Friday

If I had to describe my style I would say rustic.  And eclectic.  Particularly for the home.  My heart skips a beat when I look at things crafted from clay, timber or linen.  I love that old-world feel. 

Toast catalogues (when they produced paper ones and shipped them around for free) were always my favourite coffee table book/style resource. 

And I have kept every one, much to the ire of David :)  But why wouldn't you?

My favourite blogs display beautiful home settings with all the materials I love.

There is also a satisfaction I feel in doing things the slow (a word that has become the movement of the moment) “old-fashioned” way.  One of my favourite books is Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  The exquisite detail of everyday life.   That isn’t to say I want to hunt deer and pig, salt and store the meet or blow up the pigs bladder for Maggie to play ball with! And while it is reportedly like terrine, boiling a pigs head to make “head cheese” does not sound romantic at all.  I tried to read it to Audrey last year, but she didn’t show the same enthusiasm for it at the time. 

 But using essential oils to make cleaning products, or making beeswax candles and sewing linen napkins is appealing to me.   I can waste so much time looking at images of these things,,,  Even in my early teens I always wanted to visit museums and old homes and soak in the images of yesteryear.  At 15 I was a volunteer guide at Lanyon homestead and was always besotted with the out buildings, the kitchen and stables.

When we went camping early this year I loved stopping by huts and looking at the walls, papered with newspapers, now worn and yellowed.  Easy to think romantically about living in such a place and not about the bare necessity of warmth, light and food.

For now I will read the stories and look at the pictures.  I burn beautifully scented soy candles (made by others) and wait for my soft, crushed linen to arrive from Lithuania.  Then I will start by sewing my coveted crushed linen napkins.  :)