a little tuesday list - feb. 21st

{are you thinking, as i am, about comfort these days?  comfort food, comfortable clothes, comforting...i've put together a little tuesday list of high-end, luxery comfort items, and low-end 'don't remortgage anything' pieces.  be comforted.  enjoy.}

1.  the world's most expensive yarn...at $300 a skein, vicuna is the world's rarest and most expensive fibre.  i won't be filling up my yarn baskets quite yet, but it is awfully tempting.

2.  moxon huddersfield is the maker of the world's most expensive socks, woven from altai region cashmere (which supposedly takes 3 years to gather), these socks will set you back about $640 per pair.

3.  golden needles, grown on the island of jun shan in the middle of lake dongting, is the world's rarest tea.  you can own some yourself, 100g to be precise, for about $70.

4.  and who can drink tea without a book, i ask you?  my comfort reads always include agatha christie, who many seem to associate solely with murder on the orient express.  excellent book, of course, but hardly the sum total of her canon, which numbers almost 100.  anyway, if you asked me for my top christie comfort reads, i would mention the man in the brown suit and postern of fate.  and since christie's books always seem to cry out for something slightly tattered and worn, i suggest you skip the shine and polish of a new copy and visit a used bookstore, perhaps eliot's bookshop.  i've lost hours there, myself.

5.  speaking of books...

7.  now, back to the reasonably priced comfort i promised.  for me,  comfort is found in scents, which is why absolutely nothing is as comforting as the smell of the green apple shampoo i used to wash my hair with as a child in the lake at our cottage.  the closest i can find to that same scent is shopper's drug mart life brand green apple shampoo, so common and cheap that i can't even find a link for it. 

8.  does it comfort you to know that somewhere, someone is thinking about growing loofahs?  that thought makes me smile.

listening to: van morrison.  i know every beat, every chord, every word of moondance...
debating: why it is that the last two medical dramas i've started to watch, combat hospital and off the map, have both been cancelled so quickly?

a little tuesday list - feb. 14th

{having trouble occupying your every waking minute thinking of beautiful stuff?

Why, let me help!}

1.  while searching for the table and chairs featured in this month's country living magazine (made with reclaimed yardsticks - how fun!) i found myself on the viva terra website and saw this lamp...which has made me want to throw away my current bedroom lamp right now.  while you're there, take a look at their gifts section...some truly inspirational presents.

2.  book suggestions?  yes?  well, this has not been a week of heavy thinking for me, but that doesn't mean you haven't been soul-searching; here are a few of my favourite memoirs: miriam's kitchen by elizabeth ehrlich and girl meets god by the ever-entertaining lauren winner.  strangely, miriam's kitchen tells the story of a return to judaism from secularism, and girl meets god moves the author from orthodox judaism to christianity, but neither is ultimately about what it first appears to be.  well worth your time.  but please order from a local indie bookstore, or, barring that option, how about collected works?  they have, on top of quite nice staff, a very pretty view of one of my favourite ottawa streets...and a coffee bar.

3.  pot luck meals + pregnant, tired mamas + men in the family with a great fondness for cheese = paula dean's baked spaghetti.  bring your tums and an appetite.

4. i'm listening to gotye's somebody i used to know.  what are you listening to?

watching: the discovery documentary series growing up wild.
thinking: i need to hang our suet balls out soon before the weather warms up.  we made these ones in the fall.

a little tuesday list - feb. 7th

{in which i tell you about some fantastic ways to spend money, or not}

1.  on my list, and everyone else's, is thinking about maybe, possibly, starting to spring clean.  what better way to wake up that desire than to buy new products?  i'm coveting mrs. myers geranium scented all-purpose cleaner.

2.  i may be the last person in the world to fall in like with this bedspread; it seems as though everyone has already admired it and moved on, but oh, oh, oh, it is beautiful.  completely impractical with children, but beautiful.

3.  two more excellent reads for you this week: the bachelor brother's bed and breakfast and it's sequel, the pillow book, both by bill richardson.  as always, amazon is an abomination, and therefore please order elsewhere: may i suggest mabel's fables in toronto? don't be fooled by the moniker of 'children's bookstore', they can order you almost anything.

