tiny happy

january dreaming

So many pictures of flowers in the sun! But when I got home from my summer holiday, that was pretty much all I had on my phone, because I had tried to capture ALL the flowers. The first photo is to show you a small midsummer display I collected on the solstice. Little shells (we used to call these witches' hats when I was a kid), pebbles from the beach, honeysuckle, alstroemeria and hydrangea petals. There's something so lush and bright about the top of the South Island in January. Everything was blooming and buzzing and beautiful.

I hope you have had a happy summer (or wintry) Christmas or New Year break if you were celebrating. I loved spending lots of time with family and friends. It was a treat and one that will keep me going now we're back at work in the city.

I was lucky enough to fit in some good reading time over the summer. Tom and I found ourselves housesitting for some friends in a beautiful wee spot in the country. Our only tasks were watering a garden and feeding an (admittedly big) flock of chickens. I finished a couple of books while there, including The Dutch House by Ann Patchett and Exit West by Mohsin Hamid - both were excellent reads.

Around Christmas, I read Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These, a small but perfectly formed novella about one of Ireland's Magdalene Laundries. I highly recommend all these books, and more - and feel so happy that my reading 'bug' has returned (it lay dormant for quite a long time in my adult life). In the spirit of spreading that enthusiasm, and because I always enjoy other people's recommendations, I've started sharing the books I've finished this year over in my Instagram stories (I did the same in 2021 and 22). Fingers crossed I will keep it up as the year gets busier!

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A small amount of making took place over the summer break. I was working on a Tegna top (a knitting pattern by Caitlin Hunter) and knitted most of it in the midsummer sunshine but have been finishing it here at home. Hopefully, I will show you the finished piece in my next post.

I also knitted a few more mushroom ornaments to give as gifts over the holiday, sewed up a dress and cooked some new recipes too, including this Vegan Wellington for Christmas day that I was so pleased with! Very simple to make (I used pre-made flaky pastry) and delicious too.

I have lots of projects planned for this year (beginning with a bit of a daunting one: a cabled sweater for Tom - if I start now it might be done in time for winter?) and a few clothes to wear to the office. I'd also love to sew my way through my current fabric scrap stash. I have two big storage boxes filled with small pieces of fabric and I am going to try and think of fun projects to make from them. Will document my progress here, of course.

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2 albums I've loved listening to lately: Troy Kingi's Ghost of Freddie Cesar (especially this song - my favourite!!) and Big Red Machine: How Long Do You Think it's Gonna Last?, especially this track. What have you been listening to, making and cooking? I'd love to hear from you in the comments if you have time to leave a message.

Sending you lots of love and see you again soon,

Melissa

wrapping things up

Kia ora, hello! How are you doing through these busy December days? I've been trying to wrap things up - finishing up various bits of work and other tasks, packing to visit family over the summer break, and literally wrapping things too, of course, in the form of Christmas gifts.

I thought I'd share a few things I've been making along the way. I had grand plans (like I do every year) but only made a few things in the end. 

A fun project was knitting up some mushroom ornaments, inspired by my friend Lizzie who sent me the link to the pattern for the wee 'charming mushroom ornament (the one with the hanging loop, pictured above). You can find it here. The other two mushrooms are little soft sculptures really, but I might add a hanging loop to those, too. The pattern is by Claire Garland and can be found here.

I made a big batch of fruit mince (using a Nigella Lawson recipe similar to this, but with cider and brandy added) and then baked a batch of fruit mince pies every few days for visitors, guests and to have with our afternoon coffee! I think I will give mince pies a rest until next year now. But I do love them!

Other little gifts made this season include:

• fabric pouches sewn from favourite leftover cottons and linens (I also used leather scraps to make zipper-pulls for each)
• little drawstring bags, personalised with children's initials (find my tutorial for those here)
• a set of pillowcases (but I forgot to take a photo before wrapping them up - oops!) made from my own tutorial found here
• tote bags

I haven't made these, but you might like the following projects if you're gift making:

• natural perfume, two ways
• jars of fresh lemon curd
• peace dove ornaments
• Jenny's fruit cake (this would make a lovely holiday gift if you pressed almonds into the top and wrapped the finished cake in brown paper)
• calming eye pillows
• lemon + honey or rose lip balm
• seashell mitts (if you're in the Northern Hemisphere!) or the super-simple Keira's fingerless mitts

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Whether you're in a making mood or not, I wish you a very happy festive season if you're celebrating it! I'm heading to the South Island for a short while to catch up with family and friends. Thank you so much for reading my blog this year - it's lovely to have your company in this space!

