Overgrown

I love this series by Chrissie MacDonald. Found via ffffound.

Out of the city

Heading to Greyton this weekend. They happen to have a wonderful chocolatier. Richard Von Geusau did a wonderful chocolate and wine tasting at our wedding. 

I'm sure it will be a weekend of scrabble, fireside red wine and a few senic walks. I'm hoping the weather behaves slightly better than at present.

Image by Dr Mike Kock

A happy day in 'Blogland'

Sometimes life feels like walking on hot coals without the proper mind-control training. 

That's why it's so lovely when 'Blogland' is extra friendly. Jesse kindly passed on the above, plus a challenge to reveal 6 quirks about myself... brace yourselves these are particularly unspectacular...

I'm a complete germ-a-phobe. Perhaps it's being the daughter of a doctor but I'm incredibly bacteria concious. Public restrooms are a nightmare for me and I notice when people don't wash their hands.

I know all the words to the My Fair Lady song "Wouldn't it be loverly?"

It freaks me out if someone stands too close to me in a queue.

Tomato sauce (Ketchup) has to be All Gold. Mayo has to be Crosse & Blackwell.

I'm obsessed with the weather. I used to have to either catch it on the news/radio or I didn't feel prepared for the day. (Yes, it would be easier to step outside in the morning and see for myself). I'm in recovery now although I still need to do an online check if I'm packing for a trip away.

I say "Bye" twice at the end of most phone calls. My mother does it too. Not as in a childish "Bye-Bye". More like repeating myself. "Bye." "Bye." A silly thing to share but people actually comment on it so I think it counts as a quirk!

Now that you all know exactly how strange I am... I am spreading the love to:

Please Sir

Abbey Goes Design Scouting

Chez Larson

Materialistic

Zesty Perspective

Champagne Wednesdays

Here are the rules:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you
2. Mention the rules on your blog
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking to them
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged bloggers blogs letting them know they've been tagged.

Toy Watches

Toy Watches. But unfortunately I don't think they come at toy prices. Certainaly not with a following the likes of Madonna, Oprah, Robbie Williams, Leonardo Di Caprio....

I like the fluro ones. Spotted on Coolhunter.

Captions?

Not to worry, it's only a baby.

Sorbet after sunday school.

Thank God for Oliver Peoples.

That mercedes sure is beautiful.

Vintage slide from the 50's 60's and 70's by The Mangofalls Project. What's your caption?

An ode to the éclair

Ok, I'm not about to write poetry, but I had to show you what Fauchon is up to. They have an weekend in September devoted to éclairs. 34 different types to be exact. I think they look like mini artworks - in fact one of the varieties even sports an image of the Mona Lisa.

I visited Fauchon in Paris a few years ago and was impressed by this luxury food store. Wonderful attention to detail and beautiful packaging. I left with a couple of packages of brightly coloured pasta (hardly a wise idea considering we were travelling) a silicone heart shaped mould, an array of mustard for DH and a few of their beautifully packaged chocolates as gifts for friends. They had a great store front display of this pyramid of snails at the time.

They even have earl grey ice cream. Sounds like an interesting taste experience to me.

I also came across Paris breakfasts. This blogger has loads of photographs of Fauchon creations and has used various delectable items as inspiration for her watercolours. Very sweet. 

Paris appelle ! La ville de l'amour attend !

Spencer Higgins

I can't actually figure out what these images are... ink in water perhaps? They're beautiful though. Photography by Spencer Higgins.

Another pastiche

keepcalm, originally uploaded by KenzieKate.

Had to add this to the growing number of versions of this poster.

Let's talk.

Can't find the words? The bureau of communication is great. What could be easier - fill in online and email off your apology/grievance/congratulations/romantic intent....

Saturated

I'm all about vivid colour at the moment. I brought home a bunch of beads and some traditional printed cloth from Kenya. I could have filled my suitcase with fabric, there are so many gorgeous colour and print combinations. 

The traditional cloth is called 'The Kanga' (Khanga, Lesso) is a cloth that is in common use in practically every Kenyan home. It's is a piece of clothing about 1.5 m by 1 m, screen printed with beautiful sayings in Swahili (or English) and is largely worn by women around the waist and torso. Kangas are a flexible item, used in many ways such as aprons, child-carrying slings, picnic blankets, swimwear etc. 

I'm also enjoying this wonderfully strong and bold work by Kendra Smoot. She's a prop stylist and style editor. Spring is almost upon us and I want to paint everything white and add bright 'pops' of pattern and colour everywhere. Something like the below images of a Danish home seen on style-files.

Or how about these quirky cushions by Jonathan Adler? The ties and belts are humorous and colourful. 

Roll on 1st September so that we can officially celebrate Spring!

Welcome, Monsieur Dior

I can't seem to pass through 'duty free' without buying perfume. Fortunately I don't often travel across borders as I'd most likely be completely skint... 

