1. Matryoshka Kimono Dolls, 2. Colour palette: Green, 3. Tamarillo chutney, 4. Cutest of cute hats!, 5. West Coast adventure, 6. Hands-on dog food!, 7. Pirates treasure bag PART TWO, 8. Autumn, 9. My new crafting space, 10. Friendly cat toys, 11. Birthday pancakes, 12. Magical toadstools, 13. Bush bath bliss, 14. Coral, shell and bone, 15. Autumn Blues, 16. Big skies, 17. Garden meditation, 18. The joy of wood, 19. Gratitude, 20. Birthday bunny

 1. My shop is now open!, 2. Cosy Friday evening, 3. Kimono paper tape PREVIEW!, 4. Happy weekend papercut, 5. Colour palette: Red, 6. Tin can lanterns, 7. Shop update: Tom Cats, 8. Spring love: magnolia blossoms, 9. Poultry PS, 10. …and the winner is…, 11. Display jars for treasures, 12. Pin board inspiration, 13. Monday’s inspiration: Honour, 14. Happy Equinox!, 15. Fresh start and a GIVEAWAY!, 16. Paper Fan Inspiration Cards, 17. Morocco on my mind, 18. Midwinter mandarin lanterns, 19. Rainbow eggs and a basket of flowers, 20. Vintage kimono palette

1. London by night, 2. Travelling feet, 3. Poultry Show, 4. Kimono paper tape PREVIEW!, 5. New things, 6. A new season…, 7. Hand carved stamps: lanterns and blossoms, 8. Monday’s Inspiration: Creativity, 9. Rob Ryan’s shop on Columbia Road, 10. Happy Christmas!, 11. Happy New Year!, 12. Plant skeletons, 13. Header artwork, 14. Paper Fan Inspiration Cards, 15. Earth Hour 2010, 16. Contact me, 17. Monday’s inspiration: Communication, 18. Pirate’s treasure bag, 19. More gratitude, 20. Olive Harvesting

Blax belongs to a little flock of chickens we call ‘the Xs’. There’s Blax, Frex, Beatrix and the rooster, who’s called…um…Spandex. (He’s a very flashy fellow.) The eggs that Blax has been sitting on are all rare breeds. This little chick is a Barnevelder. Barnevelders lay eggs that are a dark orangey-brown, often with freckles. They look a little like they’ve been spray tanned!

The other new thing in my life today is a fresh, blank notebook. I just finished my first blogging notebook, and have been hunting for perfect notebook number two. It turns out I’m very fussy when it comes to choosing notebooks… I like them to be un-lined (for illustrations as well as writing), to be about A5 in size (to fit easily into my handbag), not to be spiral bound (so pages don’t rip out), and to be fairly thick. Turns out there aren’t so many notebooks out there that tick all those boxes.

Today I finally found one (yay!), and decorated the cover with an illustration made out of cut up kimono fabric photocopies (test prints from when I was creating my Kimono Paper Tape). I think I’m going to have to explore this way of working with paper some more, I really enjoyed it.

I’m afraid I went a little overboard with the photos! So many beautiful birds and amazing colours and lighting – the bright red of combs and wattles against the muted greys and greens of the shed… And feathers! Iridescent black, burnished copper, silver and gold….

Mostly the birds seemed remarkably calm about being temporarily caged for the show. This one looked like it had had enough of being stared at though!

And this prize winning bantam looks so small and alone!

Some of the birds were like fashion models. This little Silkie looks like she’s wearing a Russian fur hat and pearl earrings!

And how elegant is this one with its windswept fur stole!

Some weren’t quite so stylish though…

We have Araucanas ourselves (they’re the ones who lay the blue and green eggs), but ours don’t look nearly as silly as this one!

How beautiful is this guy though? He’s a Silver Spangled Hamburg. I love the black dots at the ends of his feathers.

I was mostly interested in the chickens but there were some beautiful ducks, doves and pigeons too. I love this duck’s little tufty hat and the ripple feathers on its sides. Not to mention the stunning colour of its beak.

Check out the chest on this guy! All he needs is a top hat and walking stick to complete the look!

And finally, how beautiful is this dove’s tail? Particularly with the light catching it like that.

This post is dedicated to Christine Chitnis who led the fight (and won!) to make backyard chicken keeping legal in Providence, Rhode Island. Well done, Christine! (And good luck with the upcoming birth of your first child!)

…and there’s nothing like a cute, cuddly friend to make you feel happy! This is Keisha our shar pei cross. She’s a rescue dog and didn’t have a clue about being loved when we first got her. She seems to have figured it out along the way though… : )

Have a happy weekend, and don’t forget to enter the giveaway for your chance to win those vintage kimono goodies!

I’ve been quietly celebrating a few things this week: Monday, of course, was the Winter solstice; on Tuesday my man returned home to me after several weeks away visiting his family on the other side of the world; and on Wednesday my lovely friend Amy had her birthday… So this mandarin lantern is a warm, glowing, citrus-scented kiss sent out to cosy winter nights in front of the fire, to loving and being loved, and to dear women friends.

