Monday, December 21, 2009

Books I'm moving in with over Summer

Three weeks, too many books. Not sure which titles I'll actually get through but I'm not going to give up without a fight. I'm gonna push a big old arm-chair right into the middle of the garden and starting reading...in no particular order...


1. The Dome by Stephen King.
''The first thing readers might find scary about Stephen King's Under The Dome is its length. The second is the elaborate town map and list of characters at the front of the book (including "Dogs of Note"), which sometimes portends, you know, heavy lifting. Don't you believe it. Breathless pacing and effortless characterization are the hallmarks of King's best books, and here the writing is immersive, the suspense unrelenting. The pages turn so fast that your hand--or Kindle-clicking thumb--will barely be able to keep up.''

2. The Children Who Lived in a Barn by Eleanor Graham
''This 1938 novel became a children's literature classic when it was reissued as a Puffin paperback in 1955; but Persephone Books has published it for both adults and children to read. It shows five children successfully looking after themselves when their parents go away and fail to return; and 'it is partly because of modern curtailment of childhood independence that Persephone Books (which has a cult following for its elegant resurrection of novels by women writers) has reissued the novel,' wrote Rachel Johnson on the Daily Telegraph.''

3. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
''England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of distrust and need comes Thomas Cromwell, first as Wolsey′s clerk, and later his successor.''

4. Mother Land by Dmetri Kakmi
''Mother land is a memoir by Melbourne writer Dmetri Kakmi, about his childhood in the late 1960s on the island of Bozcaada (also known as Bozca Island) in the Aegean Sea, at the entrance to the Dardanelle Straits, at a time when political tensions between Greece and Turkey were at their peak, and the islands Greek population was subject to intimidation by its Turkish government.''

5. Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe by Randy Taraborrelli
''Beautiful, damaged, the ultimate sex symbol, publicly celebrated, privately unhappy – Marilyn Monroe's tumultuous life and untimely death continue to fascinate us.''

What are you reading?




Monday, December 07, 2009

Tis the season...

FROM THIS




TO THIS



INSPIRED by Posie Gets Cozy and her charming mantel.

Doodle Bugs

I get twitchy when I don't have time to make stuff but that's just how it is for now. Instead of firing up the sewing machine, I picked up a pencil instead. The slow pace of shading, little dashes of pencil, scratches and dots just fits my mood right now and for whatever reason, I'm especially keen on insects.

I've discovered this fantastic book, too; Pictorial Webster's: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities by John M . Carrera. Inspiration galore.





Thursday, December 03, 2009

What's Hot/What's Not


HOT:

Jane Campion's new film Bright Star about John Keats and the love of his life, Fanny Brawne. I was able to see an early viewing and I love, loved it. Basically I sat their for two hours (okay, there were some tears)and just let the film wash over me. Campion has a way of capturing certain feelings and senses on film: washing drying in the wind, lots of close-ups of busy hands sewing, sunlight drifting through curtains, rain falling. The love story itself unfolds beautifully.

CHRISTMAS CARDS:
I put Harry Potter on the CD player and got cracking. This year I spent a bit more time choosing pretty cards and got one of those dinky wax seals. It took a few cards before I got the swing of it, but in the end, they came up well...if you don't count the few that caught fire. We don't count those.

OH SEW PRETTY

Finding Melissa's lovely creations on Flickr. Here is one seriously talented maker.


THE BLACK APPLE'S FANCY WEARABLES

I missed out on the girl with the birds but scored a pretty locket with a classic Black Apple portrait instead. Very pleased.



LISTENING TO
Kitty Daisy & Lewis. Three teenage siblings that play a mash of swing, Hawaiian, rock n roll. Seriously. One listen is all it takes. They're coming to Melbourne but I missed out on tickets. Doh!

NOT HOT

HAULING rocks. We rocked out our tiny front garden. Looks great - rocks heavy.

WOEFULLY underestimating the time involved in making Christmas ornaments as gifts. Yeah. Not gonna happen.

All in all. More Hot than Not. Nice.

MORE PLAYING THE GAME AT LOOBYLU
Today marks her TEN YEAR BLOGVERSARY. Brilliant.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Nathalie Lete in Tokyo.


I've just watched a delightful clip of Nathalie Lete paiting in a shop window in Tokyo thanks to Geninne's Art Blog. Check it out....

Monday, November 23, 2009

What's HOT and NOT

HOT

Steph Bowe's blog, Hey! Teenager of the Year - a site by a talented 15 year-old who has lots of interesting things to say about being a writer. She's just got her first book deal and if you read her blog, you'll understand why.

Jam Fancy (aka Christina) has an ETSY shop. How cute is this picture?


"Would you like that gift wrapped?" For some strange reason...I've always answered "No".

Not any more. Now I'm saying yes. Why has it taken me so long?

Following Dita Von Teese on Twitter.
She's renting an apartment in Paris for the Summer...what's not to love?

