Our Mediterranean Mother's Day

Yesterday our Greek friends arrived, bearing lots of seafood. We then began a weekend of eating. First was a barbecue lunch of lamb koftas and barbecued octopus:

Not forgetting the Moroccan lamb cutlets:

Thank you Bob for this beautifully styled photograph:

The waters of St George's Basin lapped quietly at the shore on this picture perfect day:

After lunch there was a post-prandial boat-ride for a couple of hours:

Then a seafood feast on the boatshed deck:

This morning there was brunch:

Followed by a stroll along Hyam's Beach:

It doesn't get much better!

Thanks to Chris, Katherine, Maria, Tass and Bob for a great Mother's Day weekend.

Sibella Does it Again

Yesterday was the opening of Sibella Court's new collection at her Paddington store, Society Inc. Her description of the collection reads:

"The flags that flew & tattered through strong winds, relentless storms, high seas and all the wildness of the ocean. . . A world of seashanties, sailmaking, mapping of unchartered coastlines & new lands, portlandings & pirating. . . who can resist the well-loved colours of my favourite flags: the Union Jack, Southern Cross & Tri-colour".

Regrettably, I wasn't able to be there yesterday. I had to content myself with the cover of the May 2010 Australian Country Style magazine, which Sibella styled. Sorry it's difficult to see, but it ticks all the boxes for me: pink and blue palette; beautiful blue quilt, gorgeous French furniture, rose petals, and cat:

To cheer myself up further, I pored over the eye-candy on Design Sponge's blog entry from February, which gives a sneak preview of Sibella's home above the shop. How gorgeous are this pirate flag from John Derian, the chaise and sailing-boat cushion:

The blue quilt from the Country Style shoot, and Vivienne Westwood cushion:

This amazing kitchen, with so many shapes and textures all in a neutral palette:

I want these shelves please:

This is the cabinet in the shop with, I think, the bright colours of "Seeds", her previous collection which opened in February:

I may not have been there in person yesterday, but I certainly was in spirit.

Images Courtesy of Design Sponge Blog and Australian Country Style.

Editing

I know the rule - when you buy something, you should get rid of something else. However, while I've been enthusiastically pursuing the former, I haven't done the latter for quite a while. So, having spent $23 at the Opshop the other day, and as a consequence bringing home this shoe last which will be the defining piece of a tablescape:

And a wire basket that will look great hanging in the kitchen:

A beautiful sugar bowl:

And creamer:

I had to find somewhere for them to live. The boatshed was bursting at the seams so I decided to do a little editing. But how to work out what had to go?For a while I'd been wanting a neutral palette on my dresser. So I just took off everything that was coloured. Here's what remained. It has much cleaner lines now:

And shows off similar objects in rows:

It also brings together unlike objects under the neutral colour scheme:

And the coloured bowls, dishes, glasses etc? They are now filling a large crate and bag in a safe place elsewhere, waiting till I have a market stall or shop, or decide to bring them back in from the cold after I tire of neutrals. I had such fun, now I want to edit the rest of the boatshed. Maybe I'll leave that for another day.

Anzac Day

Ninety-five years on, the original Anzacs, all now dead, would be pleased that the motto 'Lest we Forget' is still being honoured with such fervour. On Sunday, the dawn service at HMAS Creswell at Jervis Bay was all the more poignant because outside these heads, eighty-two sailors on HMAS Voyager lost their lives on 10th February 1964, in one of Australia's worst peacetime disasters:

After the Dawn Service, locals and tourists alike lined the streets of Huskisson for the Anzac Day march:

Followed by a short ceremony at Voyager Park, overlooking jervis Bay:

Lest We Forget.

April Weekend in Sydney

What could be nicer than tying up to the wharf at Watson's Bay, with the backdrop of the city skyline:

Being shown to a table on the upstairs balcony at Doyle's and ordering a seafood platter:

Not to mention the best view in the house:

I felt very spoilt indeed.

