sparklehound

Loving cup

I bought this little gold cup in a favourite, now defunct, shop in Whitstable shortly after I moved there - mainly because of that delicious eau-de-nil colour inside (although red has always been my favourite colour, lusciously 1930s eau-de-nil and duck-egg-blue are close contenders).

It is currently home to a necklace that needs a new clasp, just as soon as I get round to making one, and a little pine cone that I picked up the other week in the Bois de Vincennes Parc Floral. It was tightly closed when I popped it in my pocket and as-if-by-magic had opened up and scattered its cargo of seeds by the time I took it out (I emptied my pocket in the woods to give those treasures a fighting chance of fulfilling their destiny).

Little things that make me happy.

Home sweet home

I've been wanting some Aunty Cookie fabric for a long time but I think this is the print that I just have to have. Is it just me or is there a little bit of Rob Ryan-esque charm about it?

There are those winter trees again, I just can't seem to get enough of that twiggy goodness at the moment. But this time they come with BIRDS! and pretty little BIRDCAGES!! It reminds me of walking through Central Park one summer evening a few years back and spotting a wonderland of chinese laterns high high up in the trees.

And as for the Home Sweet Home wafting through the branches... well I can scarcely contain myself!

I've been meaning to make a cushion for my work chair and I think this is going to fit the bill verrrry nicely. The other thought, though, is a dear friend who I suspect could do with a dose of long distance love after a b-iiiig international move. Her need for a little house warming present might well be greater than my need for extra padding.

Meanwhile I'm trying to work out exactly what I need this trim for, because obviously I do need it. At the moment I'm thinking it would perk up a shopping bag very nicely...

Ha! Hark at me with my plans - I mean, its not as though I'm studiously avoiding a ma-hooosive deadline or keep getting lost in the detail or anything! Oh no, not me...

All images by Aunty Cookie

Hope springs

I gave my poor neglected hydrangea that jolly good feed, having brutally cut it back to stumps a week or so ago, and its starting to look more lively already!  I might even treat it to a bigger pot and some new compost at the weekend.

I honestly can't tell you how excited I am to see even the tiniest signs of life in my poor pot plant; sometimes its the little things eh?

Something in the air

Hard on the heels of my London Plane Trees post the other day, Kris of the always inspiring Kris's color stripes, has just posted a Plane tree colour palette! I can feel a colour, possibly gocco, version of my sketch coming on, just as soon as I get a minute...

Good enough to eat

I treated myself to a shiny new 45 (count 'em!) pan watercolour set at a bargainous 50% off! I had a great time in front of the tele unwrapping the many many colours.

I love how the wrappers look like sweetie papers; Ginger thought for a minute that I'd had a massive sugar binge (or maybe he was just wondering why I hadn't saved one for him)!

Snoozzzzzzzzzzze

Why is it so much harder to get out of bed in the morning when its grey outside than when the sun is shining? Our pale-slate-blue linen and silk quilt doesn't help; Ginger thinks its horribly Granny-esque but I love it...

Nesting

The UK seems to have overslept over the last few days and woken up just in time for Halloween. Don't misunderstand me, I have nothing against October. In fact I'm a big fan of crunching through leaves, crisp misty mornings, damp smoky bonfire smells, mulled wine and autumn foods. Its just that I like to have summer first!

As a result of the strangeness outside, and of feeling somewhat under the weather, a serious nesting instinct set in over the weekend. I am still uncurling myself with the help of my favourite Dunkin Doughnuts Hazlenut coffee - schlepped all the way from NYC specially for me by my gorgeous friend Tashie - in this glorious mug which was a birthday gift from another wonderful friend, H, who has a knack for the perfect present!

Following my cosy toes post the other day, I've also ordered myself a stash of these aptly named O Yummie socks from Sock Dreams, found via Black Apple's fabulous blog.

I just hope that we get a bit more summer before I break them out!

[Sock picture from the Sock Dreams site]

Hot stuff

I love my egg-yolk yellow pan cloth. Not only does it save me from burning myself on hot lids (again!), but the delicious colour makes me smile every time I use it.

Northern chic[k]

   

After years of trying to get into the super bright vibrant colours I adore when I see them done by people who have that southern flair, I'm finally relaxing into my northern european instincts and admitting that I just love our muted hues.