:: Wake Up and Dance Around...!

:: What A Classic...

Okay. So. Jane Eyre is my most very favourite book of the classic genre.  I love everything about it.  I have a few copies at my house. I am not sure why. I just love the book so much I tend to buy a copy when I see it.  It is that good, as far as I am concerned.

I also have a stack of classic tomes lined up for future reading.  I am collecting for my retirement (when I am 85) and the years in between.  It is a very long term plan, granted, but it is my excuse for not having much time for reading at the moment.  I will get to them, someday, I will. Maybe I will be eating (pitted) cherries and admiring my crepey skin and sipping Pimms and looking out over a green valley somewhere, but get to them I will.

I was wondering, though, what are your most favourite books, in the classic literature department?  I know that Penguin have released lots of their classics and modern classics in those lovely orange and white editions.  Personally I like bigger print (glasses anyone?!) and a bigger volume than those. But maybe you are collecting those?  Or the older more colourful versions...?  Or maybe you have those collectable libraries on your bookshelf : the ones that are bound in leather?  Or the newfangled pretty clothbound kind of classics?  I saw some cute MINI versions of the classics at Reader's Feast yesterday. They had the gold edged pages.  Those were lovely too.

So....!  Please do give me your recommendations for old-fashioned, delicious books that should be added to my reading pile. And why you like them.  Please do!

xx Pip

:: 3 Important Things You Could Buy The Parents Of A Newborn If You Are A Really Good Friend....

Image via here! Yay!

Hello!

Well. You know everyone in my life seems to be popping out babies at the moment.  And I feel it is my duty to be sure that you don't buy the baby-popping people in YOUR life any obsolescent presents.  Here is what the parents of newborns really need (apart from a few blocks of chocolate, a tiny glass full of fortified wine and a do not disturb sign)

1. A Slow Cooker :
Put it on in the morning and dinner WILL be ready no matter what. Mum can do this, Dad can do this.... it takes 5 minutes and a delicious fragrant evening home and a hearty dinner will be at the ready regardless of any baby disasters during the day.  You can also put it on in the evening and make a big delicious breakfast meal : with potatoes and tomatoes and peppers and mushrooms and garlic and herbs (maybe bacon or little sausages if you are meaty)  There are heaps of good recipe books for slow cookers which would make the perfect accompaniment to this gift!

2. A Pressure Cooker :
Because they are coming back into vogue and they are not as scary as you might think and you can have your coq au vin on the table in 20 minutes with a bit of deft chopping and a lot of steamy hissing. And again... lots of new books coming out detailing how to wrangle your pressure cooker!

3. A Book about how to bake bread and some flour and yeast and tins :
A book like 'Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day' or 'The Tassajara Bread Book' would be perfect.  Parenting guru Sheila Kitzinger does not care about the naughty corner.  She recommends that parents of new babies make some dough in the morning and let it rise and pop it in the oven after lunch and you'll have the comforting smell (and crusty bounty) of freshly baked bread in the house all afternoon.  I think that is a great idea and I did that when my kids were little.  It made me feel capable and clever even if things were a bit fuzzy.

So there you go.  What USEFUL thing would YOU buy the parents of a newborn?

xx Pip

:: The Envelope Project : Update

The Envelope Project finishes on Saturday.  Here is a shot I took the other night.  There was SO MUCH STUFF sent in for this project, I am going to draw more than one (random) winner. I know you might get antsy, but there are two HUGE suitcases full of stuff.  It's too much to send to one lucky person.  So we will break it up in to a few prizes!  I think that THREE would be good.  So that means you have a better chance of winning a still HUGE amount of stuff!  I will announce the winners on the evening of the 3rd August ( a day later then planned originally).  So stay tuned! More envelope photos will be posted over on Flickr in the next few days, in case you are still trying to spot yours!  And I have been posting regular updates over there, so take a peek if you would like to!

xx Pip

PS : The Envelopes will come down on August 3rd. So this weekend is your last chance to take a peek!

:: Happy Daisy Day....

Daisy Wreath, originally uploaded by deardaisycottage.

:: This Is Something I Would Like...

minoff, brodax, mendelsohn, segal and edelmann 1968, originally uploaded by melanie walsh books.