Lots of love, and see you in the new year,

Melissa

about two different dresses

Here we are in mid-December! I had good intentions to write more blog posts this year, but the months have really whizzed by this year. Something to aim for in 2023, perhaps? 

I hope this finds you well and enjoying the end of the calendar year, however you celebrate it where you are. As always, our December has been filled up with end-of-year concerts and gatherings, as well as much work to be finished up before the summer break. It's been a happy time though, with Keira finishing her high school exams, and Arlo coming home for the university break. Both will spend time washing dishes this summer and saving their pennies for next year's study. 

In this post, I was tempted to write about gift making but I think I'll try and do another post in a couple of days about that. I've been doing a little sewing and knitting in the evenings and have a few things to share in that department! I had wild ambitions to make many of my Christmas presents this year, but as it turned out, I've only managed a handful. But that's ok! I'll share them in my next post, along with some ideas for things I wanted to do, in case you are looking for inspiration.

I spent a few evenings sewing a dress for Keira to wear to her end-of-year school ball (like a prom/formal) last month, and realised I never got around to sharing it here. Partly that's because I didn't snap any good pictures of it - the day she wore it was rainy and she got ready for the event at a friend's house. Anyway, it was fun to make her something special like this, and I thought the finished dress looked fantastic on her, despite not having much photographic evidence!

I used the Papercut Maya Cami Dress pattern and made a toile first, which prompted me to do some major fit adjustments to the bodice pattern pieces. They were too wide and gapey, we decided. I re-drafted those pieces to better fit Keira but kept the body pieces the same, except to make them longer, so the dress is floor length. For the final version, I bought some viscose crepe fabric from The Fabric Store in a beautiful forest green shade.

I love the Maya pattern but have found the same fit issues when I made it for myself (as a black slip to go under other dresses). I might try re-drafting the cup pattern pieces for my size too, and having another go. The skirt part is cut on the bias and is pretty perfect, in my opinion. 

And because this is a tale of two dresses, I'm including a couple of photos of a dress I sewed for myself recently. I didn't use a pattern, but rather drafted my own by measuring a favourite second-hand dress I've loved wearing but needs replacing. The result is a super breezy and loose-fitting cotton dress for the summer.

I'm looking forward to swanning around at the beach, wearing it with my new sandals and a big sunhat!

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Recently I invited a dear old friend of mine around and we spent the afternoon drinking coffee and painting with watercolours. It was the best! I highly recommend it for a relaxing time, especially if you can schedule such a meet-up before the Christmas busy-ness begins. The evening before, at my request, Tom had cut a huge branch of roadside roses for me - I expect they were going to be cleared by council workers otherwise - and we set them up as a dramatic cascade on our fireplace, inspiring our watercolours.

And finally, I wanted to share some very lovely baking - almond fingers, which is a recipe originating from 1947 that I found in Ladies a Plate by Alexa Johnston (someone has shared the recipe here). They were slightly fiddly to make, but so worth it, I think, if you like almonds as much as I do.

Thank you, as always, for reading! I hope you are having a lovely week, and see you again very soon,

M X

simple drawstring pouches - a tutorial

This is a tutorial I've been meaning to share for a long while. I'm often asked for my pattern or instructions for these bags that I've made (and shared online) over the years. I'm finally doing it!

This Christmas I have an idea to use some fabric scraps and make little pouches for my nieces, each personalised with their initial. I intend to put some sweets, card games, or lip balm inside each, depending on the age of the child. The larger bags might even fit a small chapter book. I'm lucky enough to have 13 nieces! So I might not complete all of them this year. In any case, it's a fun project and I hope you enjoy making one, or a few, as the case may be.

