Three Hundred & Sixty Five – Days at Home: Week Sixteen.

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Homemade hummus made by my helpers and then wolfed on toast. / Finding my Grandmothers signature in books – I like to run my fingers over her name. She was the coolest and I miss her. / Theodore…why are all these spoons in your bed? / Oh. That’s why. Obsessed with spelling and reading. / Freesias on the mantlepiece. / So much better than the powerbill – postcards from adventures of a different kind. This one flew all the way from Wyoming. / Tiny dancer tutu legs from our nightly dance party. / Yep. This post is still my life. / These are the things you will get asked if you are Vegan: 1) BUT, WHAT ABOUT CHEESE? & 2) But…what do you eat? So I thought I might include a photo each week of something easy and Vegan that you might like to try to make for yourself. Or, for if you ever encounter this conversation in the wild, so prepared are you to answer; ‘well, actually! Vegans eat all sorts of things! For example…’.

Breakfast Shake. Throw a frozen banana (I am currently experimenting with the best way to freeze bananas. My life is very exciting, I know. Like, can you peel them first? Because freezing your mits off trying to cut the peel off post-freeze is the pits. Stay tuned!) in your blender with a cup of the mock milk of your choosing. Whizz on high and add something exciting. Here I used a heaped tablespoon of passionfruit pulp. It was delicious.

 

Other People’s Houses: #3

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Name: Louise Sutherland / Queen Stitch

Job: Property Manager / Crafter and Blogger

Location: St Albans, Christchurch.

Describe your style: Colourful. Eclectic. Ordered. Colour is everything. I could never live in a minimalist white box (and I would only spill tea everywhere).

Favourite element of your home: My red front door. Painting it the brightest red I could find was one of the first things I did when I moved in. It was something of a personal statement. It might sound airy fairy but every time I walk through it, it reminds me of who I am, how far I’ve come and what I stand for.

Plus, y’know, red doors are so sexy!

I am inspired by: My confused and awkward Anglo-Kiwi up bringing. 1950’s and 60’s design, art, fashion and culture. The films of Wes Anderson. Travel: colours and cultures of the places I have been and those where I want to go (currently Paris, Mexico, India, Scotland and Scandinavia). Vintage, up cycling and the joy of a good rummage. Being surrounded by things that have history and a back-story.

I’ll never part with: My first Matryoshka (Russian) doll. My dad brought it back for me from Istanbul when I was 9. Apparently back then Russia still got a lot of goods through the borders into Europe, so this doll is the real deal (my dad, the history nerd, always stresses the significance of this point to me, so it is my duty as a good daughter to pass it on).

If I open the doll up I can still smell the raw wood which takes me back to the exact time and place that he gave it to me. It’s amazing. I hope I can still have a good old sniff when I am an old lady!

I am obsessed with collecting: The perfect book collection. I love unusual art and design books and those weird ones you can only find at book fairs.

I believe that you can tell a lot about a person by their books (or lack of) and I think mine reflect me pretty well (if I visit your house, I will probably judge you based on your bookshelf, sorry).

Where to from here?: I don’t quite have that figured out yet (does anyone? oh God, do YOU?). Past attempts at plans have never worked out all that well.

I figure if I keep doing what I love, being a good person and saying an enthusiastic ‘yes’ to opportunities as they arise then you can’t go too far wrong…plus, you know, the Universe, karma and cosmic intervention etc etc.

Oh and I shall also continue evolving into the lovechild of Nigella Lawson, Helena Bonham Carter and Morrissey. That would be lovely.

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Be sure and check out Louise’s blogs: Queen Stitch + Some Beardy To Love
Felt Store
Facebook Page
& Twitter!

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Other People’s Houses #1
Other People’s Houses #2

Three Hundred & Sixty Five – Days at Home: Week 15.

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I’ve so enjoyed the challenge of a photo a day; and I’m still taking them! But love how they look all together, at week’s end, so they’ll be a little Sunday feature.

Bright orange Gerberas on the sideboard; I never used to care much for them, but now I love how long they last; their relentless optimism / Should probably get around to cleaning this up… / Theo vs the broccoli / My fortnightly treat – flowers for every room / Potatoes from the garden washed in the sink / Helping me write the card for their Grandmothers birthday / Theo is obsessed with the Atlas of late – we search it for places we recognise. Walk our fingers from our lonely Pacific island to Aunties in Borneo; in London; on Adventures / My little gift and name tag made for my lovely swap partner Jess as part of the recent National Bloggers Conference / Like the first day of school! Me on the morning before the conference.

Theo asked me on the way, ‘Mama? Are you going to a conference to make a new internet?’. Kind of, Bubba. Kind of.

I love being a part of this community. The spectrum of people it has introduced me to. Their humour and inclusiveness. Their personality and honesty. Their creativity and ability. And being able to transfer these connections into real life? The best.

It was also a reminder that it’s true what they say; never meet your idols. Or they just might get you lost in a part of your home town that even Google maps doesn’t want to know about, and completely confirm to you, that all the best people, the brightest and the best, think there’s nothing funnier than a good innuendo. Aye, Alex Fulton? In-your-endo.