We grew up watching The Beatles movies. My dad used to borrow a projector from his work social club and we would watch these on film in the loungeroom. Yep. On FILM. Pretty lucky huh? We also got to see lots of other goofy stuff... Something with Raquel Welch... I can't really remember what else. But I totally DO remember The Beatles films. Do you?

xx pip

:: Have You Seen This?! Was She REALLY Such A Cow?!

:: Karen Elson...

:: I'm Here...

... if you need me.  Just saying. Just so you know.  Where are you?

xx Pip

PS : This crochet is based on the Larksfoot pattern.  In case you want to try it too!  Just google that.  It's easy as pie.

:: Hooking. Sooking. Looking.

Stitches and Things..., originally uploaded by meetmeatmikes.

I am still hooking along. Practicing lots of new stitches... Keeping warm and drinking lots of hot tea. Gosh I will be so GLAD when this stoooopid flu finally clears up.

I can't go to my studio and I don't have much energy for much. But hey... blessings in disguise, right?! Because I CAN crochet. I CAN listen to the radio. I CAN watch Enid with Helena Bonham Carter. I CAN watch Vanity Fair with Philip Glenister. I can go to bed early. I can sip a lot of tea. I can drink miso. I can wear too many cardigans. So that's GOOD, isn't it?!

Tomorrow, I am sure I will be MUCH better. I am sure of it.

I am writing this on Cam's computer. My lovely new computer broke. Meh. Dell are being really helpful and trying to fix it. I am sure they will. Aren't computers great and completely idiotic at the same time? A bit like being sick, I suppose.

Thanks for being so spunky and reading my blog... even though I have been sick for a while and it's a bit whingy.

xx Pip

:: Super-Cute Land....

, originally uploaded by shawnisabelle.

Yes.

xx

:: Mamasita Pleased Ta Meet Ya...

Have you been to Mamasita?  I just went there today for lunch with my sister, Sass.  It was really good.  Not too expensive and lots of fresh yummy Mod-Mex food.  We really liked the spicy corn... and the crab tostadas (? is that how you spell that?!) and the guacamole and the black beans and the quinoa salad.  We had sangria too.  And they have this weird spicy beer that is supposed to be really great, but I didn't have that, after all... it's lunch time on school day!

Cam thought the fish ceviche was delicious... and the tacos were those nice soft shell ones.  And... the staff are very nice looking with tattoos and red hair and things, which I thought was good.  They were attentive and friendly.  The room is bright and sunny... and a tiny bit squishy... but nice.  The service was QUICK and accurate.  There were two kinds of chilli on the table and a little bowl of delicious green herby condiment.

It's funny that Mexican food in Australia is so traditionally bad, isn't it? Well Mamasita is really very good. It will blow that idea out of the water and make those Taco Bert places pull up their sloppy refried socks, methinks.  It's made me think about making a really fresh-as-a-daisy super-light and crunchy kind of Mexican feast.  It has.  Do you like Mexican?

xx Pip

PS : I think if you arrive at Mamasita at 12 on the dot for lunch early in the week, you will easily get a table. That's what I think.  We were first in the door today....  No problemo.

PPS : I have no personal or professional affiliation with Mamasita.

:: Make and Meaning : In Praise Of Wallflowers

Written for Make and Meaning by MEETMEATMIKES on DECEMBER 1, 2009

There are many different ways to approach writing a blog, I think.  There are those of us who document our daily lives, speaking only to ourselves and our nearest and dearest, documenting last night’s dinner or tomorrow’s tantrum.   I like those kind of blogs.  They are personal and flawed, and a fairly authentic view into the life of someone a bit like you.  Nice.

Of course, those are not the only kinds of blog, warts-and-all is not everyone’s cup of tea.  Maybe you blog to entertain or educate. Maybe you are quite the marketeer and blog to gather a tribe.  Maybe you blog simply to self publish.  Maybe you write to beautify, engage, promote or preach.  Maybe you blog solely about Neil Diamond or dolls in minature outfits, or things you can do with peaches.  That’s fine too.  Go you.  Set the words free, I say, in any way you care to.  That’s the beauty of the blog.

