oh dear!

hello new blog

2010-11-01T14:25:00.002+02:00

hi. my new blog is now at www.everylittlething.co.za
please come visit.

a break

2010-06-10T22:32:00.003+02:00

Hello. I will be taking a little break from Oh Dear to hang out with Ninja Cat and also start something pretty exciting. Unfortunately that takes quite a bit of boring admin stuff and lot's of time. Please come back soon.

weekend things

2010-06-07T22:39:00.005+02:00

Look, it's a cat on a leash! Stevie went to the garden for the first time and he really really loved it. Now I'll be a real loony cat person who takes her cat out for a walk every day. The rest of the weekend was a blur... lot's of work, location scouting, eating soup and spending time with nice friends at home and drinking wine. And also... my boyfriend is wearing glasses and Beth is here! It's so nice to have you back.

boots

2010-06-03T22:10:00.002+02:00

I like you.

From Topshop.

random

2010-06-03T21:55:00.006+02:00

...things you find when spring cleaning your computer. A birthday invitation I made for Terence and Kezia a couple of years ago. Still makes me laugh.

pitching = no posting

2010-06-02T10:14:00.004+02:00

...but I thought I should put this poster up. I did it recently for CNA and I quite like it. It was my bit of soccer mania without too many soccer balls. Ok... back to pitchpitchpitching.

rooms on view

2010-05-31T09:00:00.009+02:00

This Saturday we went to the Rooms on View decor and design exhibition. I've been looking forward to it for a while. It was smaller and more focused than Grand Designs and not at the Coca Cola Dome which is already a good thing. I took loads of photos even though I apparently wasn't supposed to. I only have good things to say about the show anyway. There were three highlights that I have to mention above all else.

1. The Mzansi Collection stand with beautifully crafted South African products. The project is an initiative of the Department of Trade and Industry and there will be a shop/gallery opening at the Nelson Mandela Square where all products will be available to the public. Nothing was on sale at the actual exhibition and I found it hard to tear myself away from the stand.

2. Welcome Home: a collection of South African products chosen by Source (a super-duper design consultancy) for Boardmans. I can't explain how excited I am about this. Finally a big chain store will hold some quality South African made furniture, ceramics and soft furnishings. The prices might not make it available to everyone but these are far away from cheep Chinese imports we have become accustomed to in our retail stores. The collection will be available at selected Boardmans stores from the beginning on June (tomorrow!). Excitement!

3. The Absolut bar designed by Dokter and Misses. So so beautiful (my pictures don't do it any justice).

I wish I was renovating a new house and I just won lot's of money. I would know exactly where to spend it.

weekend things

2010-05-30T22:30:00.003+02:00

I kept forgetting my camera at home this weekend. It’s partly because I don’t have a proper case for it and if anything bad happened to it I would be very very sad. So without any visual aid here is what happened in the last 2.5 days: my friend David’s birthday dinner at Swallow’s Inn in Commissioner Street, drinking coffee with the usual friends at the usual place, going to check out Rooms on View, watching endless episodes of Seinfeld, visiting family, hanging out with the cat, working and trying very hard to keep warm. This photo sums it up quite nicely.

up in the air

2010-05-30T19:57:00.004+02:00

Saw this movie tonight. The best thing about it were the opening titles designed to resemble vintage postcards. Created by Shadowplay Studio who also made the titles for Juno and Thank you for Smoking.

And George Clooney wasn't too bad either.

happy

2010-05-28T09:50:00.003+02:00

I'm going through a strange, crazy, busy, super emotional time. This photo cheered me up this morning. Kids are so cool. Have a happy weekend.

t-shirt bed

2010-05-27T10:55:00.004+02:00

Back to that most amazing new Woolworts thing. A t-shirt bed! Yes. I slept in our new soft melange t-shirt fabric nest last night and it was the best sleep I've had in a long time. The fury creature likes it too. Why wasn't this invented like a 100 years ago?!

let's eat grandpa part 2

2010-05-26T21:05:00.008+02:00

The finished Let’s Eat Grandpa book was delivered to us by our nice friends from Hello World. Excitement! Here is one page from each story:

Let’s Eat Grandpa. by Leigh and Brad

Let’s Eat! Grandpa? by Jeff and Kerryn

Let’s... Eat... Grandpa... by Gareth and Aadil

Let’s Eat? Grandpa! by Stuart, Rory and Koos

Let’s “Eat” Grandpa. by Jono and Denny

Let’s Eat, Grandpa. by Graeme and Andre

Same words, different punctuation, different stories, nice book. Sorry about not including all the surnames everyone. I was too lazy.

something to get excited about

2010-05-26T11:06:00.003+02:00

The new Black Keys album! Brothers. I can hardly wait.

Listen to it here.

life after LOST

2010-05-25T18:00:00.004+02:00

...because we're watching the last episode EVER tonight. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!

Illustrations by Michael Myers.

maru

2010-05-25T11:57:00.006+02:00

You know you are becoming that crazy cat lady when people keep sending you every cat related video ever made. This one is an exception. Maru, possibly the most famous cat on planet Earth, is three years old. I could watch him forever as he slides around the floor, opens drawers, squeezes himself into tiny spaces and shows his huge love for boxes of any shape and size. Maru is the winner of most loved Japanese YouTube video of 2008 and 2009, he has a DVD and a book available for purchase on his site and he's an all round super cool cat. Happy 3rd birthday Maru, thanks for making me happy.

coincidence

2010-05-25T11:18:00.009+02:00

I already mentioned how much I loved the Sagaform stand at the Grand Designs show.

