other two artists, but his imagery is very dreamlike. he also did some very fine pen and ink drawing. these images are from the elder-tree mother and alice in wonderland...





to see more images from these marvellous artists check out the children's book illustrators gallery

belated birthday wish

it was my mum's birthday on monday, she would be 65 if she were still alive. in remembrance i wanted to show you a couple of my favourite crafts she made. when we were kids our mum was always making magical things for us—splendid birthday cakes in the shape of dolls or trains, princess costumes created from curtains, little angora wool dolls dresses made to disguise toilet paper. she would have loved the current craft revival and i wish dearly she was here to make crafts with me.


this is a crochet dolls dress she made, complete with crown


this is the decoupage tray she made which i rediscovered in the faded fancy shop


this picture was taken of mum on her birthday. i think she got a new purse and bike that day


a magnolia tree that used to be in mum's garden is blooming at the moment. happy birthday mum!

brooklands

dad, jj and i went to brooklands zoo for father's day. it was a short visit, dad managed to walk to the monkey enclosure before getting too sore and tired. i ran around and took a few snaps...


forget-me-nots?


purdy birdy


fat, vibrant kowhai blooms


famous taranaki rhododendrons


my bro appreciated the fractal patterns of these strange cabbagy plants

sea and mountain

i just got back from a trip to new plymouth. the mountain peeked out from the clouds a couple of times while i was there. as an adult i really like the location of the town, between sea and mountain. but when i was a kid, i would often have vivid and terrifying nightmares of tsunami and volcanic eruptions.

lost and found

i have a small collection of photos i have found in flea markets and second-hand shops. i love that these rich vignettes give glimpses into another person's life and world. i wonder why these photos were thrown out, forgotten, lost...it's maybe a result of death or divorce or people just not caring about their family histories. but it is nice to adopt these people and breathe some life back into them with our attention and imagination. this is one of my favourites from my collection. a wee girl showing off her butterfly costume...



there are several amazing sites out there which showcase collections of found photos including foundmagazine.com. here you can see a variety of stuff people have found, from photos to to-do lists. sometimes "the finds" can be sublime or funny, sometimes they are incredibly tragic or have that cringe factor. but i love that through happenstance they were rediscovered. i found these two images of dress up divas...





another very good site is look at me. it was here i found one of my favourite images. this little person is about to have the bejesus scared out of her...



i have saved the best for last. if you want to see some wonderful imagery check out square america. here photos are grouped into catagories. my favs are the book of sleep and in mid air. these two images are just lovely...

the wondrous

i am camera-less for the next couple of days, so i am going to showcase a few of my favourite sites that inspire me. after seeing the splendid lunar eclipse last night, i thought it fitting to introduce you to a website that embraces all that is wondrous and curious in the world. it's called the proceedings of the athanasius kircher society. there is a cornucopia of fanciful and marvellous things to discover here, including the museum of food anomalies and the fish powered vehicle.


through the kircher society i found these images by photogapher victor shrager. he photographed of over 100 species of birds in the hands of an ornithologist. check out the bird hand book


also found were the enchanting sculptures of arthur ganson. you have to see the sculptures in action to actually appreciate them, so check out the walking artichoke petal or machine with 23 scraps of paper. who knew that moving inanimate objects could ignite child-like wonder and imagination?


another notable find was this blog paleo-future a look into the future that never was. this image by albert robida from 1882 shows folks going to the opera in the year 2000. if only!


finally i rediscovered the bizarre taxidermy work of walter potter. this fellow potter was certainly a little potty, but i am still fascinated by these odd whimsical tableaux

biscuits and badges

i worked on some new badges over the weekend. check out cloud of birds for others. i quite like them, but i'm not sure if other people will.


kingfisher boy


i also made some mandarin melting moments (aka yo-yos). they were good...like a buttery, zesty party in my mouth. i was initially disappointed by how few the recipe made, but after stuffing down two i knew that one per sitting is quite enough. not exactly a slimmers choice.

spring springs II

i wish i could take a smello-photo. they have a fragrant flower section at the gardens with pink and white daphne, paper whites, hyacinths, and other unidentified sweet smelling blooms. this little poppy garden i remember seeing last year, so pretty!