Archive for the ‘7by7’ Category
last weekend we flew to the capital city of australia: canberra. if you’re not from australia – i bet you thought our capital was sydney, right? well canberra is a couple of hours drive from sydney and is quite a charming little city. even if it is a bit labyrinthine what with all those roundabouts and such. the reasons we visited was for my boyfriend’s family reunion. i was a bit nervous – i’m from a very small family (the only child of an only child of an only child on one side!) so the thought of meeting dozens of aunts and cousins and such was overwhelming. thankfully everyone was really lovely and it was so special to see my son with his father, grandfather, and great grandfather.
one of the first things i noticed about canberra was their kerrraaaazy bus shelters! isn’t it amazing?! its so mod it looks like a space ship will pass by. i also appreciated the bus company in canberra was called ACTION, or Australian Capital Territory (that’s the “state” canberra is in) Internal Omnibus Network. best acronym ever or what! personally i feel the use of ‘omnibus’ is stretching it a bit but, whatevs. sit in your space pod and get on the next ACTIO that passes by.
before we left we vaguely discussed the attractions we’d visit while in canberra and i was happy with what was on offer. then, on the plane there my boyfriend drops the bomb that there is a miniature village just out of town. *record scratch sound effect* WHAT? no body keeps miniature towns secret from me! so after dropping our bags we headed straight to “cockington green”. i’ll share more pictures next week because people, cockington green is worthy of its own post! when we discovered this wishing fountain with dyed blue water i wished for every holiday to include kitschy miniatures.
what’s that, the breakfast they served on the plane? nope. its a rock. from THE moon. yeah, earth’s moon. you may recall i have a space obsessed son (and boyfriend actually… one time we had a tiff because he was spending more time with a meteor than with me) so a visit to the deep space communication complex at tidbinbilla was a given. i was pretty excited to go too i admit and it was really exciting to see the huge radio telescope dishes there, including the original dish used to transmit the first images of man landing on the moon. staring up at the huge white dishes was humbling and the fact that we got ourselves on to the moon with computer’s that are probably now out-run by calculators is just incredible. go team space! and yay! look at the ROCK from THE MOON! you know, the moon up there!
i’m not sure i was supposed to be taking photos in the space centre, but i’m shutter-happy so i furtively took some snaps. these patches from various missions were neat i thought but there were better ones i really wanted to snap. unfortunately they were continually blocked by an enthusiastic guide who would trap anyone approaching in an intense conversation. my love of not being talked to death over ran my love of a good embroidered patch photo. i wish i was clever enough to work for nasa and get groovy space patches. *cough* hear that nasa – i’d like a patch or two. and in case you were wondering, my favourite missions were the pre-gemini-suit mercury missions when they got to wear silvery space suits. now that’s a spaceman!
while the boy’s checked out the questacon science museum i got to spend a leisurely morning strolling through the national gallery of australia. it really was bliss and the gallery has a fabulous 20th century collection, and now a vast series of galleries of indigenous art. i saw sidney nolan’s ned kelly series, and i sat in front of the infamous blue poles by jackson pollock. i really enjoyed the little exhibition of anton bruehl’s photography form 1920-1950. how groovy is this ceiling? the national gallery was officially opened in 1982 (just like me!) and a huge new wing has just opened as of last month. i got a bit of a thrill when i saw a book by my mum’s dear friend in the book shop, there was a moment of ‘hmm is it appropriate to run around a fancy store pointing to a book and shouting “i know who wrote this! i did work experience for her! she’s ace”. i decided to play it cool and just move it to the middle of the shelf instead – so no one missed it.
in the grounds of the gallery is an amazing sculpture garden. it was so cool and quiet to wander amongst the trees and enjoy the works. opposite the sculpture garden is a huge lake with an island that houses the carillion: a bell tower. as i was wandering they started playing the bells, and it was pretty special to be amongst nature and the art (including a fog sculpture by fujiko nakaya!) this photo shows part of james turrel’s mesmerizing installation ‘within without’. i’ll leave you to meditate on those surfaces and wish you an excellent weekend as full of priceless experiences as mine was last weekend.
excuse the less-than amazing mirror photo, but i was just so excited to show you that vintage dreams can come TRUE! yes, that dress i’m wearing is the exact same one as a dress i swooned over when i showed you snippets from the early-70s sears catalog! during one of my many etsy vintage expeditions to round up my ‘as seen on etsy’ posts i stumbled upon this dress and just about fell off the sofa. now it’s mine and i love it very, very, much.