Imagine how happy I was when I opened my (belated) birthday gift from Kallie and Melvin and found these beautiful mugs!

I'm so lucky to know people who know me so well. Thank you Melvins.

scrabble

2010-05-24T11:33:00.002+02:00

For all you Scrabble nerds out there. A Scrabble table. How nice.

Found over at Color me Katie which I'm finding super inspiring.

weekend things

2010-05-24T09:34:00.005+02:00

We got some free tickets to the Grand Designs show that was happening this weekend in Johannesburg. Terence and I had a bit of an obsession with the BBC program by the same name and were secretly hoping to meet the presenter Kevin McCloud. No, he wasn’t there, but there were a couple of nice things to see. I loved the Sagaform stand with it’s beautiful Scandinavian designs. My other favourite was Raw with their wooden lockers that I would love to have but really really can’t afford. We spent Sunday out of the city with some fishing nerds and even bigger camera nerds. Also, a sneak preview of my new most favourite thing. Woolworths... my love for you grows with each day.

sarah thorne

2010-05-22T09:30:00.000+02:00

I don't like waring make-up but I like this packaging design for a Topshop make-up range by designer Sarah Thorne.

new deer hunter finds

2010-05-21T13:02:00.007+02:00

This last weekend, like any other weekend, we went to visit our friends at our favourite little shop. Here are some new things I've added to my growing collection of Deer Hunter gems:

1. Two sweet ceramic birds sitting on a branch 2. A very pretty floral blouse with pleats in the front. 3. Meat is murder on vinyl.

Thanks Deer Hunter!

cupcake sadness

2010-05-21T10:20:00.002+02:00

I'm having a bad day. Maybe this post will make me feel better... maybe not. This is what happens when a cat attacks a cupcake.

illustrations that are nice

2010-05-20T11:21:00.006+02:00

By Luke Bott.

mystery art

2010-05-18T18:59:00.008+02:00

I bought this drawing on the street in Cape Town a few years ago. It was drawn by a man standing on the side of the road in Gardens with a flip-file full of drawings. I quickly had to choose one because the robot was about to turn green and this is the one I picked. It's drawn with a ball-point pen on a piece of lined A4 paper and coloured in with colouring pencils. If you look closely you will notice some details that I love. An antelope hiding behind a rock, a kid sitting in a blue car with a trailer, three men drinking around a table, and what looks like a female truck driver behind the wheel of a pink flat-bed truck.

I often wonder about the man behind this drawing. Does he really like drawing or is he just trying to make some cash? Did he steal this from his kid's school book? I love how South African this scene is too. It makes me kind of sad and happy at the same time. If you see a man selling drawings somewhere around CT again, let me know. I'd love to talk to him.

it's just a lamp

2010-05-18T18:26:00.004+02:00

Is it possible to miss an inanimate object? This little green lamp sits on our bookshelf. It was broken for about 2 months and it's now working again. When I came home today I was genuinely happy to see it like a friend who was away for a long time and finally returned.

eat love

2010-05-16T22:51:00.007+02:00

This is a beautiful new book I got from my loved one. It's called Eat Love by Dutch food designer Marije Vogelzang. I heard her talk at the Design Indaba one year and really liked her work. She explores not only what people eat but how and why and asks questions like 'Why do we reward children with sweets?'. The book is beautifully designed too, with really nice line drawings and bits of hand-drawn type. Here is an example of one of Marije's food "experiments" called “Cupcakes with a Lack of Attention”. In this project, otherwise identical cupcakes, invite people with different written messages like: " Eat me", "You can't resist me" and "I'm the most delicious one". "I noticed the psychological effect of people who decidedly choose certain messages over the others, while being aware that all cupcakes tasted exactly the same,” Vogelzang writes.

Get this one and many more good books at Pulp Books.

weekend things

2010-05-16T17:05:00.006+02:00

A somewhat of a Wits Tech reunion on Friday night at a nice new Indian place (Mantra on 4th Avenue in Parktown North, bring your own alcohol). A pet that matches your house is a good pet. Veggie burgers from scratch washed down with Diemersfontein - I'm becoming a real wine snob. If you are reading this good wine makes at Diemersfontein, please send me a few crates. Lot's of episodes of Seinfeld and also the new Coen brothers movie, 'A Serious Man', which was beautiful but also very frustrating. Ethan and Joel, I implore you to make a film with a real ending next time. I still love you though. The end.

animals

2010-05-12T17:49:00.011+02:00

I prefer animals to be alive and hopping around the woods but I'm strangely drawn to these creatures made by a French couple from Frédérique Morrel. They are life-seize sculptures of animals, mostly deer, covered in vintage needlework sourced from all over France. Each one is hand-made and unique, some of them with real fur, antlers and hoofs. I find them beautiful and creepy at the same time. Some behind the scenes photos of how each piece is made can be viewed on the site. A strange and intriguing people those Morrel's are...

georgina gratrix

2010-05-12T11:10:00.007+02:00

I like the work of Mexican born South African artists Georgina Gratrix. I really like the sound of her name too.

a house on the hill

2010-05-11T19:01:00.008+02:00

I like meeting nice people on the World Wide Web. After discovering Mandy Crooks' beautiful blog the other day, I'm a little bit in love with her life: living on a farm in the Kwa Zulu Natal Midlands, teaching yoga, gardening and making nice things, looking after her family. Sounds like a dream. What I'm in love with even more is this converted farm shed on her property which can be rented out for a group of up to 12 people. Isn't it beautiful?! It made me want to pack up and go right away, especially at this time of the year, when it's all misty and cold in the Midlands. 2 people in, 10 to go. Let's g0!