In this tutorial, I've given measurements for a small child's pouch. But because the template is so simple, you could use it to create all sorts of pouches.

Size up to create a knitting project bag. Or cut the pieces even bigger to make reusable wrapping for a book or other gift. Large drawstring bags make useful travel companions - you can keep shoes or laundry separate in your suitcase. A tiny one, cut from velvet or silk scraps, would be nice for jewellery.

Take this 'recipe' and make it your own. Happy making and gifting!

You'll need:

Fabric scraps - I recommend something like linen or heavy cotton for the outer bag, and silk or finer cotton for the lining and casings

A ruler or tape measure, pins, iron, sewing machine, scissors, thread, safety pin

2 x lengths of 22" of a thin cord, narrow cotton tape or ribbon  

Embroidery thread, needle and hoop (optional)

Method (for child-size pouch):

Cut out the bag pieces. You'll need:

2 x outer pieces measuring 8" wide X 7" tall

2 x lining pieces measuring 8" wide X 7" tall

2 x casing pieces (this could be the same as your lining fabric, or different) measuring 9.5" wide by 1.5" tall

Press all fabric pieces. To make the casings, fold each short end in 1/2" and press. Fold in another 1/2" and press again. Then fold the whole piece length-wise and press once more. Set aside.

If you'd like to decorate the front of your pouch, now is the time. You could embroider an initial or something else, or applique or add ribbon... whatever you fancy!

Place outer bag pieces right sides together, pin then stitch around the sides and bottom. Repeat with lining pieces. Clip corners on both, and press. Turn outer bag right side out, push out corners and press again.

Take one casing piece. With raw edges together, pin casing to right side of front of bag outer. The casing should be slightly shorter than the front of the bag outer itself. Centre the casing so there is a small gap at each outer bag side seam. If it's too long, refold the edges and press again.

Stitch the casing to the outer, as close as you can to the raw edge. Take the second casing and repeat the process on the bag outer back piece. It should look like this:

Place the completed bag outer inside the bag lining, right sides together. Match side seams and pin in place. With a 1/4" seam, stitch around the entire top of the bag, catching all the layers together. It should look like this:

Turn the bag right-side out through the gap you left in the lining base. Press everything and check the casings were sewn neatly. Push the lining inside the outer and press the casings so they are pointing up and away from the bag outer. Hand-stitch lining gap closed.

Cut one piece of ribbon and attach the safety pin to the end. Thread it through one casing opening, then through the second, and tie the ends in a secure knot. Insert the second piece of cord in the same manner but in reverse, through the other casing opening. All done!

 

assorted treasures

So many treasures to share with you in this post! It was my birthday recently and because I'm very spoiled I received some beautiful gifts, some of which I've shared above because I think you'd love them too. 

My friend A gave me a beautiful wee bud vase by Wellington ceramicist Wundaire. The design is called Fleur, which just happens to be my middle name and the colours in the ceramic are derived from plant dyes, I think! I love it and it was the perfect home for the last freesia of the season. My sister Tamsin sent me the most beautiful little suncatcher for our kitchen window. These are made by Hydrangea Ranger in Auckland. Aren't they beautiful? (As an aside, I love all things HR and have bought many sets of earrings from her for gifts!)

Do you know the Shetland Wool Adventure journals? I've admired them on Insta but not actually leafed through one of them until Arlo and Kee included issue #3 in my birthday gift. It's a beautiful wee book, with lots of knitting patterns that I'm keen to cast on. You can see all six here on this Ravelry page. I think I'll start with the 'Blosta Hat' (pictured above) - in hopefully exactly those colours!

Last year, I discovered that my whānau on my mum's side has (distant) Shetland Island heritage. Mum's great-grandmother was from born on Fair Isle into the Eunson family, and moved to London as a young woman, probably the first in her family to leave the island permanently. As knitters, it was an exciting discovery! Especially for Mum and I. She had known of Orkney ancestry for a long time, but not specific details. I'd love to learn more about this side of our family sometime, and of course, a long-term dream would be a Shetland trip!

