Pot Luck Supper

Our first neighbourhood pot luck supper tonight and we're in charge of nibbles. What else would we take along to such a social event but cheese on a stick? Garlic and cumin feta to be precise with marinated artichoke, interspersed with a sage leaf...

Colour Co-ordination

I was amused to find recently that I had inadvertently arranged the laundry by colour. Obviously our interior decorating is going to be a breeze with such innate style.

I saw a bird!

I've been experimenting with a bit of nature photography when I should have been working. Unfortunately, I can't show you those pictures. Instead, here is one that I took of a bird. I used shutter speed control, maximum zoom, a tripod, and a two second delay to cut down on camera shake. I think it came out pretty well. My ultimate target is the wild rabbits that roam our land. But they are rascally. Oh, but they are rascally...

Fine Furniture

Having been inspired by the bar at Hotel De Brett, I've been busy bidding for armchairs on TradeMe. No success yet - I've been pipped at the post twice. Must keep trying.

Nature Trail II

James found this wasp's nest on the drive. It was full of sheep ticks rather than wasps which was good and bad!

Nature Trail I

We've been finding all sorts of curious objects around our land. Here's a mysterious bulb - no idea what kind of plant it would grow into - answers on a postcard, please!

The Light Fantastic

Saw this novel use for 1960s lampshades at Hotel De Brett - including an identical shade to one of ours...



Just need to find the right spot in our house now...

Vintage Dresser

Dedicated readers will recall the sixties sideboard that I found in a high class hotel in downtown Auckland. Remarkably, we managed to find a dresser in a junk shop which has brought a little bit of history to our landing...



And for those of you intrigued by the vegetable-shaped tureen and cruet set, here's a close-up:



This endive-inspired collection was purchased in another junk shop in Lyttleton. It teams up well with my avocado-shaped avocado bowl and we're on the look-out for more examples of this genre.