PS: well behaved pets are welcome. Think about it Queen Yuki.
http://www.hillhouse.co.za/

storm in a royal delft tea cup

2010-05-11T11:28:00.007+02:00

A piece of art in a tea cup by designer John Lumbus. "Turn the handle and the golden boat rides the mechanical waves, above the stormy clouds periodically reveal a shining bolt of lightning."

weekend things

2010-05-10T12:30:00.009+02:00

It was a lovely warm weekend in Johannesburg. We went to see some new shops at the Arts on Main. The new Ossewa shop is where we found these lovely ceramic glove stands and loads of other beautiful antiques that we couldn't really afford. I've been wanting to see the new bakery called Vovo Telo in 44 Stanley. All their bread was sold out but we got to sample some delicious pizza. I got to hang out with Queen Yuki, admire Shaun's new camera (wow), see Away We Go at the movies, and gasp at the new Woolworths store in Hyde Park. Bought something for the Baskin creature and wished for way too many things for myself. Sigh... It was a lovely lazy weekend. The end.

grown-up home

2010-05-07T15:29:00.008+02:00

One day I will live in a grown-up place that might look something like this:

For now, I like living in a bright happy home that doesn't really look like it's inhabited by 30 year-olds. I was going through my photos and these looked like the colours were matching on purpose. We just like CMYK.

finger friends

2010-05-07T09:49:00.004+02:00

I bought these puppets at the Irene market ages ago and Terence kidnapped them and took them to his office and I only found them the other day when I went to visit him and I took them back home where they belong... shooo, thank goodness. They were made by the sweetest, most creative puppet making lady who has a stall full of every kind of character you can imagine made into a finger puppet. You can get Batman and a fireman and a doctor and a princess and a bird and a soccer player and a flower and lots more, but animals are my favourite (especially the wolf with that crazy grin on his face). If you ever go to the Irene market this is one stall you absolutely have to see.

let's eat grandpa

2010-05-05T09:52:00.006+02:00

We've been busy with a really nice project for our friends at Hello World (hence the lack of posts up here for the last couple of days). I don't want to give too much away but there will be 8 different stories done by 8 different teams of writers/illustrators and we were one of the teams. Here are some frames I like from our book. I hope you like them too.

weekend things

2010-05-03T22:42:00.003+02:00

Terence and I are working on a nice project that's taking up all of our time. Hardly even left the house. Spent time drawing and hanging out with the pet mostly. That's all.

happy

2010-04-30T15:47:00.003+02:00

Happy weekend from Steve Martin.

I have to go have a cat nap again, bye!

girl creature

2010-04-30T11:12:00.007+02:00

So the Baskin kid is a girl! I remember when Kezia had a pink birthday party one year and EVERYTHING was pink (man I wish I had pictures from that party cause you would be really impressed). I knew then she would be a great mom one day and her kid would have the best birthday parties in the world. Speaking of the kid, here are some things every young lady needs:

A summer dress to frolic around the garden in.

A melange number for just going to the shops and stuff.

A smart/casual ensemble to wear to tea parties and things.

And a fox obviously.

Everything is from Smallable and I want to buy all of it for the kid.

tiny little chairs

2010-04-29T08:30:00.002+02:00

Since I spend a large amount of money on decor magazines each month I thought I should share some things I find in them. Here's something for people who admire designer chairs (or have a little obsession like me) but also like to wear pretty shiny things around their necks (all girls I know). Tiny Little Chairs are handmade in Canada by Bruxe Design and here is what they say about them: "Tiny Little Chairs is a series of collectible pendants celebrating mid century design. Each pendant represents a vintage chair which revolutionized furniture production and the design process. These miniatures allow you to wear your love and appreciation for these pioneering designers and their iconic objects which continue to be benchmarks for today's designers."

Saw this in Living Etc. The words 'mid-century, chair and pendant' all in one sentence got me very excited.

what i wore today

2010-04-28T10:25:00.004+02:00

I finally made a drawing for the 'What I wore today' blog. Having trouble uploading it onto their Flickr stream but I like the way it came out even though I gave myself soccer player calves. Thanks for making me do it Jeff.

weekend things

2010-04-28T09:37:00.007+02:00

I took a few days off and had a much needed long weekend. After five days a few things have changed. I’ve been to Mozambique for the first time and realised Mozambicans might be the friendliest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. It was good to be far away from home, eat lot’s of prawns, drink lots of beer and swim in the warm sea. We even met a bride and groom at the Maputo airport. It was quite surreal to see them on our flight, all dressed up in white. I loved the little town of Inhambane and definitely want to go back there. Still, the best thing was going on a crazy boat ride and snorkeling with a 8 meter whale shark (no pics of that, my camera would never forgive me for all that sea water). And there was something to look forward to when we came back to rainy Joburg: Steve Martin is finally home and it feels like he’s been with us for much longer than a day. We love you Stevie, you sweet sweet creature. Welcome home.

happy

2010-04-23T08:30:00.001+02:00

I was going through my old photos and I found these:

This post has nothing to do with Haloween. It has to do with friends who have the most awesome costumes. Can you picture them on their horse and carriage, chewing blades of grass, singing Amish songs? When asked how they came up with their outfits they replied "we just wore whatever we could find in our cupboard".