meet barbara. i actually met her a couple of weeks back but she charmed me so i must include her. she’s a lovely gal who lives in a lovely home her chicken-mum dani made. i really liked the way she gave me a number of poses while i took her picture and then she retired to her quarters and started telling the other chooks off for not coming to bed early too! even hens need their beauty sleep, right barbara?
i’m starting to feel like there are flowers all through my 7by7 posts. maybe i’ll have to include “gratuitous flower shot” warnings! i just really like flowers, and i want to share the pretty flowers i find with you. aren’t these wisteria spectacular? there was a whole shower of them along the fence. it was like a big purple cloud was hovering there.
other people’s inspiration boards are always fascinating aren’t they? this is a peek at peta pledger’s pin board. you know she has some insane bargains available during her frocktober special. check it out because her clothes are beautifully made! i’m so excited to be working with her on a very cool dress of my own right now.
there is really no way to segue into this photo. perhaps just an explanation? one date night a while ago the boy and i were killing time at the mall waiting for the movie to start. we played skeeball and people watched and then decided to try our luck with the bouncy-ball gumball machine. there was loads of different kinds of balls but i saw one single faceted ball like this on the top of the pile and thought it was awesome. “i hope we get a faceted one…. but i only see that one on top” i said as i put our $2 in and turned the crank and out came…. this faceted ball. i was pretty excited. now it hangs around the house and every now and then will surface and enchant me once again. isn’t it cool? it looks like its a gem from some mystical temple or something. but bouncy!
we’ve had deliciously warm days here earlier in the week and i’m so happy to be able to toss together delicious impromptu salads. this refreshing concoction accompanied some chilli, rice and sweet corn and it was goooooood. are you digging that 50′s bowl? that was my grandma rowie’s and many a fine waldorf salad was served in it’s groovy atomic curves.
and one final gratuitous flower shot to end the week. i can’t walk by a daisy bush without taking one. this one made it home and demanded i take pictures of its gloriously sunny self. i love that yellow in the centre!
on that note, have a sunny and glorious weekend and i’ll see you back here next week with more details on my online yard sale that you should join in with too. and stop by be a fun mum to see an interview with me about my house & decorating.
after the other week’s as seen on etsy featuring mugs, a commenter asked about my own mugs. well, here some of the are. i have lots of pedestal mugs made in japan in the 60s! they really do make me very happy, and each time i have a drink from one it gives me a little thrill, truly. i think its important to surround yourself with things that give you that reaction. you should truly love the things you buy.
and sometimes its the contents of the mugs that give me a thrill: i found a smiley guy in my latte! isn’t that funny? it was purely accidental – and purely delicious! i’m afraid he didn’t survive too long after this picture was taken. but we’ll always have the picture, won’t we latte guy.
as mentioned on tuesday, we went to our fair and much fun was had by all. we brought home a little fun with us, because who can resist pinwheels. normally we get a dolly on a stick, but i only just binned last year’s! oh and the fairy floss didn’t last long enough for a photo!
while waiting for the train home from the fair i noticed my son is getting his first few freckles across his nose! my freckles have faded along with my childhood loathing of them, but when i was smaller i was quite the freckle face. no surprise my fair boy is taking after his mama.
i don’t believe i’ve ever shown my garden, but here it is! freshly tidied by some extremely super people. you see, i’m trying to be a grown up. and grown ups like things like gardens, so i asked many questions of the experts who took away the prickly bushy thing, and pulled up the wrong green parts. now i know i need some seaweed fertilizer and i should probably go out there once in a while to weed, rather than drink campari in the (just out of shot) hammock.
grown ups like gardening and cooking too, so it only makes sense that i, as a grown up, should grow my own herbs to cook with. even having them here in proximity to me has made me cook slightly better!
and lastly, i bought a pretty flower to put by my door. apparently a dead poinsettia from last christmas and a shrivelled cobwebbed cactus aren’t the best feng shui or somesuch. and this is why you rarely see photos of the outside of my house! so keep me in check – ask about the herbs and garden etc and hopefully it will motivate me to not neglect them!
in other “i’m being an adult” news, i’ve eaten at least one piece of fruit each day (sometimes two though) and i’ve tried my best to drink eight glasses of water each day too (though mostly i can only fit seven). i feel a lot better for it, no wonder its the foundation of good health. now excuse me, but i have to pee again for the 475th time. see you monday!
i’m still a bit obsessed with the holographic ribbon curtain we had at the space birthday. its long gone, but i could stare at this photos for hours. its hypnotic and kaleidoscopic.
kaaaaa-uuuuute!! boing boing boing. ms peta pledger gave this vintage birthday card. its so adorable, and so special to have received a vintage card. look at the happy bunnies and frogs!