Taking into account these free-flowing words, these varied topics and approaches, these wildy differing motivations, we do have many blog traits in common. Links, for instance.  I think it’s fair to say that most of us are peppering our blogs quite liberally with links to the people and places that inspire us.   Be they finger-biting baby videos, crafty how-tos or marketing e-books, the blogging community, and in fact pretty much the whole of the internet is powered by such helpful referrals.

I like to think of these links as a little trail of stepping stones dotted through an ever-changing,  fast flowing river.  The links we leave for each other help us focus on the path ahead.  And if I follow a link from your blog to somewhere you like, I can kind of bet that it’s going to be an interesting stepping stone for me.  It will probably get me where I want to go, creatively at least, a little faster.  At the very least I’ll learn a bit more about what you like, which is good too.

Linking is important and useful.  I think it’s great to serve up great new sites, and to invite people to step onto one of your fresh new stepping stones.  You can hang on tight together, try not to get moss on your shoes and marvel at the view.  This linking caper is a bit of a double edged sword, though.  The quest for new, fresh, daily, never-before-linked-to content can leave you a little tired and net-numb. It might also leave your tried and true old favourite sites and blogs sitting wallflower-like on the shelf.  Granted a familiar, smart, useful wallflower, but wallflower all the same.

It’s important to be mindful of and grateful to those that may have inspired you to start writing or live creatively in the first place.  Maybe you do this by way of a blogroll or list of favourite links on your own site.  Maybe you diarise a day when you might take some extra time to read and comment meaningfully on one of those old faithful sites.  Maybe you send them a short email letting them know how much you like them. It doesn’t have to be a daily thing. You don’t even have to tackle them all at once.  But do tackle them.  Honour them even. Those first steps, however wobbly, are there to keep you grounded.   It’s kind of like high school, I guess.  Of course it’s nice to have cool, new friends, bathing in the golden light of their fresh new cleverness.  But don’t forget your cool, old friends.   They like Neil Diamond too.

xx  Pip

:: Making Things...

Hello!  How have you been?!  I am okay!  Just crocheting a lot and trying to get over the second bout of this 'flu.  And last night we went to Cutler and Co with my sister and her husband and that was pretty nice too!  A bit fancy, ya know?!  Have you been there? Have you been making things too?  Have you go the flu?!

xx Pip

:: Washington.... Yay!

:: Make and Meaning : Fancy Free Me...

Written for Make and Meaning by MEETMEATMIKES on JANUARY 25, 2010

Okay.  Here’s the thing. When I’m working on a project, making something or writing something, I can’t STAND to be wearing anything remotely smart, fancy or fashionable.  I can’t wear a belt.  Or shoes.  Or anything fitted. I have to have my hair up up and away.  No bangles or rings.  No jackets. No hipster (by name or nature) items. Nothing dangling, pulling, squeezing or pressing. Nothing low cut. Nothing hi cut.  Nothing fringed or slashed.  Nothing frilly. Nothing voluminous.  Nope. I fly in the face of fashion.

When I’m making, I must be comfy. I must be unencumbered. I must be frill-free.  I absolutely need to not think about my physical self one tiny bit.  Any unnecessary embellishments might cut off the blood supply to my right-brain, I think.  Headbands are out, for sure.

Fancy-free means I can focus all my energy on the task at hand to allow things to flow creatively.  I am cross and uninspired if there’s anything hindering my progress.  It doesn’t work.  I revolt.  I take my fancied up self out for coffee  complete with pencil-skirt and button-up vest and get nothing done.

The no frills approach for me, usually means bare feet, harem pants, simple loose-ish top, hair up, no jewellery… probably no make-up.  That’s how it seems to work best.  If I’m the slightest bit fancied up, then I’m somehow already sabotaging my own progress, by expecting that someone might see me, someone might visit, I might need to go out (for coffee).  I feel like I’m expecting an audience, I guess, someone to behold my fancy efforts.

The expectant fancying up and the irritation at feeling fancy halts any creative endeavours in their tracks.  It makes me feel tense.  It reaps no rewards.  I’m much more about the fancy-free, and it helps me stay on task and productive.  I cannot crochet in a beret. I cannot felt in a pelt (nor would I want to!) I can not sew in things that flow. I can not write if it’s too tight.

How about you? Are you making sans-fancy or are you the kind of person that dresses for the occasion?  Boiler Suit a la Beastie Boys?  Smock?  Caftan?  What’s your making style?

xx Pip

:: So Frenchy So Chic...

