swear board chalk board

we started a swear board to encourage ourselves to be more aware of what we say in front of mirka. our friends recently looked after mirka so we could have a night out and it looks like it was a cracker! especially for steve.. although anyone who knows charlie may find the leader board a little suspicious!

i bought the chalk board from the moma store online a couple of years ago and i like the strap of elastic around the bottom that you can use to hold things like this cute little illustration by michele maule. where else? etsy.

last day of autumn

last day of autumn tomorrow. can't believe winter is here already. i do love winter and i'll miss having the open fire we had at our old place. there's nothing like that cosy, sleepy feeling of sitting in front of a fire on a sunday morning with nothing better to do. hmm.. that's funny. i was just thinking of that and cafe rosamond in fitzroy popped into my head. there's a great place to go if you want a snug + homey experience with your coffee served in one of nanna's 70's mugs. only one season left before gracie-girl's first birthday in spring. that's all i've got to say. oh and i think winter would make a great name, not that it works with our surname :)

missing a big chunk

hmm. i'm having a reflective day today. so much on my mind. but do i really want to go down that path and put it out there for the whole world to read?? being an architect is a big part of who i am... what makes me tick and get out of bed in the morning. it's more than what i do. these photos are from one of my projects that had started construction when i went on maternity leave. i drop in about once a month to have a look and it's looking great, but lately i've had this unsettling feeling like i'm the guest at the end of a party who just won't go home. i've made it clear that i'm keen to come back to work, at least for a couple of days a week, but it seems i've been given the polite shoulder. i know the dreaded gfc has come down hard on architects, but it just feels a bit more disappointing than that. maybe it's just time for me to grow up and realise that this could be an opportunity to do my own thing.

anyway.. a little about the design.. it's a beautiful old house where we've maintained the existing front rooms that were worth keeping and then opened it up before the new 3-storey modern addition. we've separated the old + the new with a double height void. i don't want to go on and on about it, but thought i'd mention the window that's going in between the basement bar and pool.. can't wait to photograph that once it's finished.

bold underfoot

i love a bold graphic. the image from my last post reminded me this. i photographed the first while waiting for a tram in freezing weather and the 2nd when i noticed it underfoot as a safety measure at a busy construction site entrance. i've often thought of cleaning up the 2nd photograph and having it printed and framed, but i'm not 100% on the idea. so for the moment, in the back of my mind it floats. stripes.

hey hey i'm a winner!

i don't believe it! i'm a winner and right now i'm sitting here a grinner. i added a comment on black eiffel earlier this month and now i have one of these very clever flip & tumble shopping bags on the way. wondering what i wrote??

captain kk said...

how super-stylin :)

my make a difference mo was last xmas when i decided not to wrap everything in paper that would just be ripped and thrown out.. i invested in a few different sized white boxes that simply need a pretty ribbon tied around each of them. they looked beautiful under the tree and we will re-use them every birthday and xmas.

i'd like to think it was my clever idea that won it for me, but no, it was a randomly generated thing. still. lucky.

night hostage

for months we've had a big garden orb spider living in the japanese maple next to the deck. he would hide during the day and throw a huge web between the tree and the house every night. he was so predictable, you could set your watch by him. basically, the deck was ours to use during the day, but you couldn't pay me enough to venture out there at night. so for all the months i was a night hostage in my own home, i kept meaning to go out and take a photo of his huge web, but never summoned up the courage. just when i was becoming comfortable with our little day & night dance, he up and disappeared and i missed my chance. just this morning i noticed a tiny spider web in our giant agave and here's the proof. today's ramblings reminded me of a beautiful post i had seen before and after much back tracking down the rabbit hole i found it...

from kris' color stripes (from wednesday april 1 2009).. i think it's a stunning photograph and i love how she extracts the essential colours like a paint sample board for a lush interior. alive.

zoo times

we took m.g. to the zoo on saturday and she LOVED the butterfly (hot) house. we spotted this stunning green one on our way out and it stayed there just long enough for a quick snap. i've said it before.. i'm lovin the quad cam. green.

light industrial

just back from the cwc talk and here i am bloggin. always inspiring, i love hearing how other creative women work + live. apart from being clever + creative as one would expect, shannon was quite funny. i loved her story about getting into the blogging world after discovering a blog she loved when a google search on a uni friend returned a hit.. as opposed to previous searches on ex boyfriends which turned up nothing. ha! so true. let's be honest people.. we've all done a google search on the good, the bad and the ugly people in our lives.

anyways, the talk was at mars gallery, which had a great light industrial space upstairs. i especially liked the sweet detail on the hand rail/ balustrade that followed the rather dog-leg and otherwise ordinary concrete stair.

