Blue Moroccan guest house

When my friend’s and I were in the northern Moroccan blue town of Chefchaouen, we stayed in this pretty guest house called Dar Terrae.
Dar Terrae, Chefchaouen, Morocco, Moroccan, Maroc, Chaouen, Rif, dar, medina, blue, old, traditional, Andalusian, guesthouse, guest house, accommodation, lucy patterson, courtyard, house, tiles
Dar Terrae, Chefchaouen, Morocco, Moroccan, Maroc, Chaouen, Rif, dar, medina, blue, old, traditional, Andalusian, guesthouse, guest house, accommodation, lucy patterson, courtyard, house, arch, archway
I loved all the little details, and the geometry, and changing tones of blue as the sunlight filtered down onto the walls from different angles.
Dar Terrae, Chefchaouen, Morocco, Moroccan, Maroc, Chaouen, Rif, dar, medina, blue, old, traditional, Andalusian, guesthouse, guest house, accommodation, lucy patterson, courtyard, house, tiles, door, details, travel photography
Dar Terrae, Chefchaouen, Morocco, Moroccan, Maroc, Chaouen, Rif, dar, medina, blue, old, traditional, Andalusian, guesthouse, guest house, accommodation, lucy patterson, courtyard, house, archway, arch, tiles Dar Terrae, Chefchaouen, Morocco, Moroccan, Maroc, Chaouen, Rif, dar, medina, blue, old, traditional, Andalusian, guesthouse, guest house, accommodation, lucy patterson, courtyard, house, Here are my friends enjoying an early breakfast on our last day, before we left to catch the bus to Meknes.
Dar Terrae, Chefchaouen, Morocco, Moroccan, Maroc, Chaouen, Rif, dar, medina, blue, old, traditional, Andalusian, guesthouse, guest house, accommodation, lucy patterson, courtyard, house, breakfast, crumpets,
See my other posts about blue Chefchaouen here, here and here.

Posted in Friends, Morocco, Travel | 3 Comments

Craft market stall

On Sunday I had my regular stall at the monthly Devonport Craft Market.
Lucy Patterson, devonport, devonport craft market, craft market, auckland, stall, stallholder, bunting, kimono, felt, matryoshkas, babushkas, russian dolls
Here are my Kimono Felt Squares, pin cushions and needles cases.
Lucy Patterson, kimono felt squares, kimono felt, printed felt, felt squares, kimono, vintage kimono, japanese, fabric, felt, printed, pin cushions, needle cases, needle books, lucy patterson, market stall, devonport, devonport craft market, craft market, auckland
My matryoshka fridge magnets.
lucy patterson, matryoshka, magnets, fridge magnets, russian dolls, russian doll, matryoshkas, babushka, babushkas, kimono, vintage kimono, japanese, japan
Bird key rings / bag charms with Kimono Felt details.
Lucy Patterson, kimono felt squares, kimono felt, printed felt, felt squares, kimono, vintage kimono, japanese, fabric, felt, printed, birds, key rings, keyrings, key chain, keyring, key, ring, lucy patterson, market stall, devonport, devonport craft market, craft market, auckland
Vintage kimono and matryoshka postcards.
lucy patterson, postcards, matryoshkas, matryoshka, babushka, babushkas, russian dolls, kimono, vintage kimono, japan, japanese, fabric, printed, cards, postcards
The transit of Venus is happening right now but it’s cloudy and we can’t see anything! I’ve got my solar viewing glasses all ready to go. Let’s hope the clouds clear soon….

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Beach therapy

Yesterday afternoon (bank holiday Monday), my friends and I went for some good old fashioned beach therapy. We walked along Karekare, another of our wild West Coast black sand beaches. (Karekare was the location for scenes in Jane Campion’s Oscar winning film The Piano.)
karekare, beach, karekare beach, west coast, sea, sky, black sand, auckland, zealand, lucy patterson, the piano
As we turned left and headed south, the beach just swept open. It felt like we had the whole world to ourselves.
footprints, sand, beach, karekare, west coast, auckland, zealand, lucy patterson
I can’t walk on a beach with out collecting a few little treasures along the way: a tiny purple shell, a yellow kowhai seed, the spiral from inside a deep sea squid, and a white seabird feather.
collection, beach combing, shell, seed, feather, lucy patterson, karekare, zealand, west coast
sand, beach, karekare, west coast, black sand, zealand, auckland, feet, shoe gazing, tussock
bird, footprints, tracks, sand, beach, black sand, karekare beach, karekare, lucy patterson, auckland, zealand
We came across the sad sight of a magnificent albatross lying dead on its back. You can’t really tell from the picture how big it was. Its beak was as long as my hand. And the wings! I just read that albatrosses fly an estimated 200,000 km (about 125,000 miles) per year. Wow.
albatross, beach, sand, dead, sea, bird, royal, zealand, lucy patterson, karekare, west coast
As we returned to the car park, smoke from a bonfire was rising between the bush covered hills…
bush, karekare, karekare beach, beach, stream, smoke, waitakere, west coast, lucy patterson
…and the sun was setting into the sea.
karekare beach, karekare, beach, sunset, setting sun, sun, sky, reflection, west coast, auckland, zealand, lucy patterson
We left feeling happy and rejuvenated.

