Another Wednesday, another rundown of what’s hot and what’s not at Chez McCluskey-Robbo. This week I’m trying something new. If you feel like doing your own What’s Hot + What’s Not, add your post’s url to the little widget at the bottom of this post so that we can all pop by and see what’s hot and what isn’t at your place. I hope it works!
What’s HOT
Being home again: After two weeks in the country it’s nice to be back in the ‘burbs. I spent a lot of time while we were away thinking about ways we could possibly move to an old farmhouse in the country, but coming home to our cosy house and a garden green and running rampant from the rain, I find myself feeling pleased and settled.
Holiday reading: Phil and I are off to Byron Bay next week for our long-planned *escape from reality* and these are the three books (above) I am packing… well… we are only going for four nights so I might have to choose just one, but I am excited about all three. The Time Traveler’s Wife was my favourite book from last year’s reading so Audrey Niffenegger’s new one
Light evenings: Summer’s a coming, and the time change is already making the evenings seem longer. The hour missing from the morning is a little harder to come to terms with.
One of my favourite clients ever has a gift/stationery company with a new online shop selling fabulous products – how CUTE are these pop-up activity place mats!?
Photos of homes on Dos Family and The Selby. A little like online Paumes books: lovely inspiration from the homes of real and interesting people.
Permablitz – “Eating the Suburbs, Once Backyard at a Time”: What a great idea – sign up to take part in overhauling backyards into permaculture paradises and after you have helped out in at least two other working-bees, you are eligible for a permablitz at your house. So good – Why have a water-sucking lawn when you can produce your own organic food?
Kirsty’s X Marks the Spot tutorial – and I just bought the kit.
What’s NOT
A virus from the country : Amelia, Lily and I are all sick sick sick. It’s a nasty virus which has meant we have had 3am trips to the country hospital to treat croup, a trip to the doctor to get antibiotics for ear infections and many sleepless nights. While I love little children, the one thing I am looking forward to about them growing a little older is the idea that we might not spend the months of March to October fighting off every single virus that comes our way.
Related: giving eye drops to a three year old. NOT hot at all. Takes two of us to do it and it’s awful.
Gourmet and Cookie Magazines closing down: Oh so sad! Am I choosing the worst time in recent history to be considering getting my freelance illustration business up and going again?
STUFF: We’ve got too much of it. Coming home to a house full of messy rooms; cheap plastic toys strewn about the place, piles of washing needing folding and sorting, and a studio full of out-of-control rubbish waiting to be turned into projects was a little depressing. While we were away the kids seemed to do just fine with very limited amounts of play-stuff. A box of old blocks, cotton reels and wooden pegs went a long way. I have been sulking around the house, crunching lost and forgotten items underfoot, saying “how much of this *crap* do we really need?”. Anyway, it’s got me thinking and I can feel one of those massive purge projects coming on. That might be followed by one of my evangelical “no spend” projects which may (or may not) coincide with Christmas. If it does coincide, that can only be a good thing, as I would say that 90% of the lost and forgotten and broken junk lying around comes from the stockings of Christmas Past.
What’s hot and not at your place?
