Australia

Australia/ The Land Down Under. It's where I live. Wednesday of this week happens to be Australia Day, which means everyone gets the day off (unless your unlucky enough to work a public holiday, in which case you get paid well that day anyway). It's all about sun, beaches, friends, bbqs and good tunes.
Taking about Australia, here is a lovely treasury made up of creations from Australian Designs. Thanks to Zinnia Pea for putting it together. It includes my Red Deer Vintage Style Cameo necklace which can be found here.

Click image for full view of all the wonderful items. Enjoy!

Fan mail

My first real piece of fan mail! Click to see full size. It is from the lovely Sharon from Tropical North Queensland regarding an owl necklace I made up for her. Thank you Sharon, it is so rewarding to hear lovely feedback like yours!

Barnaby Rudge

Whilst on holidays I finished reading two novels from my favourite author, Charles Dickens. I finally finished Oliver Twist, which I had been reading on and off for 6 months and unfortunately become disengaged with. I then read A Tale of Two Cities, Dicken's second historical novel in which he bases characters and additional stories around real historical events. Two Cities was based around the French Revolution, which I had studied in school so had an understanding of. It was an excellent novel with some classic unforgettable Dickens passages of personification (giving inanimate objects human characteristics). It was overall a very engaging retelling of a dark period in history, with some very emotional and sometimes violent twists and turns.

The next book I bought to read was another safe bet, this time Charles Dickens 'Barnaby Rudge'. It was his first historical novel based on the 1780 Gordon Riots in England. The main character Barnaby has a pet raven named 'Grip' who speaks and sings. I am halfway through the novel and enjoying it so far. Will have to let you know how I find the second half!

The King's Speech

On the weekend I had the pleasure of seeing a new an highly regarded film, The King's Speech. It documents the rise of King George VI, who happens to have a stutter which is rather hard when you life will be based upon making public speeches and addresses to the nation and world. It is set between 1925 and 1939 and focuses in on the friendship forged between the King (also known as Bertie) and his unconventional Australian speech therapist.

It was a fantastic and moving film which I thoroughly enjoyed it.

2011. Hi.

I have just returned to the real world after a lovely summer holiday. I hope you have had a nice break too!

It would appear we have a bit to catch up on! I will fill you in on my 2.5 week camping holiday in the best way I know, with 5 of my favourite photographs from the trip.

Unfortunately while we were away there was a small fire at our home. The housesitters got there in good time (it wasn't their fault) otherwise things would have been a lot worse. There was barely any property damage besides the smell of smoke which has clung to everything. The saddest part was that in the fire we lost our dear friend and favourite pet... Herschel Vern Mathers. He was turning 7 next week and still had many good years left in him.
But we have so many nice and funny memories of Herschel and our adventures with him. We are so grateful we got to spend two years of our lives with him! In closing here is one of his songs... Of course in this case the lyrics are changed from "My Girl" to "Herschel".
We miss you Hersch!