Indian wall hanging

We got a beautiful Indian (we think) wall hanging from a charity shop. It's up in our dining room, which persuaded us to theme that room as our "world" room. We have lots of lovely things from all over the world - a hand carved aboriginal lizard that my Mamgu brought from the outback in Australia; some lovely Shiva and Ganesha  statues that I got from a lovely little hippy shop I used to work in; lanterns and frames and all sorts of things.

We're also going to make curtains out of recycled saris and scarves, to match the room.

Ma tai heb gariad yn cwympo i lawr

Aberystwyth Street

I've had the completion date on my house! It's 10th of June... and OMG that's next week!

I'm planning to document the whole process of renovation, redecorating and moving in. With that in mind, here are a few photographs of the house (with the current owner's stuff still in there) which we took on the second viewing; and a few pictures we made of our garden design. Made using Google Sketchup, an amazing free 3D program.

Here's the living room


Here's the master bedroom


Here's the lovely turquoise bathroom, that's coming straight out and a new plain white one installed


Here's the spare bedroom/studio (what that means is LOADS of shelving units, and a table for me to make things on!)


And here are the beautiful 3D garden pictures. And Yes, we will have a secret garden, complete with ivy-covered walls and a garden shrine... always wanted a secret garden!

Folksy Friday *16th April 2010*

I've just bought a house, so the theme this week is 'houses'.

Okay, from top left:
A little gingerbread house felt decoration.
You hang this little hand sewn house plaque thing up on a wall. So wonky and cute!
Recycled wooden insect house, for bees and ladybirds. Awww.
Papier maché house thing (I included this 'cos I want it in my new house!)
What a lovely hand sewn house brooch.
My absolute fave - three delightfully eccentric ceramic houses (in fact, everything in this shop is fab).

Buy 'em quick before they go!

NaPoWriMo *11th April 2010*

SOLD haiku

Drove past my new house,
a red SOLD sign is now there;
blooming like a rose.

The Nest Project

I’ve been reading about birds’ nests, they are fascinating.
Male bowerbirds make elaborate bowers that they decorate with brightly coloured objects. These can include shells, flowers, coins, pieces of broken glass and sweet wrappers. They make these to attract females, and the males with the best bowers are the ones who stand a chance of procreating. Some hummingbirds make nests that are only two or three centimetres across.
There are nine different types of nest: Scrape, mound, burrow, cavity, cup, saucer, platform, pendant and sphere. A cup nest is the one most people will be familiar with, and a model I’ll be following.
A nest is, by definition, a safe, warm place to keep your babies out of harm’s way. This can be extended to mean somewhere that you yourself feel warm and safe, almost like the Welsh word ‘cwtsh’ (which has no exact English translation. It can mean, variously: a hug or cuddle; a safe, warm place; as a verb – ‘cwtsh in’ means to wrap up warm in blankets or bed; it also means a dog’s basket or sleeping place. It rhymes with the English word ‘butch’).
I’ve made a list of all the houses and flats I’ve ever lived, and all the places I’ve ever called home, such as my grandparents’ houses. I plan to crochet a nest to represent every house, and take photographs of them with on a wooden floor or board, with printed labels - just like a Victorian ornithologist.

A drink and dream teahouse

When (and if) I ever manager to buy a house, I'd like to build a teahouse in the garden.



From Wikipedia

A typical tea house is surrounded by a small garden. In the garden there will also be a waiting area for guests, as well as a roji, or "dewy path", leading to the tea house. The tea house itself is usually built of wood and bamboo, and the only entrance and exit is a small, square door which symbolically separates the small, simple, quiet inside from the crowded, overwhelming outside world, and encourages humility in the host and guests, as all must kneel to enter the room. Tea houses usually consist of two rooms, one used for the preparation of food, snacks and tea supplies, and the other for the holding of the tea ceremony itself. The main room is typically extremely small, often 4 1/2 tatami mats, and the ceilings are low. There is no furniture, except what is required for the preparation of tea. There will usually be a charcoal pit in the centre of the room for boiling water for tea.

Guests and hosts sit seiza style on the floor. There is usually little decoration. There will be a tokonoma (scroll alcove) holding a scroll of calligraphy or brush painting, and perhaps a simple, small flower arrangement called cha-bana. All materials used are purposely simple and rustic.

It is usual for chashitsu to be named by their owners or benefactors. Names usually include the character for "hut", "hall," or "arbour," and reflect the spirit of rustic simplicity of tea ceremony and the teachings of Zen Buddhism. Characteristic names include:

Fushin-an (Doubting Hut)
Mugai-an (Introvert Hut)
Mokurai-an (Silent Thunder Hut)
Tokyū-dō (East-Seeking Hall)
Shō-an (Pine Hut)
Ichimoku-an (One Tree Hut)
Rokusō-an (Six Window Hut)
Bōji-tei (Forgotten Path Arbour)

Isn't that beautiful?