The Road To Paris - What A Journey!

There are many 'Sparklers' in my world but Jennifer Reid would have to be one of the most sparkly.

If you have some time to sit and watch this amazing video I'd encourage you to do so, then go and say "Hi!".
I know she'd love it.

The A-Z of Me

My oh my!

For the longest time I've been toying with creating an 'About Me' page for this space.
There have been several false starts but I've finally been given the kick up the bot that I needed thanks to my fabulous friend Jane  who wrote a terrific 'A-Z' post inspired by Kellie & Sophie .

It was so easy to do and I'd encourage you to have a go, particularly if, like me, you haven't got an 'About Me' page yet.

My camera is still on the blink so I had to resort to using the webcam on my laptop for the photos...and I'll let you in on a little secret, I did it in my PJs,  favourite t-shirt and morning cardigan because I just knew that if I fussed around too much I'd change my mind.

I hope you enjoy learning a little more about me and thank you Jane for the wonderful inspiration.

Happy day!
x

Word Of The Week - Au Fait

Hello friend, are you ready to put on your zhushy hat and play with this week's challenge word?

I'd be thrilled if you left a note here or wrote a post with the phrase 'au fait'  as the focus.


In addition to the defiintion provided you can be 'au fait' if you're acquainted with the facts; well informed; proficient; expert in or with something.

If I were to nominate areas in which I feel comfortable to say that I'm 'au fait' the following spring to mind:

* making a rich, scrummy, lip-smacking lasagne
* selecting, wrapping and presenting beautiful gifts
* the field of Gifted Education
* keeping Captain V happy & loved up
* Navigating shortcuts up and down the Sunshine Coast to get kids to sport on time - yay!

Things I'd love to be 'au fait' with:

* managing my comfort eating and anxiety [getting there]
* CPR and general first aid - coping well with snake bites, heart attack, stroke etc
* dealing with teen attitude [Captain V is the King of this, so there's hope!]
* the fine arts - art history, techniques, you name it, I'd love to have a great teacher to guide me
* the 'classics' in literature - as you know, I'm stepping my feet on this path with your guidance
* Paris, The Dordogne, Ubud, Italy, The Barossa Valley, Snow Pond, Tasmania.....actually this is a long list
* stand up paddle boarding

How about you? Don't give yourself too long to think about it, do as I did and tap it out.
If I'd thought more about it, I'm sure I'd revise my list significantly....so I'm going to press 'Post' now.

Happy day!

For Fungi's Sake....

Hello friend, it's a dewy kind of day in my pocket of the world and in addition to little mists of rain, there have been spates of sunshine so that the droplets hanging from my verandah railing and the tree branches are sparkling up a treat....and then there are fabulous things popping up in my garden.

Mushrooms and fungus to be exact, and fascinating ones at that!

My camera is still not on speaking terms with my laptop so I can't show you an actual photo but I've scoured the web for you and received an education in the process.

There are two most amazing types of fungus that have popped up over the last couple of days.

They are brilliantly coloured and possess a really, no actually I should say 'REALLY' stinky odour!

Which, I've just learned, is why they're called 'Stinkhorns' - seriously I just read all about them.

{images sourced here}

The red ones aren't quite as smelly and look like pieces of tropical coral transplanted into the garden.

The yellow capped ones - peeeewweeeee!  These fellows [what else could I call them with a shape like that?] have also provided impetus for a discussion on anatomy with the Littlest Gift.

Serendipitously I was doing something totally unrelated to fungi, when I stumbled across the following video which has given me a whole new appreciation for the colourful stinkers in our garden.

If you are at all interested in nature, mushrooms, fungi or biological science it's worth a view.....

Happy day!

Great Expectations

Last month saw the marking of Charles Dickens' 200th Birthday.
An unusual celebration I'm sure but one that sparked a flurry of discussion around this most famous author.
I have to confess that I've started many a Dickens title but never managed to get further than the first chapter.
I'd hoped that perhaps this might be the year that I bridged this gap.

My interest was piqued when I saw "Great Expectations" pop up as a new mini-series on ABC tv.

As you know, I'm not a fan of seeing a movie or tv series prior to reading a book, and as I've not read this one I was in two minds, but with an hour to spare I decided to make an exception.

I've just finished watching the first episode and what a rich gift of dark and devilish characters and all sorts of possibilities unfolded before me.

If you'd like to take a peek, click here [not sure if the link will work beyond Aussie shores] and let me know what you think.  I adored the opening sequence, I'm sure you'll see why.

Happy weekend, I hope that the days unfold wonderfully and more than exceed your expectations.

Word Of The Week - Celadon

Colour is something that has fascinated me since I was the littlest poppet.
I have very pleasant memories of visiting my Grandparent's farm and collecting all manner of colourful treasures....wool & embroidery thread from Grandma's basket, feathers from the chookpen, flower petals, beads, shells from a neighbours driveway [I know this sounds odd in outback Australia, but it's true] and of course little rocks and pebbles.
Some of my greatest finds were coloured shards of glass dug up from the dirt near where they burnt their household rubbish.  My favourites were the rich purple and indigo glass which were rare finds, more common were the celadon green or orangey bits.

I wish I still had these fragments of my childhood, instead I have warm memories to hold onto and a love of colour that has held throughout my whole life.

If asked now to nominate a favourite colour I would flounder and then start my reply with "At the moment I love.....".
Crisp white accents are a constant throughout my home and wardrobe but there is a whole lot of ocean inspired colour happening too.

If you popped by to say "Hi!" right now you'd find me enjoying some green tea from a gorgeous handmade mug in celadon green, wearing a rose pink dress with my Grandmother's white beads wound around my wrist.  The mug being the inspiration for this post.
People often comment on it and ask me what the colour is.
I guess I could say dusty green or greenish-blue, but celadon is such a beautiful word and as we're all about zhushing up our vocab I thought I'd share it with you too.

I know that there are several of you who enjoy collecting ceramics in this hue and as you can see from my little montage below it goes beautifully with crisp white.
I had lots of fun seeking out my favourite examples for you and hope that when you see this lovely colour its equally lovely name pops into your mind.

Until next we meet, have fun zhushing up your vocabulary and spreading the word!

If you'd like to imbue your world with a little bit of celadon, all of these items are available for purchase:

Porcelain cup and cutlery rest {here}    Agave photo {here}    Earrings {here}   Brooch {here}    Baby cocoon {here}  Shoe clip {here}    

Wallpaper {here}    Ironing board cover {here]