spring fever

Some photos of spring flowers - fluffy pink stock and jasmine. I think jasmine is quite a strange plant. It can be so invasive and has tough leaves and stalks that are almost impossible to break but the flowers are so delicate and pale and beautiful.

I made the cactus pot in response to missing out on one of Stella Baggott's little face planters from her etsy shop sale last week. I couldn't decide which pot I liked best and they all sold out as I dithered.

Enjoy your week.

the big news

My granddaughter, Augusta.
 

tiny things

The flowers are orchids - maybe Dendrobium? I don't know much about orchids but this one grows long stems with lots of little flowers. Most of the time it lives a neglected outside life but in spring it leaps into bud - much to our delight - and is brought indoors.

The tiny village is from Rekindle. Each piece is made from native New Zealand timbers salvaged from buildings damaged in the Christchurch earthquakes. Bits of someone's home - a piece of weatherboard, a bit of floor - is now part of a tiny house living in my house.

Reading A wife on Gorge River by Catherine Stewart

round things

- a mobile by Renilde de Peuter that I bought from Mr Kitly when I was in Melbourne. I have long admired Renilde's mobiles and am overjoyed to finally have one in my house. There are more photos of her mobiles here or visit her blog At Swim-two-birds.

- a necklace I also bought in Melbourne from Craft - unfortunately I can't remember the maker's name.

- and an amazing acoustic installation by Celeste Boursier-Mougenot that I saw at the National Gallery of Victoria. It's a shallow pool filled with floating porcelain bowls that move on a gentle current. When the bowls randomly bump against each other they chime. If it is quiet in the gallery and you sit by the pool for a while to listen, the chimes become a strange music.

Reading Moving Miss Peggy: a story of dementia, courage, and consolation by Robert Benson

fog days

We have had lots of foggy mornings the past few weeks. But I quite like fog. I like how when you walk in it your hair gets wet and I like how it diffuses light. I took these photos in my garden this morning when everything was still wet with fog.

Listening Modern vampires of the city by Vampire Weekend.

dancing queen

We were in Australia last week staying in Melbourne and Apollo Bay. One of the highlights of the trip for me was visiting the Cape Otway lightstation. The photos show the road into the lightstation, one of the many koalas that live in the gum trees in the area, the lighthouse built in 1848 and the view from the top deck of the lighthouse. In the 1880s it must've been an isolated wild place. It's hard to imagine that Mary Anne Ford, the wife of one of the lighthouse keeper's from 1848-1878, birthed seven children on her own and managed to feed them all on rations delivered once every twelve months.

It was also a surprise - as it seemed so out of place - to discover the delicate pink wallpaper. It was a Christmas gift to the daughters of a lighthouse keeper back in the 1960s. A small piece was left intact during the restoration of the lighthouse and surrounding buildings. Did those little girls dream of ballerinas? Did they grow up to be dancers? Or, maybe, they became lighthouse keepers themselves?

Reading A sight for sore eyes by Ruth Rendall + Listening to Desire lines by Camera Obscura

baby, baby

- red flame tree flowers - seen everywhere at the moment. The flame tree is one of those deciduous trees that flowers in spring before it has its new leaves so a big tree full of bright red flowers looks amazing.

- another baby beanie about to be wrapped in tissue and posted off to my new soon-to-be-born great great nephew, Oliver

- a pair of booties I knitted and crocheted onto sheepskin soles using this kit. I'm pleased with how they turned out - they'll be toasty warm - but they were impossible to photograph as they are a dark navy colour and fluffy (I used a possum merino yarn). Maybe next week I can reveal a big secret and tell you who they are for.

Have a good week.

Listening By the horns by Julia Stone + Reading The liberty tree by Suzanne Harrington