I haven't done an on my desk in a while! The embroidery is for the cushions for my father. A bit of the ol' chainstitch there. The illustration that I am embroidering is the smiley face that I usually add after signing my name on cards and notes and things. My dad requested it as part of the design. Embroidery is great as you can do it when watching TV ;)
On my desk (well the computer which is on my desk) are loads of photos to sort and things to talk about and not enough time! I am just off out to see the SATC movie. Can't wait to see it.
I have just put the first batch of photos from my trip on my Flickr. These first photos that I have sorted out are the ones of the house. I hope to have more tomorrow. It was a big birthday for my mother so all the family and some of her friends got together at the Dower House of Knowlton Court.
It was such a treat to stay in an old magnificent house like that. The space of the house and grounds was amazing. The ensuite for the room I was in was bigger than my bedroom back home. I must also say that it was also a little spooky at night :)
On my desk at the moment is this drawing of my foot. I have hurt my heel. I have realised it is hurt from jumping on and off my bike at lights really quickly so many times a day. It is always that left foot that I put down first.
Otherwise what will occupy my mind for the rest of the week is that I need to cook a meal for 15+ on Friday night. It is for my mother's birthday, my sister is doing the dessert. We both have these reputations as good cooks which in a way is extra pressure. I so hope that we can pull off cooking for that many people! Fingers crossed!! The most I have ever cooked for is around 11 so this is a new challenge. I am going to do Indian dishes (which is partly why I have been testing so many curry dishes lately). I decided on Indian food as my mother likes it, and it copes well with all the different allergy restrictions that my family have. We need to avoid, citrus, soy, gluten, tuna, nuts, meat, and fresh fruit. Let's just hope that I haven't forgotten an allergy :)
Ok so this is a cheat 'on my desk'. There is actually nothing on my desk as we have been hoovering the house in anticipation of our VIP guest tomorrow. Instead, how cool is this hat!
Image via homebug
So OTT, so fabulous! It's by Philip Tracey. My aunts have some of his creations. He used to have his shop around the back of Victoria coach station in London and when we were youngsters my London aunt would take my sister and I to have a look in the window before dropping us off for the coach back to Oxford. He used to have a little dog which I seem to remember was called something like 'Pig'?
Just a little drawing of a cup that I own. I am hoping, and firmly telling myself, that I will catch up this week on most of the projects I am behind on. I owe some people some things.
Isn't this cloud funny! I saw it when I went for a cross-country cycle at lunchtime.
I have been keeping up with my drawings. Sometimes when I haven't got a clear idea of something I would like to draw I think back over the day and draw lists of things. It gets the pen moving.
This is what I ate for lunch yesterday, two bits of that dark German rye bread, a piece of Brie, a cracker, an apple, water, and green tea.
We had wine last night.
Sunflower seedling.
Ha yes, these are the ingredients in Nigel Slater's mushroom pie from his book Appetite. That book is brilliant. Suits my style of cooking to a T. I made a small version of the pie last night. Here is a picture of last nights mushroom pie.
And here is the desk! Clockwise from the left, Simon's pen, my polling card for the vote for tomorrow, felt horse, a safety pin, my old bedside lamp, Guinness mug, and my Bamboo. And in the middle, my sketch book.
You can see a list of other Wednesday on-my-deskers here in the sidebar. I am finding it fun! It also reminds me to hurry up and get on with things, I have a big to-do list of creative/making things that need to be done. It can't all be 24hrs gardening around here you know :D
I mentioned previously that I am making something with silk hankies. It's almost ready to reveal - maybe tomorrow. There have been quite a few hankies I couldn't incorporate because they were the wrong size; such as this one that I really like:
BANANES FLAMBEES! I inherited all these (1960's/70's?, unused, still with the sticker on, hand edged) Swiss hankies and it has been lovely working with them. The safety pins in the picture also came out of my grandmother's sewing kit. Of course I never think to buy such items, and the other day I was in need of safety pins and cross with myself for not owning any. Then I thought - ah ha! I know who would have owned such items. And there they were in the sewing kit.
Otherwise around here there has been much hovering over seedlings. These lil' dudes are my tomato plants:
And this is my other watering can:
Couldn't resist it!
Yes so I am not sure this is super exciting but really on my desk at the moment is this big collection of tape that I was sorting out last night. In tidying up the workroom we were quite surprised about the amount of tape we own between us. If you want a small tape story; the tape second in from the top right I found rolling down a big hill in Tokyo.
Otherwise a few things I noticed this afternoon...
Where do you hang a photo of a hedgehog eating pâté?
I like this photo that my step-father took but where to put it! No where seems quite right? It isn't really suitable for a bedroom or bathroom - as would you really want to look at a hedgehog eating pâté in these places? Ha! So at the moment it is propped on the landing.
Second thing, some plants I ordered arrived. An allium, a clematis, and a quince bush.
The quince already has such lovely flowers.
And I can't wait to make quince jam. Yum.