Have a happy weekend everyone.

andy

2010-04-22T09:45:00.003+02:00

I would never ever want to hit Andy in the face even if he was super mean to me like he was to Edie Sedgwick. But I do love this Andy Warhol pinata at the Brooklyn Museum. Created by artist Jennifer Rubell the contents of the pinata will be edible. Oooo, I wonder what Andy's brain tastes like? Tomato soup?

Images from Broklyn Museum's Flickr photostream.

the perfect bag

2010-04-21T11:34:00.003+02:00

This is it:

From Topshop.

‘more things like this’ please

2010-04-21T08:30:00.001+02:00

Terence gave me this beautiful book called ‘More Things Like This’ for my birthday. It’s described as ‘289 drawings with funny words also on the same drawing’ and it’s published by McSweeney’s who publish many other nice things. It features art by people like Robert Crumb, David Shrigley, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Ralph Steadman and more illustrators, cartoonists and writers. It’s full of amazing drawings which make me laugh and inspire me to draw again. Here are a few of my favourites:

‘This workshop is highly regarded as an excellent workshop’ Chris Johanson
‘This conceptual art is about the fascism of capitalism’ Chris Johanson
‘Was she pretty?’ Leanne Shapton
‘Carol’ Maira Kalman
‘Untitled’ David Shrigley (reads: Upon my return from exile I enter the town riding a giant goose. The goose will peck the fuck out of any protestors)
‘Poster making’ Royal Art Lodge
‘Hey Ladies’ Tucker Nichols
‘I Have Nothing Good To Say About This Bastard’ Dave Eggers
‘Untitled’ (Mustard is a fool’s condiment) David Mamet
‘Davey Crockett’ (has lost his fucking mind) John Lurie

You can order this one and many other nice books from Pulp Books.

weekend things

2010-04-20T14:44:00.005+02:00

Having a projector at home was nice. Sort of like watching a movie at the cinema while laying in your bed. A visit to Kitty Heaven on Saturday morning broke my heart a little bit but mostly made me happy. Brothers. Nicola's Super Mario birthday cake. Baskin creature, can you please be born now so I can buy you shoes like these. Some arty stuff on Sunday (that statement is totally true). And rainy streets of Joburg. The end.

fragile things I like

2010-04-20T08:30:00.006+02:00

I realised we have quite a nice collection of pretty and functional ceramics.

A floral milk jug I got from Shaun and Kezia for my birthday.
‘Diamond’ ceramic glasses from Birds café. I love drinking Nesquick out of these.
Pink swans, also from Birds café in Cape Town. We use them for salt and pepper.
‘Love’ plate and small white vase with birds Terence’s mom gave me.
Two small white vases Kallie got me at Urban Outfitters.
‘Bird’ bowl. Birds café again.

And, (not quite ceramic) Seletti glasses that look like plastic cups but are actually made out of beautiful thin glass. I got 5 in Paris and I like drinking wine out of these. Seletti make loads of amazing things I’m crazy about. I’d love to get my hands on this ceramic crate of theirs. One day, when my dream of owning a shop becomes a reality, I would love to stock their stuff.

new friend

2010-04-18T17:24:00.005+02:00

We are adopting a kitten! We met him this weekend at Kitty Heaven. People always say ‘you will know which one to get’ and I thought that was a load of crap but this little guy kind of chose us. He wouldn’t stop looking at us and when we got into the cage he immediately jumped up onto my lap and meowed the whole time. Either that or he’s really good at selling himself. Please help us give him a name. We are leaning towards Steve Martin but I would like some more suggestions. You could be his godfather or godmother and if we choose your name you can come meet him too. More on our new friend next week when he finally comes home and hopefully stays with us for a long long time. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek! I’m so excited.

Warning: expect loads more cat-related posts in the future.

what i wore today

2010-04-16T14:05:00.007+02:00

I stumbled upon What I Wore Today, a very nice blog and Flickr group where people are invited to draw a self portrait and show everyone else what they wore that day. I had very good intentions of making a drawing but I just ended up documenting what I wore to work for two weeks. Here are some drawings from the blog that I liked:

I really want to submit a drawing this weekend, just need to choose what to wear.
Join the Flickr group here.

birthday shoes

2010-04-16T11:10:00.002+02:00

Last year I got these amazing shoes from my friends Gabby and Johan as a birthday present. It's super hard for me to find shoes in my size (3!) and when I do I make sure to buy them immediately. I saw these at my favourite vintage clothing stall at the Rosebank market one day and asked the lady to please please keep them for me while I get some money. When I went back an hour later she said she sold them because she thought I wasn't coming back! I hated her and I was devastated for about two hours before Gabby gave them to me wrapped in nice wrapping paper and all. I love how she got this sweet old lady to lie to me and I love my shoes (I'm wearing them today with very thick socks because they are a little bit big for me).

clone please

2010-04-14T10:16:00.003+02:00

Work is preventing me from posting nice things up here. Here is what I'm wishing for: my head made up like this so I can put it onto someone's body and send that person to work instead of me. I would just stay at home and eat things and read books and watch endless episodes of Seinfeld. Now who wants to be my body double with a giant head?

