You didn't see me I was falling apartI was a white girl in a crowd of white girls in the parkYou didn't see me I was falling apartI was a television version of a person with a broken heart – 'Pink Rabbits', The National (a great song to listen to through the headphones while…

This is a dress I made to wear to work this year. I used the same pattern as this one, because I like the fit and pockets and it was already sitting on my desk, cut out, from last time (might as well admit it.) For this dress I used a drapey kind of linen/cotton…

  Three old soda bottles arrived in my letterbox from Kelly (after this post) and they boast that lovely thick glass and interesting texture like that first one I dug out from the side of the road. Tom's Mum, Clare, stayed with us last week and bought red gladioli to display in each bottle. Elegant,…

We have a new family table. This is a piece that was constructed by Tom and his Dad (who is a fine furniture designer and maker) in his workshop over the summer holiday. A few years ago, with such a table in mind, the pair selected and put aside some elm planks. They started designing…

Over the summer holiday, we spent a day at my sister's farmlet, an hour's drive away from town. Her family home is a small wooden cottage that was a public-school-dental-clinic in a former life. Together with her husband and four daughters, she takes care of a wide variety of farm animals and birds. She also…

These beauties are hidden wallpapers at my family's beach house. In the 1970s, my grandparents built the house and wallpapered every room and cupboard with bright prints (There were also curtains with different prints but they are long gone now.) Most of the house was painted in neutral colours in the 90s, but inside the…

  I got some card sets printed with a yellow floral theme, since that is my favourite at the moment. In each set, there are two chamomile cards (taken in the South Island over Christmas) and two cards with this yellow South African Leucospermum flower, which smells like manuka honey. Happy new week, friends.

The coriander plants have quickly gone to seed in the summer heat. They are coordinating with the wallpaper print in the kitchen. Have you seen these beautiful photos? A mother in Russia captures her two young children with their animal friends.

I made this simple garment with the office in mind. It was actually something I had been looking for when out shopping: a plain black linen top. It was a happy moment when I realised I could just make one and there was even some linen waiting on the shelf (love it when that happens-…

a) a tangle of wildflowers in a field at my sister's place b) I made this new summer blanket: it's a secondhand candlewick cotton bedspread, washed a few times, then mended in a few places with Liberty lawn patches. Cosy and cool at the same time. Thank you for your kind and thoughtful comments and…