peruse .v to find all image credits

vanessa who authors a very cool blog called .v, kindly asked me to send her a list of things that make me happy and today, she has posted them! so, please click here to view my happy list and perhaps it will make you happy too. Don’t forget to say hello to vanessa while you are there, and also be sure to view all the happy lists. And while you are at it, scroll through vanessa’s posts as there is a tonne of inspiration to soak up.

thank you .v!

Last month back home in Sydney I went through my stash of CDs to see if I might find some old albums to listen to again. Among the ones I picked out was Sufjan Steven’s Seven Swans. Beside being immediately drawn to the cover illustrations…

…I love his sound on this album. “The dress looks nice on you” is my pick from the bunch. But recently I found a clip of him singing “lakes of canada” which I thought to be rather fabulous. I’d even go so far as to say it makes the perfect coffee break musical interlude for this fine Tuesday…

xx

PS tomorrow I am going to start my sydney posts! perhaps you are not as excited about this as i am?

PPS lilibeth is the name of harriet’s new friend, with much thanks to liz. but then kate commented that “the butterfly says her name is marcella”. perhaps I can make lilibeth a sister? OR maybe lilibeth has a split personality? hmm, much to ponder.

top left:snow! pathetic i know, but that’s all we got here in Amsterdam; top right: i made a banana smoothie for breakfast; bottom right: more evidence of snow on the boat rooftop; bottom left:a morning visitor

How was your weekend? Mine was pretty fab – the highlight being a Valentine-inspired dinner over at our friends on Saturday night. We brought the champagne, melted chocolate and strawberries, and they provided a feast and great conversation. and oh how we laughed!! I don’t remember what about exactly, but it was hilarious at the time.

this gorgeous gal decided to land on the roof of le petit bateau and stomp around.

I also spent the weekend working on something that I can’t wait to ‘reveal’ to you very soon! Yes, it has something to do with this (blog)house of mine. Shall I tell you? No? Yes? No? Let me know. Because if you want to know, i will tell you! But if you like surprises instead, then I shall not give it away. but oooh I can’t wait for it to be completed!

beautiful creatures but awfully aggressive, non? this guy was making grunting noises at me. that can’t be good?

I also want to take this post to say a big thank you for all your awesome comments. Please be sure to read the comments to the posts if you have a moment because they add so much to my initial words and often provide the answers to questions, or simply different perspectives… and you all have an incredible imagination! I love it when you add an idea to my photos or creation, it creates this wonderful layering effect.

my messy desk, my morning guest leaving, and one of my many notebooks

One of my favourite (how many times do I say this word on the blog?!) commented posts is one from last month called a little tucked away treasure – it is my photo of bakers twine which I found tied to a branch in the Jardins Des Plantes in Paris, and I had this fanciful idea that someone had tied a love note to the branch for their lover to find. Raluca wrote a fabulous comment which showed I wasn’t too far off – she explains a tradition in Romania that totally explains the twine tied to the branch, I’m convinced now that the person who tied this string is Romanian! Go back and read it if you didn’t catch it at the time. Thank you Raluca! I am always amazed at how many corners of the world this blog reaches, and to learn these amazing facts about other cultures that I never would have known otherwise. Yay to comments!

Okay, I’ll let you get back to work. Have a wonderful day! But before I go, I made a little creature, just for you…

A friend of Harriet’s perhaps? She needs a name – suggestions welcome…

xx

It’s Friday afternoon. Time to escape for the weekend. But where? Follow me. I have JUST the place for us. It’s tranquil. It’s über stylish and filled with the most gorgeous vintage furniture. Like 1930’s club chairs. And clawfoot baths. And chandeliers from France. There are open fireplaces. And a private garden. And yes, there are hand-painted wallpapers by Deborah Bowness. Welcome mes chers amis, to The White House in Daylesford, Australia…

The White House is an 1850’s brick miners cottage, newly reburbished with interiors and design by none other than our favourite vintage collector whom I featured just the other day – Ms. Lyn Gardener...

Lyn has filled the house with all her favorite vintage pieces. Every room in this house screams sophistication but is loose and natural, making you feel welcome and rested. Yes, I can see myself lounging about in here and never wanting to leave…

My knees are weak and I feel giddy. Are you feeling the same? and then, as if those visuals weren’t enough, there is the garden studio…

Lyn’s White House is in walking distance from the convent gallery, sunday market, vincent street, botanical gardens and daylesford lake. and it’s only a short drive to Hepburn Springs and Spa. For those of you who don’t know this area, basically this means it’s in the centre of heaven.

and. and? yes, AND! the best news of all is that Lyn created this incredible space just. for. you. and me! And, well, who else would like to join us on a glorious weekend retreat? It would make the perfect blogging girls weekend away.

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For more information, please click here. (It’s a beautiful website so by sure to click away.)

Photographs courtesy of the talented Tim James.

Thank you Lyn for sharing your new project with me. I will certainly be visiting when I am back in Australia – so book me in sweet Lyn!! Hmm, at this rate it looks like I’ll be taking a little road trip from Sydney to Daylesford, then Melbourne, and onto Rodney and Severine’s Agrarian Kitchen in Tasmania. Wow, I can’t wait for this!

xx

PS Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Have a wonderful day, whatever you get up to. I’ll see you on Monday with some more visual treats. I’m thinking I should make time to go through my photos of my last trip to Sydney – my tan has faded but my memories have not. Shall we do that next week? Shall we see what I got up to in Sydney last month?

PPS I really don’t know what to make for dinner tonight. Any suggestions?

My dear friend Riley and I just spent the morning in the Van Gogh and the colours of the night exhibition which opened today at the Van Gogh museum here in Amsterdam. We absolutely loved it. We both adored the sketches and letters presented, in particular the “study of two cottages”. We also loved starry night over the rhône.

There was a collection of old books with incredible photographs of the moon, dating back to the early 20th Century. Stunning. I will be heading back to this exhibition soon as there was just so much inspiration.

For more information, please click here.