habu = love part II

and the day just got better...


a gorgeous parcel of the yummiest biscuits from the lovely bel...


also perfect for luring little hands away from the habu...


thanks bel, we all loved them!

habu = love

from the first time i caught a glimpse of habu i've been dreaming of the moment we might meet, resigning myself to the fact that it would probably be a long time coming... little did i suspect that the moment was close at hand... there i am, standing at the counter at threads & more... i'm about to pay for some buttons and yarn for a hat, when i look down and there they are... tiny bundles much more special than i could have imagined... it's love at first sight and almost impossible to choose, i want to bring them all home with me...

and i'm not even a knitter...

four things...

thanks to pyglet, eireann, bel and christy for the tag, i've been trying to get to this for ages so here goes...

jobs i've had...
-library assistant
-shop girl
-sometimes display girl
-only three so far, i would love one day to be a bookbinder...

movies i could watch over and over...
-the royal tannebaums
-amelie
-lost in translation
-funny face

places i've lived...
-nottingham (fleetingly at the very beginning of my life)
-melbourne
-brisbane
-that's it, only two and a half places... quite fancy living somewhere exotic for a time but we really are perfectly happy here...

television shows i love...
-seinfeld
-the oc (i just can't help it!)
-charlie and lola (it's back on in the mornings)
-i do love a good british drama, "the forsyth saga', "in a land of plenty" and "the house of elliot" are among my favourites... (ooh and "cutting it")

places i've vacationed...
-paris
-prague
-new york
-new zealand

favourite dishes... (more like my favourite flavours)
-fresh pasta
-anything thai or vietnamese
-lemon delicious (my gran made the best ever and i still pine for it)
-dark chocolate and peppermint in any shape or form

sites i visit daily...
-bloglines, to visit all of you!
-flickr
-gmail
-go fug yourself (again i just can't help it)

places i'd rather be...
-somewhere in japan
-shopping at liberty
-holidaying in new york
-walking down the high street with my auntie darling whilst eating a "birds" egg custard tart!

people i'm tagging...
-i'm sure everyone's already been tagged for this one, so pick it up if you want to and instead i leave you with four books that i adore...


have a lovely day...

on japanese craft books...

as you know, the postman has been exceedingly kind this week... i can't possibly show you all the books at once for fear that you will think me terribly extravagant!
so here is the first...

isbn4277311474...

i love all the little inspirations in this one... lately i am finding myself drawn to the idea of embroidery and daily details, snippets of this and that...

great excitement...

there is great excitement around here, one of miss j's exquisite plates has been featured in the new issue of inside out magazine... go and have a look, it's on page 38...

oh and there has been a delivery from you know who...

sometimes things aren't ready to be finished...

or perhaps it's just a romantic way of thinking about some of the unfinished objects around these parts...


this weekend i've been playing around with pulled ribbon & fabric ruffles and it seems they are just the thing for this patchwork scarf that i made last year and that never seemed quite right...


i'm quite pleased with the unfinished look, with the depth of the charcoal grograin...


and especially with those frayed edges again...

mannered...

i've oftened wondered, but never enquired of anyone if there is such a thing as comment ettiquette in the blogging world... i like to think of myself as well-mannered, but i must confess to sometimes floundering about in pursuit of the best way to respond to the lovely comments received... blogger certainly doesn't make comment response easy, and while i'm aware that there are probably things that would ease my way, i find myself without the precious time and know-how to implement them... so, i try where possible to email a response and failing that leave a comment in reply... knowing what a thrill it is to receive comments, i figure this is probably alright...

in the mean time, all this blogging and sewing has seen some serious deterioration in my eyesight... so i am sporting new spectacles and am about to consult miss spade who i know will advocate the virtue of the hand written thank-you note... let's hope such traditions never leave us...

afternoon tea...

the book (page204, in case you were wondering)...


the bowl...


the biscuits...


the teabags & boxes with buttons...


little parcels for the afternoon tea swap are on their way...

amazing...

i'm sure i'm the last person in the country to find out about this...
i can't even claim to have found it myself...my love arrived home with it last night as a surprise, he knew i would love it, and he was so right...
and speaking of wonderful...

things that make me happy...

making buttons...


and biscotti for afternoon tea from di at clementines shoes...delicious and so sweetly timed, i somehow managed to accidently delete the photo i took but you can rest assured it was lovely...thanks di!
and...


sweet stationery from kikki k, a gift from my sister...spots and stripes in pink and red, mmmmm my favourite!
and...


this fabulous book by jo england, published by hardie grant books isbn1740663624...its pages are filled with wonderful activites and recipes to share with children, 12 chapters, 12 different themes, lots of gorgeous photos, quite simply inspiring...

snapshots...

lisa recently posed a question about why we blog...

the sticky-beak in me has always loved those photos that you sometimes see in magazines, the ones that reveal the things people carry around in their handbags...

i love the notion that the things we carry with us create a snapshot of who we are at a particular moment in time...

i love that sometimes it's the things we leave out that say even more...

i love that our blogs are a snapshot of our lives and i do so admire those who eloquently share the daily details...

i love that though i am not so brave, just to be here is enough...

i love this community that so generously provides such wonderful inspiration and an opportunity to reflect on and engage in the creative process...

i love that this blog is a place i can call my very own, one that exists regardless of what might be happening in my daily existence...


i love that i have this snapshot of myself, here and now...

