Unpacking Red Riding Hood again!

Smitonius:

Finally, after almost a year of saving our pennies, sorting out a lot of junk, changing our minds about the design, and redecorating the spare room... it is becoming the study again! On Tuesday two very nice men from Neville Johnson rolled up and fitted two matching desks and shelves. This is my desk:


Before it becomes heaped with piles of books and paper, I thought I would unpack some of my collection of Red Riding Hood and personalise this study area.

Now I have no excuse to get cracking on with writing up my research!

Vertigo

Sonata:

Guess what I wasn't doing today .....

Button Mania ?

Sonata:


I strongly refute any suggestion that I am in the grip of button-mania




I also sew ..................... with the occasional button , it's true



Now and then , there's a miniature quilt ..........




But I do have to admit a certain concentration on them of late . As I cycled past a field yesterday , I was reminded that I really must go to the hairdresser

And is there a Flickr site for Surprisingly Large Domestic Cobwebs ?

Let me eat cake!

Smitonius:

I have been on a low-fat diet for a couple of months, due to suspected gallstones (now confirmed, so into the operating room at some point).... although I mostly miss cheese and eating out in restaurants, it has been a great way of loosing weight and finding new recipes. I do not normally crave for cakes or puddings, but the other day I surfed the net to find a recipe for a low-fat scone or a muffin. What I found instead was this tasty recipe: low fat honey oat scones.

The only extra ingredient I have used is a spoonful of 'mixed spice', and did not use 'egg substitute' but 2 eggs. It is very tasty indeed and so quick and easy to make!

Sonata, currently gripped by button-mania (I am envious, as she seems to find some really nice ones over in Holland!), sent me a little button parcel this week (thanks!). One of the buttons inspired me to make a bracelet or two using some indigo hand-dyed beads from my stash. That white glass Art Deco polka dot one in the middle was in the package, don't they look summery?:

I Want A Bit Of Colour Today .

Sonata:


I want some colour and pizazz today . The sun's not shining and it's grey and cold . Perhaps I should have bought these chairs I saw last week at a flea market ?






Or I could perhaps ask the artist responsible for this beautiful piece of grafitti in town to paint something on the walls of our hall ?





But , meanwhile , I'll make do with making cheerful pincushions ( soon to appear in our Etsy shop ) .... and admiring my buttons .

Painting? Hatching? Eating!

Smitonius:

On Sunday we went up to the Alexandra Palace market to have coffee, people-watch and buy vegetables and other goodies. The sun was shining and everybody and their dog was out:

This market does not only sell food, as the odd creative stalls can be found too - such as this one which sells wooden animals and seats:

And a yarn seller is regularly there as well, Silkwood yarns. This time I couldn't resist a skein of handspun silk:Aren't the colours pretty? We also bought the large goose egg, which the seller packs up for you in a plastic carton with straw (for some reason). As we sat and had coffee a woman asked me, 'are you going to paint it?'... and I said 'no'. A little later on, the venison seller asked me 'are you going to hatch it?'... I said 'no. We are going to eat it'. And, dear readers, we did... very tasty it was too.

Oh, and on the way home, we stopped off at a little antique shop... and found these cute vintage salt and peppers...

Front Doors , Various .

Sonata:

While Smitonius was photographing cats , I was admiring front doors .

To start in style ....is there any other way ?....here's the Dutch design team Viktor and Rolf 's front door on one of the grander streets in the center

Then there are hard to find front doors :

Old front doors , with or without falcons :

Business front doors :

and , yes , that is an electric whisk you can see .Isn't it wonderful !

Grand doors or less grand ones :

just as long as there are stairs up to them .

And sometimes it's not so much the door you're looking at , but the hotel palm repair team hard at work , duster to hand .

And for the real enthusiast there's Do-It-Yourself doors . I want these .......and the 1900's flat to go with them , in Amsterdam would be nice .