time to break out the good china...

In case you've been living under a rock this past week, today's the big day! Wills & Kate are getting hitched...

To get in the mood, I'll be upgrading my usual arvo mug of tea for something a bit more refined. Me thinks Lady Grey in bone china would be appropriate.

I received this 1950's Noritake set for my birthday years ago and I admit it's rarely seen the light of day... Like a lot people with their wedding/heirloom china or crystal, I've always treated this set with kid gloves, packed away (gathering dust) for special occasions.

I'm determined to change my way of thinking here though and get regular enjoyment from such things...

pretty heirlooms in the hall cupboard at Cloudlake

If you're still too concerned about breakages there's the emerging trend of hiring... Quite a number of businesses have popped up catering to lady like high teas, offering gorgeous vintage china to rent.

High Tea with all the trimmings from locals Hummingbird Vintage Hire

And savvy high street tea merchants T2 have added a carefully edited collection of vintage tea sets along side their fab and very affordable range of 'vintage inspired' cups & saucers. Perfect to mix and match...

Anyway all this is making me thirsty.., so I'm off to boil the kettle and cut the crusts off my cucumber sandwich, before of course raising my pinky to the happy couple...

Tally Ho and have a great weekend! xx

ps. Here's this weeks fave Friday's tune. It's called 'China' (pure coincidence honest) by  Sydney born band Sparkadia

my long long long weekend at home

I'll admit I'm more than the occasional homebody, but over the last five days, I may have reached a new level... I literally left the house once the entire time!

The original plan for Easter was quite hectic, involved driving all over the countryside visiting our nearest and dearest, several DIY projects, a couple of good long walks and perhaps even a trip to the gallery...

That all changed when Thom came down with his first full blown cold. It came on thick and fast and left the poor little guy in no mood for any of our planned outings. So after my husband made a quick visit to the nearest day & night chemist, we bunkered down for a long weekend in...

Easter toiling away in the garden

It wasn't so bad actually (for us two anyway, although I'm sure Thom had a different experience). The positives were no Easter traffic to contend with, we managed to get quite a bit done around the place, we ate exceptionally well and after some quiet time and lots of cuddles, it looks like our little one is on the mend too...

project in progress...

a batch of Anzacs to get us going

happy easter!!

Wishing everyone a wonderful Easter weekend! Like a lot of people I know, I'll be spending mine tackling a few long over due projects around the house and catching up with family, while trying to avoid eating my weight in chocolate & hot cross buns... 

See you soon. xx

recycle, reuse... 5 ways

Thom is now three weeks into the fun, extremely messy adventure of eating solids. With all these exciting new tastes comes a whole heap of tiny glass jars...

Luckily I've discovered they're the perfect size for...

diy fairy lights

spices

dressing on the go

storing custom colour

a single bloom



There's probably a hundred other uses for these cute little jars. Buttons, beads... How do you reuse them?


 
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red painted chairs!

Fresh from The Selby, this is the Auckland home of Karen Walker & Mikhail Guerman.

Totally my kind of house.., great furniture, stacks of books and an enviable art collection. Cool, laid back and definitely not pretentious. Just what I expected from Karen Walker I guess...

This it the photo that really jumped out at me, the dining room.  Lacquer red, cobalt blue, crisp white and blond cane set against soft grey walls and a dark floor... Wow, I love it!!

I guess I've always been a fan of a red painted chair, nothing pops quite like it...

Fancy that, the colour of Thom's first chair is...

great old ad courtesy of periodpaper.com

Recently I've been helping my sister with ideas to update their kitchen. One suggestion was to add some colour by giving their existing kitchen stools a lick of bright red paint (not unlike the ones in the Walker/Guerman kitchen). I'm not sure if I quite sold the idea, so hopefully she sees this and is won over...

kitchen update ideas.

nice things....

Is there anything lovelier than having fresh flowers in the house, especially when they are from your very own garden...

I've only recently discovered this Ginger, tucked away at the very bottom of the garden. It's a Hedychiums or a' Butterfly Ginger' ( being botanically ignorant, I had to google it).

At the moment it is in full bloom which means every couple of days I get a beautiful buttery yellow bouquet for the house...

