the water looks like glass this morning, i just had to show you.

oh and i nearly forgot, a song! I’ve been meaning to post about this song of Emiliana Torrini’s – click on this link, and come back to view the image above – it is very much the feeling of being on the boat (French Boy thinks I sing like Emiliana – yes please!! Although his compliments still haven’t convinced me to sing). And the sound you hear of the ropes throughout the song is just like the sounds I hear while in here on the boat – when it is a little windy the ropes make those sounds.

Do you remember when I wrote about my little front door wreath? I made it for Christmas with fairy lights and all, and then I loved it so much that I wanted to keep it displayed all through the year. So I decided to make it an evolving floral sculpture for the front door (certainly inspired by my love of Tracey Deep’s work) – I let the flowers and foliage die and just add to it over the months and seasons to see how it evolves. I call it my ever-evolving wreath. Back in January I evolved it to this. Meantime the buds have long-died and cobwebs were starting to grow through it all. So I cleaned it up yesterday while I was doing the gardening and I added the dying peonies and astilbes, here it is…

What do you think? I quite like it. The colours are so muted but the different textures are so strong. And the most beautiful part of this piece is that when I open the door a few petals fall, leaving a little path of petals on the bridge for me to walk over, while some of them fall into the canal and float away…

I think I’m still very structured with the wreath though – I’d like to be much looser with it, make it into a crazy beautiful artwork. When we have our summer boat party I will add fresh foliage and blossoms to it, make it colourful and lively.

On a side note, while I was out and about yesterday I passed an interior decorating studio that was selling fabric off-cuts for next to nothing, so I bought all of these…

I couldn’t help myself. I blame ms. hyena in petticoats – she posted that she was about to start selling her incredible fabric collection online, i got so excited about it, and then went out and spotted these fabrics for sale, and bought up! oops. I will no doubt use them for upcoming shoots, so you will probably see them again somewhere down the line. I was also thinking I might re-cover my napoleon chair in one of them, maybe this one…

While I think about this, I am going to pour myself a glass of milo, my last glass in fact, as the tin is now empty. Boo hoo! I’ll savour every last spoonful (yes, it’s imperative you drink milo with a spoon).

Next Up: hmm, I have no idea, what does everyone feel like to end the week? A home tour? A cool new kids clothes range? A tag? Or is there a category you like most? You choose.

and it’s all thanks to yesterday’s outing…

Noting that it was time for me to get out, kick back a little, play with friends, and breathe a little air, I spent the day with my friend Hayley and my newest friend, her bub Elliott who is just 6 weeks old. I haven’t seen him for four weeks and I have missed him. He is the cutest little guy, such a joy to be around, and so content. The three of us went for a walk around the Jordaan (oh how I’ve missed Amsterdam!), bought a delicious salad and baguette at Small World, and took it to the park to sit in the sun. Elliott of course napped most of the time in the shade, and we had lots to catch up on. Then we walked on over to the Westergasfabriek which is an awesome centre full of art galleries and shops. We had a tea and latte at the espressofabriek which serves excellent coffee, and the tea was probably the best I have had in Amsterdam yet – served in beautiful Japanese bowls and when I asked for milk and honey the waiter was more than happy to serve it! It was such a lovely day out, and is exactly what I needed. But with all that sunshine, when French Boy came home he took one look at me and smiled and said “you’ve got colours”. That is a direct translation from French for “you are sunburnt”. And I just love it, it sounds so much better than being sunburnt doesn’t it? So today, happily, I have colours.

I was standing in the kitchen, making my second cup of tea for the day, rocking away to Jose’s Down The Line and there was a knock at the door.

I opened it and there was a lady standing there, I have never seen her before. In broken English she said she had a rhododendron potted plant that she had on her balcony, she indicated so I followed her finger and looked past the bridge on what I call ‘the mainland’, and there was a young man holding a huge pot plant. She said it was growing too big for her balcony and was wondering if I would like it for my garden. I was flabbergasted. I am never good at receiving gifts, I get very overwhelmed when people give me things (no doubt some of you have already noticed with my replies to your incredible MHW submissions). And here was this complete stranger, offering me a gorgeous plant. I managed to say “yes! wow! thank you!” and we put the pot down on the shoreline. I must have said thank you about 50 times in less that 30 seconds, it was all a bit of a shock. And then I headed back in, almost in tears. How thoughtful, how lovely. I didn’t ask her name, or where she lived, or anything. But maybe we will see more of each other in the street now, or I do hope she comes to visit her plant again soon.

I have never lived in an international city that behaves like a small village, this is what is so unique about Amsterdam.

So here I sit, on day 3 of my deadline countdown. There are props everywhere that need to be returned. The cookie jar has been empty for weeks. There are crumbs on tabletops. Papers and notes all over the pallet bed. The piano is covered in dust. Yet while I have not been outside to see the light for days, tucked up inside this floating abode writing away the hours, your wonderful submissions keep flowing in, a photographer emails me the beautiful jpegs of a recent shoot, a lady comes to the door with a plant for my garden, and Jose sings the perfect soundtrack for our conversations about the importance of saying sorry.

Synchronicity abounds.