The latest addition to my perfume wardrobe is a collection of Dior miniatures. I've decided miniatures are the perfect way to go as I like to experiment without the commitment of a large (expensive) bottle of scent. Unfortunately I've had buyers regret before.

I've written here about my passion for perfume. It hasn't abated, I'm just spending time researching what I can before I take the plunge and invest in an organ of scents. Basenotes is a perfume community to which I belong - a great place to glean information on scent. I was interested to discover that the gold bottle neck of J'adore is modelled on a Masai collar. 

I'm enjoying exploring the heady notes of bergamot, ylang ylang, jasmine, turkish rose ...

What's your favourite scent?

Serotonin

Nairobi, Kenya

Nairobi is unlike the Africa that I live in. It's more authentic, more textural, more gritty. Smells and dust and noise are a sensory overload. It was a great experience. I'll be uploading some more images to my flickr later this week if you are interested.

PIF

I'm home from Nairobi and one of my first stops once home was to pick up my beautifully wrapped PIF from the post office. This lovely set of herb markers from Helouise of My Imperfect Garden. I worked with this talented lady quite a few years ago and know how creative she is so I must admit I knew I was in for a treat when I commented on her PIF. Many thanks Helouise, the herb markers are lovely! I'm so impressed by the decorative detail. I'll shoot them in context soon and they'll definitely spruce up my herb pots.

Dr Livingstone, I presume?

I'm off to Kenya bright and early tomorrow morning - ok, not so bright - I need to be at the airport at 5:30am... Going to Nairobi for a week (it's work not play but I'm sure we'll fit in some interesting things.) So I won't be around the blogosphere for a while but have left you a few posts. My hotel is The Stanley. Typically colonial.

Have a happy week!

Imperfection

Via Design Crush. Might possibly be my new favourite blog. 

Coco&Kelley's virtual wedding

Coco & Kelley is running an 'inspiration board' competition. To design the look of a wedding based on her selection of interiors. I couldn't resist putting together some images. I'm a fan of inspiration boards and a sucker for the romance that surrounds weddings. (Though I must admit the "commercialness" surrounding the industry irritates me a bit - just seems sometimes we forget the point of the event.) Regardless, when I came across her blog I had the perfect excuse to re visit all the wedding links I'd bookmarked when planning our own happy day.

See them all on her flickr page.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

And repeat. And repeat. And repeat.

I spent a large portion of the last weekend doing laundry. One of the biggest, possibly the biggest bane of my home keeping chores. Laundry is something that seems to have a life of it's own ... I'm aware that this isn't the most interesting thing to post about but I think I may just have a breakthrough idea:

Not to advocate wasteful behaviour but imagine if you just took off your clothes at the end of the day and THREW THEM AWAY. Disposable clothes.

After some investigation (yes, I'm serious about this and after all the internet knows everything) I discovered that I'm totally behind the curve and that in 1961 we were already working on this. Present day we have inventors who have cracked biodegradable clothes hangers but until further breakthrough we should all be wearing bamboo or tencel if we want to be disposable.

Of course my intention is to be environmentally conscious and conserve energy in every respect, just especially my own.

Paper clothes seen here.

Sangria blanca

I've always considered Sangria as a bit nasty... the kind of drink that'll knock you sideways... and apparantly there's a good reason that the tourists are the only ones drinking Sangria in Spain.  However, I came across the following recipe on Donna Hay and I think it sounds worth a try - especially since our weather has become a little warmer recently.

White Sangria
You will need a thinly sliced orange, red apple and green apple. One bottle of sparkling wine, 450ml apple juice, 330ml orange liqueur, 250ml soda water, ice cubes and mint leaves.
Place the fruit in a large jug or bowl, top with sparkling wine, apple juice and orange liqueur. Refrigerate for 1 hour to allow the fruit to soak up all the lovely flavours. Top with soda water, ice and garnish with mint leaves. Serve in simple glass tumblers.
Experiment with your favourite fruit or use a bottle of dry white wine instead of sparkling in this recipe.

Photography Con Poulos

Natasha Lawes

I was introduced to Luna and Curious via the lovely Freshly Found. That in turn led me to Designers Block and the work of Natasha Lawes.  (Don't you just love following link upon link, thanks Denise for this great find!)

So above are some of my favourite images from the portfolio of yet another amazingly talented creative person. Must admit some of her stuff a bit too gory for me but I can certainaly appreciate the time and effort that this type of hair, wardrobe styling and make up must take!

Cath Tate cards

Hanlie introduced me to some humorous greeting cards by Cath Tate today. I love the restrained design of the Haute Couture section. I can almost hear the sophisticated biting voice that belongs with these statements. This is etiquette quite unlike the beloved Emily Post.

Irina Troitskaya

Beautiful work by Irina Troitskaya. This red riding hood pattern is one of my favourites.

Richard Hutten

Perhaps this is what I should have done with my old books? Might be a bit of a problem if you need to reference one of those books that make up the legs. : )

Table made of books by dutch designer Richard Hutten.

From the Vogue Living digital sampler July/August.