cwc talk tomorrow

i'm off to the next cwc talk tomorrow morning. come along and join me. shannon from aunty cookie is giving the talk. i write 'shannon' like i'm on a first name basis. i'm not. but who knows maybe after another super event organised by tess i just might be. there's nothing like feeling part of a creative community. design.

sweet ginger

i was tidying up the garden when i noticed that a couple of ginger stalks had flowered. i couldn't resist chopping one down and i knew the perfect spot.. next to my favorite hand wash in the world, aesop's resurrection aromatique hand wash, on the bathroom basin. every time i walk into the bathroom at the moment, i'm hit with this amazing scent from the ginger and so far it is lasting surprisingly well. delight.

a little timber house

to go with my last post... i can't remember where i originally found these.. on another blog while down the rabbit hole i think.. but anyways, i like. made by substrata and you guessed it, available on etsy. a little timber house for your pet iphone mouse... hmmm, don't think i got enough sleep last night. tired.

iphoney timber teether

how cool is this timber iphone teether?? (no, that's not mirka).. spotted on daddy types, it was created by corey jones. might be just the thing to let mirka dribble all over instead of the real deal. clever.

mirka's 'matoes

we planted up a batch of organic tomatoes last year and nicknamed them mirka's 'matoes because we would take our little newborn out with us to check on their daily growing status. it was pretty exciting seeing them grow at a rapid rate, then sprout small yellow flowers that would turn into little green tomato buds... and then the february heat wave hit. surprisingly, we were still getting a few tomatoes after that, but these were the sorriest looking tomato plants you've ever seen. so these are the last of our organic home grown tomatoes. not so bad.

smartie love

2 years ago today i said goodbye. i handed the keys over and the new owner might as well have said "say goodbye to your little friend". seems like a lifetime ago now, those high times zooming along beach road in my stylish and beloved smartie. and what a stylish smart car i had. at the time the husband had just bought a new black alfa with black leather interior.. so when it was time for me to part with my old friend percy, the 1984 mitsubishi colt, i also had to have an all black car with black leather interior. in a strange twist of fate, i actually drove past my old smartie today, while driving around middle park. farewell my little smartie, i, your original and true owner, think of you often. smile.

aurora spa what a treat

so part of my sensational, extended mother's day long weekend organised by the husband, were a couple of visits to aurora spa. up on top of the prince hotel, after 2 massages and the most indulgent 'horizontal hand & foot ritual' (highly recommended).. i forgot who, where, what and why. of course, i also left with a few goodies to make me feel like i've brought a little piece of aurora home with me.

designed by wood marsh architects, i just love the beautiful black metal, morrocan style, laser cut screens that give the facade it's exterior personality and create the most beautiful shadows within the interiors.

prince charming

the prince is a hard hotel to beat for designer style & livin' it up large... and man is that a beautiful reality at the prince. who knew what happened in the world on sunday or monday... for all i know aliens landed while i was secluded within the uber stylish walls of the prince. it is such a world away .. it could be it's own republic. luxury.

what a weekend

what a weekend! happy first mother's day to me. i feel so lucky. i woke up to these two happy faces on sunday morning, complete with a tray full of pancakes with sliced banana, maple syrup and ice-cream on the side. yum! i've had such a beautiful extended mother's day long weekend, that i've got lots to blog about for the next few days, but for now, this photo captures what life is all about. love.

we make words

came across this great creative blog called we make words while i was down the rabbit hole. what?? this is what i tell the husband in answer to him asking me what i'm up to on the computer.. you know how it is.. one blog leads to another and another and before you know it you've got 20 tabs open on your screen and you're well and truly down the rabbit hole.

anyways.. i like it and it seems a nice image to post for mother's day tomorrow. sweet.

picnicing in style

i have a friend called russell. this friend of mine really knows how to cater a picnic. real plates, real cutlery and the food! absolutely delicious quiche, (let's call it an egg + bacon pie for the men) with a very tasty pear, walnut + rocket salad for main course. followed up with the best picnic dessert you've ever seen... home baked meringue with real custard and topped with raspberry goodness. and yes, it was even dusted with icing sugar! russell, you are a gourmet! superb.

orange pink

while out and about with mirka, i spotted these beautiful autumn leaves. the street i was walking down was lined with identical trees, but the leaves on this one were just glowing in a streak of sunlight. i'm lovin the quad cam app on my iphone and i'll apologise now for what will probably become an over-use.

telegrams rock

now i do love a good hand written letter, but this telegram service is the bomb. so much fun. i can't wait for the peops that i've sent them to to receive them and get a smile. you create the telegram online, but they are sent via real post. of course i got 'etsy-ed' again in thinking that the cost was only $4 when in fact it turns out to be $4usd which is a whopping $6aud. oh well. still worth it. smile.