The work of Souther Salazar actually makes my heart ache just a little.
These are older works but he has a show coming up in New York on May 16th, 09 at Jonathan Levine Gallery.
Paumes – So cruel!
Oh so cruel! In our year of “must not spend on anything frivolous” I have found more Paumes books without which my collection will not be complete. Ages ago I spotted the Paumes title “London Gardens” and thought – “there is nothing sweeter than an English garden except for a Japanese book about English gardens” and our garden needs all the help it can get. So that one is on my list. And then, of course, they released San Francisco Kitchens (with Lisa on the cover!) so that suddenly became a MUST have and to make it even less indulgent, I thought, I can get the two shipped together. And now? Now I see they have released Apparetements de filles à Paris and it looks mighty cute, and considering I spend most of my time imagining I am a Parisian fille in a pretty appartement how can that not be anything but a necessity? But three fluffy Paumes books? In a year of no spend? Pardon moi, but that is totalement ridicule.
Le sigh.
** updated to say that The Lark is now stocking some Paumes titles in Australia! **
Every Day in May
Such a lovely, rainy, insidey day to day. My favourite.
I have a kid home sick which is a little sad as she is missing a (rather chilly and wet) school excursion to the Botanical Gardens. I am missing out on a good coffee and project-based chat in Fitzroy which is also a bit sad. Instead I am going to make some more of that chai. And ponder Every Day in May.
Élena paints every day in May, and has done so for the last couple of years.
It is highly likely that I will not be reading the Twilight Saga every day in may as I am almost done, so that will leave a gaping hole in my schedule. So instead I think I will do the Every Day in May challenge to “commit to create something every day in the month of May”.
Maybe you could take part too!
So now, what do I concentrate on? For a scatter-brain like me this is the hardest thing. Do I blog every day? Should I write some fiction (which really does need a little attention)? A granny square? Perhaps a papercut? That would be insane – my neck and shoulder wouldn’t be able to handle it. I am still recovering from last week’s two day effort. Maybe even just a doodle in a sketchbook is a good idea. Perhaps anything creative would be better than nothing.
What will you do if you take part? Maybe your ideas will inspire me…
Lil-billy
Phil is making tuna pasta for dinner (woo!) and I am about to take on a chicken casserole ready for tomorrow night. Amelia is sitting at the kitchen table sewing tiny socks for a doll. Lily, on the other hand, has opened up some imaginary hill-billy cook book and found a recipe for Squirrel Stew – add four small squirrels and a plastic mandarin and simmer. Mmm.
Lunch box shenanigans
I am having trouble (already, so early in the year) coming up with lunch box goodies for a child who seems to eat very little of whatever we put in. Phil packs her a lunch, she goes to school, she comes home and I open her lunch box and empty most of the original contents into the compost. Why? Because she doesn’t have enough time to eat, apparently, as there are other good things to do such as play. Argh. Also each day she says “oh mum, can you leave out the … (insert delicious and nutritious snack which was all the rage last week) because I don’t like that any more.” and I say “Ok, sure, so now that leaves you with butter sandwiches with the crusts cut off… that’s your entire lunch.” and she says “Well, actually I don’t like brown bread mum.” and I say “You don’t say.”
So I have been stumped.
When I was at the library last week I went through the recipe book section and pulled out a couple of gems including this one about boxable lunches called “Healthy Lunchboxes for Kids” by Amanda Grant. While the children on the front cover look luminous and eerily like something out of an era where you were taught to duck and roll under your desk incase of a nuclear attack, the book is actually pretty modern and quite inspiring. It’s a bit of a luxury really, to have a book full of ideas like “tomato soup” and “sausage rolls” and so on, but having a whole bunch of kid-friendly *and* lunch box friendly recipes all in one place and with such pretty pictures gave my brain the jolt it needed in this department. And you know? It’s nice to read a simple (obvious to anyone else, probably) recipe like “Tuna with mayonnaise & sweetcorn” and have one of those little lightbulb moments and think, of course! Sweetcorn in a tuna sandwich would be pretty nice! and so on.
On the list for making are: Mini pear cakes, fresh fruit jellies, cheese and seed biscuits, scones, puff pin wheels, afore mentioned sausage rolls, coleslaw, one or all of the four cous cous salads, wraps rather than sandwiches, etc etc.
I am also going to keep my eye out for a suitable thermos flask so we can pack some wintery pastas, soups and left-overs.
Not that she’ll eat any of it.
Things that have worked this year :
Inari (picked up the day before from the sushi bar, though I am sure it would be dead easy to make your own)
Watermelon cubes with grapes and blueberries
A tablespoon or so of expensive, nice yoghurt
Koo’s muffins (though my last lot may have contained toxic frozen, thawed then frozen fruit and caused household gastrointestinal issues)
What works for your kids?
I’m hopping over to Vegan Lunch Box now for a refresher course in inspired lunchboxing.
If you’re interested in Healthy lunchboxes for Kids by Amanda Grant, it is available at libraries with the call number: 641.534 GRA. The ISBN is 184597705X. It’s also available at Amazon