nothing like having your very own kid to bring the excitement back to birthday mornings. he was even excited about opening his card! and that one wasn’t even the groovy vintage one.
while tidying up for the party i found a bunch of these guys hangin’ out on my desk. i should remind you it was not i who just turned four, however i like plastic toys a lot. these little chaps are all tiny charms from decole bath fizzies etc. the red petit baby deer i bought separately.
those of you who’ve read for a while know how much i love my list making and my filofax. i also like to color-code my daily tasks for quick-glance reading. so, i’ve tried using the zippered pocket that came with the filofax but it got on my nerves and the pen holder on the side doesn’t fit most regular pens, so i decided to make my own penholder that i could store all my pens in, and access one without needing to pull them aaaaall out. i was inspired by the crayon wallets dannielle made for my son’s party favours. as you can see, its fabric with five pockets – one for each pen. it’s impossible to see in this photo, but it has a clear plastic strip that clips into the folder, so everything stays put! it was all very cheap, the fabric i had, the clear plastic is an overhead projector sheet that i cut to size and punched holes into and the whole thing is stuffed with a bit of cardboard to stop it flopping about! necessity is the mother of invention, and i’m pretty proud of my filo-hack! filofaxes are the BEST!
speaking of the best.. my nail varnish this week matches my filofax. hawt. its 60 seconds “sky high” by rimmel. the opal ring was my grandma rowie’s and i wear it everyday. its an amazing color and a groovy 60s style. i think its very her, but also very me and i like that its a bridge between us.
speaking of hands, these are my boy’s hands. i think he has really lovely hands, they’re the well manicured hands of a musician, but still masculine enough to feel safe around my girly hands.
wishing you all a fab weekend. we’re off to the melbourne show (carnival) so i’ll see you on monday with a sugar-hangover the size of a prize winning bull!
helloooo september! i see you’ve brought the sun back with you, ever so briefly. well then how about i share some peeks into my week?
oh its been such a long and bitter winter here. especially bad since our heating stopped working and i’ve spent the last month virtually living on top of the tiny radiator! i took this photo on our vacation and looking at it thaws me just a little bit. here comes the sun…
sigh. i spent a dreamy afternoon relaxing in front of the fire and watching the sun move across the carpet. the house we stayed at had cut glass windows and at certain times it cast rainbows on the floor. i have a pretty spectacular pedicure at the moment (OPI’s coronation, with a few topcoats of napoleon’s las vegas lights – so its silver holographic topped with more holographic glitter. yep my toes are from the year 2525) and i took a picture of my toes in this rainbow but i thought i’d spare you all an ultra close shot of my toes.
while on vacation i took my guy to one of my favourite haunts from back in the day. this place remains virtually unchanged since it opened in the late 60′s and though the ambience and clientele may be questionable, its still charming and awesome in a very special way. are you diggin’ that mirror? i love the greatful dead-esque type – not to mention that little bacchanalian tableau in the blue section. goats and cider and babies?! they just don’t make ‘em like they used to!
another old-skool eatery we visited has this amazing ceiling. its like a huge inverted ice cube tray. i love thinking back to my mum telling me how she and her 60s art school cohorts would come here to drink fancy “cappucino” and eat that new fangled “spaghetti bolognaise”. australia in the 60s was a funny place! influxes of european immigrants shook it into a new multicultural age and it must have been so exciting. i feel i need to confess to sharing SIX scoops of gelato here. the ceiling made me do it! oh but it was the best.
isn’t this spectacular?! i just can’t get over how perfect this camellia is. and there was just this one on the plant. it took all its plant power to make this one perfectly formed flower. thank you, plant. i know i’ve killed a lot of your kind, but i do appreciate you.
oh, and this! this, my friends, is what haigh’s toasted marshmallows look like. years ago my dad worked for haigh’s as their head chocolatier. he was something of a genius when it came to confectionary and he could temper chocolate like a wizard. i remember making these at home with him, so when i pass by haighs i treat myself to a packet. mmm the toasted coconut goes everywhere but who cares! before he died, my dad gave me his confectioners thermometer. its such a silly thing but it means so much to me. i need to get it out and make some nougat, toffees and boiled sweets for christmas this year, i think.
last of all, i’d like to introduce the newest member of my bedroom art wall family. i found this tray on etsy and it was too good to pass up. after all, love is all you need!
i hope you’ve had a good week and you’re enjoying the seasonal transitions wherever you are. got anything exciting planned for the weekend? i have some work to do and a movie to see and some friends to eat (with). see you monday, lovelies!