Hi! Hey look! That is our first book! It is in FRENCH isn't it?!  Yes it is!  So exciting!  And look what else! I have finished Angela's baby blanket and just need to sew in the ends! Yay!  And do you know what else?!  I am making another blanket for another baby!  OK. I will stop exclaiming. But it does seem that everyone is having babies.  Shannon and Monica and Emma and Rayna and Angela and Anna.... and the list goes on.  I am not having a baby.  Phew.  I probably would like to, but Cam will not let me, so I will just enjoy all these other ace ladies' babies and keep on crocheting.

My sister is visiting today. From Sydney. Hooray!!!!  Whoops.  Bye!

xx Pip

PS : we are having Cassoulet for dinner

:: Make These Crochet Covered Pebbles...!

Margaret Oomen's Little Urchin Crochet Covered Sea Stones!, originally uploaded by the purl bee.

Click the image to find the pattern. These are totally gorgeous and would make a really great gift or crafty paperweight or adorable picnic blanket weights, too!

xx Pip

:: Make A Really Cool Wall Hanging : via Etsy....

:: Clever...!

the last of the frame stands, originally uploaded by bricolagelife.

Oh yes! Isn't this a clever idea from Ms Sosser?! Yes it is! Click the image to see more of her and her alter ego, Bricolage Life. You can find her store and blog via her Flickr profile too!

xx Pip

:: The Envelope Project :: Update...

Lots more images here!  Project ends on the last day of THIS month!

xx Pip

:: Want To See The Cover Of My New Book?! : Sew La Tea Do by Pip Lincolne (That's ME!)...

Eeep!  Here it is!

I am a bit excited that I can FINALLY show you!!!  Yay!  So.... here is my book!  It was made with LOTS of love and care by ME and Jane Winning (Hardie Grant) and Michelle Mackintosh and John Laurie and a WHOLE LOT of people in the Mike's family and friend posse too.  Thank you to everyone who DID help.  Some people let us borrow guinea pigs.  Some people tried to get their rabbits to smile for the camera.  Some people helped to lug bikes on and off the roof of the car.  Some people let us use their house for the shoot.  Some people put up with me writing all the time and making a mess of the house.  Some people told me 'you can do it PIP!'. Some people said 'I can't wait to see your book, Pip!'.  Some people said 'Hurrah!'.  Some people said 'Have a cider!'  Some people said 'Shoes on or shoes off?'.  Some people said 'Do I really need these pencils in my pocket/feathers in my hair?!'  Some people said 'Is it lunch time yet?!'  Some people said 'Yes! Do another book!  Go on!'  Some people said 'Pip you are silly sometimes!'  But the thing is... we did it!  Phew!

My new book is called 'Sew La Tea Do'.  It was made with a HUGE amount of love and enthusiasm.  I hope you love it and it makes you want to make stuff.  It will be released in Australia in October 2010.  And I think the rest of the world will follow, slowly but surely!

Yay!

xx Pip

:: Why I Do What I Do. And What I Do.

Hello! Okay. Well. I have been thinking a lot about the things I have been doing over the last few years.  I get asked to talk about the stuff I do quite often, in various capacities, so the idea of 'What I Do' swirls around and around in my head.  And I think my explanation is evolving all the time.  Because I do a few things.  And I am a bit weird (in a good way, I think).

I PARENT MY KIDS :: There are 3 of them.  They are lovely.  There is Rin who is 22 and Max who is 14 and Ari who is 10.  They are smart and creative and put up with the eccentricities of our life with great dignity.

I shall leave it at that, because they get snotty when I talk about them too much here.  Let's move on to....

I MAKE THINGS :: I am absolutely compelled to make things.  I can not NOT make things. I love to learn different and new skills, and improve the old skills that I have.  The making is about the MAKING for me. It's not about the finishing.  But I am also compelled to FINISH the making (hence I have very few Work In Progress projects lying around).  The making is all about the process and the idea of maybe making to give.  I like that.  I make because it makes me happy.