Posted in Friends, Nature, Where we live | 1 Comment

Kimono Paper Craft illustrations

These past couple of days I’ve been enjoying working on some new Kimono Paper Craft illustrations which will be included in a booklet I’m putting together. Here’s some work in progress.
Kimono Paper Craft, Lucy Patterson, kimono paper, paper, paper craft, vintage kimono, japan, japanese, hands-on, creative kits, kits, origami, projects
Kimono Paper Craft, Lucy Patterson, kimono paper, paper, paper craft, vintage kimono, japan, japanese, hands-on, creative kits, kits, origami, projects, cloud, clouds, rain, raindrops
Kimono Paper Craft, Lucy Patterson, kimono paper, paper, paper craft, vintage kimono, japan, japanese, hands-on, creative kits, kits, origami, projects, words, letter, lettering, cut out
Kimono Paper Craft, Lucy Patterson, kimono paper, paper, paper craft, vintage kimono, japan, japanese, hands-on, creative kits, kits, origami, projects, patchwork

Posted in Artwork / Illustration / Design, Craft projects, Kimono, Kimono Paper Craft | 4 Comments

Hill Tribe women in North Vietnam

I thought it was about time I started sharing some photos from my trip to Vietnam with you. These pictures are of Hill Tribe women from the northern mountain town of Sapa.
hmong, black hmong, lady, woman, hill tribe, hill tribes, hill, tribe, tribes, vietnam, sapa, north vietnam, mountains, market, embroidery, portrait, Lucy Patterson
There are more then 50 different ethnic minority peoples in Vietnam. ‘Hill Tribes’ refers to various different groups of people who migrated from China over the past few centuries and settled in the mountainous northern regions of Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Burma (Myanmar). The women in the first four photos are from the Black Hmong people, and the last two are Red Dao (pronounced Dzao). The name of each ethnic group usually refers to the distinct clothing that that group wears.
hmong, black hmong, lady, woman, hill tribe, hill tribes, hill, tribe, tribes, vietnam, sapa, north vietnam, mountains, market, embroidery, portrait, Lucy Patterson
I took all these photos in Sapa market where I spent many happy hours with these lovely women, shopping, laughing and just hanging out.
hmong, black hmong, lady, woman, hill tribe, hill tribes, hill, tribe, tribes, vietnam, sapa, north vietnam, mountains, market, embroidery, portrait, Lucy Patterson
I bought some of these beautiful embroidered bedspreads, rolls of batik indigo hemp fabric and neon embroidery, some silver jewellery and various pieces of traditional clothing.
hmong, black hmong, lady, woman, hill tribe, hill tribes, hill, tribe, tribes, vietnam, sapa, north vietnam, mountains, market, embroidery, portrait, Lucy Patterson
I had dreamed of going to Sapa for many years after seeing photos from my brother’s trips there, and receiving gifts of these beautiful handicrafts from him.
red dao, dao, red, dzao, red dzao, lady, woman, hill tribe, hill tribes, hill, tribe, tribes, vietnam, sapa, north vietnam, mountains, market, embroidery, portrait, Lucy Patterson
I’ll show you more photos over the next little while of our trek and village homestay, and also some of the goodies that I bought from the various Hill Tribe markets that we visited.
red dao, dao, red, dzao, red dzao, lady, woman, hill tribe, hill tribes, hill, tribe, tribes, vietnam, sapa, north vietnam, mountains, market, embroidery, portrait, Lucy Patterson

Posted in Hill Tribes, Markets, Shopping, Travel, Vietnam | 3 Comments

Kumara harvest time again

Over the weekend Mum and I harvested our kumara crop (Maori sweet potatoes). Unlike previous years, this year we only grew one variety. With a deep fuchsia skin, poporo kumara go the most amazingly deep purple when baked and they taste like sweet, rich roast chestnuts. I’m sure they’re highly nutritious too.
Poporo, kumara, heirloom, ancient, maori, sweet potatoes, sweet potato, purple, koanga gardens, koanga institute, red, purple, garden, harvest, zealand, aotearoa
We get our young kumara plants from Koanga Institute who do a fantastic job of preserving the old varieties of food plants here in New Zealand through seed saving etc.
Poporo, kumara, heirloom, ancient, maori, sweet potatoes, sweet potato, purple, koanga gardens, koanga institute, red, purple, garden, harvest, zealand, aotearoa
The tops of the kumara plants (leaves and stems) were gathered into a a great bundle…
leaves, tops, kumara tops, kumara leaves, Poporo, kumara, heirloom, ancient, maori, sweet potatoes, sweet potato, purple, koanga gardens, koanga institute, red, purple, garden, harvest, zealand, aotearoa
…and fed to Alice the kunekune pig. She was very appreciative!
alice, kunekune, pig, kunekune pig, eating, kumara leaves, kumara tops, lucy patterson

