Well you'll have noticed I've had an unexpected break from the blog this weekend. Thanks to all who commented in my absence. Replies are on the way to anyone who asked questions. Goodness only knows what I've missed on all your blogs in 3 days!
Work was very full on and then I had some cat sitting I hadn't expected and preparation for the arrival of the veg plants on Tues/Wed. Also took a wander to the garden centre for some organic seeds so I can get the spinach, lettuce and oriental salad started now that the sun is shining more regularly.
I have to get back to the salad seeds, pots of compost and various cats but hopefully tomorrow I will FINALLY post pics of Anna's visit, they just need some editing first. Till then here is another piece from the Couture Range at Bodo Sperlien.
Hi Ulla, I hope it's ok to show this lovely mini quilt you made. I've not had enough crafty things lately and it is Easter so I thought this would be perfect.
This is one of 3 mini quilts of Ulla's which you can see here, aren't they wonderful little creations. I do love 'mini' things. * still having weird scaling probs in blogger so apologies for picture quality.
There's a new magazine in town (UK). I get my Living Etc and Elle Decoration as birthday and Christmas subscriptions from my brother (bless him) so I never buy magazines. But I do like 1st issues as they often pull out all the stops so MrP treated me to INSIDEOUT the April launch issue of an interiors mag.
With the flurry of excitement around Anna's visit I forgot I had it and so I never posted on any of the nice things inside like the Teardrop pendant lamp at Bodo Sperlein. It's made from hand blown pyrex and bone china (hence the £1,300 price tag!). There were other lovely pieces in their Couture range ...
Sometimes being green seems such a huge task, But often it's the many many small things that can really have an impact. The little shifts that gradually change accepted standards.
Domicile had a link to Ideal Bites, a website where you can sign up for little bites of info monday to friday. Here's what they say about themselves...
By joining the Ideal Bite community, every Monday through Friday you'll receive a daily email tip on how to take the small bites of the green apple that add up to big, positive changes. And we promise to never to be preachy or shake our fingers at you.
I found Anna Peach through Anika Sandin's blog and I'm so glad because it's it the most beautiful work. The piece show here is called 'Seed' and comes from her Coconut Couture collection where she creates incredible lingerie from Hawaii's invasive plant species. Finally, something to wear with my ring.
Here is Anna's artist statement:
Within my sculptures I explore the porous boundary between art and the everyday. I represent the human spirit through a husk of clothing. These husks offer a home for the soul- an island within the larger world. I explore the traditionally gendered realms of sewing, earth and fairytales while investigating the anonymity of labor. I work with discarded material that is imbued with history and experience. These elements are at times the handiwork of the ancestors and become a vessel for their spirit. By connecting the cast away objects of different time and place I erase the cultural and political lines we draw in regards to the ‘other.’ Anna Peach
Today I placed this month's order of Organic Plug Plants from Delfland Nursery.
They are great, they do all the tricky stuff with the seedlings like, you know, keeping them ALIVE (I used to have many losses to heat, cold, rain, drought and slugs). Then they slide them out of their little root containers, pop them in plastic bags and that very same day post them in a box to you.
I still marvel that they arrive intact but indeed they do. Last year we ordered over 100 plants and only one plug got squished en route and it still grew on fine. It's all seasonal so there are different things you can order each month and I've just ordered peppers, tomatoes, spring onions (lots) and a couple of strawberries as mine are looking a bit winter weary.
Just after I placed my order I saw this lovely photo on this post at Auntie Cookie to remind me what wonders await when my tomatoes ripen (thanks for the pic you emailed).
Her site also has fun illustrations like this...
She lives in Australia so she's been having summer. Oh I want summer. About an hour ago I heard my fence breaking in the wind. I'm not even going to look, it can wait till morning. I'm in far too tomatoey a mood to be going out in a cold gale. Though I should perhaps think about going to bed as it's 4am. I'm having a posting frenzy after those days off.
* sorry for recent low quality on some pictures. for some reason blogger is scaling them down and I'm manually stretching them back which is never a good thing.
Another piece of Karin's work just because it's beautiful and I feel like posting it...
I can't get a hold of photo's of my wire and tissue sculpture/light pieces so I decided to show you the work of Polly Verity who uses the same techniques but makes different things (my things are pod/flower/jellyfish like).
You can find more of her work here where there are examples of her huge Alice in Wonderland pieces for a wedding. She works to commission so if you have a special occasion and want to make a statement...
I just realised that my post on Vanity Fair's 1st green issue was a first for me too, my first 100 posts!
When I started I thought it would take me a year to do that many. Is this a sign of a wasted life or just an interminably long winter. Please, someone get spring started in my neck of the woods. Even in Edinburgh, just 4 miles away, they have blossom and bulbs growing in the gardens. But here, right now as I type there is a howling wind that is quite literally shaking my house.
If it's shaking my house what on earth must it be doing to this little lovely that I would LOVE to own...
