Yesterday I was going through some of my old photo albums in search of something in particular for inspiration, but instead of finding what I was looking for, I found this…

My heart stood still for a moment as I looked at it, whisking me back in time to a place, people, and land that I so dearly love. In this photo I am picking beans for dinner in my ex-partner’s parent’s home (gees, try to say that fast ten times), on Vancouver Island, in Canada. I remember asking my partner if he’s be so kind to snap a photo of me in this moment, because I wanted to remember it for always. I’m so glad he did. thank you m.

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It’s been a busy week here in le petit bateau, with lots of wonderful things happening that I hope to be able to share with you very soon. This weekend I would like to try to spend some time outside as it is forecast to be beautiful weather. It’s a long weekend to boot, so I will be back in the (blog)house on Tuesday with a very special week for you – it will be dedicated to my weekend in Paris, complete with soundscapes. In the meantime, if you would like to get a little bit more behind-the-scenes, you can join in the fun on my facebook page, where I write what I’m up to, and chat with friends.

Thank you everyone, for being here. My world would not be complete without you.

xx

When I was a little girl, I looked up at the wall of gold and platinum records I’d pass in the living room of my best friend’s house and wonder what they were for. I’d pass the white piano and wish her gold-record-owning dad might just play a tune while I was visiting. Then, when I was a teenager, I played the cassette tape of his musical compositions over and over again, swimming in the fabulous beats, rhythms and lyrics. When I was an adolescent I loved going to his local gigs to hear him play. At my 21st, I was beyond words when he came out of the crowd to drum and sing me a song. I danced my heart out to that song.

I hoped this man would be a part of my future for as long as he has been a part of my life. I hoped we would laugh some more, drink some more, dance some more, and enjoy life some more. I hoped this man would grow to be an old fuddy duddy.

This is a hard post to write. So I am not going to write much at all. I will save my words for another time when my heart has not swallowed them and instead, I will give you some legendary. australian. music.

Below I have compiled a collection of music videos spanning the early musical career of Russell Dunlop – legendary Australian drummer, record producer, and dear family friend. Please click on each and every video, be cast back in time, and please enjoy and celebrate Russell’s life with me…

Country Road, 1973 by the band mother earth, featuring renee geyer,. Russell is the drummer – this was before I was born, and also when he had dark hair!

Pressure Sway on the album “Esteem” by the Machinations, 1983. I was 5 and going to kindergarten. I made a friend – my very first friend in fact. Her and I were inseparable. Her name was Kane, and our parents became best buddies too. Her dad was Russell, and I thought he was the coolest dad on the planet (excluding you of course, dad). Russ produced this album.

space invaders.1980. what a bloody brilliant song!! Russell was the drummer in this band.

I LOVE THIS SONG. Mental as Anything with their hit single If you Leave Me. 1981. from the album Cats and Dogs which Russ produced.

and then there is this song which is one of my all-time favourites and still gets me jumping around the place – Mental as Anything with their hit single Too Many Times. 1981. from the album Cats and Dogs which Russ produced.

Here’s to you Russ. Thank you for keeping it real. We miss you.

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**this just in (june 2009): Russell was not just the drummer for the song Space Invaders – he sang all the parts as well, even the falsetto. See? legend. Thank you Glen!

And thank you everyone who has emailed me and told me your connection to Russell, and how much he meant to each of you. You are so very missed Russ. Can you please come back for an encore. px

The other day, I was lost for something to post about. So I posed the question on my facebook fan page to see if anyone could suggest something to get me going.

Heather wrote: “I would love to know how you ended up in a houseboat. Is that common over there? Do many people rent/own houseboats there? What a fun living environment!!”. And then Mary said:”I second the houseboat idea. What’s life like on a houseboat?!”. And before that, Kimberly wrote: “Well, I blogged this morning about the first of many women who inspire me. Who inspires you?”

So, with all those fab suggestions to get my inspiration flowing, I was well on my way to being able to create a post! So, thank you girls! Here are the answers to your questions…

Never in all my life did I dream that I would one day live on a century old cargo boat on a centuries-old canal in Amsterdam. Here is how it happened: French Boy and I visited Amsterdam while we were living in Paris and we loved this city with its wonky old buildings, tiny vertical stairwells, canals and houseboats so much that we decided to look into moving. I said, “wow, wouldn’t it be cool if we could find a houseboat!?”. And he said, “yeah!”. But when we did research on the internet it looked impossible and very very expensive. We learnt that there are 2500 houseboats in Amsterdam, and that a very small percentage are rented on long leases (many are available for short term lease or overnight accomodation). Anyway, we booked a trip to Amsterdam in search of an apartment, and in the dozen places we had booked to look at, one was a houseboat which we found on the internet and which just happened to be available for rent when we wanted. However, in the photos on the web it looked tiny. But we wanted to have a look, just so we could see what it was like inside…

The boat was the last place on the appointment list. French Boy and I weren’t too impressed with what we had seen in the apartments so far. Not only did they seem very expensive for the space offered, but often the kitchens were non-existent, which really didn’t appeal to us since we both love to cook.