For instructions on how to make your own head go here.

weekend things

2010-04-12T09:53:00.003+02:00

It was a weekend full of animals and birthdays. Tokyo stayed at our house on Friday night and took up most of our bed. We ended up at a dog show on Saturday morning where we saw lot's of funny dogs and even more funny dog owners. It was Deer Hunter's first birthday! Happy birthday little shop that I've spent more time in than any other shop ever! We ate a delicious vegetarian lunch at the Greenside Cafe and had some beers at the Schwabinger on the eve of Julia's birthday. And then I got to see my friend Kirsten who was visiting from London and I didn't take a single picture with her. Silly! It was so nice to spend a few hours with you my friend.

happy

2010-04-09T11:07:00.003+02:00

Happy weekend from the flying squirrel.

See. Same.

salty brownies

2010-04-09T10:56:00.002+02:00

I love salt. Sometimes I put some in the palm of my hand and lick little bits of it slowly. Sounds gross but I can't help myself. I used to steal salt shakers from restaurants but I'm grown-up now and I've learned to appreciate good sea salt. This is pretty much my dream recipe. Salted Fudge Brownies! Think I might try it this weekend. Yum.

Via Cup of Jo.

beatles mono

2010-04-08T09:58:00.004+02:00

A very excited Johan sent me this yesterday. I'll let him explain how awesome it is: "You have GOT to love this! Japanese Beatles Mono CD box set. Direct miniature replicas of the original LPs, including every original detail, down to plastic sleeves you use to keep records protected!" Yes... I do love it.

hello monthly banner

2010-04-06T20:09:00.005+02:00

I try to invent projects for myself since everything they think of at work lately seams to be pure evil. I thought it would be nice to have a different Oh Dear banner every month. So here is one for the month of April. Terence drew this remarkably realistic self portrait with antlers and if I ever saw him with antlers growing out of his head I would probably say "Oh dear..." I hope you like it.
Ok, that's all for now.

swans

2010-04-06T08:30:00.000+02:00

Thanks to a few friends who know me really well, I have a whole new flock of swans and I love them all.

weekend things

2010-04-05T21:05:00.006+02:00

I know it was a really long weekend but I didn't take too many pictures. I needed a break from anything that needs a charger to survive. Some of the things I did do on a few occasions when I left the house: went to visit Leigh and Brad at their lovely flat just around the corner from us and stuffed my face with all sorts of evil delicious food stuffs; had sushi in Hokkaido in Norwood, (which I highly recommend), and a little bit later had my ear drums destroyed by Steve Aoki (which I recommend if you are not as old as me); played some badminton and realised I'm not very good at it at all; had a few Easter egg battles; spent lots of time at home drinking tea, drawing pictures and such; and on Monday night wished really really hard that I wouldn't have to come back to work today. But I'm here... so it didn't work out.

if you were in mad men

2010-04-01T14:49:00.004+02:00

At madmenyourself.com you can create your Mad Men avatar with lots of choices of 1950's clothes, settings and accessories. If you know Terence you know this looks exactly like him. Exactly. Accept he doesn't like littering and doesn't own a briefcase.

Ok, have a lovely looooooooooooong weekend. Bye!

lucky pets

2010-04-01T08:30:00.004+02:00

Look at all these lucky pets on The Selby. Just hanging around, posing with their fancy owners. I will get an animal friend if that's what it takes for you to come visit me Mr Selby. All you need to do is call...

Potato (picture 1.) wins paws down.

dreams...

2010-03-31T19:37:00.008+02:00

It's only the end March and I'm tired, really tired. I've been dreaming of escaping somewhere not too far but not too close to home either. How about lake Malawi? I only discovered Neville Trickett's blog and Flickr sets at the end of last year. Here are some of his photographs of Mumbo Island. A part of Lake Malawi National Park, Mumbo island has never been populated, and is still in it’s natural state covered in ancient fig and baobab trees. It looks like paradise right?

I hope you don't mind me sharing these photos Neville Trickett. Your blog is a huge inspiration to me.

secret johannesburg (part 3)

2010-03-30T19:59:00.006+02:00

I've been driving past this house in Houghton for a couple of years now and wondering who owns it, what will happen to it, what's the history behind it. At first I thought it was going to be renovated and that was exciting because most old homes get demolished for giant new monstrosities to be built. Then any kind of activity just stopped and the house is now overgrown with plants and it's windows and doors have been barricaded. There is a beautiful crest above the front entrance with the word 'Athol' which I presume is a family name. If anyone stumbles upon this and has any more information about this house on Houghton Drive, please let me know. Or if you want to buy it for me that would be fine too.

i know how to cook

2010-03-30T09:56:00.009+02:00

It's good to have clever friends who choose the most clever birthday gifts. Lev and Solveig are friends like that. They gave me this incredibly beautiful cook book called 'I know how to cook' by Ginette Mathiot, known as the bible of French cooking. First published in 1932 and containing more then 1400 recipes (with 50 pages of sauces!), it's been a best seller ever since. And look at the illustrations... they were done by Blexbolex and they make me so so happy. My favourite are the cat and mouse of course.