a couple of days following after my birthday, it was my boyfriend’s birthday. pictured above is one of the little presents i bought him: an original 60′s beatles patch to sew on his beloved jacket. gift giving in the age of the internet is thee best thing, don’t you agree?
one of my friends is a jehovah’s witness, and because they celebrate neither birthdays or christmas, anniversaries get all the attention – which is pretty lovely when you think about it because its very personal. so for our friendship anniversary she came bearing an array of tiny cakes! and hooo boy were these cakes ever good. closest to the front is a flourless orange cake that was so so moist it was almost like eating a custard or mousse. behind that, to the left slightly is a lemon and lime curd tart. yum. at the very back almost out of shot is a mud cake which was virtually solid chocolate. and then on the right was the most delicious pistachio mousse covered in dark chocolate. looking at this photo again has me salivating. if you’re a local reader, the cakes were from amici on chapel street. you’d have jehovah’s witness friends too if they all took cake with them when they went door knocking!
this guy likes to help out. here he is helping to clear out the car boot/trunk. he’s very good at picking out the trash and choosing a new car air freshener – but it kind of smells like apple mentos.
this little corner is in the walk-thru arcade of our local shopping centre. previously it was the dingiest, most uninspiring space. but the green light pizza bar has opened up and transformed the space into such a great dining area. there’s heating and communal seating and those lanterns look fab! and how great is that wallpaper? great work greenlight, i look forward to eating your wholesome looking pizza soon.
do you live in melbourne? do you pass through flinders street station? how often have you passed under this beautiful art nouveau glass window and not noticed it? i’m guilty of it, but on sunday i looked up and admired the grandeur of our beautiful old station. now would whoever owns the station please run tours of the behind the scenes? i want to see the ballroom!
i’m very lucky to get flowers quite a lot. i love having fresh flowers around, and i love indoor plants. but i feel less guilty about the cut flowers dying than i do about killing off yet another plant. eheh. black thumb! anyway, aren’t the colors fab?
while i was washing the dishes these two bowl caught my eye. stacked together they looked so good! both belonged to my grandma rowie. on the bottom is the kaj franck arabia enamel bowl, and stacked inside is a ceramic bowl thats black on the outside and the inside is white with very 50′s black zig-zags. washing dishes is a lot more inspiring when theres graphic interplay afoot!
so thats what my life is looking like! how about you? do you have colorful plans for the weekend? if you’re after something fun, why not join the birthday swap going on at calico & co.
see you next week.
i haven’t done a 7by7 post in forever, but what better opportunity is there to show off some of my birthday presents?! if you’re new to these parts, 7by7 was a weekly feature i did for a while where i would share seven photos from my week. unfortunately i got a bit busy and its winter now in australia so its mostly too cold and dark for photo taking. but this was no ordinary week…
my gorgeous boyfriend picked out this print for my present. isn’t it charming? its called ‘count abernathy was an avid bird watcher’ and its by matte stephens. now to find a spot on the wall for it so that i may become an avid count abernathy watcher..
also from my boy was Vera: The Art and Life of an Icon
cake! of course there had to be a cake and of course it had to have a draw! pilgrim topper on it. i practice what i preach, people. and thank goodness for friends who come bearing cake, am i right?
and speaking of friends, boy do i have some gorgeous ones! a certain lovely person had a sneaky peek in my etsy favourites and bought me a couple of presents… a happy birdy plate, above. and a pencil mug for my desk, below.
i was SO surprised, and so touched by their thoughtful gesture. pencil mug will live on my desk and serve as a reminder for how lucky i am to call such sweet and generous people as friends.
those of you who remember my love of scheduling and to-do lists will appreciate how excited i was to unwrap this turquoise beauty! its my first filofax, and i never thought i’d have one – but i really am enjoying it! its nice doing my nightly brain dump on paper, and seeing everything laid out there. this is a finsbury, personal size and it also came with a travel organization pack that i’m really looking forward to using next january on our second annual californian adventure!
and last but not least, my present to myself! because if you don’t treat yourself, who will? this is the very pretty lining of a kate spade bag featuring an alexander girard sun design. i know, its like two of my favorite things: together at last! don’t worry, my beloved orla kiely bag won’t be retired, just alternated. sometimes i want a small but equally amazing bag, y’know? and thank you, gods of ebay, for sending this pre-loved but excellently cared for bag to me.
so that was my amazing haul! i’m certainly a lucky lady. but best of all i got to spend my birthday with fabulous people – in person and online too. merry birthday to all and to all a good weekend!
