This week’s links include decorating with plinth coffee tables, chic dinnerware for the holidays and the real cost of phone addiction; a Sydney home with a Mediterranean vibe; a recipe for citrus chickpea and brussels sprout salad and much, much more.
WE ENDED UP watching the entire series of Fleabag in the late evenings over the past week, preferring, already, to cosy up in front of the fire on these September nights. I have also been ordering soft camel-coloured wool jumpers and a new coat...
THIS WEEKEND WE celebrated something special and also tried to absorb as much of the last golden days of summer as possible. For this first September week, we're back and forth to Edinburgh for business and to sort a few things out. We've also finally installed some bookcases to the left of the fireplace in the living room and have begun moving the boxes (and boxes) of books and magazines from the storage unit to the cottage. The floor is currently strewn with paperbacks, oversized coffee table books and glossy back issues of favourite magazines in a pile of nostalgia and happy chaos. Everything that we've been working for in the past few months has lead to tomorrow and we're relieved, excited and exhausted all at once...
ONE OF THE THINGS we perfected in Spain (and by “we” I mean P) is the tortilla, a cosy potato omelet, which is what we made this weekend. We also made another one of our favourite dishes, Chickpea & Kale Shakshouka―it was terribly rainy, so comfort food seemed like just the thing.
IT IS UNDENIABLY chilly, and the fire is on at the cottage most days now. The leaves have turned a bright yellow and the shops are a confusing mix of pumpkins and Christmas crackers. How there can be only two and a half months left of the year is a mystery. It feels like a moment ago that I was writing my New Year's Resolutions for 2019 and now we're on the cusp of 2020...
LAST NIGHT I spilled an entire newly-filled Brita over my iMac keyboard and while it worked after the incident, the next morning, the spacebar (Have you ever tried typing a paragraph without a spacebar?), the enter and delete keys, the apostrophe (and perhaps more) were no longer working. In hindsight, should have dried it out facedown overnight, but as it is now, it is most likely ruined, never to return to the way it was. On Friday morning, we left for London...
THIS HOLIDAY WEEKEND WAS filled with all of the very best things: perfect late-summer weather and champagne at a Sunday garden party; white horses and hilly trails and drinks on flower-laden terraces; late brunches, coffee and sunshine and wishing that summer would never end…
WE ARE CURRENTLY having a slice of summer cherry pie with custard and talking about all of the things that have been happening in the world these past few days. And it’s a lot to take in. It’s difficult to remain hopeful and inspired, and to keep on creating and absorbing beautiful things when at times, the world seems so chaotic. But it’s important (especially) at times like these, to focus on the good things that happened as well, the lovely moments, and the connections we have with those in our lives, those who know us well and who will always be there for us. These are things that matter most...
THIS WEEKEND WE watched the Wimbledon finals, and Sunday’s match, between Federer and Djokovic, was especially exhilarating and ultimately heartbreaking (Federer forever). The weather has finally turned summery and I’m all billowy white dresses and espadrilles these days. The roses in all the English gardens have begun to fade, but everything is lush and green as it always is at this time of year, the height of summertime, when the days are hazy and you can almost hear the clouds float by. We still have so much to tell about these past few months of change and renewal, but for now, it’s nice to step back a little from everything, safe in the cosiness of the cottage and breathe. Also began a new book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari, which has provided much to think about…
CAME ACROSS an old (2018) article about how Instagram has killed the art of lifestyle blogging and was surprised to read that Instagrammers are now referring to themselves as bloggers. Bloggers, of course, in the original sense of the word, were those of us with actual blogs (web + log) or websites and also happened to have an Instagram account alongside.
WE SPENT MOST of the last week in Edinburgh on business, and have also been slowly emptying out the contents of our storage unit there, which means for the most part of the past few days, have been buried under an avalanche of old photographs and letters, and even came across a diary by my fourteen-year-old self. It’s been strange and exhausting living in the past, but it has also been an exercise in deciding what to keep and what to leave behind, what’s really important and what I really can’t live without.
Last week, had a strange dream about an old childhood friend; her name was Kathryn and she had golden hair and sea blue eyes. She would hand me long handwritten letters nearly every morning, even though we saw each other at school everyday. Every letter always ended with an inspirational quote, such as, “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” (George Eliot) We were best friends.
THIS WEEKEND WE SAW Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino, whose ninth and latest film visits 1969 Los Angeles. Still not completely certain how I feel about it, but remember that it felt meanderingly and ploddingly slow, and very long. Of course, it was three hours and forty-five minutes, so it was actually long, but have always thought that really good films never seem to feel that way.
THE NEW ROUTER ARRIVED at the end of last week, and it was in the form of an AI Cube (despite being cylindrical) with Alexa installed. We have since been both mildly amused at the antics of new thing in our midst, and a little suspicious that it may be listening in all of our conversations. Also somehow picked up an horrendous summer cold somewhere at the beginning of last week that has progressively gotten worse...