(even if it is a little blurry around the edges)

delightful...

i've spent a fair bit of time in the few last weeks drooling over this book that arrived just after christmas...


so many wonderful creations fill it's pages, it's all very inspiring and also led me here...

good food...

as boo boo would say...

from nichola, the best fruit cake i have ever had in my life...


and this is all that remains of the lavender & mint shortbread and lemon curd that alison sent a few weeks ago, quite simply sublime...


thank-you for your delightful parcels, they have so brightened our days...

finally finished...

well almost, i just have to stitch the bottoms...these little birds are made from another of lyn's lovely tutorials, the girls are gearing up for a big night out on the town...happy new year!

ornament #25

and finally, the angel for the top of our tree, wishing you all a beautiful and blessed christmas with those you hold dear...

song of childhood...

which must be sung upon sighting a christmas tree anywhere, anytime, still...

dumpty-diddley
dumpty-dee
i can see a christmas tree
i'm as happy as i can be
dumpty-diddley dee

the tree is nearly finished, see it over here...

ornament #24

this one arrived a couple of days ago, i forgot to mention when i started this whole ornament thing that it was all an elaborate ruse to get my mum to give me one of these delightful snowman ornaments...we had a box set when i was a little girl and my sister and i just loved them...as i had hoped, mum couldn't resist giving him his five minutes of world wide fame...thanks mum, i'll take very good care of him!

ornament #23

glass and white, such a great combination, a modern take on the classic glass bauble...

ornament #22

angel with heart, a treasured gift from my mum and dad...xxx

ornament #21

another favourite, dear friends sent this decoration from "the conran shop" in london...

ornament #20

beaded angel that i got the same year as my disco ball decoration, which i would have shown in this selection only i seem to have misplaced it...i'll have to put the real one up instead, it's one of my most prized possessions...it even spins!

thankful...

for a quiet afternoon at home...
for my love who sits beside me watching cricket...
for our beautiful baby girl who plays at my feet...
for a nice new flippy haircut that makes me feel snazzy...
for yummy treats...
and for a little bit of time to sew these...

ornaments #14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19...

# 14, more from the gorgeous auntie darling, this is one of what we like to call the "moulin rouge" collection...


#15, beautiful buttons...


#16, little red ceramic bird...mum do you remember the time we saw a real robin red breast?


#17, indian angel...


#18, ceramic star with words, one of my favourites made by miss j...


and #19, more 80's ikea goodness...

ornament #13

ha! i wish...we do however always listen to harry connick jnr "when my heart finds christmas" as we decorate the tree and pretend that it just might...

ornament #12

delicate and sweet, one of those times when i had to break the rule and buy two...

ornament #11

scandanavian chic...eighties ikea wooden decoration...

ornament #10

the princess leah angel...

ornament #9

this bauble always reminds me of a klee painting...

ornament #8

my gorgoeus auntie darling makes beautiful beaded pieces, this is one of the first decorations she made for us...

ornament #7

white dove with red berries, christmas 2001...

ornament #6

a few years ago we spent a wonderful week and half in new york and we just had to bring home a brown bag of bloomindale baubles...

ornament #5

naive reindeer, i fell in love with his simplicity...

ornament #4

first decoration for my true love, christmas 1998...

ornament #3

our daughter's first christmas decoration...

ornament #2

when i was a little girl, my mum worked for a lady who one year decided to have a completely new chrismas tree...she gave us her old tree complete with boxes full of beautiful old glass ornaments, many of them have broken and disintegrated over the years, but a few remain and i love to see them on mum and dad's tree each year...i couldn't resist this silver glass bauble, it reminds me of the christmas tree of my childhood...

ornament #1

over the years i have collected decorations (technically one a year but it usually ends up being more) and as much as i love the idea of a minimal colour themed tree...i just can't go past a tree filled with memories that don't necessarily match and that speak of remembrance and hope, joy and peace...having said that, i've actually decided to make soft decorations for our christmas tree this year because i'm not sure if little hands are quite ready for mummy's treasured (and breakable) ornaments...so along with showing you the new softie decorations (when i've had a chance to make them) i hope to share some of our christmas treasures with you each day in december and decorate a tree over here...these beautiful origami stars were a gift from dear friends who lived in japan for a time...