photograph by riley salyards.
I’m very excited to have my beautiful friend back in the country, she’s been gone a month and I’ve missed her lots. And I’m also excited to let you know she has a beautiful new guest post just for you, filled with gorgeous photos, right here in the guest quarters. It might even be my favourite so far… thank you riley!
Hi, again. I have just returned from a very big, long trip. I thought about this space and you often while I was gone. My days as a guest are coming to a close so I won’t possibly be able to share everything with you here. I intend to continue in my own space very soon. I do hope you will come visit me there when I open. I can’t thank Pia, the most gracious of hostesses, enough for giving me the opportunity to meet her readers and to share a bit of what inspires me. I have a couple of final posts coming up but I would like to say thank you now. Thank you for all of your lovely comments and encouraging words!
When we came to look at our current house I fell in love with three things. The antique shop next door,the curtains and the garden. Pia has already mentioned the antique store and I will show you more beautiful photos of that later…the curtains also deserve their own post. Today I want to show you the garden.
I have not had a garden since I was a kid and I have definitely never had a a magnolia tree. When I lived in LA I dreamt of stealthily climbing the magnolia trees at night when no one was watching, cutting branches to display in my house. Since I began posting here we have watched our magnolia tree bud, burst into bloom, and shower the ground with petals. My son calls it a cloud tree. Did you know “cloud trees” evolved before bees appeared and that specimens have been found dating back 95 million years, I pointed this out to the little guy and his first response was “Oh wow” but after some thought he said “don’t touch bees, they’ll bite you”. Words to live by.
Before we left for our recent travels, we planted seeds and sat on the branches of this tree, secretly snipping blossoms for the window sill. When the petals blanketed the ground, it looked like snow. We have watched ferns unfurl, roses bud and beans sprout…for every bean we planted, a “magic” bean went in his pocket. It’s amazing what you can do with a handful of magic beans…
written and photographed by Riley Salyards.
Please press the play button below to be whisked away with me as we wander through the parc around the sacre coeur, in montmatre, paris. As you scroll through the photos, you may even forget you are in paris. Well, that is until…
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…a favourite street crossing at rue de l’Hôtel de Ville. now are you ready for a soundscape?
I’m a big fan of hand-me-downs, vintage, recycled, and op shop fashion finds. So I was thrilled to read on katie crackernut’s blog that she was inviting fellow bloggers to write about their favourite op shop/second hand finds, or give treasure hunting tips to their readers, as part of her own op shop challenge…
illustration courtesy of katie crackernuts.
You see, ms katie crackernuts is on a mission – a little while ago she joined The News Limited 1degree op shop challenge which means she wore thrifted and recycled fashion to work for two weeks. It was part of a workplace initiative to inspire people to cut their carbon footprint and kate became a finalist and is now in the top ten! Being the ambitious gal that she is, ms crackernuts is keen to win this competition, and I want her to win too. So, I’m joining in the fun by showing you one of my all-time favourite second hand finds which I came across while living in Paris…
I call it my peacock dress, and it cost me a whole 10 euro. It is 100% cotton, sans a designer label, and is the most gorgeous blue I’ve ever seen. I wear it with a simple fat belt and flip flops in summer. Just looking at it brightens my day.
I, like Kate, am rather obsessed with finding fabulous op shop garments and wherever I am in the world, I go into vintage boutiques I come across, or open markets in search of something special. I also love reworking a garment, rethinking how it can be worn and getting more life out of it. Its fun, inspiring, challenging, and good for the environment and for us.
So if you’d like to join in the fun and help kate with her op shop challenge, I invite you my dear fellow bloggers, to write a post this week about one of your favourite second hand finds, reveal some of your secret second hand sources in your local area, or offer a treasure hunting tip or two. Be sure to link back to katie crackernuts 1degree op shop challenge in your post.
Thank you for the inspiration kate!
xx