But then we arrived at le petit bateau. Nestled under chestnut trees on a quiet canal in the middle of the city, we crossed the skinny wooden bridge and entered the front door, right into a beautiful kitchen, completely surround by windows, sunshine pouring in, and ducks playing outside. We walked up and down the narrow space with the landlord who showed us all the furniture he had made especially for the place – wooden shelves, a desk for a computer, side tables for the bed, and lovely wooden chairs. You can imagine how thrilled I was to see so many things inside this little boat had been made by hand. The landlord had designed the kitchen, installed the best heating and a fabulous washing machine, and he made all the wood trimmings on the ceiling too. He was very passionate about this little boat, and his enthusiasm was contagious. My heart was singing. It felt so right. Until I looked at the tiny pint-sized bathroom…

gasp! But alas, everything else was perfect. French Boy and I went back to Paris and thought long and hard about the places we had seen. We couldn’t get the boat out of our minds. And even with the tiny bathroom (that had no bath! could I live without a bath?!), we still kept talking about what it would be like to call this special space home. Filled with quirky details like potholes, and boat lamps, and wooden walkways along the edge of the exterior, it seemed dreamy. I did a bit more research by asking some of the locals what it might be like on a boat. We knew nobody else who lived on a boat, but the people I did ask pontificated:

“There must be water rats!” said one. Ugh, I thought, that would be rather horrible. So I asked our prospective landlord who also lived on a boat, “are there rats?”. He laughed and said “no way! There are plenty of mice and rats in those wonky old buildings, but not on this boat!”. Phew, I thought. Then somebody else said, “oh wouldn’t it be cold and damp in winter, and stinky from the oil heaters?”. Hmm i thought, this could be true. But no, the landlord informed me that it was toasty warm in winter, that it was certainly not damp, and there was gas heating.

So, we signed the lease. And I am so so glad we did. That was over a year and a half ago now! And I love this place even more than I did when we first moved in. Coming home to le petit bateau is magical – like a secret little retreat. In summer it is nice and cool, with the breeze coming through the windows, and in the winter it is toasty warm and oh so cozy. I love to listen to the raindrops on the canal, and the water birds frolic and splash about…

And sure, it is not a large space, but it suits us just fine, like two love birds in their little nest. Here are some other reasons why I love life on my houseboat:

So what about things I’m not so fond of? Well there are some too…

But, I don’t really mind about these things when everything else about the space is so beautiful. If you have a question that you’d love to know the answer to about living in a houseboat, just comment on this post and I will reply. And for more info about what it’s like, you can read my daily on Design For Mankind which is a moment by moment account of what I get up to here in the boat – I wrote that while I was writing Paris: Made By Hand actually! Also, you can listen to this soundscape I recorded which is what it sounds like when it rains, and this one which is what is sounds like in summer. And then there is this one, which is what it sounds like when i play the piano.

As for Kimberly’s question about which women have inspired me in my life? I might leave that for another post, another day.

xx

Last night French Boy and I decided to eat out. It’s a rare decision for a Monday night, but I hadn’t made it to the grocery store during the day as I had planned (note: I didn’t MAKE the time to GO to the grocery store) and we had no food to speak of in this little boat of ours.

So off we went, with no plan in mind of where to go.

We ended up at the only Indonesian restaurant that we truly love here in Amsterdam. Dining in this restaurant is a rarity on any given night because usually it’s too packed and we are too spontaneous to make a reservation so we just don’t go. But last night, it was just nicely packed which means we didn’t have to wait too long for a table. So we went to the bar and ordered some wine, and then in no time, our table was ready.

But I’m not writing all this to tell you about the restaurant, or what we drank, or what we ate. I’m writing to tell you how this place makes me feel. And the only word that I can find that comes close to the feeling is ‘home’.

However. I’ve never lived in Indonesia. I don’t speak Indonesian, and let’s be honest, my skin is almost as white as it can come, with a splattering of freckles to boot.

So how is it that the moment I open the door to this bustling dining hall, I feel ‘home’? Well, this is my theory…

(Click here to read more…)

Perhaps you can see why I wanted to linger.