Thanks friends, dinner is in order. Now all I need to do is repeat my mantra "I know how to cook, I know how to cook..."

weekend things

2010-03-28T22:47:00.006+02:00

It was my 30th birthday this weekend. I spent Friday night crying into my pillow... yes this is true. But I got over it as soon as someone mentioned cake. My genius mother made my favourite one with fancy meringue writing on top. Our house was full of nice people on Saturday night and we spent earth hour under candle light. Look! I have a huge new custom made mirror now and no excuse to leave the house looking like kak any more. Thank you Terence! Also! Someone must be listening to my whining because I got a REAL grown up camera. Eeeeeeek! Thank you parents, you are the best. Let's be BFFs G11. Sunday was all about the Art Fair. So much to see, my feet were sore after two hours of walking around. I need to become rich now so I can be like Charles Saachi and have my own Guggenheim. That would be lovely, thanks.

lovely locks

2010-03-26T15:00:00.001+02:00

My hair will be this long one day. Yes it will.

Happy weekend from me and lovely Zooey Deschanel.

joburg art fair

2010-03-26T09:31:00.006+02:00

It's that time of the year again. And for those who still need convincing here are some of the things you will be able to see:

23 participating galleries, over 400 artists and 40 designers from South Africa and the rest of Africa, best art and visual culture publications from book-dealers such as Boekehuis, Biblioteq and Clarke’s, special projects such as a collaboration between artist Laurence Lemaoana (work pictured) and fabric house St Leger Viney, talks, screenings and tons of inspiration everywhere you look. I might not be able to afford any of the art on sale but I can't wait to go this weekend.

Sandton Convention Centre, 26-28 March. Open from 10-7 on Friday and Saturday and from 10-4 on Sunday.

bunting everywhere

2010-03-25T17:22:00.003+02:00

I've been seeing decorative bunting everywhere lately. It's so simple and pretty and great for a party or a kids room. Here are some of my favouries:

Wooden bunting from Etsy seller Bliss in a teacup . It could almost be Oh Dear in the first photo (and I love her tattoos!). Sweet mini bunting from mamutopia on Flickr. Scalloped bunting from Sparkle Power, paper bunting from Paperklip Design , Christmasy bunting from Hello Handmade all on Etsy. And the photograph that made me want to post all this: mini bunting above a bathroom sink from a sneak peek of EmersonMade on Design Sponge. So lovely.

baby!

2010-03-24T14:26:00.003+02:00

So it's almost 12 weeks and the creature has lost it's tail, it has eyelids and it's head comprises nearly half of the size of it's body. It's officially safe to brag about the new addition to the Eales/Baskin crew. I'm sososososooooo excited! Eeeeeeek! It gives me endless opportunities to blog about baby rooms, baby names, baby toys, baby clothes and all things baby. Thanks Shaun and Kezia. I love yous and I love the creature already.

I thought this was an appropriate image. Yay for babies!

yellow

2010-03-24T11:15:00.003+02:00

Work is making me into a sad sad human again. The weather is not helping but thinking yellow thoughts is. That's all I have time for now. Back to rabbiting...

weekend things

2010-03-23T09:27:00.003+02:00

Poached egg fail for breakfast. Cosmos everywhere on the side of the road. A visit to the old Magaliesburg train station and the house of the station master that's being restored. Alice in Wonderland was just a 6/10 even though it had all the right ingredients. And I got to play with a semi-grown up camera this weekend and it was pretty cool. Can I have my own one now please...

a robot love story

2010-03-19T09:42:00.003+02:00

Because I've been feeling like a robot lately this feels quite fitting...
A short film by Spike Jonze: I'm Here - A Love Story in an Absolute World. I like how the website looks like an old cinema and it's by Spike and it features a sad robot. What's not to like? Because of my pathetic Internet speed I haven't seen the entire movie. Maybe someone else has more luck. See it here and have a lovely weekend.

spaces

2010-03-18T21:09:00.004+02:00

I was hoping MyRoomNow.com was going to take off but it looks like Spaces at We Are Awesome is doing it much better and quicker. I heard about Markus Wormstorm's place before and now I get to see it. Considering it's a former ward of Valkenberg Mental Hospital it looks pretty good. I'd love to go visit and see his collection of strange artifacts. Looking forward to more interesting spaces by We Are Awesome.

funny dad

2010-03-16T16:13:00.005+02:00

I love visiting Sweet Juniper. Jim usually makes me laugh with hilarious stories about his family. This is one of my favourites:

A brief rant about my tone deaf family

Posted by jdg | Tuesday, February 02, 2010

My son has started singing and he's just awful at it. Lately I've been trying to teach him to sing "Happy Birthday" for his sister's annual "one-year-older-but-not-much-taller" jubilee. He learned the words quick enough, but there's something about the way he sings them that makes the simple tune sound like an Estonian funerary dirge performed by an in-bred goatherd into the merciless winds of the Baltic Sea. I just look at him and think, Damn, son, you're never going to sing in a rock band. Maybe you could play bass, or become a white rapper named Tône Dëf who gets mocked in the early stages of American Idol, Season 23, but if you ever have any hope of scoring chicks you'd better be athletic.

weekend things

2010-03-15T11:32:00.004+02:00

It was a sad weekend. My grandfather wend back home after spending three months with us. My heart hurt when I thought of him alone on that flight with a note that said he would prefer chicken for dinner. I worked too much, and that's me with a big frown on my sad working face. My new favourite eggs are poached eggs with spinach and my new favourite dog breed is a Beagle. We went to see Crazy Heart and as a result I want to become a country singer and I have a crush on Jeff Bridges. The end.

one last time...

