Wednesday 25 January 2012

Sydney snapshots...

Well, I made it to Sydney after the typically tedious 23 hour flight from London. I actually found it more monotonous than usual on this trip...perhaps because there wasn't a great number of films that took my fancy. However, I was delighted that I did manage to see Midnight in Paris which I had missed at the cinema.

The sunny, Sydney summer has yet to make an appearance...it has rained every day since I arrived (though at least not constantly throughout the day), and is forecast to do so for at least the next 5 days! But, at least the weather is warm.

On Tuesday I was meeting an old friend in the city for lunch, so decided to wander past a few of my favourite places en-route.

 At the top of Macquarie St, beneath one of the lovely Moreton Bay fig trees
The State Library of NSW

The opera house, taken after walking through the botanical gardens

The old GPO building in Martin Place

The Strand Arcade

I have a few more pictures to share once I am home and have had a chance to edit them...

Today is Australia Day, which also means it is a public holiday. I am making the most of the 'relaxing and doing very little' approach to the day by losing myself in two birthday gifts that were waiting for me when I arrived in Sydney...
Image via

This is one of the books by Janelle McCulloch. If you have yet to discover her beautiful blog (A Library of Design), I would urge you to click over there right now...

Image via
 
By the owners of Pale and Interesting, that I have enthused over before on this blog...
 
...and discovered a previously unknown benefit of blogging - it helps family members to choose gifts that they know I will love!!
 



Thursday 19 January 2012

Holiday bound...

Pinned Image
Image via pinterest

The bag is packed, travel papers are in order, and the taxi is booked for tomorrow morning's airport transfer.

Image via

I'm off to Sydney for three weeks to spend time with my family.

I already have a few favourite must-sees to include while I'm in town...a visit to Tessuti's fabric store in Surry Hills, a sojurn to Donna Hay's general store in Woollahra, and a little expedition to the top of the Blue Mountains to visit one of my favourite antique centres...

I'll hopefully be able to drop in to my blog now and then whilst I'm away...

Sunday 15 January 2012

Finishing...completing...

There is nothing like being about to head off on holidays to encourage one to finally complete the various craft projects that are lying around one's sitting room...I really don't want to come back in 3 weeks and find them still sitting here!

So, I turned up my productivity level a notch and finally finished...

A new cushion for the French arm-chair

Isn't the fabric gorgeous? I thought the room could do with a few more touches of colour and I managed to obtain a metre of this fabric from a friend in Brisbane who was selling off her stash. I have a little bit left so I'm trying to decide what to use it for...

I also finally finished sewing together the little fair-isle knitted cardigan I started back in the summer. The pattern is from Debbie Bliss' Simply Baby pattern book. It was my first attempt at fair-isle and I'm reasonably pleased with how it turned out, but not sure if I'll be attempting another fair-isle project for a little while - following the pattern did not prove to be too complicated, but continually unravelling 8 balls of coloured wool was extremely tedious!

Actually, as you can see this isn't quite finished - I still need to get some tiny buttons to sew on...but that doesn't feel like nearly as much of a 'job' as getting it sewn together seemed!

Now, onto thinking about packing....which given the widely varying temperatures that Sydney is experiencing, is probably going to test my resolution to pack minimally...

Thursday 12 January 2012

Simple handmade gifts...ruffled scarves


As well as enabling my love of home design inspiration, blogging has also given me the opportunity to explore the projects of some very talented sewing bloggers. In the middle of last year, I came across a great tutorial for an anthropologie-inspired catch and release scarf, on the blog presser foot.

I thought this seemed such an easy-to-make project, and such a great idea for a gift that I filed the post away in my memory as a possible future project. Well, in the last few weeks of December I decided to make one of these for each of a small group of friends whom I have known since high school (those of the christmas decoration tradition), and store them up to gift as birthday gifts throughout this year. 

I followed the tutorial exactly as described by Kelli in her post here. I purchased 4 metres of cotton muslin fabric from the Cloth House in Soho which was sufficient to make all 6 scarves, and I think cost me a sum total of about £12. I then used Dylon hand-dye as that is what is available here in the UK. I used three separate colours in all - chosen to compliment each friends tastes/style.


I'd have to confess that making all 6 at once became a little tedious at times as I felt like an assembly worker at one stage - but now I'm pleased that they are all done, and I can just pull each one out at the relevant time and pop a little parcel in the post to Australia as a birthday-surprise.


If you are looking for a simple but personal handmade gift, then I can recommend this tutorial - no complicated sewing required!

Tuesday 10 January 2012

...and back again...


After a lovely weekend in Dublin, it was back to the real world and work this week...

Though I can't complain...only 8 more days of work and I fly to Australia for 3 weeks to spend time with my mother, my sister and her family, and hopefully, stocking up on a little bit of warm weather and sunshine...I'm just going to gloss over the fact that Accuweather is currently forecasting rain for the first 4 days after I arrive!
 
And a few mementos from the weekend...

Christmas lights in Grafton Street - very pretty this year...

 
A walk in Dalkey on Saturday - looking across to the Sugarloaf...

Film Poster - The Artist (2011)
Saturday afternoon at the cinema...
Image via

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It is a brilliant film - I loved it and I'd definitely recommend this to anyone
 
And I lost my heart to one of the stars of the film...
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...who pretty much stole every scene he was in...
Jean Dujardin as George Valentin in The Artist (2011) (2011)
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I hope you all had fabulous weekends too...