I TEACH THINGS :: I see no point in being good at stuff... or even quite good at stuff... to the exclusion of others.  I do not like the idea of so-called old fashioned skills being left to the Nannas.  I do not want to sit next to you and feel like a smarty-pants crafty lady while you are fumbling with your needle or wishing you had a needle.  The idea of that makes me cringe.  I want to learn to do stuff and then show other people how to do it to.  I want to do that because MAKING is a really positive thing to do and will help everyone be happier and more creative.  And that is really super important for a happy, creative world.  So yes. I teach things.  With my blog, and my books and in person too.

I WRITE THINGS :: I like to write. Blogs and Books.  About making things.  And just about general stuff too.   I like to blabber on and on about the things that concern me, because I know that as different as we all are, we are also very much the same in a lot of ways.  I like to write about the weird stuff and the sad stuff and the interesting stuff and the happy stuff and the crafty stuff too.

I TALK ABOUT STUFF ::  I want to talk about the weird stuff and the sad stuff and the interesting stuff and the happy and crafty stuff, too.  And I want to hear what you have to say about all that stuff.  That is why I really do TRY so hard to respond to comments, tweets, emails, visits and facebook messages as often as I can.  I think that I am not the Oracle and you probably know more about stuff than I do.  So I like to get the conversation started and see where it goes.  But I don't like to start a conversation just to get a rise.  That is a whole other kind of blog.  Not this one.  I like to start conversations because I get to learn stuff from you guys.  And also because I like talking to you.

I GET THINGS STARTED :: I really like to use the internet and our shop to get projects started.  Real life projects that transcend the virtual and happen in the REAL WORLD!  Things like Brown Owls (the craft group), Softies for Mirabel (the handmade toy appeal we run yearly) and The Envelope Project (a worldwide ode to snail mail).  I think it's easy to get things started and see how they roll.  I think other people like to join in.  I think you can get something started too. I do.  Make it something that helps everyone else out in some way.

I BLOG and TALK ABOUT BLOGGING :: I have been doing lots of speaking about blogging lately.  I like to talk about blogging because I LOVE BLOGGING!  I think that is plain and clear!  I think there is a lot to be said about blogging with sincerity and heart and passion in this age of New Media Experts.  And I want to get the message out there that you can have a great blog by doing it YOUR WAY and writing about the things YOU LOVE.  So I do that.  I want people to know that blogging is not all about dollars and cents and hits and bounce-rates.  It's about expressing and documenting and sharing and creating a legacy you are proud of.  For me anyway.  So that is why I like to talk about blogging.

I RUN A SHOP ::  Well. I am  not often in the shop anymore.  But I do all the buying and merchandising and planning.  And then Cam and Rin do all the actual in the trenches stuff.  It's a group effort and I love our shop and every day it gets better and I thank our super-rad customers for sticking with us.  There was a time last year when things were grim, but we hung on and seem to be coming out the other side. I run a shop because I love the little Mike's family it creates.  I love breaking the rules of retail. I love being surrounded by the sorts of things I love.  I love making a nice space for people to come and spend time and talk about how nice craft is and how cool vintage keyboards are and how nice it is to write a letter.

I DRIVE A CAR :: It is old.  It is a 1984 Mercedes Benz.  It has a wonky indicator and a creaky bottom.  It was cheap and I love it.  Except it's creaky bottom is also leaky.  But hey. It happens to the best of us.  I drive this car because it is reliable and golden.

I COOK :: I used to be a caterer.  I used to own a cafe.  I love to cook. AND I am not afraid to say that I am a really good cook!  I love to cook because I was raised on excellent food and I think food is an ace medium for LOVE!

I also read a lot, watch lots of DVDS, share a studio space with Victoria Mason and spend lots of time hanging out with my friends and trying to convince them to come over for dinner.  I do these things because I love them!

That is it.  I do the things I do because I like to do them.  How about you?  Why do you do what you do and what do you do?!

xx Pip

:: I Am Sorry... But I Like Kittens...

Thanks to Molly Dyson because I, unlike 8 million others, had not seen this until today!

xx Pip

:: I Am Sorry Mr Miller...

When I was 15 and in high school, I was made to read 'Death of a Salesman' for literature. Have you read it? Did you enjoy it?  Did you read it when you were 15?  I did. I told you that already right?  Well now I am going to tell you why I should not have read 'Death of a Salesman' when I was 15.