2010-03-15T11:10:00.004+02:00

Here is the actual Elle Decoration article from the March issue. If it was up to me there wouldn't be quite so many pictures of me in it. But our place looks really nice thanks to everyone involved: stylist Tiaan Nagel, photographer Elsa Young and her magic lenses that made everything look so much better than it actually is, and Alex Dodd who wrote such a nice article about us. Thanks everyone!

And that's the last time you'll have to read about this.

birthday

2010-03-14T16:28:00.003+02:00

It's my brother's birthday today. Happy birthday little brother! Here we are when we were almost 4 and almost 1. Those were the days...

beautiful panic

2010-03-13T19:31:00.005+02:00

I came across a blog called Pacing The Panic Room. It didn't take too much to make me love it. 1: It's about a photographer, his life, his family and his kids and I love kids. 2: It features this ridiculously beautiful banner designed by Anna Bond of Rifle Paper Co. 3. and these incredible photographs documenting every week of his wife's pregnancy.

Can you feel the love?

douglas and his bicycle

2010-03-12T09:44:00.002+02:00

This photo makes me happy that it's Friday.
Happy weekend!

Elle Decoration - Outtakes

2010-03-10T08:30:00.001+02:00

The always lovely Heather Moore put up the pictures of our house, which didn't make it into the magazine, up on the Elle Decor website this morning. It's so nice to finally see them. Thanks for the sneak peak Heather! We can't wait to see the article.

bat for lashes

2010-03-09T13:14:00.003+02:00

By Mads Perch. See his other work here.

short

2010-03-09T09:33:00.002+02:00

I wish I could pull this off! Carey Mulligan looks so beautiful with her super short haircut.

weekend things

2010-03-08T09:44:00.005+02:00

Wolves is open! And if you are reading this you need to go there. The opening was pretty and delicious and everyone is blurry because they were having so much fun. Well done Angie, Shane and Greg, you brave brave wolves. A mouse bird making a big mess on our balcony. Graceland on repeat. Our neighbours are probably really tired of it but I'm not. A little ceramic hand I bought at the Deer Hunter. A very excited dog playing water polo with some humans. And Katieroo, we miss you terribly. Come get your present soon because it's something really good.

ukulele wonder

2010-03-06T14:44:00.006+02:00

Mr Lev David sent me this, so I knew it would be good. A five year old Japanese Beatles fan plays the ukulele. Thanks for making me smile boy wonder. Your Obladi Oblada rendition took my breath away.

See his genius performance style here. I strongly recommend 'While my guitar gently weeps'.

i'm waiting for you impatiently...

2010-03-04T18:49:00.002+02:00

local is nice

2010-03-03T12:44:00.006+02:00

I've been searching for curtain fabric and found some really nice local designs. Some of them are very expensive and buying 20 meters is definitely not an option. They are still beautiful to look at and I might just have to buy a tiny bit to satisfy my fabric craving! Here are my favourites.

Printed by hand using carved linoleum blocks and water-based silkscreen ink, on cotton, linen, and vintage cloth. By Jesse Breytenbach. I'm in love with the 'Drops' pattern (first picture).

Lula Fabrics... I can't afford you but I dream of every piece of furniture in my house covered in your Suzani print. (Suzani in red and blue above) WOW

And some more from Shine Shine fabrics and of course Skinny laMinx.

weekend things

2010-03-01T14:40:00.005+02:00

Schnurr face and I went shopping for lovely vintage things at Nola's lovely sale. We found a chocolate shop in Parkhurst. It's called Chocadore and it's a delicious shop. Saw this sweet little car parked on the street. It's called S-Cargo. Can you guess why? The passage at the Monarch hotel was giving me a bit of a Twin Peaks feeling. I was wishing for a dancing midget to make it complete. And backstage with Die Antwoord bitches...

girl crush, boy crush

2010-02-26T08:30:00.007+02:00

I'm out of touch, I'm getting old. So it's a good thing my friends keep me in the loop.
My friend David sent me this awesome video for 'Taken by Trees'. I'm a sucker for lens flares and pretty girls so it was quite easy to get me hooked. Taken by Trees is the latest project from artist Victoria Bergsman from Stockholm. Bergsman was singer-songwriter for The Concretes before this debut solo album.

A couple of weeks ago, during a nerdy musical swap, Shaun gave me so much nice music, nice country and folk stuff that I love the most. I kept going back to 'The Tallest man on Earth', and finally decided to Google them today. A man with a voice like that had to look like this, right?

Kristian Matsson in from Sweden too and sounds like Bob Dylan with a bit of Antony and the Johnsons mixed in. He makes me blush and giggle. It's pretty bad.

Conclusion = Swedes are hot.

oh the places we'll go...

