Dreams do come true....look at me babe I've found you

Phillipa Finch Tea towel by Third Drawer Down

I really enjoyed the interview with Abigail Crompton from Third Drawer Down over on the Craft Victoria blog. This question in particular:

But do you love everything you’ve done so far and everything you’re doing now?
Yeah yeah. I wake up every morning excited about what I’m doing and how I’m doing it. I think it’s really important, and I’ve said this before I think, you have to have integrity with what you do in the world. There’s a lot of people that don’t and they may get somewhere in life but I always think that it does follow people too if they don’t have integrity with their business.

I volunteered one morning a week at Craft Victoria 'before craft was cool' ....I started when Craft Victoria was still down at the Meat Market, mmmm, a long time ago ..... and I worked with Abi once we moved to Flinders Lane. I remember my friend Ladle & I having a conversation with her, over a coffee, in the planning stages of Third Draw Down. Abi had a mountain of tea towel samples, a larger than life dream and some very funny stories about what people really did keep in their third draw down. Over a decade on and it's incredible to see how she's grown her business into a world she loves.

This TED talk was over on Abi's website and I thought I'd share.


Now, to answer the question......What does freedom mean to me?

Happy Long weekend.
xx

Good morning

An early morning walk around my neighbourhood this morning. I love watching a city wake up.
Have a great day. xx

Here's a little update

1. 6th March: the cinema, 2. 5th March: coffee, or rather, chai with friends., 3. 4th March: amazing Melbourne skylines., 4. 3rd March: walking in the rain with my little man., 5. 2nd March: Frash flowers, 6. 1st March: the Forum Theatre., 7. 29th Feb: Home sweet home. Catani Gardens. It's always lovely to return home to St Kilda after a road trip., 8. 365 Gratitude: 28th Feb. Nature! It's a huge pleasure source for me., 9. 27th Feb: time for seeing., 10. 26th Feb: holidays & early morning walks with my sweet little man., 11. 25th Feb: early mornings, deserted beaches and my lovely peeps..& pup., 12. 24th Feb: weekends away with friends.... & their new additions., 13. 23rd Feb: i love these. Spanish glass from Doo., 14. 22nd Feb;exciting new lives and possibilities., 15. 21st Feb: a new face to welcome into our family... & she's oh so sweet., 16. 20th Feb: afternoon light in my living room., 17. 19th Feb: amazing meals cooked by friends at the seaside after a day on the beach. Bliss., 18. 18th Feb: giant comfry leaves in my herb garden, 19. 17th Feb: so very pleased to be about to climb in here this evening., 20. 16th Feb: The feast, at Vic's., 21. 15th Feb: perfect beach days with neighbours., 22. 14th Feb: early morning jogging and all the lovely people in my life., 23. 13th Feb: this card that hangs above my desk... & Monday night meditation., 24. 12th Feb: City Square Yarn bombed to my delight....plus a few of my favorites...the wooden wombat, Brunetti's & The Nicholas Building., 25. 11th Feb: lunch at Tiamo with my boys

Here's a little mosaic of my Gratitude Set. It's such a lovely way to look back on the month. My friend Ladle, in London, is also taking part and so is the gorgeous Greta, in Italy. There's something really special about seeing the little things happening in their lives. Things we forget to mention on Skype calls or via email.

Silence is one great art of conversation. WILLIAM HAZLITT, Characteristics.

We're preparing for the wild...Bear Grylls style.

Almost a year ago 5 friends and I set off with our packs, clothes, tents and food (Bear Grylls style) for a 3 day hike along the Great Ocean Road. In less than 4 weeks we're heading off again to finish what we started and I can feel the excitement building inside me. It was such an incredible trip. A complete indulgence to be able to walk, slowly and consistently towards a destination of 'our' choice...no wee voices demanding we go 'this way'....ahhh the serenity.
We walked approximately 10-14km per day....not huge distances...but far enough considering our packs weighed around 16-18kg's (I'm still convinced mine was the heaviest...& is not the heaviest...then the 2nd heaviest!). There are many wonderful stories from the trip. There were so many laughs along the way and being out in nature with friends is an incredible tonic. The count down is on. Yippee xox

Injecting colour into our day with cupcake crayons.

You may remember we whipped up some of these crayon cupcakes way back, in May last year. Something about these cooler days inspires a boost of colour.... today was the day for another batch.

xox

Celebrating Dickens & Dr Seuss

I'm off to see Dickens' Women tonight at the Arts Centre. I love Miriam Margoyles... Her incredible sense of the ridiculous really appeals to me. If you haven't yet seen this Denton interview (it's in 4 parts) you're guaranteed to giggle.

Febraury, the 7th, marked the bicentanary of Charles Dickens' birth date. Dickens 2012 is an international celebration of the life and work of Charles Dickens. There's a list of events happening internationally to celebrate. Do you have a favorite Dickens novel? I must confess I've never read any....mmmmm, I know I can't believe it. In order of it being his bicentenary I may just have to read my first.... (movies and plays don't count. Them, I have seem).
This made me laugh....Wikipedia on Charles Dickens..... 'Dickens's work has been highly praised by writers such as Leo Tolstoy, George Orwell, and G. K. Chesterton for its realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism, though others, such as Henry James and Virginia Woolf, have criticised it as melodramatic, sentimental, and implausible.' Literature (like life, I guess) really is a highly personal journey. What one praises, another finds implausible.....and there lays the beauty of life.

Now from novelist to................. Dr Seuss' whose birthday it is today. It seems fitting to pay tribute to the day with some rather ridiculous Dr Seuss link love:
Seussville, the official Dr Seuss website
Take the Dr Seuss trivia quiz.
Dr Seuss quotes
Montessori inspired, One Fish Two fish Maths activty
Dr Suess biography....he was born in Springfield in 1904.

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.”
― Dr. Seuss

Do you have a favorite Dr Seuss book? I personally had a love hate relationship with the books as a child. I read them but I wasn't sure I really liked them. I'd get a funny feeling similar to motion sickness. I have the same feeling, to this day, when I read Dr Seuss to Z....and I still can't work out exactly what it is that makes me feel this way. I did enjoy this film however.

Happy weekend. xox

So long summer!

So long sweet summer. Hello Autumn....eek! Not sure I'm ready for you but hey, I did, just last night, learn to knit in the round..... with double pointed needles! A sure sign I'm preparing for hibernation.

x