Best of British

It's Anzac Day, so I'm not sure why I'm in a bit of a British mood today. Maybe because I just bought the March edition of Living Etc. I instantly fell in love with this hot pink conversation sofa. The apple green cushions are a perfect accompaniment:


I'm a little over stag's heads, but absolutely love these walls, painted in Farrow and Ball's Down Pipe. My favourite elements are the red rose pouffes and the Birdie Blossom cushion by Paul Smith:


The cushion looks fantastic against the black chairs and grey walls:


The magazine also featured this yummy Liberty cushion which is part of the collaboration between Liberty and French store Merci:


I wouldn't say no to this Liberty dress which is part of the collection:


I bought two of the latest Australian interiors magazines a few days ago, but found absolutely nothing to excite me. Maybe I need to move to London.

Images courtesy of Living Etc and Libert of London.

Megan Morton

I had a look at Megan Morton's book in a bookshop this week. It's called 'Home Love: 100 Inspiring Ideas for Creating Beautiful Rooms':

I couldn't find any images from it to post, so here are some from the Design Files blog. I particularly love this Still Life After Caravaggio:

And the scullery in the lower photo. I have a thing for black pantries and kitchen shelves with white crockery at the moment:

This is a room in Megan's own home:

I love many of the images in her book, and recognise some from other books I have, such as the home of British designers Lisa Whatmough from Squint, and Atlanta Bartlett. The only reason I didn't buy it is the same reason I have for not buying Shannon Fricke's. I like to see whose houses the photographs are depicting. Design books from overseas do it, particularly those put out by publisher Ryland, Peters and Small, but for some reason, not so common in Australia. Then again, I might just buy it regardless.

The Down Side of Upcycling

I don't know whether my obsession with old things would be different if I had lots of cash to spare. I love expensive, new things too. The problem is that I can't afford them. For instance, I'd love a Kelly bag. Or a Birkin. I once read on a blog that someone had found two original Kelly bags for next to nothing at a brocante in France, but that doesn't exactly happen every day. I'd also love a piece of art by David Bromley, but they're out of my price range too. So, I'll just have to be content with this cover I bought at the opshop the other day:

Or these pewter beer mugs instead of an expensive glass vase:

And this art deco mirror:

As for never owning a Kelly bag or a David Bromley painting? I think I'll be able to live with that.

The down side of upcycling? I don't think there is one, really.

Happiness Is...

A patchwork quilt found at the opshop for $15 (I gave Iris the backing because it was barkcloth, which she loves). I soaked it in Napisan and hung it on the line:

It looks quite romantic in the boatshed, doesn't it?

Corningware for 30 cents (I didn't think you could buy anything for 30 cents any more):

And chokoes for $2 from the man next to the opshop. Just leave the money on the table on the veranda and take a bag of chokoes. They tasted beautiful steamed and sprinkled with salt and pepper last night:

What more could anyone want? Oh yes, a copy of the latest Inside Out magazine, which has some fantastic images, and a free Rob Ryan tea-towel:

Great Exhibitions

You know when you have those days when you surf the net finding lots of places you'd rather be and things you'd rather be doing? I had one of those yesterday. I happened across the website of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. There is an exhibition of quilts there until 4th July. I'm particularly interested in Tracey Emin's contribution below:



Here are some more:

If you can't make it to the exhibition, you can order quilting squares online, made from reproductions of fabrics from the quilts in the exhibition:


If that isn't enough, there will be another exhibition from 17 April - 26 September entitled "Grace Kelly: Style Icon". Here's what it says about it on the website:

"The spectacular wardrobe of Grace Kelly will be on display at the V&A. Tracing the evolution of her style from her days as one of Hollywoods most popular actresses in the 1950s and as Princess Grace of Monaco, the display will present over 50 of Grace Kelly's outfits together with hats, jewellery and the original Hermès Kelly bag. Dresses from her films, including High Society, will be shown as well as the gown she wore to accept her Oscar award in 1955. These will be accompanied by film clips and posters, photographs and her Oscar statuette. The display will also include the lace ensemble worn by Grace Kelly for her civil marriage ceremony to Prince Rainier in 1956 and 35 haute couture gowns from the 1960s and 70s by her favourite couturiers Dior, Balenciaga, Givenchy, and Yves St Laurent".

Also, from 3rd July till 8th January 2010, there will be an exhibition of illustrations from the "Peter Rabbit" books by Beatrix Potter. I think Londoners are pretty lucky. Meanwhile here in the colonies, people are queuing for two and a half hours at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra to see the last week of the Collection from the Musee D'Orsay. I've chosen to avoid that one. It doesn't seem quite fair does it?

All images courtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum website.