What a surprise to be featured in my local Sydney paper! Its with much thanks to journalist Kate Moore, who some of us may know better here in the (blog)house as the delightful ms. katiecrackernuts. Kate interviewed me a month or so ago. Thank you Kate, and thank you Manly Daily.

The photograph you might already know, is by the ever-fabulous, David Finato – I love the wonky Dutch buildings behind me on the canal!

xx

PS if you are a northern beaches local, and you still have your friday, July 3 paper, it’s on page 20 in the ‘alive’ entertainment section. Click here for the online version and flick to page 20.

Today is the last day for dear Riley here in the (blog)house guest quarters. Please click here to read Riley’s very last post which she posted just a moment ago. I am sad to bid my dear friend farewell from the (blog)house. As she packs her (blog)cases, and steps out onto the veranda, I am teary eyed but with full heart, remembering all her beautiful posts that she has created, especially for us. Above and below I’ve created little collections of some of my favourite photos from Riley’s posts here in the (blog)house…

Riley makes so many gorgeous things – being a fashion and textile designer, she has a wonderful eye for detail. Every time I visit her house she has created something new – be it a beautiful ceramic bowl, or piece of fabric, or a simple vignette on a window sill that takes my breath away. I am so glad she came to visit us here and share so much.

But before we all get too teary eyed to see her go, I have some very, very exciting news to share with you (insert drum roll please)…

…today, being Wednesday, July 8, it is with absolute pleasure I be the first to announce that Riley just started her VERY. OWN. BLOG!

I can’t tell you how happy I am that Riley has taken the plunge. She inspires me daily, and I am wrapped that each of you will now get a peek into her beautiful world for the days and weeks and months to come. So, before you hurry over there, please, read her very last post right here in the guest quarters (leave a little comment to brighten her day), then click on the link to her blog ‘roe’ from there. She has LOTS installed for you. So lets all make her first post into the blogging world a special one, give her a big big warm welcome so that she is full of enthusiasm for her upcoming posts (which I’ve had a sneak peek already, which you are going to love!)

Thank you Riley! Au revoir, but also bienvenue!

The blogosphere is now your oyster…

xx

This morning I asked my son if he would like eggs or pancakes for breakfast and he replied “only both”. Ok, only both it is! I have been thinking about that turn of phrase all day.

In the last couple of weeks Pia has generously given her time and energy to help me get my own blog up and running. I really have to thank her because I have several projects on my plate and when I think about which one I should focus on I tend to think “only both”. I am very excited to have this new space up and running, so thank you Pia for your support and enthusiasm, you are a great task master!

The big trip I spoke of in my last post took me from Amsterdam to New York, LA, Colorado and Minnesota. Travelling around visiting dear friends and family in the spring is a wonderful treat, everyone is just coming out of their shells, so relieved that winter is over. I saw gardens on fire escapes and in kitchens, houses surrounded by fruit trees and window sills lined with herbs, and it made me think about my own search for green. I was raised with nature all around me. I made houses in the bushes, collected eggs and learned the hard way about bumble bees. Every spring I had to be the first one to jump in the freezing cold lake near our family cabin. Everyone else in my family has gravitated to places where forests and lakes and mountains are in their backyard. Somehow cities have called to me. Budapest, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Paris, Amsterdam. I love cities. I love discovering them, peeling back the layers to find what is unique to each place. I love the energy, the pace and the confluence of cultures. In the past couple of years something has changed for me. My radar is now searching out the green spots. The vines creeping up a wall, the flowers that come through the cracks, the trees,the kitchen and botanical gardens. I find myself looking back and longing for the nature I knew as a child. I don’t know if it is growing up, or having a kid of my own but it has become increasingly important to me to have in my son’s words, “only both”…

all photographs and writing by Riley Salyards.

I have always been enamoured with the ceramic (and textile, and homeware, and furniture) collection at planet furniture in surry hills, sydney. And if I didn’t live on the other side of the world, I would be going to their ‘on the table too’ exhibition which opens this thursday 9th july, from 6-8pm. be there. for me?