2010-02-25T08:45:00.000+02:00

Our tickets are booked! heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee I'm so excited.
Istanbul, Belgrade, Dubrovnik, St. Stefan, Banja Luka and maybe a few stops in between.

I can hardly wait for all these places but best of all is going to be seeing my family.
August 15th hurry up please!

etsy goodness

2010-02-25T08:30:00.000+02:00

Etsy has it's share of really bad craft and a few gems in between. Here's one seller that I really like. Tree and Kimball uses vintage lace and beads to make her beautiful jewelery.

si(e)s, but it's nice actually

2010-02-24T08:30:00.000+02:00

Sis Deli + Cafe in Finland specialises in organic produce. I love the black and white theme that runs through everything from decor to packaging.

so I've been keeping a secret...

2010-02-23T19:37:00.006+02:00

My friends know that I have a little obsession with decor magazines. I've been known to ignore loved ones who try to talk to me while I'm paging through Living Etc. or get seriously upset if someone looks through my House and Leisure before I do. I admit that I've secretly fantasised about my house being in a magazine. More than once... and now it will be. hihihihi It is a bit ridiculous, I know, but I'm excited. I will buy 20 copies of the March issue of Elle Decor and I will be as proud as a parent who's beloved child features in a Huggies commercial.

There, I said it. You are welcome to ridicule me my friends.

A few copies of the magazine will be available at the Design Indaba Expo, but until the actual issue comes out in stores I can't put the pictures up. Just a sneak preview...

Excitement!

bow tie + suspenders + sailor hat

2010-02-23T10:34:00.005+02:00

Interesting accessories from French fashion designer Baptiste Viry.

weekend things

2010-02-23T09:43:00.006+02:00

You know all is good with the world when you spend Saturday morning drinking coffee with your friends. Lindt, or Sprungli, or whatever your name is: THIS IS YOUR BEST INVENTION YET. Were you thinking of me when you made it? Eagerly awaiting the opening of a new bakery at 44 Stanley. It's exactly what was missing in my life. Ross and Leigh-Anne are engaged! So we drank some Pimms cocktails to celebrate. And I was privillaged to spend a Sunday afternoon with HRH Yuki and her loyal servants.

warmth

2010-02-22T16:19:00.005+02:00

Terence doesn't like woolly things and hates it when I wear what he refers to as knitwear. It scratches his delicate skin. It's such a shame because I would love to wear anything by Sirena con Jersey from Spain. Maybe if we moved to a place with a colder climate...

secret johannesburg (part 2)

2010-02-19T15:37:00.002+02:00

Last week we had an agency dinner at a place called The View in Parktown. The location was symbolic since Tom's family used to own the house back in the day and Tom is our ECD, which means he's quite important. It's called The View because it used to have a spectacular view which apparently stretched all the way to Magaliesberg. Now that view is blocked by some very unsightly concrete buildings. The house is still very beautiful and haunted by Tom's ancestors. I kept wishing to see one of them walking down the stairs. It would have been a perfect occasion for a ghost sighting, since the house was filled with people and I wouldn't be alone, stuck with a deceased member of the Cullinan clan.

I love this little note I found in the bathroom.

when we were babies

2010-02-19T15:12:00.001+02:00

floating hippies

2010-02-18T13:50:00.006+02:00

A group of artists from the U.S. came together to created these hand crafted '"swimming cities" out of found objects, scrap metal and a Mercedes motor even. These vessels navigated the Adriatic Sea from Slovenia to Venice in May 2009. They remind me of this scene from Kusturica's Time of the Gypsies.

Maybe hippies and gypsies have a lot of things in common.
All swimming cities images by Tod Seeli.
More about the project here.

antlers

2010-02-16T08:30:00.002+02:00

We found these elk antlers in an antique shop in Ramsgate. They are up in our entrance/dining room area, and if you look in the mirror on the opposite wall, you can have antlers growing out of your human head. It's pretty cool. Thanks Mr Elk. I hate to think that you died at the hands of some cruel hunter, but your antlers look pretty good in our house. Is that a terrible thing to say?

a place called chamdor

2010-02-15T17:21:00.004+02:00

By pure chance I discovered a place called Chamdor. It's a huuuuuuuuuuuge fabric store with any haberdashery, sewing, button, fabric, ribbon thing you will ever want. You can also buy hospital fabric, make curtains and bedding out of it and freak yourself out by pretending you are waking up in a hospital every morning. You can also get a metro police style jacket and pretend to be a police officer and freak out your friends by arresting them on their way home. Or you can just be normal and sew pretty dresses and things. Just do yourself a favour and go to Chamdor.

weekend things

2010-02-15T08:58:00.007+02:00

Terence made a delicious curry and we spent time with Melvin and Kallie and it was fun.
We took Tokyo for a walk and visited some very strange parts of Johannesburg.
On Sunday we saw Fantastic Mr Fox which was so so so amazing...
AND received some super exciting news which made me scream and cry a little bit too.
But I'm not allowed to talk about it yet... so I'll just be secretly excited for now.

old school

2010-02-12T15:35:00.004+02:00

This is what I found in our mailbox a few days ago. The Farbers live directly below us on the third floor and I rent my parking space from them. I thought it was so sweet that they type out all their correspondence on a typewriter, including this short note. It makes me happy that people still do that kind of thing and that those people live in our building. Long live typewriters.

PS: I dread paying for this every month and I still owe them for December.