The flowers are also exceptionally fragrant, with a perfume very similar to jasmine.
In fact the scent is so lovely, I was actually thinking of saving a couple of bunches and trying my hand at making a perfume... I know what you're probably thinking, that sounds like an absolutely disastrous idea... However, I've found a couple of recipes on the web that seem surprisingly straightforward, so I think it's definitely worth a try. Watch this space...

priorities...

Happy Friday!!

I have lots to do today... Fun stuff like laundry, cleaning the bathroom and sorting out the 'messy top drawer' etc.

That was the plan, I mean that still is the plan, I'm just having a quick break and tiny play with our brand new toy...

desperately seeking side table...

In preparation for our littley reaching his next exciting (and perhaps terrifying) milestone, crawling, I need to rethink some of our furniture...

First up is the side table next to our sofa.., currently a treasured antique Moroccan tea table (it's actually my mother's but I've kind of claimed it).

To replace it, I'm on the hunt for something sturdy (ie. baby proof) a little bit interesting and fingers crossed... budget friendly. Looks wise, I think I'd like something embellished or patterned.., to break up all the wood we have already...

These four are the faves so far (the rectangular ones anyway) -

contemporary, moroccan, nesting... from  Hamimi. What's not to like!? 

I heart Spacecraft  and this little table's no exception.

 vintage inspired at Coco Republic in lovely green & storage to boot.

I know it's more wood, but this clever number from Small Australian Projects is also a mobile bookshelf, neat! 

Any other suggestions, would be greatly appreciated! :)

how does my garden grow?

It's been one whole month since I planted my little garden and I'm happy to say (that against the odds), it's well... thriving!

Maybe as I blogged about lacking a green thumb early on, I now feel especially responsible for this little endeavour's survival... 

The tomato for example has almost quadrupled in size and even though it's not bearing any fruit yet (my little collage is a tad exaggerated), it is covered in flowers which means baby tomatoes are on the way right?

sign of good things to come... 

my asst gardener on snail watch

Now that our little patch is a bit more established, we've started to reap the rewards as well... Last night we had scrummy pumpkin and sage risotto! Now if only I could claim the pumpkin was mine as well...  

Happy gardening! 

my babies...

risotto with home grown sage

the long & the short of it

My 'do' is in an awkward place at the moment... 

I've been growing out a bob and I'm at that annoying (stubby ponytail) in-between stage, that usually results in me giving in and heading for the nearest salon to request a serious chop... Not this time though.

I'm loving the 40's influence in fashion at the moment, especially the hair. It's fresh and ultra feminine.

London street style, The Sartorialist

Miu Miu, Style.com

on the catwalk... Miu Miu, Style.com

Vintage inspired looks at Anthropologie

With these pics for inspiration and some practice placing bobby pins, a little fortiesesque coifing may mean I'm able to hang in there... 

sunday lovely sunday...

Yesterday here on the bay was stunning and in my little world... inescapably pink, pink pink! 

across the street...

my lovely new shopper...

just baked rasberry & ricotta muffins yum! 

in my garden...

afternoon sweeties with friends. extra yum!

Hope your weekend was just as gorgeous...

local finds & friday night tunes...

Came home with some little beauties today...

couldn't resist this cutie from The Collective Store

vintage fun from Aid for The Blind Store...

the original WW Birthday Cake Book, Red Cross Wynnum

While doing the rounds of local op shops in the rain this afternoon, I came across this little jewel... The Collective Store in Bay Terrace. This sweet store is like a boutique craft market.., chock full of gorgeous pieces, all handmade by Australian artisans. 

Certainly not what I was expecting to find in super low key Wynnum...

Lastly, it wouldn't be friday without a little music... I've had this catchy number in my head all week, it's called Cameo Lover by Kimbra. 

Enjoy and have a great weekend! xx

hello autumn...

We're a week into April and this morning felt like cooler weather may finally be on the way... Woo hoo! I'm totally a winter person so this is pretty exciting!

To celebrate I've begun the annual sort through my winter wardrobe (to see if anything still fits), dug out anything fleecy and generally started thinking about cosifying the house...

This also means Thom will at last get to enjoy his beautiful patchwork blanket!

His very clever great grandmother knitted it for him before he was born and it's been folded away for safe keeping ever since... It's made from the softest lambswool and each square is a different type of stitch. 

on my table... teal & yellow

Just pulled this recent op shop purchase off the clothes line this morning... It's so wonderfully cheerful, it inspired this little vignette.