peruse .v to find all image credits

vanessa who authors a very cool blog called .v, kindly asked me to send her a list of things that make me happy and today, she has posted them! so, please click here to view my happy list and perhaps it will make you happy too. Don’t forget to say hello to vanessa while you are there, and also be sure to view all the happy lists. And while you are at it, scroll through vanessa’s posts as there is a tonne of inspiration to soak up.

thank you .v!

top left:snow! pathetic i know, but that’s all we got here in Amsterdam; top right: i made a banana smoothie for breakfast; bottom right: more evidence of snow on the boat rooftop; bottom left:a morning visitor

How was your weekend? Mine was pretty fab – the highlight being a Valentine-inspired dinner over at our friends on Saturday night. We brought the champagne, melted chocolate and strawberries, and they provided a feast and great conversation. and oh how we laughed!! I don’t remember what about exactly, but it was hilarious at the time.

this gorgeous gal decided to land on the roof of le petit bateau and stomp around.

I also spent the weekend working on something that I can’t wait to ‘reveal’ to you very soon! Yes, it has something to do with this (blog)house of mine. Shall I tell you? No? Yes? No? Let me know. Because if you want to know, i will tell you! But if you like surprises instead, then I shall not give it away. but oooh I can’t wait for it to be completed!

beautiful creatures but awfully aggressive, non? this guy was making grunting noises at me. that can’t be good?

I also want to take this post to say a big thank you for all your awesome comments. Please be sure to read the comments to the posts if you have a moment because they add so much to my initial words and often provide the answers to questions, or simply different perspectives… and you all have an incredible imagination! I love it when you add an idea to my photos or creation, it creates this wonderful layering effect.

my messy desk, my morning guest leaving, and one of my many notebooks

One of my favourite (how many times do I say this word on the blog?!) commented posts is one from last month called a little tucked away treasure – it is my photo of bakers twine which I found tied to a branch in the Jardins Des Plantes in Paris, and I had this fanciful idea that someone had tied a love note to the branch for their lover to find. Raluca wrote a fabulous comment which showed I wasn’t too far off – she explains a tradition in Romania that totally explains the twine tied to the branch, I’m convinced now that the person who tied this string is Romanian! Go back and read it if you didn’t catch it at the time. Thank you Raluca! I am always amazed at how many corners of the world this blog reaches, and to learn these amazing facts about other cultures that I never would have known otherwise. Yay to comments!

Okay, I’ll let you get back to work. Have a wonderful day! But before I go, I made a little creature, just for you…

A friend of Harriet’s perhaps? She needs a name – suggestions welcome…

xx

…yes, I have lots of them. And I am busy busy trying to get them completed. It’s at times like this that I forget to eat. When my mind is alight with creativity. When I start one thing and then another, and another, and another and keep going in this strange manner led by some innate direction. I can’t create a routine or prioritise my work, no matter how hard I try. I just fly in what appears to be some crazy, chaotic pattern for an undetermined period of time.

I take photos when I should be writing. I write when I should be recording. I record when I should be taking photos. I pick up a pair of scissors when I thought I was going to pick up a pen. I start cutting something that I thought I was going to stitch.

And at some point I suddenly feel it is the right time to stand back. And observe. And sign my name.

But I’m not there yet. I’m still flying about the place going from one project to the next, forgetting to eat. I look forward to the time when I feel it’s right to stand back and say “I’m finished”.

Sometime between writing yesterday’s post and having some loempia for afternoon tea at Cafe Koosje, my body gave way to a rather ugly flu. I spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch, sipping a hot totty, barely able to move a muscle without causing extreme agony. Thankfully Alfred was around to fluff my pillows and feed me, and put me to bed.

It’s my birthday and this is not exactly how I imagined celebrating. On a more upbeat note, Happy Australia Day my fellow Aussies!! I hope you’ve had a wonderful day, full of snags and booze.

It is also the start of Chinese New Year today and I just happen to be reading Helen Tse’s beautifully written Sweet Mandarin which I found on my bedside table back in Sydney – sweet synchronicity.

So while I’m tucked up on the couch with a pile of vitamins by my side reading about Helen’s incredible family story, would you guys celebrate my birthday for me? I would be so happy if someone could enjoy this day for me.

xx

Our welcome home gift to The Netherlands has been 48 hours of incessant rain and near darkness. You may think I exaggerate when I say near darkness, especially those of you who live even further north than I do, but having just come from a land where sunlight manages to shine through concrete walls, you can forgive me for thinking this place is dark.

Don’t worry mes amis, I will get over it! I will find the beauty in all that surrounds me again. Just give me a little time. And allow me to weep freely as I mourn the absence of my sunny homeland on this grey wet day.

To top off my melancholy mood, it’s my mum’s birthday today, and I am not there. I did however, leave her a little gift which I hid in the seat of the piano stool. I wrapped the gift in a turquoise silk scarf which I bought at the Bondi Markets on Sunday.

So happy birthday mum! Here is a little clip I just made for you. Right now the sun is about to set on the bay over there, making the water sparkle. and about this time of day I would be playing a little song on the piano…