4.  i have rediscovered, to my great enjoyment, an old favourite in the magazine world.  and every edition comes with a free mix cd, almost all of which are good enough to play at your next dinner.

5.  there is a tiny part of me that wants to throw caution to the wind and buy a pair of black, vintage cat's eye glasses.  that part is getting bigger and this etsy shop isn't helping.

6.   at any rate, i can't help but get swept away in the romance of accessories right now.  these belts, for instance.

7.   a new fave on the websites-to-buy-gifts-from list is this one.  i need to find someone to give these stir sticks to now.  not to mention the most fanastic chalk i've ever come across.

watching::  the victorian kitchen, kirstie's homemade home and other british shows long gone...
thinking::  that winter needs to wrap. it. up. already.

a little tuesday list - jan. 31

{in which i tell you about some fantastic ways to spend money}

1.  i've been a die-hard fan of moleskine notebooks for years now, but i'm seriously considering buying some new writing pads from field notes.  can you believe how vintage-y and 'out of africa' they look?


2.  i need to add my new reads to my shelfari at the bottom of this page, but we all know how likely that is to happen soon, and so here are two of the most delightful books i've picked up in a long time:  my mother's wedding dress, by justine picardie, and cathedrals of the flesh, by alexia brue.  both are old(er) and not terribly expensive.  i dislike the amazon links deeply, and so for your orders may i recommend a favourite bookstore of mine?  nicholas hoare, which has shops in ottawa, montreal and toronto, but can ship anywhere.


3.  overkill?  maybe.  but i will soon be in the hospital for baby #2's arrival and would dearly love to be wearing a dressing gown made from this anna maria horner fabric.  is a velveteen housecoat ever not appropriate?


4.  taking a cue from lissla, i've been checking out the demeter fragrance line and trying to decide the ultimate question...am i a peony or a whiskey girl?


5.  this tea is overtaking this tea as my favourite-to-sip-on-while-reading.


6.  in a world in which 24.79 in euros was a 'good deal' for socks, i would totally be wearing these. 


7.  with my husband thoroughly determined that our son should have a second birthday party that includes swimming (and this only a month before my due date and therefore necessitating a *horror* maternity swimsuit)i am equally determined that this summer, as a reward for my lycra penance, i will purchase for myself an actual, real swimsuit.  one that i like quite a lot.  perhaps this one here.


::watched: the next voice you hear and the skipper who surprised his wife.


::thought: that black and white films are highly under-rated for children.

Linky love.

This is one of the best posts I've read about anxiety in a long time.  It's quick, so check it out:

http://lotsalaundry.blogspot.com/2011/02/lifting-elephants.html

A Year Of Biblical Womanhood

Hmmmm...anyone looking for a serious and strange challenge?

http://rachelheldevans.com/womanhood-project

The last post of 2010

This is the last post for 2010 and I thought I would check back through the stats that Blogger has so kindly provided for my viewing pleasure and give you all a little taste of your own preferences.  I am intrigued by you all out there, especially my dedicated following from Russia and the over one hundred viewings from Denmark this week.  Does my life just resonate with the Danish people or are you one rabid fan clicking "refresh" over and over?  Sadly, no one from the entire continent of Asia has found me to be in the slightest bit interesting.

Blogger tells me that since I wrote my first post on June 21st, someone has come to this place 1093 times, which I find staggering.  The most viewed post was....drumroll please...The Guestbook!  Who knew?  152 of you found it.  I can only imagine you were floored by my stunning photography.  I'll have you know I rearranged my fake flowers a few times for that shot.

And (this was my favourite) you are a strange crowd that Google has sent my way.  Searches that brought people here are varied, but the best have to be:

"we eat beans, mostly"

charlie pachter five pears

i am going to

"wendy wright" naked

I am terribly sorry to that last soul who was no doubt searching for something completely different than the sort of entertainment I can provide.

It's been fun, folks, and a little challenging.  See you all in the new year.

Blessings,

Amy