Stuck on an Island

I find the title of this post half amusing and half depressing, because right now it’s true. I’m stuck on an island. I know Tasmania seems to be gaining a bit of a reputation as a great place to visit, and it definitely is, but living here in winter…ugh it’s driving me a bit crazy. I need to break out.

Fiona posted the other day about how she had been thinking about her deserted island must haves and put it out there for us to join in, so I am, please play along to!

food:
starter: green olives, soft cheese and some nice crackers
drink: mojito (made with vodka not rum)
main: a tomato based pasta of some kind either amatriciana, puttanesca or this pasta peperonata is really good too
desert: a cupcake from Primrose Bakery

music:
Only one artist is supremely difficult to choose but then I know it would sigur rós (oh and perhaps cheekily Jonsi’s solo work too). Their music is beautiful and so varied, it can be up and down, heavy or calming, it covers all the bases. I don’t think I would ever get sick of them.

object:
I think it would have to be a camera, I say a camera because preferably it would be a Cannon 5D, which I really really want but currently don't use. I figure for my deserted island i can have what I want : )

hobby:
I could say cooking, because frequently I choose to make things at odd times and find it quite peaceful and relaxing, but then sometimes I really don’t feel like it at all, so I don’t think that would be my deserted island hobby. Perhaps it would be reading both magazines and books like The Flavour Thesaurus, Anthology magazine or the The Hound of the Baskervilles (never read a Sherlock Holmes story yet but I think I would like them!).

Lately...

I didn't blog much last week I'm afraid, I haven't been taking so many photo's of late and for some reason I don't like blogging without my own picture to share. I think it has something to do with the limited hours of daylight at the moment!

Anyway I have....
- been out for dinner with my Mum to Le Provencal - seriously is there anything better than beautifully cooked eye fillet, masses of Bearnaise sauce and pommes frites, I suspect not.
- been watching the last few episodes of gossip girl from season 4, there's nothing highbrow about it but I do enjoy it!
- reading my anthology magazine, so good, especially when some Australian mags feel a little bit tired and repetitive at the moment
- celebrated Ozmas yesterday with friends, it doesn't matter that it isn't July yet. A car in the front yard with a tree attached, good food, some spicy captain morgans, bingo and kerplunk and some skilled balancing made for an entertaining time.
- been reading On Beauty since I was in Sweden, that is the slowest I've taken to read a book in quite some time, I'm not sure if that's the book or the way my brain has been lately.
- celebrated my Dad's birthday with carrot cake today

More ceramic/pottery goodness that I have been admiring of late, these pieces are by Katherine Mahoney found via cloth. They are so beautiful. I think you could say I have a growing love for ceramics!

oh by the way thank you for the comments about my slippers, they are from white noise maker on etsy, perfect for the miserable winter we are having! I thoroughly dislike winter!

Weekending

Friday

Happy friday! It's been cold here lately (above are some pics from the top of Mt Wellington last week) but luckily today was twice as warm as yesterday so I have high hopes for the weekend and some quiet time planned. I hope you all have a lovely one!

Also a new post on Island Menu!

Agneta Livijn Ceramics

I saw Agneta Livijn's ceramics in NK in Stockholm and felt so impressed by them they are incredible, especially the simple white pieces, just beautifully made. I didn't want to carry any home for fear they might break and in the hope I might be able to order some on line. I did email Agneta and they would ship to Australia and it is a whole lot of expensive, but maybe it is nice to just admire from afar. It has inspired me to want to take a ceramics class maybe over the summer.

Oh also I joined up on Pinterest, wow it's fantastic I am already addicted!

Garland

I meant to show my confetti system garland that I used for decorating my birthday dinner, it is seriously so beautiful and I love that it is hand made. I was so tempted to get a pinata but I didn't have anywhere to hang it and the thought of smashing it was too sad. I love this idea here though of hanging it as a decoration...hmmm.

London

So today is my final post on my holiday, I can’t believe I have already been home now for several weeks ugh! Anyway London was my final stop for a few days before flying back to Australia and at first it seemed a little strange to be back in an English speaking country, I missed being curious and not understanding what people were saying! Not having a lot of time, I saved the Tate Modern and the Victoria and Albert (both very high on my list) for my next trip I just didn’t want to rush through them. Instead I did some more general sightseeing and tried to get my bearings just a little.

The food in London was great, I had pizza at neals yard deli, fish and chips and mushy peas with some really nice organic cider for lunch at Canteen in Baker Street, poached eggs and salmon for breakfast at Fortnum and Mason, and a lemon cupcake at the Primrose Hill Bakery in Covent Garden. That shop is so sweet, I loved the rabbit door stop and the people eating a selection of cakes to decide what they wanted for their wedding, the girls working there were nice and chatty and let me take a few shots inside. I also ended up rather randomly going to the Hummingbird Bakery too, I was walking towards the tube station in Kensington and heard a girl say to another ‘oh hummingbird is just around the corner’. Of the two I confess I liked Primrose the best.

