Movies. Normans. Garden.

I don't know about the rest of you but I'm in the mood to Embrace Some Colour. I'm thinking that this Missoni cardy could look good with a sort of leopard print top. Because I like how it looks next to the cushion. I also like it cobbled together with ye olde faithful green Milly top.

But don't panic because I'm not turning my back on neutrals.

I experienced what could only be described as a Veritable Sewing Frenzy yesterday and sewed buttons back onto 4 different things. I'd put it off for so long. The end results made me feel like I'd scaled Everest. In fact I'm casting an eye round here looking for anything else that needs mending.

Someone told me that once you had a baby it was impossible to go to movies. Thank God they were wrong. The Baby has slept his way through lots of good movies with me lately. We enjoyed Catherine Deneuve in Potiche, we loved the documentary Babies and we thought Bill Murray and Robert Duvall were excellent in Get Low (Can I just say that I love Bill? Groundhog Day nevers loses its charm and I love watching him sing Bryan Ferry's More than This in Lost in Translation). Luckily for me the baby enjoys a limited release low budget subtitled French art house flick too, so yesterday we saw Tony and Angele. I loved it. It's set in Normandy. Has anyone else seen it? The ending was so sudden and so emotional. I've never taken the baby to a Babes in Arms movie session (you know the ones designed for mothers and babies so no one will get cross if there is Misbehaviour) but I'm open to the possibility.

Meanwhile I tried to recreate the honey soy and lime chicken with coconut risotto that never leaves the menu at the Continental Cafe. It wasn't a half bad attempt. And fortuitously, bok choy was on sale at Coles. 2 bunches for the price of 1! Run Don't Walk.

I have a new Obsession. Documentaries about the Normans. Those guys are fascinating. Maybe I'll make them the Official Conquerors of the Blog and stick a snap of them on the list to the right.

This is the view from Jersey to France that I took last year so you can get a visual of them surging across the ocean ready to conquer everything in their path.

The Normans had ferocious energy and ambition and fierce enthusiasm for everything they did. They also endorsed terror chaos and violence. (Not the sort of things you'd want to see on a Workplace Team Charter).

And they were prodigious fort builders too. The Channel islands are full of them and were one of my favourite things when I was tripping the light fantastic in Jersey at the end of 2010.

I do love a fort.

I'm not sure though if the Normans were Gardeners. But if they were you can just tell they would have given it their everything. And ordered a bunch of conquered peasants to keep it flourishing. Or else.

I action my own gardening without the assistance of serfs or peasants. Although I do have that nice whippersnapper mower man who helps out with the grass and pruning.

It's freezing here. Maybe I'll bake a cake.

xxxxxxxxxx

Tonight

I don't know about the rest of you but I'm counting the seconds until that Kennedy miniseries starts tonight on the ABC. Goody. Which brings me to this-my girlfriends tell me that Maria Shriver's been on their minds too.
She always has such nice thick hair. I wonder what Oprah makes of it all? I might be coming down with that Oprah Loss Syndrome that everyone else is catching. I've been watching since the early 90s and have cried my way through thousands of episodes. I'll miss her. But I 'spose there'll be reruns aplenty.
I have a feeling Maria will remarry. Meanwhile I saw Water for Elephants today (I've joined the circus. The ring master's cruel. I fall in love). I give it 3 stars out of 5. I didn't read the book so I don't know if it's a good adaption or not. I can however tell you that Reese Witherspoon is ridiculously skinny. I've had a cleaning spree today. My polish is well and truly chipped but on the bright side there's a lot less dust.
xxxx

Sourcing Heavily Discounted Designer Clobber and Other Stuff.

Behold the Magnificence of my favourite cordyline.

I love the pink edging on the leaves the most. I've forgotten the name. Does anyone know? My iceberg roses are out too. Hope they aren't eaten overnight. Fingers and Toes.
You know how I'm unafraid to mix my high end designer stuff with my chain store finds? Well I apply the same scientific theory in the garden and mix my traditional cottage plants with my tropical plants. Despite their different needs, they all coexist as One Big Happy Plant Family in Loving and Peaceful Garden Harmony. Well except for the snakes. And rats. And other Old Testament varmints. You know how I love to Source Heavily Discounted High End Designer Clobber?
Well today the Planets Aligned and the Wonder that is Jean Brown had a sale.

I wore this Malene Birger get up

and I Sourced these Chloe beige sandals

Their original price started with the number 6 and their sale price started with the number 1.

I do luff a bargain 11/10.

Look how happy they are ensconced in my shoe cupboard.

To celebrate I bought this red velvet cake from Poppy Cakes. Readers. I could literally feel the sugar and red food colouring hitting my blood stream. In a good way.

Has anyone else seen Tamara Drewe? I liked it and thought it was a bit of a giggle (Synopsis: I've had a nose job. I've returned to my Old Village. Men love Me.) . I give it 3/5 stars. No hurry- it'd work well at a later date on a dvd.

There's a big spooky snake lurking in there somewhere you know. My friend S says they are territorial and it's likely to be nearby still...Worrying.

I see that the media are following old Liz Hurley and Shane Warne everywhere. They had lunch at a golf club today. Apparently helicopters followed them as did a large media pack.

Who knew they'd generate so much interest?

The thing I made last night was a caramelised onion anchovy and olive tart. The secret is nutmeg, and a bit of fresh rosemary but just a sprinkle. The bag I think is from Milan Station in Hong Kong. Google it. You can get some good stuff there.

xxx

2011

All the rain has made my garden grow like mad
Does anyone know what these pink coleus like plants are? They grow so easily from cuttings

I have to prune like a Maniac to keep up with all this rain induced crazy growth.

My ginger flowers/Daleks say "Hello".

More sprout as soon as my back's turned.

Meanwhile this Castle Starr frock is one of the few things that still fits. I don't think Castle Starr exists anymore. I used to love looking at it on bluefly.

It's rained so much lately that a beach trip was Out of the Question. But sometimes, you have to get The Hell Out Of Dodge and hit the coast anyway. For a brief moment in time, the Sun came out. In Nooooooosa.

I love lying on a sun lounge by a pool or on a beach 9 Million/10. So relaxing.

I'm reading this. It's excellent. I recommend it.

I always feel that New Years Eve is never as good as you hope it'll be.

I went to a party in a Fancy Pants Beautiful House on Noooooosa Parade. I wish I'd taken photos of the food because it was amazing- lots of little tiny delicious morsels. I think it was by Ricky Ricardos.

I wore my 2009 Christmas Frock. It's Mint by Jodie Arnold and I bought it from frockshop.com.au It's not a Maternity Frock but Does the Job anyway. Those gold slides are about a decade old. But I still like them a lot.

I had this the next morning at Season. The people watching was brilliant. Everyone looked really hung over. 'Cept me of course.

This Day Birger et Mikkelson frock's been good to me.

And this arrived from the Book Depository- can't wait to read it.

and how divine is this card holder??? It's Coach and my friend Buphee (Not Her real Name) sent it to me from Canada. Thank you Buphee- I love it. And I miss you. Come visit soon.

I've seen 3 movies lately. The King's Speech ( 5 stars- excellent in every respect), Sarah's Key (3.5 stars and very sad) and Love and Other Drugs (bit boring. 2.5 stars)

I've made a few New Year's Resolutions- have you? I'm committed to really Thrifting it up this year and saving money plus I've started a huge declutter. So far I've actioned my makeup and my filing. It feels so satisfying to get rid of excess stuff and only have around you things that contribute to your life. Can't wait to attack more clutter and banish it for good.