Here’s what you need for making a mandarin lantern:

1. Mandarins – the loose-skinned variety are the easiest to work with 
2. A sharp knife
3. Cooking oil – I used sunflower oil, but I’m sure you could use whatever oil you have in your kitchen
4. Matches
5. And a husky dog with a penchant for fruit (although if you don’t have one of these to hand, you could simply eat the fruit yourself, or perhaps find a willing child to help you)

Start by cutting the mandarin horizontally around the middle about a third to a half of the way down. Try not to cut into the fruit too much, although if you do, it’s not the end of the world (just a little bit messier later on!).

Gently ease your fingers under the rim of the top part of the skin and remove it, being careful not to split the edges (this took me two attempts).

You now want to lift all the segments out from the bottom half of the fruit. I found the knack to doing this is to hold onto the inner corner of each segment and pull outwards. Again, be careful not to tear the peel (and again this took me two attempts!). Note: The internal pithy “stalk” will become your lamp’s wick, so try to leave at least a little stub inside the base of the lamp.

This last step is where your husky-dog-with-a-penchant-for-fruit comes in handy. Our magical, David Bowie-eyed husky-cross dog, Silver loves most fruit and was a devoted helper during this part of the project.

Cut a chimney hole in the top of the lantern as shown. Your lantern is now finished and ready to be filled with oil and lit!

Trim and pinch the central pith bit in the bottom of the lantern so that it resembles a candle wick. Pour a little vegetable oil in and light the wick. It may take a few moments for the oil to be absorbed into the wick so don’t worry if it doesn’t light immediately.

Put the lid on the lantern, place on a plate (I used a vintage Art Deco plate with Chinese lantern fruit on it), and enjoy! As the lantern heats up it releases a delicious, citrus aroma – perfect for dark, wintery nights. I love how each individual skin cell glows. Isn’t it beautiful?

Did you celebrate Midwinter in a special way? Or Midsummer of course, if you’re reading this from the Northern Hemisphere! If you posted about it on your blog, please do put a link in the comments. I loved reading Maya Donenfeld’s Summer solstice post on her blog maya*made.

Gratitude
I am grateful for all the gifts life gives me
even those I don’t yet understand

It’s been a painful week in our family and this card feels like a sweet gift to my heart. It reminds me to notice all the many blessings in my life and also, that even in dark moments there may be gifts that we can’t see yet but which will reveal themselves to us as events unfold.

So, here’s a list of the things that I’m grateful for right now (in no particular order):

For wonderful family, near and far
For being loved and cherished
For two crazy dogs who are always happy to see me
For a warm fire and snug house on a wild and stormy night
For a wonderful email from a friend I haven’t seen for years (hi Deb!)
For being forgiven when I let others down
For a good friend to phone up and cry to when it all gets too much
For singing!
For laughter and praying mantises
For macaroni cheese cooked with love by my man
For my teenage nieces (I’ll write back soon!)
For TOAST catalogues arriving at the perfect moment
For dreams of Morocco
For lovely travel agents when you need emergency flights
For “coincidences”
For thunder and lightning
For Reiki hands to soothe anxiety away
For inspiration and beauty
For THXTHXTHX: a thank you note a day for always making me smile
For Hawayo Takata for reminding me to “count my blessings”

What are you grateful for today? I’d love to hear your list of gratitude.

Have a great week.
Lucy xx

PS You can read more about my Paper Fan Inspiration Cards here on this new page, and I’ll hopefully have them in my brand spanking new Etsy shop this week! Watch this space… : )

Autumn leaves fall round Buddha’s head.

The spiral of newly opening banana leaves.

A paua shell catches canna lily petals like a pair of cast-off butterfly wings.

Early morning sun highlighting the strands of a spider’s web.

Flowers laid by the grave of a special little rooster that died this week. His name was Cross Beak because he developed a deformed beak as he matured. He was small and runty and life wasn’t always easy for him, but he had a huge, plucky, engaging personality and never gave up on life. We did the best we could for him, spending extra time with him hand-feeding him, giving him Reiki, and making up extra food for him when he needed it. He lived for a year and a half, but was finding it harder as the Winter approached, and one night just didn’t make it through till morning. He was bold and chatty right to the end, and always a joy to be around. We miss his lively company.

For those of you unfamiliar with the term, a bush bath is a bath outside in nature, usually heated in some way by a fire. Ours is an old cast iron bath held in place by a few wooden stakes. You fill it up with the garden hose (and a few buckets of warm water from the house if you’re in a hurry), light the fire underneath, put a sheet of corrugated iron on top to keep the heat in, and wait for the water to get nice and toasty!

I always fill the bath with bunches of herbs from the garden to make it even more delicious and relaxing: lavender, geranium, rosemary, manuka and eucalyptus pods. I put the herbs in right at the beginning and leave them to steep. By the time you come to get in, the water smells amazing. I don’t even bother taking the herbs out when I get in, they just add to the experience.

 
I got the bush bath going at about 5pm, but didn’t actually get in until about 11pm! It was a cold, crisp night and the water was steaming hot. I lit candles around the bath and eased in. Ahhhhhhh! 

The smell of wood smoke and herbs, the stars overhead, no sound apart from the wind whispering the leaves nearby, and the chirrup of a solitary cricket. And then, as if it wasn’t perfect enough, a shooting star streaking a bright line down the sky. Bliss.

Our dogs love it, it’s got no artificial junk in it, it costs less than store-bought pet food, it’s hassle-free to make with the slow cooker, and we’re not creating piles of nasty, stinky cans. Win-win all round!

…not to mention the added bonus of playing with the alphabet pasta!