I walked around Notting Hill and just loved wandering - taking a few shots and seeing all the flowers everywhere in bloom. I visited Liberty and thought the rug room was so amazing, spent some pennies in Anthropologie (I was impressed that place deserves the kudos it gets) and at Orla Kiely, loved Selfridges and hated the ten minutes I spent in Harrods : )

I felt so sad having to pack my bags and go back home, it’s nice to feel so free and do and see completely new things everyday. I know a lot of it is about your state of mind and if you try to think of the everyday at home in a different light it can help but sometimes, like now in the depth of winter I just want to plan for another trip!

Sunday

1. Going out - please excuse my poor battered oxfords I wore them around europe and they are dead but I am waiting for these new ones from elk to arrive before I turf them out.
2. Grumpy boy Angus - hates having his picture taken but he's so dreamy and soft and beautiful.
3. My new milk bottle holder in perfect nick, I couldn't not bring it home.
4. Passionfruit icing cupcakes for afternoon tea with my grandmother.

Soooo glad tomorrow is another day off, I hope you are enjoying the long weekend if you are lucky enough to have one too!

Reykjavik and the south coast of Iceland

Apologies for the light posting this week, it has been cold, wet and miserable here and it has made me feel a bit flat… but never mind tomorrow is Friday and we have a long weekend coming up and that is a good thing! So tonight I thought I would share some photographs from visiting Reykjavik and the south coast of Iceland.

Originally I had planned to spend a full week in Sweden, which would have been ideal, but then I started looking at maps and realising that Iceland was much closer than I originally thought. It seemed crazy not to go! I’ve always loved music from Iceland I grew up mad about Bjork and then later Sigur Rós and most recently Ólöf Arnalds and Seabear, so I felt rather drawn to it.

Coming in on the plane was so beautiful with the stark land, black coast and blue/turquoise water, then the drive to Reykjavik through the lava fields, I’m pretty sure I had a crazy grin on my face the whole time.

I only had a few days to explore, one and a bit for Reykjavik, which is stark but really cool at the same time with the different coloured buildings, and another for a long bus tour along the south coast to the Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon. Going past some beautiful waterfalls, the glaciers, black sand deserts and several of the volcanoes, none of which had any activity going on while I was there! I loved it but found the bus tour rather frustrating with not being able to stop where I wanted to take photographs so I think next time hiring a car would be the best idea.

I also think it would be a wonderful place to go with a group of friends, to go out and have drinks, enjoy the looong daylight hours and just have a laugh, sometimes it's not so easy to do that when you travel alone.

this weekend...

*I had the most indulgent breakfast on Saturday - pain au chocolat (I seem to have developed a taste for them) and hot chocolate, but I finally broke my gym drought and went for the first time since getting back – it wasn’t as bad as it might have been.
*Made a trip to the Drill Hall in New Norfolk and as always came away with new items on my wish list, this time a beautiful French terracotta bowl, only $185…um maybe not just now.
*Listened to the new Beastie Boys and Seabear interchangeably, they couldn’t be more different and yet I love both
*Prepared another post for Island Menu, Sam has a new post up today from visiting Pedra Branca, which is a looong way south in a not huge boat - I love his film of the birds diving for fish.
*Did not have time to look through my growing magazine pile : (

What did you do?

Stockholm

After Barcelona I said goodbye to my Mum and flew solo to Stockholm. I LOVE Stockholm it is beautiful and cool and I didn’t heave nearly enough time there! The days I had there were the only cold ones on the whole trip but despite that and the rain I had a great time exploring, such a great city to walk around.

I visited Gamla Stan and the fantastic buildings and the sweet letter boxes (at least I think they are letter boxes) in the shape of houses, the flowers in pots everywhere (Australian’s really don’t use flowers enough), the beautiful food in Östermalms Saluhalll, Ahlens and the homeware section in NK – that I had to walk away from because it was too overwhelmingly good and none of it I could carry home – the Vasa museum, Moderna Museet and Södermalm where I wandered around and followed my google map to Manos Karin Eriksson’s beautiful shop. Karin was so kind and friendly and I would have loved to bring more of her work home but am very happy with the little dish I did get. I also brought home some Camilla Engman printed cards (as she had visited the store only a few days before me).

After visiting Manos I had the biggest hot chocolate (it was a full bowl) and yum-oh blueberry pie at Gilda’s café (on Oscar Lucinda's suggestion, thank you so much I loved it), followed by a lot more walking after such a bit sugar hit!

My time went so fast in Stockholm and I cannot wait to go back it is on the top of my list, I would love to see it in full summer with the leaves on the trees but also in winter I am sure it is magical too.