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In the last two pictures above, you can see a bit of patchwork I've been doing. I couldn't close the lid of my fabric leftover box (and believe me, it's a big box) so I decided to pull out some pieces and make a quilt top. I settled on a simple nine-patch design and chose only solid colour fabrics, some of which are dyed with avocado and other plants. It's currently king-sized but I might trim it down a bit to make the next steps a bit easier to manage! 

I do love the way the solid bright colours look together - they almost sing to each other. It would make a great quilt for our bed this summer.

I still love to experiment with cyanotype printing on the occasional sunny weekend day! I've included a snap of some cards I made recently for a friend. The exposure wasn't super successful because the sun went behind a cloud as soon as I took the prints outside. I used watercolour paint to bright them up instead.

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In truth, I haven't been finding as much time and energy for my making practice as I usually do. It's mostly to do with having work and other commitments that are taking up lots of space in my mind! But I'm hoping that with the longer days ahead and a bit of time off over summer, I will get back into it. I've no shortage of projects in mind! Some plans include:

- Finishing the nine-patch quilt, which will involve some simple hand quilting and binding the edge. 

- Knitting up a linen top of some sort for summer (I have some of this yarn in a soft green, and am thinking about the Tegna pattern for it)

- Making some Christmas/summer gifts for friends and family. I still haven't decided what, exactly! Will report back soon...

I'd love to know what's keeping you busy and inspired these days!

Lots of love, 
M

october sweetness

The photo directly above is a bit of a boast. I found all these wonderful books in one recent visit to an op-shop. So lucky! I've started the Lorde collection, finished both the Carol Ann Duffy poetry books (which I adored) and had a go at knitting some of the stitch patterns. The novel by Witi Ihimaera, The Parihaka Woman, is on my bedside table ready to be read very soon. I'd love to know what you're ready these days? 

Now it's late in October - how did that happen? I'm so enjoying the lighter mornings and evenings, even though there is still a bit of a chill to the Wellington air. Tom and I recently walked up a hill in our neighbourhood, and I picked a handful of wildflowers on the way home. You can see them in my first pic above. It was a surprise to find so many beauties, just growing along the side of the road. My favourites are those creamy little roses that grow along hedges.

Also inspired by spring growth, I made a pair of prints for our spare room, which we've been slowly renovating over this past year. I just need to find some frames for them now. I used my cyanotype printing set and pressed tansy and coriander plants picked at the height of last summer.

This month I knitted a vest for myself, using a skein of mohair-silk dyed by Nikki of Dark Harbour Yarn, held together with some Zealana fingering-weight possum/cotton/merino blend. It was a free pattern called the Sara Vest from Ewe Knit Toronto, and used exactly one skein of the mohair with just a tiny bit left - phew! I don't think I'd knitted a vest for myself before but I really like wearing it - it's been handy over dresses and when it's not cool enough for a proper sweater or cardigan. More details about this make can be found on my Ravelry page here.

Crazy hair photo courtesy of Keira and the Wellington wind!

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Another good thing from the past month or so is that I've joined our local chapter of Good Bitches Baking. With the overarching goal of 'making Aotearoa NZ the kindest place on earth,' the Good Bitches join a roster to bake for various organisations and charities around the city, such as homeless shelters, community drop-in centres and other programmes. GBB provides white cardboard boxes that we put our baking in for delivery, as well as a little notepad to write a message and ingredients on for the recipients.

It's a wonderful team to be part of, and I have really enjoyed baking and delivering treats over the past six weeks or so. I love to bake but with no more school lunches to prepare and trying not to eat quite so much sweet food myself, it's a great way to spread the sweetness around to our wider community.

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Other October sweetness has included a trip to the City Gallery to see the Joanna Margaret Paul retrospective exhibition, Imagined in the Context of a Room. I've loved Paul's paintings and poetry since I first encountered them about 15 years ago, so it was real joy to be able to see everything collected together in this way. If you're going to be in the capital before February, 6, I highly recommend you go and have a look.

October is also my birthday month, and this year I was lucky enough to hear some live music to celebrate. A group of friends and I went to hear soul/folk singer Frazey Ford and her band at San Fran. It was such a treat. Here's a song for you.

