It's the school holidays, and Tom and I got the chance to take a couple of days off work and head out of the city with some friends. We stayed in a cabin on a sheep station at the edge of the sea. These photos were taken at dusk, shortly after my friend Jess looked out of the window and said 'it's as though everything is in hyper-colour.'
These flowers were brought back from the park by a group of nieces, tightly clutched between hot fingers and tied together with ivy vine.
We had a pretty gorgeous time here over Easter, with so many cousins, aunts, uncles and friends in one house. Quite a bit of sighing (and washing) has happened since yesterday, when life returned to 'normal'. I illustrated these small coffee cups: they're vintage Crown Lynn white ceramic, illustrated with small sprigs (inspired by the gifted niece-bouquets) and slightly tinted with blue here and there.
I found this yesterday: '36 grandmothers from around the world, and the food they cook'. I think you'll like it.
Happy Easter, if you're celebrating this weekend.
Such a golden, lovely time of year here at the bottom of the world. We have candles, walnuts, roast vegetables and wine, and a table laid for 14, and that includes eight young ones! They have chocolate eggs and rabbits instead of the wine.
Wishing you a happy time and warm days ahead.
In the absence of any sunshine today I thought I'd have a look back through my blog at what I was doing two Aprils ago. Makes me wish I was sitting down making stuff, and eating passionfruit, instead of catching the bus in the rain.
Hope your April is going well so far. Did you see the blood moon last night?
– wildflower pouch
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I went to the local vege market over the weekend and admired the piles of field mushrooms, root vegetables, feijoas, new-season apples and kiwifruit. And we were lucky enough to have three separate gatherings over the weekend- so all in all, I've probably eaten a bit too much. How lucky we are to live this life.
Among the various dishes I've been making for the family lately, soup has made a comeback. Today I made a lentil-vegetable soup (not so photogenic but warming and hearty), and a tomato soup- this old favourite blogged about a few years ago. Also, roasted beetroot (so thrilled to be able to harvest our own this autumn) and feijoa tart/pie. The tart was made from this recipe, which is a favourite around here because it produces enough for two tarts at a time: one for afternoon tea with friends (with blueberries + pears), and one for the lunchboxes the next day (feijoa and green apple).
What are you cooking or eating these days?
Rain, mist, wind and cold this week. I've been working on a few projects of the warming kind.
The second photo above shows the draught stoppers for our old sash windows I mentioned back here. I was inspired by the design in this Lotta book, and used a scratchy old wool blanket to make enough 'window snakes' for the whole house. Inside I put plain rice, bought in bulk. I thought about this for a long time before settling on rice. I was unsure about using a food source for a non-food purpose but at the same time I wanted to use a natural, biodegradable material (certainly not plastic pellets or similar.) I thought about sand, but worried it could be/get damp or sift out of any holes/seams. I'm still not completely sure about the rice (condensation…?) but I will cross my fingers. This d-i-y insulation is working a treat so far.
A while ago I came across a little-house-on-the-prairie style skirt that had been donated to the opshop from an old theatre. The seams had come apart but the heavy velveteen cotton in a dark sea-green was still beaut. So I made this oversized floor cushion for the kids. Cosy and comfortable!
This is a good rainy-day song by a Kiwi songwriter living in Paris.
Enjoy your weekend.
I'm looking forward to teaching the hand-carved stamps and printing class at Handmade again this year. You can read more about the event here. This will be my third year hosting this class, so I'm gathering together some new designs and resources ready for the students. Last weekend I carved a butterfly stamp (from some new black rubber material I found at a craft store- I bought extra for students) and then used it to print some cotton muslin fabric. I never get tired of the combination of ink + stamp + fabric.
Inside an old book I found a collection of pressed leaves I remember collecting and carefully arranging with Keira a couple of years ago. We had forgotten all about them. Most are ferns and native shrub leaves, and they've retained their deep green and brown hues.
We did some sketches of the leaves, and I used my ceramic ink to transfer the designs to some vintage tea cups. Imagine if it were possible to transfer the actual pressed leaves and flowers onto the cups? Maybe there is a way, but I don't know it.
But I did find this beautiful gem: Herbarium, pressed by Emily Dickinson circa 1839-46.
– a gift from Tom's parents: big and bold white lilies, to brighten up the windowsill.
– a beautiful page from an old, falling-apart encyclopedia: 'Wild flowers of the lily and related families found in Britain'.
Other Wellington-based stuff:
HANDMADE is happening again this year, and i'm pleased to be returning to teach some classes (more about this next week.) The 2014 programme is now live, with lots of interesting new classes, workshops and lectures- you can check it out here.
The next Fabricabrac (fabric + supplies sale to benefit local hospices) is happening on April 12, which is just in time for cosying up and doing some sewing, don't you think? You can find out more here.
And this looks super fun: make your own art at Matchbox Studios (in Cuba St) and help raise money for Amnesty International – find out more here.
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Have a lovely weekend, dear readers.
I got some cards printed from end-of-summer scenes: a coriander harvest and these colourful asters in old bottles. It's been such a happy time in our new house; every single day I get joy from the plants growing in the garden. I'm feeling very grateful these days.
So I found a bundle of letter and photos from pre-email days, including notes from school friends and letters from Tom from when we first got together. I've set myself a challenge for this coming winter. I want to write + send a note (card, postcard or letter) at least once a week, to an old friend or relative. Viva la snail mail…
p.s. did you know there's a 'snail mail app' for iPhone? Don't know how I feel about that…
tiny happy 