Well good afternoon to ya! Apologies for the silence around these parts in 2012 so far, for with one thing and another, including a sick little boy, the rather wonderful launch of The Art of Homemaking, and a whole lot of the kind of DIY that requires almost constant tidying up if I am to survive it without having a daily hissy fit of the I can’t live like this kind, much life has had to be lived away from the computer. I’ve missed you!
But in the meantime I have stroked my little boys face while organising my whole life from my precious iPad and thus have managed, through the wonders of FlipPad and Zite, to keep abreast of all that is lovely, wonderful and inspirational in this world and I thought, now that I have got a house in relative working order and a child back in school, that it might just be time to take a hop, skip and a jump back on to the Housekeepers Carousel…
Ready? Then let’s go…
Let me start by saying a huuuge big thank you to the hundreds of you that bought The Art of Homemaking last week. Your loyalty to my work never ceases to amaze me, and every new piece of writing seems to bring new housekeepers on board which is just downright lovely to see! I truly hope you have lost yourself in the pleasures of housekeeping this week as instructed and you are now gearing up for part two coming your way very, very soon. I am currently relighting my own domestic fire by re-reading Cheryl Mendelsons Home Comforts with my daily elevenses of fennel
* Onwards to the darling painting above from the much esteemed Victorian artist Sir Walter Russell, just because the profusion of pattern puts me in mind of all the early nineties Colefax and Fowler inspired rooms I used to drool over in House and Garden back in the day when I first discovered interiors magazines… gorgeous.
* Now a list of depressing songs I keep flitting back to, if only to listen to Peggy Lee’s “Is That All there Is?”. Nothing like a miserable song for making a person feeling alive now is there? Let’s break out the booze and have a ball!
* Next the inspirational little blogging
* Now ~Baby Lit~ the cutest literary inspired collection of early counting primers you are ever likely to come across. From Austen and Bronte for babies to a teeny take on Romeo and Juliet, I simply can’t think of a better gift to offer a literary new Mama, can you?
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/34853044 w=500&h=281]
* Next a timely reminder to always be curious because it is all to easy to get mired in the muddy waters of samesville and accept that this is all there is…(back to Peggy Lee anyone??) So be curious. Seek curious things. Cultivate a curious demeanor and Sweetie? Live it like you mean it…
* Next up a little kitchen I adore, discovered on Pinterest, courtesy of Magnus Selander, because I’m all about fresh and happy interiors at the moment, and in another place and time it is April and I am about to sit down to a little lunch of freshly popped peas and feta…
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* And finally, as always, some words to live by as we putter and potter and pretty our way to domestic bliss from the ever wonderful Kate Spade, because creating a fascinating life is surely the only way to spend our days on Earth mais non?
Go have a fascinating day. And yes, that IS an order! x
The Brocante Round-Up! 
The Brocante Round-Up! 
The Autumn House
I love that little kitchen you featured! That's a fabulous idea to bring some color into a room!