This is the remarkable gift Emma gave me for my birthday...a Frida Kahlo doll by Du Buh Du. My photos do not convey just how stunning this doll is - the weight of her, the detail, her eyes, her hair, not to mention the tiny birdcage and the Frida bird that nestles in the crook of Frida's arms.

I came across Frida Kahlo many years ago. One summer holiday I read a fantastic biography by Hayden Herrera. That book became like a physical extension! I read it everywhere. It's still one of my all time fav books. Tragedy, art, love, death, betrayal - all writ large. So Frida is very special to me and having this tiny likness is a wonderful gift.





Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly? - Frida Kahlo

The Chills. The Thrills.

I'm a fan of Sarah Waters. I got the chance to meet her a long time ago and she's as lovely as you think she might be. Her latest book builds slowly, almost to the point where you think....surely something must happen soon...and then something does happen. I haven't finished yet...want to take my time with this one and savour the details. A crumbling mansion, two siblings on the brink and a nameless terror. Brrrrrrrr.

Winter evenings (well, as many as I can sqeeze in) have been about the soup, the couch, the hook and the wool. Bliss. I think I'm loving old age. Mabye. Maybe too much.

Part Two

So there were thousands of books at the Clunes BookTown weekend...stacks and stacks of them; new, dusty, tiny, illustrated, obscure, general, all genres - a real mix. The one that caught my eye was The Open Book of Nature by Rev Charles Hall.

It's not a rare book but it is quite lovely. On Sunday night I was flicking through it and discovered that someone (the nature loving Kathleen Shedlock perhaps?) had pressed between the pages a four leaf clover. It was such a charming thing to find. I have no idea how long it was sealed between those pages but it looks like a very long time.

Anyway. It was a lovely thing to discover on my birthday and if it brings me extra luck, I'll be delighted to accept. Thank you Kathleen from me in 2009 to you in 1922.

BookTownBirthday Part One

I really like birthdays (mostly my own!) despite the relentless marching/passing of years. Yesterday I turned 41. 41! I can hardly believe it. Forty was a biggy so I kind of thought 41 would fly under the radar but 41 sneakily turned into "nine years away from fifty". Geeze.

But hey, I had the best birthday weekend.
Friday night was all about friends, laughter. Saturday was the same, but add brunch, three makers markets (Yarraville, Seddon and Newport) that equalled a massive visual catch-up of all the clever things people are making out there. More laughs, more coffee and a reminder about how much fun my friends are. Speaking of clever crafters. I bumped into Kirsty at the Yarraville Market and basically dribbled all over her beautiful scarflets. See that stunning red and grey one? Mine all mine! I wore it all weekend.

Sunday was breakfast at Haus Frau in Yarraville and trip to the country to Clunes...a pretty/little town about a 150ks from Melbourne. Each year, for an entire weekend, it turns into Book Town and suddenly almost all of the beautiful historic buildings are transformed into bookshops. So. Much. Fun. The weather was amazing - clear, sunny and bright with tables groaning under the weight of new and second-hand books. There was a Punch and Judy show. I don't even like P&J but took a snap anyway. I was very restrained and only bought two books: a biography of Julia Child and a very old book called something like Into Nature that's full of gorgeous colour-plates and black and white drawings of English birds, nests and trout. Love it. But little did I know that it held a very special surprise!

Part Two tomorrow but here are some photos of the day.