New Zealand is home to so many wonderful things; amazing scenery, friendly people, flight of the conchords...and Annette who is the owner and creator of Nut and Bee - webshop for a number of sweet prints, buttons, stamps and stationaries.
I've been designing a room for a little girl named Kamele`iwa and the theme, said mom is "princess rainforest". It's been a pure joy to concept for little Kamele and I've been searching out art that will fit this theme. God bless Etsy.com for making my search so much fun. The Siamang Swing print (seen above) arrived today in the mail along with a thank you note and number of little notes and stickers. Annette, who illustrates everything and gets the art in market form is in her second trimester and just settling into a new home. She is a true business whiz and very on top of sending out purchases lickity-split. Her art is also super affordable as well as adorable (smiley faces on everything WILL put you in a better mood, it will) and I recommend you check her out soon before she gets to busy being a new momma. Check out more of Nut and Bee's work to the right.
Thank you to Annette for the surprises!
I've been learning some new things like baking breads and biscuits, growing and harvesting veggies from the garden. While not a very happy cook, I do like to get my hands in the dirt. So far though, the summer has been pretty delicious.
Carrots carmelizing in brown sugar and butter which will soon be topped with a sprinkling of dill. *Note to self : must grow fresh dill next year.
Above is a peck (!) of pickling cucumbers which will be soon be soaking in a Claussen family pickle recipe bath. Not THE Claussen recipe of pickle fame, but a Claussen recipe just the same. I've decided that this is the summer I will learn to like pickles. Also, a new project on the way designing a bedroom for a little girl. I found this fabric seen below which is so adorable I want to eat it too.
The first inklings of Autumn are appearing by making their way as cool breezes into the windows at night, the big hard droplets of rain mixed in with sun, and lately windstorms which excite me some. I wore a sweater today - then rebelled by wearing slippers and getting the toes painted - relented and painted them brown.
Yo aqui vine a los limites
En donde no hay que decir nada
Todo se aprende con tiempo y oceano,
Y volvia la luna,
Sus lineas plateadas
Y cada vez se rompia la sombra
Con un golpe de ola
Y cada dia en el balcon del mar
Abre las alas, nace el fuego
Y todo sique azul como manana.
***
Here I came to the very edge
where nothing at all needs saying,
everything is absorbed through weather and the sea,
and the moon swam back,
its rays all silvered,
and time and again the darkness would be broken
by the crash of a wave,
and every day on the balcony of the sea,
wings open, fire is born,
and everything is blue again like morning
Pablo Neruda, It is Born (trans. by Joel Gallo)
Photos by Kapuanani, January 2007