Reason 1 : It is not much like Bewitched.   I lived my early years, until I was 9, in Hobart.  It was pretty idyllic.  We had a house with a rumpus room and a ramp that stretched up to the front door.  We had a 50s shack by the beach that we shared with our extended family.  We watched 'Bewitched' and 'That Girl'.  I could see that salespeople had cheery lives and lovely wives, like Samantha and Anne-Marie.  Or so I thought.  Mr Miller would soon fix that.  I was living in a fool's paradise, apparently.

Reason 2 : There are no Ant Hills.   I moved to the far north west of WA when I was 9.  I lived there until I was 14.  There were very few shops, no subways and tons of tumbleweeds and red dirt ant nests.  Not only was Willy's Brooklyn the farthest thing from Port Hedland you can imagine, but it bared no resemblance to any part of Australia I had seen in my short years, or wanted to see (from what I read via Mr Miller). It is not that I didn't WANT to see more of the world in general.  It's just that it might have been nice if it was cast in a bit more of a positive light.   Also perhaps I don't really need to know that, for some, it's all going to end in tears and there is no point bothering.  Not at 15, anyway.

Reason 3 : Bucket hats.  I had never seen anyone wearing a hat and suit to work.  Mostly they wore safari jackets and bucket hats.  Maybe that is kind of better than suits and hats. I'm not sure. Anyway... it felt like some kind of Hitchcock-ian scene, with all those hats and suits.  I was waiting with great anticipation for the birds to come and cart Willy away.  Or for some Mata-Hari to throw him into the boot of a car and transport him to some fabulous Bond style locale.  Or something.  No such luck for Willy.  Or me. Sigh.  (Also I did not really care to read about mortgages, lady friends etc.  That was a bit dull and/or unkind.)

Reason 4 : I was not grown up.  I was 15. I was smart and all... there were lots of books I could not get enough of... poetry even... but I am not sure how reading an American Literary Classic like 'Death of a Salesman' is meant to make any sense to a girl who would rather be reading 'Puberty Blues' or 'Superfudge' and teasing her hair with lemonade whilst  listening to The Cure on repeat.  Having had no experience of miserable marriages and dysfunctional relationships in general, it all seemed as startling as a True Crime photo, only a bit less bloody (and a lot more puzzling).

In conclusion, I would like to say, that I apologise for not liking your play when I was 15, Mr Miller.  I will read it again and see if I like it any better now... but I think it would be great if kids could read quality literature that is relevant (or mildly recognizable)  to their own lives a bit more... and not be turned off reading serious or classic literature by it's careless or too-early introduction.  I think it would be great to get kids excited about reading, instead of having them numbly tick off the requisite tomes.

Thank you.

Pip
xx

:: Make and Meaning : No Strings Attached

Written for the now defunct blog Make and Meaning by MEETMEATMIKES on JANUARY 13, 2010

I was just reading the new blog of my hero, Amy Krouse Rosenthal.  She’s posting weekly missions and ideas over there.  Go take a look. This week’s mission involves ATMS.  I’ll leave that to Amy to explain.  One phrase stood out as I read ‘this is meant to be a no strings attached act‘.  Hmm. I love that.  I do.  I’m going to take a leaf out of her book (not literally, of course!)

It seems to me that in this age of monetising and strategizing, it’s become an almost natural step in the process of many people to think ‘how will this benefit me?’, ‘will this get me where I’m going?‘ or ‘can I make money from this?‘ or ‘will this give me a leg-up?‘.  I’m wondering if that’s okay with you?  I mean, it’s not really okay with me.  I like the idea of doing stuff because it seems fun or interesting and then seeing what happens.  I like to keep a roof over my head and food on the table as much as the next person, of course, but I don’t think that every act needs to reflect back onto ourselves in an obvious (or indeed financially beneficial) way.  For me at least, life is not all about leverage, moving forward, aligning and other such management concepts.  I think, in fact that the surprises and the unplanned routes are one of the great things about life.  Concepts are made to be toyed with and not everything has to be tangible, mapped out or obviously beneficial to be good.  That would be boring.