Posted in Food growing, Gardening, Nature, Our family and animals, Where we live | Leave a comment

Palm Springs

My man and I have both been feeling the impact of too much time spent on computers lately. Too many late nights and long weeks. So yesterday afternoon we took a break and headed north of Auckland to Palm Springs Thermal Pool in Parakai.
Palm Springs, Parakai, Thermal Pool, pools, hot pools, hotpools, thermal, lucy patterson, helensville, new zealand, auckland, sign, water, close up
Palm Springs is an entirely unglamorous, unpretentious place with a sort of faded retro charm to it. I love it. When you first step down into the hotter of the two big pools, sink right up to your neck and just let go… Oh, it’s heavenly!
Palm Springs, Parakai, Thermal Pool, pools, hot pools, hotpools, thermal, lucy patterson, helensville, new zealand, auckland, outdoor pools
We came away feeling completely exhausted and heavy in our bodies, but in a peaceful, relaxed and contented way. Just what the doctor ordered! I slept so well last night.
Palm Springs, Parakai, Thermal Pool, pools, hot pools, hotpools, thermal, lucy patterson, helensville, new zealand, auckland, no running, no bombing, sign
Wishing you all a happy, contented and peaceful weekend.
Lucy x

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Wall collections

Here are a couple of little collections I have on my walls. The first is a pairing of a brass hamsa (Hand of Fatima) that I bought in Fes, Morocco, with an old postcard featuring a Japanese print of a fish which I inherited from my grandparents. I like it that these two objects work together because of their colour, shape and size, even though their materials, style and subject matter are so very different from each other.
hand of Fatima, brass, hand, morocco, fez, fes, fish, japan, japanese, print, postcard, lucy patterson, vintage, display, wall, collection
Birds and beads. I found the framed Japanese bird and magnolia print at a flea market for a dollar or two. The prayer beads were bought in Morocco by my father in the 70s or early 80s. I was given the stone rooster by a friend of mine who knows how much I love my chickens! I found the feather on holiday up North – I think it might be from a rosella. The little silk brocade pouch is from a temple in Kyoto. I was given it by my Reiki Master when she visited Japan some years ago.
prayer beads, rosary, mala, bird, print, framed print, feather, rooster, stone, temple, japan, japanese, kyoto, magnolia, wall, artwork, collection, display, lucy patterson

Posted in Collections, Where we live | Leave a comment

I love stamps!

I received a little package of things I’d ordered in the post from China yesterday. Look at the stamps! Don’t you just love stamps? Individual miniature works of art. I think it’s a tragedy that stamps are getting replaced by those ugly stickers they print out at the post office for you.
stamps, china, post, postage, postal, mail, letter, package, bird, lucy patterson
I still feel a sense of childlike delight when I receive something that has physically travelled across the globe to me, as opposed to all these electronic communications that we make each day.
stamps, china, post, postage, postal, mail, letter, package, bird, lucy patterson
Long live stamps!

Posted in Artwork / Illustration / Design | Leave a comment

Old photos: my grandparents in the 50s

I just came across some old photos of my grandparents in the 1950s. I love seeing them as young people and imagining what their world felt like. Isn’t this a great photo! I think the story behind it is that my grandmother was telling the photographer off (perhaps her brother) for taking the photo before my grandfather had finished brushing his hair!
old photos, old photo, lucy patterson, grandparents, 1950s, 50s, '50s
With my mother (crouching) and my uncle Alan. I love the expression on Mum’s face. In her own little world!
old photos, old photo, lucy patterson, grandparents, mother, mum, mom, uncle, grandmother, grandfather, richard, hildegard
My grandmother, Hildegard, hanging up the washing with my uncle Robin. I love the atmosphere of them under the billowing sheets, with my grandmother bending down and them carrying the basket together.
old photos, old photo, lucy patterson, grandparents, grandmother, hildegard My handsome grandfather, Richard! He wore his hair in this classic short-back-and-sides (with a side part) until the end of his life, in his 80s.
old photos, old photo, lucy patterson, grandparents, grandfather, richard My grandparents were amazing people. So full of compassion and care for other people, and always busy putting  that compassion into action. My earliest memory of my grandparents is on a Christmas Eve when I was very young, sitting on my grandfather’s shoulders singing Christmas carols together at the local train station to raise money for homeless people.

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Posted in Old photos, Our family and animals | 3 Comments