Friday 6 January 2012

Dublin bound...

Trinity Bike - 9.5x12 Unframed
Photography of Giles Norman (image via)


Hello all...just popping in before heading off to Dublin for the weekend...the weather here in the UK has been horrendously windy for the last 3-4 days, but things seems to have settled now, so I'm hoping that a) the flight won't be too bumpy, and b) that I don't spend all weekend wrestling with an umbrella that keeps being blown inside-out.

This is a long-overdue trip for me. I lived in Dublin in 2002-3, and so generally get across three or four times per year to catch up with friends...however, I only made it once in 2011 for my good friend R's birthday. So, we planned this weekend as a nice, cozy, relaxing catch-up after the busy-ness of the festive season... I'm anticipating some time spent in nice cozy pubs lingering over a coffee or warming glass of red wine, some yummy pasta from Manifesto in Rathmines, and lots of conversation....

The photo above is one by Giles Norman - he is an amazing photographer. I bought this and another of his prints when I left Dublin as a memento of my time there (sadly, something else that is in storage in Sydney...). This one is of Trinity College, but I've added a few more below for you to enjoy...

Ha'Penny Bridge - 9.5x12 Unfra
Ha'Penny Bridge (image via)
Palace Bar - 9.5x12 Unframed


I hope you all have lovely weekends also...

Tuesday 3 January 2012

A design project for 2012...


So, I've set myself a design project for 2012 (only one, given that I rent my flat and there are very few changes I can make to the decor). But, I've been pondering a change to the bedroom for a little while now...and I've decided to post about it here to keep me accountable and focused.


In all likelihood, this project will be done in small stages throughout the year, as I make a concerted effort to try and do this from a DIY, thrifty (i.e. cost-contained) focus. I already own the cast iron bed, and an antique pine chest of drawers. So, most of the project details will be focused on sourcing and refinishing two bedside tables, and changing the soft furnishings. There is also the somewhat ugly canvas covered wardrobe tucked into a corner, that I will have to think of a way to beautify (or at least make a little prettier and less utilitarian).


Like most flat rentals in the UK, the bedroom walls are painted in a magnolia/deep cream colour - not ideal, but it could be much worse. So, I'm planning to shift towards a more neutral palette - soft greys, white, taupe - and will try to mix in some interesting textures.


Stay tuned for further developments...

Monday 2 January 2012

In memory


Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak whispers the o'er-fraught heart 
and bids it break.  
William Shakespeare

Today marks the second anniversary of the loss of my father. I have thought long and hard about whether to publish this post, as generally my writing on this blog is about the happy and positive events that make up my day to day life. However, I also aimed for it to be a place to record the inspirations that shape who I am and what I choose to do and be. So, in that context, I wanted to express the sorrow that still abounds with the loss of my father, but also gratitude for the love and support he provided me for so long. 

The photo above is of the Lion of the Lucerne - a beautiful monument to the Swiss Guards who were killed during the French Revolution. I first saw this monument in 1998 when I travelled through Europe for the first time and was so taken with the beautiful depiction of sorrow that it expressed. When I was able to accompany my parents back to Switzerland in 2007, my father was equally taken with it...and so, I thought it a fitting picture to accompany this post.

My father was of the hale and hearty type - so much so that his sudden diagnosis with glioblastoma multiforme (grade 4 brain tumour) in August 2009 came as such a shock as we all, especially him, came to terms with the reality of his imminent passing. Despite a course of radiotherapy, his final decline came only 4 months later. He was hospitalised in mid-December and placed under palliative care - and I flew home to be with my family - all 4 of us together, for what would be the last time. Although Dad was progressively losing his language he was able to express that he wanted to be taken home to die - something we were able to achieve on 23 December 2009.

Those 10 days between 23 December and the evening of 2 January when he eventually slipped away constitute the hardest days of my life. Although we had a daily visit from a community nurse, the practical care of my father fell to myself, my sister and mother. The reality of having to care for him - particularly in trying to keep him comfortable with morphine and managing the increasing incidence of his seizures can only be described as horrendous - his illness had reduced this strong, loving, protective man to a shell of his former self. Yet still, I look back and can also appreciate that having the privilege to care for my father during those days is one of the proudest moments of my life. This was my chance to bestow as much love, care and nurturing onto him as he had unfailingly offered me.

As the days passed slowly, I came to begin to pray for his release - it was just so agonising to witness his final struggle in life. But, when the time came to actually say goodbye, I have few words to describe the grief. Surrounded by my mother, my sister and I, he eventually passed away after one last dreadful seizure. He lay in the bed, turned slightly towards my mother, and she saw the glimmer of a smile on his face as he eventually slipped away.

After two years, there is still not a day that goes by that I do not think of my father and mourn his loss. Initially those memories were totally focused on the days immediately preceding his passing... but as time has gone by, they have started to become more balanced with other, happier though bittersweet, memories. 

My father was, and remains, one of the greatest sources of inspiration in my life. The actions I take today are still tempered by the thought of what would he think, what would his advice be, would he be proud of me...

His loss will remain with me always...these typically celebratory days of the Christmas/New Year period will always be tinged with grief; he won't be there to attend my PhD graduation in March; he will never walk me down the aisle; and if I should be fortunate enough to have children, they will never know the kind and loving grandfather that my niece and nephew experienced...but more than that, the enduring safety net that he provided purely by his presence is gone, and I feel that I have been cut free...

...he is greatly, and immeasurably missed....