roadside critters

Native fauna sightings from 'round the farm (other than the ubiqitous kangaroos, of course) ...

... so you know how turtles are really slow ... we saw him on the road around a blind corner (100km/h zone), starting his crossing.  By the time we had stopped and turned around and gotten back he had made about 10 inches of progress and looked to be facing a 5 to 10 minute trip across the road.  So Cath picked him up and took him over to the other side ... he wouldn't pose for a photo after, though.

Less shy, but pointier ... just hanging out by the side of a dirt road, thankfully no need for picking up and moving.

nice rooms

just a couple of pictures we like ...

 ... nice little office setup, put together by a Swedish - Louise Svensson for GUTS.  We came across it amongst some great finds on emmas designblogg - a Stockholm lass who sources interior inspiration and posts some neat selections and links.

Okay - how's this for a loungeroom?
By B&Bitalia - via the fantastic doorsixteen blog - also well worth a visit.

kindred and kool

We are terrible late-night blog-surfers ... you know, find one entry that hooks you and you can write off the next 2 or 3 hours.

The latest one we're loving is kitka design - layer upon layer of nice and interesting.  A couple from Toronto, Canada, Juli&John run a cool-looking store called Mjolk (pronounced Mi-yelk), stocking a range of Scandinavian homewares.

What has made their blog so much fun is that as well as info about what's happening at their store, their travels, thrift store finds, and there are loads of updates as they renovate and redecorate their home (above the shop, it appears - which we can relate to), which they document with passion.  And their tastes are not too shabby either ...

Clean and minimal ... enviable restraint ...

AND we have really enjoyed following the progress of their do-up on their 'country place', which was an old family holiday home which they are bringing back from years of neglect and turning into something pretty special.  Again, a theme we live and love ...

Super-nice work thus far, guys.  Maybe we'll cross paths around the arctic circle sometime?

for your convenience ...

Almost forgot ... our web address has been streamlined.  For those who find themselves getting too tired typing in -

 You can now save precious seconds with a swift -

 

for the same satisfying results.

phew!

From this ...

 ... to this!

That's major progress.  The shed is done ... and pretty full already ... definitely need to do some work on our 'good use of space' techniques.  We're pretty happy though - and getting plenty of use out of our allen-key collection turning it all back into furniture.

This is DEFINITELY the fun part ... assembling, polishing, repairing, cleaning ... we just have to stop picturing everything in our house and start imagininging more of it in the shop!  We are taking pics and gradually getting it all onto the website now - so keep an eye out.

update on the swallows

Been a bit lax on the blog these last few weeks ... seems to bee lots going on offline ... we'll do our best to catch up.

In baby-bird related matters, there has been much progress.  After all of their hard work, Mr+Mrs Swallow successfully raised a brood of 5!  (we talked to a few people in the know, and all seemed to think that of the 5, one or two wouldn't make it to bird-hood, so we have been pretty pleased with the outcome.).  The last couple of weeks, the nest has gotten ridiculously crowded - think the parents have had to sleep outside some nights.  This photo shows mum and dad, and one of the babies - the other 4 are all crammed underneath ...

Pretty funny.  Last week there were lots of flying lessons, and family trips to the dam, and it looks like all the kids have now packed up and moved out.

Gluttons for punishment, the adults have been repairing the nest again, and swooping us when we go near, so it looks like another clutch of eggs have been laid.

flipped

Between Grand Central Station and the New York Public Library, in a city not necessarily renowned for it's great coffee ... D'espresso cafe ...

The interior was designed by Nema Workshop, and looks fantastico - a library tipped 90 degrees onto it's side.

Parquetry floor on the wall, bookshelves on floor and ceiling.  The coffee wouldn't even need to that good.  This interior features on plenty of blogs - try thecoolist for more pics.

god bless vinyl

The postman just brought us some treats ... a few reissues of our favorite hiphop albums all the way from sunny California ... already wearing out our fresh copy of Pauls Boutique.  Remember 'Hey Ladies'?

Such a highbrow bunch, those Beasite Boys ... here's an appropriately scratchy and rough copy of the video ... disco revival in the Hollywood Hills.


Beastie Boys - Hey Ladies

What's not to love?

life in the box

Hmmmmm - big metal box ... so much potential.  We're planning to turn ours into a lock-up workshop, maybe put a deck on top for the views, but having seen a bit of architect/artist/designer Adam Kalkin's work on architectureandhygiene, maybe we're lacking a little ambition ....

How's this pop-out cafe designed for illy (from a few years back now) - unfurls in 90 seconds at the push of a button ... and, most importantly, sells coffee!

Modding beats building anyday.  Nice slideshow here, too, showing a self-contained residential application ... oh, and Kalkin's PushButtonHouse2 ... super-cool!

looks good on paper

Back before fun had to be electronic and have a screen, paper dolls were a sweet way to play.  So long as somebody was available to cut out the tricky bits, a printed page could keep a kid entertained for hours ...
With access to a bit of discarded packaging, cardboard boxes can take it to the next level - small for a doll's house or large for a touch of junior architecture in constructing a fully fledged fort ...

But artist Don Lucho from Chile has taken it to the next level ...

We came across some photos of his work on styleofdesign (among plenty of great reading) - just makes us want to get a few rolls of masking tape and redecorate ...

Maybe we'll wait 'til these rains stop.