Dispatchwork

Jan Vormann has been repairing crumbling walls in Israel and Italy....





... with Lego!

Shadowlands

Recently I contemplated the delicate shadows cast by hand-made glass in an early-19th-century window....




They reminded me of the beautiful, quiet artworks of Mary Temple. Temple's shadows are softly painted on walls and floors, evoking the presence of impossible windows and the gentle play of light across everyday surfaces.







Yes, these are painted shadows - so subtle and dreamy!

Walls adorned

A picture over on Three Buttons made me think about wallpaper today. Even though I generally prefer simple, non-fussy style, occasionally I like to browse through pictures of luscious wallpapers, dripping with colour and pattern.

Delightful De Gournay (hand-painted):





Osborne & Little:


I love the mysterious ambiance of Trove's more muted designs:



Hygge & West:


There are so many lovely designs out there.... please tell me about any that you have found!

We're melting!

The effects of extreme weather are dominating the lives of most Victorians this week ...


... a week of temperatures in the 40s, only 'cooling down' to temperatures in the 30s next week. We've had less than one millimetre of rainfall this year with about as much rain as this little dot . reaching the bottom of a rain-gauge.

This was the temperature in Melbourne at around 10:30 last night (= 97°F) ... ugh!

- the inevitable summer fires are burning,

train tracks buckling,

and animals are definitely feeling the heat.

Some lucky kids live near the beach,


and others have swimming pools in which to find refuge.

I've filled a little paddle pool for Gus in the back garden, and I took him swimming at a local waterhole yesterday. Looking forward to a breath of cooler air some time soon!


(images from The Age Online)

So sweet!

Moi, Nojoud, 10 ans, divorcée

This morning the French news program on SBS broadcast a follow-up report about a particularly brave Yemeni girl ... I remember being intrigued by the story last year - it's terribly sad but also very inspiring.

One of my greatest wishes is for children around the world to be able to just be kids, feeling happy and safe and learning through play.

(a book about Nojoud is available here; images from NYT and LAT)

Australia Day / Invasion Day?

Happy Australia Day everyone!

Does this day give you mixed feelings? I'm all for having a national day on which people can celebrate all the good things about their country and its people. However, I don't think I'm alone in thinking that it might be time to consider changing the date of our national day's celebrations.

At present, Australia Day is celebrated on January 26th, commemorating the day on which the first fleet of European settlers alighted on Australian shores. For our indigenous population, this date marks the beginning of the end for an ancient culture.


Perhaps we could celebrate Australia's beauty, history and achievements on another day?

Friday night

On Friday evening I played the corporate wife, as we were invited to drinks at Godfrey's boss' house (a totally executive-designer-decorated 19th-century mansion). 'Power handshakes' did the rounds along with delicious canapes prepared by a team of chefs and catering staff in the kitchen. We felt like Samantha and Darren going to Larry Tate's house on Bewitched, only the Tate's events were somewhat more low-key.


One of G's colleagues asked me what I do, and when I replied that I'm soon to start teaching Environmental Science at Melbourne University, she looked at me blankly and said, "....... Huh. Well ..... how are you going to make any money doing that?!"


..... it was a rather weird evening.

We had arrived in Brighton a little early so we went for a walk along the beach. Summer has returned in full force, with temperatures in the high-30s and 40s predicted for all of this coming week too. ugh!

Armchair traveller

Oh my, did I swoon when I found this luggage label collection!
(via Grain Edit)





I'll post some more on the flip side soon.