Take care,
Melissa X

bias skirts + baskets

I have a beautiful black bias-cut skirt I bought from Ingrid Starnes a while back. Keira's been borrowing it and cinching it in to fit with a safety pin. The fabric is kind of delicate, so I decided: enough was enough! I bought the Evie Skirt pattern from Tessuti and made her a couple of her own bias skirts.

One was like a wearable toile (practice run) for which I used some drapey blue cotton viscose fabric from my stash. It was good to practice my invisible zipper skills and I'm pleased to report I finally know how to sew a decent side zip! Then I used some really nice black rayon blend fabric for the second version. She wears it all the time so it's a hit! I might even make myself one for summer. Maybe from a linen or something light.

I've also included here a pic of my favourite purchase in a while - a small Moroccan market bag/basket for crochet supplies. I bought it from The Dutch Shop (my sister and I visited to buy salty licorice, primarily) and it's just the thing for toting around that never-ending blanket project of mine! (Here's my Ravelry project page for it).

I think in my last post I mentioned that I'd started work on a big knitting project. That garment is a sweater for Tom, knitted up in grey O-Wool Balance yarn. I'm using the Denali pattern, which is a design by Norah Gaughan. The original design has intricate cables worked on the front and back of the sweater. I'm just going to work them on the front. So the back is pretty dull to make, to be super honest. Not only that, but I don't think I have enough yarn to make the whole garment, and it seems to be currently sold out online! And it's spring, so I might put this one on hold for a few months. Sorry Tom!

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The sun was shining so cheerfully last week and I had a day off, so I spent the afternoon making a new batch of cyanotype prints. I thought you might like to see the prints as they were developing (second to last photo above) and then the finished, washed and dried pieces (the last photo). I've been sending these out to friends and using them as notecards. I love how each one is slightly different and you can never really be sure how they will turn out.

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There are two pieces of music I've been enjoying this spring. The first is the Prokofiev Violin Concerto No.1, especially its second movement (the Scherzo). What an amazing work. Last month we went to see Hilary Hahn perform it here in Wellington and since then I've been listening to it through the headphones, hearing something new in it each time!

I'm also re-visiting Radiohead's album A Moon-Shaped Pool that I had on repeat when it first came out in 2016. My favourite track is Present Tense, but I find this music video, for Daydreaming, so moving.

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I hope you are well and happy and enjoying some transitional seasonal weather, wherever you might be!

See you again soon,

M

that spring light

Kia ora, welcome!

I haven't made as much time for creative work lately. Let's blame paid work, dark and rainy days and various other things. It doesn't really matter - sometimes down periods are needed to let new ideas come through.

I made a little cardigan for my baby niece Madeline a while ago now but just realised I'd not shared it here yet. The pattern, from Ewe Knit Toronto, is called the Amore Cardigan. You can find a copy here. I used some possum-merino yarn in dark grey and worked free-form embroidery around the neckline, and added little green vintage buttons to finish. I was so happy to see pictures of it on that sweet little baby - it looks lovely on her. You can find my Ravelry notes for this project here.

As for new projects, I've not had much on the go lately, although I am working on sweater for Tom. It's incredibly slow going and it will (hopefully) be done by next winter... sigh! Will share that in my next post, hopefully with some progress. 

My dream knitting project is a vest - I am keen to make the Sara Vest (a free pattern in case you're keen too!) which I think would be a really useful garment for wearing over winter dresses. In preparation, I bought some beautiful hand-dyed mohair from Nikki at Dark Harbour Yarn - it's a grey with greenish tint (I've included a photo above). I will hold that together with some dark grey fingering weight yarn from my stash. Dare I case it on before finishing Tom's sweater? I'm quite tempted.

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Last weekend, some friends and I visited the beautiful Porirua art gallery Pataka. Along with many other treasures, we loved the Star Gossage exhibition, Let Peace Be Among Us. Star is a painter based in Pakiri, north of Auckland. I think her work is incredibly beautiful and had to buy the exhibition book from the gift shop before we left so I could show Keira when I got home. You can learn about the artist by watching this clip, which was also showing on a screen at the exhibition.

