Jen from Nectar & Light has recently released another book of bound beauty.  This one is called little italy and features some of her stunning polaroid photography, notes and stories from her travels to Italy, including a recipe or two. It is independently published by her very own company, Fieryeyed Books. Would you like a little sneak peek inside the book? Take a look…

Jen’s blog Nectar & Light is one of my favourites – it’s a special, intimate insight into her unique life, and her new hardcover book little italy looks like a personal, hand held version of her online work. What a treat.

And what is even more of a treat is that  all book orders placed before 29 october will receive one of her gorgeous  2010 calendars for free –  Jen has kindly extended that offer to 1 november just for (blog)house readers.

Thank you Jen  for giving us a sneak peek of your beautiful new book. Congratulations on your new enterprise and I have no doubt this will be the first of many many books to come published by Fieryeyed Books.

xx

People. Friends. Strangers. I have something to tell you:  I am suffering from a very serious case of procrastination, possibly the most serious case I’ve ever had. And it comes at the worst possible time in my life. What I need to do is fairly straightforward from here on in: I need to sit and write. No going and making some tea and indulging in a slice of apple cake on the side. No checking your blogs and seeing what you are up to. No replying to emails that have nothing to do with the job at hand. And certainly, certainly no browsing through etsy to enhance my favourites list…

gorgeous antique frame and lotus plates from etsy boutique finding fabulous.

But I did. And then the procrastination got worse – I decided to compile a post of some of my favourite etsy shops du jour. Why why why do I do this to myself – not only have I spent a number of precious moments away from my work and deadline, I am tempted by every single item in these stores. In fact, I have purposely not included some items that I actually completely adore in the hope that you won’t see them and I can buy them myself. Even though I am the last person in the world who needs any more little stylish things on my props shelves.

I won’t drag this on any longer. Here are my absolute favourite etsy shops du jour. Make sure you browse through each one as I have no doubt you will find something wonderful.

1. antique goodies galore in sadie olive, I have my eye on something in particular and I am hoping with all my heart I can 1. resist it altogether or 2. someone else buy it for me or 3. just press the ‘add to cart’ button and be done with it.

2. Love, adore, am smitten with etcetera etcetera… vintage seller finding fabulous. From the 1950’s English flashcards, to the hand carved clogs, to the wooden spools to the vintage woven picnic basket and so on! What a great place to find some Christmas presents.

3. Nature Design – beautiful wooden things like chopping boards, interesting cups and spoons, and my favourite – simple wooden blocks. I like them natural but I also thought these would make a great gift if you hand painted them.

4. High Street Market in Philly is awesome – so many great finds. I recently bought a vintage globe from them and it arrived just the other day. I adore it, and it sits proudly on my desk. There are loads of old globes here in Europe but this one really caught my eye. I actually bought it for one reason, see if you can guess:

Can you see it? Yes, it’s Tibet. I bought this globe because it still has Tibet on it, the way it should be. And isn’t the colouring just perfect? I’ll take a photo of it in situ soon so you can see it on my desk.

Okay that’s it, I really really need to get some work done now. Hmm but wait…

…smores with homemade maple marshmallows, anyone?

So where were we, oh yes, in the val d’amour, nestled up against the jura mountains in the east of France. It’s a beautiful area, no doubt. And on the last morning there I managed to sneak out of the house alone in the early-ish hours and take a walk through the fields and along  la loue. I imagined French Boy as a boy (even though I call him French Boy he is now, I assure you, a man), running through the fields and throwing pebbles into the bubbling river. Oh to be a child growing up in this magical place! No wonder he is always smiling from the inside out, the nature of this land must dwell deep.

Walking through nature seems like such a gift. It is forever changing, forever evolving – to be a part of it in each precise moment feels sacred and inspiring. I crave it daily and when I do get the chance to be part of it wholly I am quiet. Just listening, just being, and soaking it all in. On this particular morning walking by la loue, the sun was shining bright and even though the air was crisp the sun warmed my face quickly. I could see glimpses of the river through the shoreline trees and I could hear it loud and clear but I couldn’t quite see any way of getting down to it’s pebbly shore.

Until finally I saw a gap in the rocky hill and a slightly precarious but not too difficult makeshift pathway. With lenses and camera hanging lose around my neck I didn’t even hesitate. Down I went, making my way to the clearing and sat myself on the pebbles, the water lapping only centimeters away from me. Bliss.

I sat there for as long as I could, which was only about 10 minutes unfortunately, but oh, those 10 minutes were so lovely. I lay in the sun, feeling the river breeze on my skin and the cold hard pebbles underneath my body. The water was absolutely beautiful. I dipped my hands in and brushed some of the icy water against my eyelids and cheeks. I wanted to stay down there all day.

But it was time to go. So I packed up my gear, said à bientot mon amie! and went on my way. While I was walking past the farms I saw a few friendly characters  that I just had to photograph…

This guy on the left stood like that the whole time I went by him, and only moved his head so that his eyes were always in line with mine. His pose was so funny I couldn’t help but giggle…

Beautiful. After a few deep breaths I felt a little more replenished and ready to get back to our life in Amsterdam. It was a long drive home (about 10 hours) but with my traveling companion by my side, it was alot of fun. Au revoir jura, see you again sometime…

Location: Jura, France

On the menu: crêpe with reblochon, sauteed potatoes, and salad served with Brittany cider in bowls. Followed by a sweet crêpe with chocolate spread. Miam.

xx

I know I haven’t been coming into the (blog)house lately on weekends but today is a rather drizzly october day and yes, I could be working but instead, I have decided to do some housekeeping while I sip my morning cuppa. Nothing too laborious of course, but just a little sweep up here, and dust there. I’m about to change my “blogs in the spotlight” in the right sidebar but before I do so, I wanted to share some of their latest posts with you because I really think they are all amazing talented. Here goes…

New York in the Fall from Marie at le voyage créatif.

Ann Marie from age old tree got her very own piano – it’s beautiful.

Cerré from 2 or 3 things I know recently went to her friend’s extravagant wedding in Italy and has been blogging about it intermittently for the past couple of weeks. Above is a picture of the house where she stayed, and below are a couple of her gorgeous dresses…

And last but not least, Tanja’s blog pretty gingham is exquisite. Her photos make me melt, everytime…

Enjoy your weekend mes chers amis. Do you have plans? I’m trying to take a day of rest and then get back into my writing tomorrow. So today, I was thinking of going to see Bright Star. I’d also like to take a trip to the botanic gardens and see the autumn changes. Let me know what you get up to!

xx

…was fun. It was cold, and foggy, and not so much wind but hey, the scenery was  beautiful. A lovely and somewhat spontaneous  mid-week treat.