a moment ...

...preserved.

so sweet. so pure. spontaneous love + affection.

it made my heart ache with happiness then, and now.

e x

oh, buttons

the production line swings into action. deadline racing towards me...

have a great week.

e x

i am absolutely captivated by this story.   a brilliant, unravelling mystery.  the one about a completely untouched apartment, left as it was, just before the outbreak of the second world war and not returned to for 70 years.  can you imagine? what an exquisite find.

you can read all about it here, but in a nutshell:

mme de florian, a ‘demimondaine’, headed for the south of france before the war and remained there for the rest of life, until she died this year at 91 years old.  she continued to pay the rent on her her beautiful apartment for the next 70 years. her home abandoned, it became a time capsule, a tangible snapshot of life as it was paris in the 1930's.

some people have a box of heirloom pieces, an antique clock that sits in pride of place on the mantelpiece, a special vintage quilt they love and saved up for.  but here is a life, an entire household with nothing added to, or removed, in decades.  not a vignette, a mock-up, or an ode to the 30's but a real home, a luxurious dwelling with the normal paraphernalia and unique accouterments of a life lived.

how i would love the chance to wander through, to handle the old pieces and oh, what a tale.

ours + yours

my sweet angel baby girl. today we went to court.


we already loved you to the moon and back but tonight we sleep secure in the knowledge that you, my love, can never be taken from us. we have spent nine years with the 'department' starting our family and tonight we are done. our family is complete - legally. thank God!

forever and ever, and ever amen, you are ours and we are yours.
we promise to always do our best for you.

sleep tight darling woo.

i know i will.

planting

coriander
mint
parsley
basil
oregano
rosemary
chives
thyme

what a fabulous list. i love every one of these scrumptious, fragrant, drop dead delicious herbs. freshly planted for the summer.

yummo!

g.u.r.

there has been a great deal of activity around here particularly in our driveway, which will hopefully soon incorporate a garden, with proper grass to relax on too. i have great hope that we will begin the new year with all in place - it's important to hold on to hope, isn't it?



much of the work has involved the trusty old wheelbarrow.
hard work at the best of times, carting a barrow load of soil around, harder still when the tyre is flat.
in a moment of great initiative (giving me a moment's peace) greg loaded the children up and wheeled the whole kit and caboodle to the service station to pump it up!

fun for all (well maybe not greg's shoulder muscles!)

for non-golfers g.u.r = ground under repair - oh, boy, is it ever!

lavender + scarlet

two things from the weekend.

i had a pedi - the first in over a year - gasp + heaven!

i plucked a box full of my heavenly lavender buds to dry.
i am hopeful that they will be ready for a big upcoming event (more on that later).
i must say i felt a little cruel to a) the plants that had worked so hard to raise these fragrant bloom and b) to the bees who buzzed around me, perhaps a little crossly, as i snipped off their much needed nectar supply - my linen cupboard smells wonderful!

techno baby

i'm not particularly techo savvy but apparently my baby is and apparently these are the latest 3G glasses, that's 'g' for grasshopper.

i love catching her unawares, and i love her whacky antics - sometimes ...

the belfry ...

... there are indeed bats in it! oh, and tigs would like you to notice that there is one vampire too!

while woo napped tigs and i took the time to craft a little halloween into the house.

it really was an extremely quick, simple and last minute decision, but we thought it was lovely.

tigs made the table lanterns and flossy came to eat with us. he insisted on turning out the overhead lights and we ate by very feint lamplight! fun though.

on the menu? why pumpkin soup, of course!

hope you had a happy halloween. ours was treat or treat free and almost completely sweetie free.

girls' wear

lavender

last minute eye masks - from here.