Reading Swimming by Enza Gandolfo and enjoying its structure how she plays with language and the overall pull of the story line.

Buckets and buckets of rain.

NOT HOT

Rain on the inside of the house - as in - dripping down lounge-room wall. So not hot.

Mouse the dog barking at every single bird that flys over/near/within a 40k radius of the garden.

The wardrobe/costume person who 'dressed' the entire Cullen clan in New Moon. As Liz Lemon (30ROCK) would say BLURG!

More HOT AND NOT fun at Loobylu

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

What's Hot+What's Not

Playing along with Loobylu's Hot and Not...

HOT

Getting my toes painted hot pink.

Homemade Turkish Delight Ice Cream made with rose water from a new shop in Yarraville.

Alison Lester's exhibition: Running WIth The Horses on until 22 November put on by Books Illustrated. She's one of
my favorite writers/illustrators and seeing her work up close is amazing.




Season two of The Wire - reminds me of Footscray docks.

Getting home in the gloaming.

Reading issue ten of MIXED TAPE. So inspiring.


NOT so hot

Not finding time to make stuff.

Spending too much money on fancy Christmas cards at Zetta Florence :)

Drinking four coffees a day...okay.... sometimes five.

Cleaning the juicer. Grrrrrr.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Coffee with Ms Woolf



I slept badly last night. Ended up waking at some ungodly hour. Too sleepy to read. Too awake to sleep. Decided to get up early, take my book down to the nearest cafe and take in some soothing words. I'm still sleepy but much happier.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

On my bedside table...books galore


I love them but they taunt me...half read, waiting to be read and let's face it, destined never to be read. But I love
having them just there.

Shock of the new...


Emily Martin over at Inside A Black Apple had an Etsy sale a few weeks ago and I snaffled this pretty print and got it framed.

I wandered from room to room looking for the right spot - I even considered the kitchen! But she's found a home in the
bedroom. Pretty flame-haired girl and her wild bird.

Monday, November 02, 2009

Boo



Halloween night was so much fun. It (happily) coincided with a dinner with friends. There was thunder, there was lightening, not to mention delicious home-made curry, dahl and fish dipped in spices. Later we had creamy, toffee topped chocolate pots ...then we worked it all off playing Wii...NOT, but had fun trying. Turns out I'm brilliant and down-hill skiing. Who knew?

Outside the storm blew in. A few spooky stories and a strange noise upstairs. I took this photo a couple of weeks ago when I passed a Melbourne institution - Bernard's Magic Shop in Elizabeth Street.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

The Quilt Project






Last Friday evening was the official viewing of the amazing Quilt Project at the Abbotsford Convent in Collingwood. I had a such a great night. Kirsty from Kootoyoo came up with the whole idea and asked 66 people to provide one square each - something original entirely done in red. Seeing all those squares as one, giant piece was such a thrill but it also made clear just how much work was involved.

Thank you Kirsty for coming up with such a great idea and making it all happen.

Here are some pics but for a much closer look, go to: Kootoyoo and check it out.

Friday, October 16, 2009



I was over reading Inside A Black Apple and found a link to this lovely work by ohmycavalier


Can't wait until it arrives.

Have a good weekend!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Mouse is in the house.


Meet Mouse. The we've had her since March. Toby loves/hates her - we just love her...unless she's being really naughty. That happens.

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

App, app, happy.

I've set myself a little creative task...each day I'm going to do a quick sketch using SketchBook, an iPhone application that I discovered recently.

Feel free to join in. You don't have to use technology...pencil&paper will do just fine.

Here's sketch No. 1. View out a cafe window.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

And the winner is...

Sorry to leave you all hanging! I selected the winner the old fashioned way...names in hat.

Book goes to:

MJB at meandgracie

Please email me your postal details (spindle@iinet.net.au) and I'll pop it in the post.

Thanks for playing.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Giveaway...


I started this blog on June 27, 2005 so looks like I missed my blogday! Nevermind. I still enjoy blogging. Thanks for making it fun, for stopping by and saying hello, for sharing your blogs and supplying me with loads of inspiration.

If you'd like to win this book...simply leave a comment before Monday, 28th September at noon and I'll pick a winner.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Goodbye square! This is the finished piece for Kootyoo's The Quilt Project. I enjoyed every stitch (notice there's no shot of the back)...I even took it to New Zealand with me and when I ran out of red thread, I found a tiny little craft shop in the town of Dargerville that had just the right colour. I can't wait to see what everyone else came up with.



Friday, September 18, 2009

Back from The Land of the Long White Cloud...

Beauty everywhere. I think I took about 400 photos...here are just a few. Can you smell the fresh air? Feel the last glow of the sunset?















Some Books I've Really Enjoyed

  • Apples For Jam by Tessa Kiros
  • Saturday by Ian McEwan
  • Philip Larkin: A Writer's Life by Andrew Motion
  • The Bell Jar by Syliva Plath
  • Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman
  • Stasiland by Anna Funder

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Living, reading, crafting, taking photos, writing.