…at the dining table.

…at the kitchen sink.

…in a petit corner of our kitchen garden.

…by the window (these were a wonderful gift from a friend, to remind me to breathe during times of sheer exhaustion…like right now).

…standing at the dining table.

Well, I’m exhausted. I haven’t had a weekend since I don’t remember when and my nights sleep are short and erratic. When French Boy and I go to bed I can’t help but say “didn’t we just get out of bed like, 10 minutes ago?” when we eat dinner I say, “but didn’t we have breakfast just a moment ago?”. He laughs. I’m glad he thinks it’s funny! Anyway, I knew this month would be a big one to get through. I feel like Thomas the Tank Engine getting up the hill, be it the month of June “I think I can I think I can I know I can I know I can…”

Often people tell me they like to read my blog so they can live vicariously through me. (Apparently my goings-on are enviable?!! It’s time to dispel the myth!) But today, I’d like to hear what you are planning to do for the weekend so I can live vicariously through you. Please, indulge me…

xx

found via nyla who found it here (but I couldn’t locate the original post, so if you find it, please let me know as I’d love to know more about this beautiful beast)

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This image hence post, ironically, does not fit into any of the (blog)house categories, so it’s defaulted into ‘personal‘. Perhaps it is personal after all.

Anyway, I thought this might enhance the days of those who were hoping to be air bound but instead, are grounded. If I had a magic ship like this, I would come and get you. But I don’t so instead, you will have to do your best to enjoy your surroundings and try not worry about what might happen tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day.  You are all essentially safe – nobody has been hurt (unlike the thousands from the earthquake in Tibet, the children of Burma, or the people of Haiti, for example).

I, personally, was very much looking forward to a dear friend’s visit today. I had plans to take her to some of the artisans in my soon-to-be-released book, and eat crepes and drink hot chocolate in the sun. But it won’t happen. But that is okay because she is okay, I’m okay, we are alive and well.

Enjoy your day mes amis, in whatever special part of the world you are in.

xx

PS Yesterday I posted a photo on facebook that you might like. It’s too personal to put here though, so it’s in there.

…Mes amis, I have been having so much fun with the book. I still have lots to do so I will not be back here in the (blog)house full time just yet, but I wanted to let you know I’m thinking of you! And that all is well.

I must confess, taking this blog break has been wonderful. For the first week or so I fretted, then I found a certain clarity, then all my ideas, words and vision came flooding forth – what a fabulous feeling! For the first time in a long while I don’t feel like time is running too quickly.

Anyway, I won’t chat for too long as I have photos to edit, just this little message for now. Oh, and I have still been checking out blogs every now and then when on my tea + chocolate breaks, and I found this gorgeous illustration by Krista Nyberg above from post carden – check out what it is exactly (hint: think portable garden gift), I love it! I found it via the beautiful read baron.

xx

PS French Boy has just made crêpes for dinner – the smell is wafting through the boat. He is making crêpes au jambon and then we will have the rest for dessert with nutella. I’m quite sure I am in heaven.

…I think I’m about to type something you, or I,  do not want to see. But here it goes: I’m going to take a little time out from the blog for the coming weeks so that I can focus on the book. As much as it pains me to type those words, it pains me more to not be able to focus on the task at hand. The writing of this book is such a big journey – it’s intimate and consuming, and I want to, and need to, be present for every moment of it.

So that means from next week on I will be absent from the blog – and your blogs unfortunately – so that I can be completely engaged in this particular creative endeavour. I estimate I’ll be absent for a couple of weeks, but I will not make promises at this stage, I really want to go with the flow. This also goes for emails too – so please understand that if you have written me an email that I haven’t replied to, it’s nothing personal, I’m just absent.

But for one last bit of fun I was thinking, many of you have asked me lots of questions in comments and emails over the past few months and I have not been able to get back to you – some have been inquiries about camera equipment I use, some about assisting opportunities, some about local designers and so on. So in light of my forthcoming absence, if there is something you’ve been wanting to know and I still haven’t answered this question in a post, or email, or comment, please leave your question in a comment below and tomorrow I will pick one of the questions that was asked the most and write a post specifically about that topic. If there has been something you’ve been dying to know, now is the time to ask it.

Thank you mes amis!

xx

…french boy and I swam in the ocean, bayside; sipped champagne; played crib in the shade of a eucalypt tree; ate chocolate; watched boats decorated with australian flags pass by; got muddy feet from walking through a small mangrove forest; and got colours, albeit a little too many.

Yesterday was my birthday. I share it with Australia. But sometimes on my birthday, I like not to share at all.

xx