Speaking of boring, I’m on Twitter, which IS sometimes very boring.  I follow a lot of people and I see a lot of tweets rolling by talking about ‘how to write for your audience‘, ‘how to get 1000 followers’, ‘follow me and link to this to maybe win this’ ‘20 ways to make money from your blog‘, ‘ten things you should blog about’, ‘blah blah blah‘.  Lots of people are obviously writing JUST for their readers. Or doing things JUST to get a certain result. Linking to things JUST because of a commercial arrangement.  Offering  to do THIS if you do THAT.   Aligning themselves with others, clawing their way up to the top of the blog heap, smattering their blogs with all sorts of widgets and plugs and offers – all for some sort of questionable gain.  It’s kind of messy, in a bad way. Why are some of us living our online lives in ways we would never live our real lives?  Can you imagine sidling up to someone and saying “If you tell Joe over there that I’m great, well I’ll tell my friend Wendy that you’re great too.  I’ll also mention you to someone else I know next week.  But only if you recommend me to your pal, Myron”  Huh?!

Surely we should write what we want on our blogs, uncompromised and free of thinly veiled commercial plugs and self-censorship.  Surely we can encourage people to read our blogs just because they LIKE them?  Isn’t that enough?!  Blogs aside,  surely in our real-life lives we can loosen the strings and let things go a little and see what happens, no payback required?  Surely?!

Wouldn’t it be great if we chucked all that strategy in, and got back to the real, kind, basic stuff?  What about just doing nice stuff to see what happens.   Or just doing good things because it’s fun?  Or just doing things because you like it, it’s what you care about, or it’s what you want to do?!

Is life so short that we need to snatch a personal, tangible, often financial advantage from everything we do?  Can we balance the ambitions we have for ourselves with a bit of free love?  Are the strings we often attach to glean a certain outcome really just tying us up in our own control-freak knots?  Can’t we be more like Amy and build little acts of kindness, hope and faith into our day?  Just because it’s nice?  Isn’t all this optimizing stuff a bit manipulative and completely at odds with our New Bohemian lifestyles?  Can’t we do things just for fun?  What do you think, dear Reader?  (Please don’t say ‘Sod off Pollyanna’!!)

xx Pip

:: Favourite Cookbooks....

Here are some of mine. I actually probably have one hundred and seventy two favourites.  But here is a good cross-section.  I like a bit of French technique. I like a bit of simple home cooking. I like a bit of spice. I like a bit of nonna.  I like a bit of Australian storytelling.  In a nutshell my likes are as mixed up as my blog.  But that is okay.  There are many other cookbooks that I cook from regularly, and with the advent of le internet it is so easy to source almost any recipe you choose online.  And then there are all those ace food magazines to contend with too. Wowee.  A feast, it is.  Here is why I chose these books....

• Mastering the Art of French Cooking : because I love Julia
• Stir : because I love the curry pastes in this book
• The Kitchen Diaries : because I adore Nigel Slater's books and love his buttery approach
• Sarah Raven : because I love the photography and this book is an ode to vegetables and fruit
• River Cottage : because it has all the great basics you would want to cook
• South East Asian Food : a classic in print since 1970 : the best Asian almanac, I think.
• Marcella : for real, simple, elegant Italian food
• Maggie : because I love her.  And she cooks so intuitively and generously.
• Jake : A lovely book chock full of stories, recipes and life in general
• Market Vegetarian : for the sort of modern vegetarian food we all want to eat
• Jamie : the very first step in Jamie's astonishing, far reaching empire
• Elizabeth David : because her stern tone are just the thing when I want to be told how to cook something
• Claudia : because she knows all about spices and her food is full of oomph and love

I would love to know some of your favourites!  Do tell!

xx Pip

:: She and Him : Thieves...

:: Top Ten For This Week : With Gemma Jones

1. Artist - Gary Taxali

2. Project - espo love letter mural project : via A Love Letter For You

3. Painting or Drawing - spirit animal collective by kozyndan

4. Song - double dutch 

5. Book - American Vernacular

6. Recipe - Eggplant Curry

7. Website - NerdBoyfriend

8. Tool - nice calculator which we call The Tappy 2000

9. Place - Chapel Tattoo

10. Business - kiosk kiosk

Gemma Jones is an artist, curator and craft group leader.  She enjoys skipping, writing, making things, cooking nice food, dancing about the place, hanging out with her friends and patting her cat, Cuby.

Thank you for your Top Ten, Gemma!  That IS Gemma with The Tappy 2000. Yes. It is.