and into the pillows we sink our heads

when the drip drops

beauty and the boys

penpals forever

How upsetting an affair it is to have a letter forwarded to mademoiselle me... no longer am I a miss in Paris, now I just miss Paris. Thanks to my friend Anais for words that saddened in their remembering of happier times "the time we had that conversation on the steps of the Opera about...." She's a wonderful girl and a photographer too, here in commemoration of our french friendship I'll share one of the night we all got drunk and decided to wear hats and of the day I dressed up for her on the balcony.

To see more of her pictures, take a look at her blog http://bernard-a.com/

say cheese

not of the Belgian type

Waffle. I seem to do a lot of this so please forgive me. I'm somewhat serious somewhere inside but most of the time I tend to talk a lot of trollop which could be a wonderful thing but probably isn't because they do say that empty vessels make the most noise. Well anyway in addition to waffling I've been doodling and colouring and come up with the idea of taking one simple idea, altering it slightly again and again to make many simple ideas in the hope of perhaps finding amongst them something special, all because my love of snail mail and the serious lack of good postcards around these parts has inspired me to create my own.

I'd really like to know, what is it that you look for in the paraphernalia you collect for decorating your living quarters? What do you like to stick on your bedroom walls? Or on the fridge door? Or in envelopes even?

milk, no sugar

I love going for coffee by myself actually there are a lot of things I like doing by myself but anyway it's like when I was small I used to love going to the library to sit and read for hours but now (because I'm grown up) I can do it in a cafe, which is better because it smells nicer, it's usually brighter and there's less of a feeling of seriousness about the place. And, best of all, I don't have to worry about staying for too long because if I do stay too long and get hungry I don't have to close my book or put down my pen I can simply order some food and keep on going! And now that I'm again working in a coffee shop and see people perusing their newspapers it makes it so hard to be the other side of the counter! Which is why on Saturday on my day off I went out to hide away and do a few of the things on my list of things to do (which coincidentally included writing a list of things to do) And so that's how I spent my morning, mid-day, early afternoon, and....then I got fidgety and headed homeward.
Attending to my snail-mail correspondence and penning a thank you card I felt a little like a modern day pre-Raphaelite drawing inspiration from the birds and the trees... although my lacking of creative integrity may be working to my disadvantage in proposing this claim oh to hell with it I'll just say it's postmodern and be done with it.

honey i'm home

I'm home from Paris which is both terrible and terrific all at once and I can't decide whether I love it or hate it. But mostly I think I'm very happy to be here. I'm back with my old friends and although we're all changing and coming and going and things are different now it's still wonderful to know there's somewhere I belong.

It's been cold oh so cold and rainy and windy and sure what have you when you have the sea on your doorstep. In short my return has revolved around working between two jobs, eating, drinking, indulging in my old granny habits aaand eating some more.

Like going out for dinner and indulging in four course meals. Plus cheese. Plus wine...

Plus 'beer paddles' of local ales in a microbrewery...

And birthday parties with seafood paella and chocolate cake...

And general good times...

of mice and men

To a Mouse

Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie,
O, what a panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty
Wi bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,
Wi' murdering pattle...

Not turning up nests with ploughs but turning up noses with needles woo look at me go, I've fed them up a bit since my first feeble attempt and I think I can say they could almost be called cute now but not in the politely forced smile sort of a way you use when trying to cover your instinctively shivering spine as you're shown and expected to admire the pet rats of a vermin-loving acquaintance...

Ssunday

This morning being Sunday morning I had intended on having a lovely lie-in followed by brunch and a reading of newspaper supplements accompanied by bottomless mugs of tea. However, these plans went awry from my waking up at half past eight, to a fridge void of milk and the beginnings of a hurricane rustling up a storm outside. So instead I made do within the relatively cosy confines of the kitchen with cranberry juice, my book, and baking a batch of cinnamon buns while listening to the 'golden oldies' programme on the radio. But then, it being a Sunday, and it not being right to have a Sunday at home without calling a gathering of Stitch and Bitch, we gathered together to knit and natter, turn out accidentally over-large hats and anaemic-looking mice, watch Mulan, and eat a roast dinner. Not really too terrible a day after all!

and because it has entered conscious awareness

Do geologists really joke that rocks rock? Well either way for tonight as I've eaten far too many prawns and drank far too much wine and failed in my attempts at having crossword puzzles recognised as a worthy topic of dinner party conversation and only just in time remembered my extremely recent resolve of a post a day, we have here some worthless photos of tonights pjyamas because....because, because, because that's why

because a stitch in time saves nine and an image speaks a thousand words

Here we go again. Ready, steady, and she's not off just yet but she's getting ideas going before she gets bored. And becoming stupidly snap happy in the interim. Hello father

Hello mother

Hello freshly made hand puppet

Hellooh gin and tonic