After looking at paintings, we noticed a sign for a spring flower show. We bought tickets and in we went. What an amazing showcase of daffodils (both 'amateur' and 'novice') and other spring flowers, old-fashioned morning tea baking and community spirit! We loved it and stayed for a cup of tea.

I hope you're doing very well. Thank you, as always, for visiting me here.
M

p.s. that night-time photo was taken on the Wellington waterfront - it's a Para Matchitt sculpture + crane in the distance. Wellington spring evening twilight skies are my new favourite.

 

frogs + buds

Meet my new friends, Frog and Toad! I finished knitting them a few weeks ago, and they're now safely at home with a friend who loves them. Based on the beautiful 1970's children's books by Arnold Lobel, this pattern was a lot of fun to knit. It did stretch my skills somewhat, considering the eyes are steeked, everything's worked at a taught gauge on double-pointed needles and even the kneecaps have short rows! I think the designer is super clever and I'm so happy to have made them.

For Frog I used some Zealana possum-merino DK (so he's a bit fuzzy) and for Toad I knitted up some of my mum's DK handspun in a natural brown shade. I used 4ply Shetland yarn for their clothes. You can find my Ravelry notes here if you'd like more details.

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Also in this post, I thought I'd share a new batch of cyanotype postcards I made. Because my botanical prints were not super crisp, I decided to use watercolour paint on each one, and it was an enjoyable project. These have all been packaged up to send to friends. Long live snail mail.

Also pictured above: winter morning light in the kitchen (it won't be around much longer, so I wanted to capture it on the dining table) and some winter blooms and buds. Daphne and freesias are such a favourite and really brighten up every August.

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Something keeping me happy this week is thinking about a concert I went to at the weekend with some friends. Troy Kingi and his band performed work from his Golden Ladder album, written with Delaney Davidson. It was exhilarating to be listening to live music again and I can't stop thinking about the songs. What an experience! If you don't know Troy Kingi's work you might like to start with this funky song... All Your Ships Have Sailed. His new album, Pu Whenua Hautapu, Eka Mumura is such a treasure too.

Finally, I was lucky enough to take some leave from my day job last week. It was such a treat to catch up with friends, finish a couple of books, and check out some local exhibitions too while everyone else, it seemed, was at work! If you are in the capital sometime soon, I highly recommend popping into Te Papa to see Robin White's retrospective exhibition Something is Happening Here. I loved it, especially her collaborative barkcloth work made in the Pacific, and seeing videos of her process. I also love her early watercolour and screenprints. 

If you'd like to watch a video clip of the making of the work 'That Vase', you can see it online here.

Thank you as always for reading! See you again soon,

Melissa

august dispatch

Kia ora from a wintry and wild August! I hope you're keeping cosy, wherever you might be.

Thought it was time to share some of the things I've been working on lately.

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My friend Nikki kindly gave me a sweater-in-progress, after I admired it on Ravelry. It's the Trove Sweater, an all-over colourwork design from Pom Pom magazine #30 and she had knit the body and half of a sleeve. I couldn't believe my luck as the colour choices are divine - true sea-glass vibes - and she also included enough yarn to complete it.

It took me a while to match Nikki's gauge through swatching. But over the course of a few weeks, I completed the sleeves and the finished sweater is so good! Thank you, dear Nikki. Keira and I are both enjoying wearing it - it's super cosy and the fit is great for both of us (even though I'm a bigger size than K... how can that be?)

Here are my Ravelry notes, along with a link to the pattern, in case you're keen to knit it too.

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The other photos are just a few snaps from other things happening in August (that don't include the day-to-day reality of going to work, of course, as that's not so photogenic...)

There's a frog-in-progress (I'm making these wee guys for a friend), some ghostly coriander sun-prints (made from my gone-to-seed herbs when the sun was only out for a very short time), two new books I'm reading at the moment (How to be a Bad Muslim by Mohamed Hassan and How to Loiter in a Turf War by Coco Solid) plants and flowers from everyday life.

I hope you are doing very well, friends! Have you made yourself some new pillowcases or a good batch of lemon curd for your morning toast yet?

XXX

Melissa