heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere's jaaaaaaaaaaack

the annual carve up begins....

and heeeeere's jaaack...with Krusty tryin' to get it on the action there as per, but its ok, El Viejo has his eye on the situation and will put him in a headlock should he misbehave...

i found the perfect receptacle to transport jack in!

and the boo brigade are out on patrol to watch the house while i go out to play at a Halloween Party (a night early i know...but as its my fave holiday i have no objections to celebrating twice!).

halloween bits and bobs

lovely Merilee at mer mag has kindly blogged instructions of how to make some great little halloween bits and bobs like this last minute ghost costume and some cute little bats - very cool, i know what i'll be doing tomorrow!

and check out these cute as a button halloween cupcake toppers available on a free pdf here from Danny Brito via a beautiful mess

county favourite

oooh i think this gorgeous floral print miniature wiltshire suitcase from Liberty will have to go on my christmas wish list...isn't it lovely (spotted via making it lovely)

commission

i am contemplating commissioning a painting for myself and the lovely Nicole at making it lovely has done just that from artist Paul Ferney who is offering a very reasonable deal as part of the commission project .  you send a photo and he paints his interpretation - i think Nicole's came out the best...its lovely, which is apt.

see bird

lovely bird mirrors found via design sponge from stained glass artist Dennis Smith...available in his etsy shop.

molecular

stunning molecular jewellery from aroha via the brilliant kingdom of style

happy halloween

woah....from Dan Witz via wooster

the "shed" gene

i think i can no longer deny that the hoskins "shed" gene has been passed on - with my grandfather this involved tinkering in the garage surrounded by jam jars full of nuts and bolts, with my father its taken the form of acquiring vintage bikes to take apart and put back together and it appears that my destiny lies in picking up odd bits of furniture off the street to recycle.  i found this stool/box on the way home and couldn't resist so balanced it precariously on the back of my bicycle and took it into the garden to begin the transformation process.  an hour later and after inhaling about 70 years worth of dust and horse-hair i regretted not wearing a mask.  

the trouble is that my potential cannot be fully realised until i have a shed/garage/studio to complete my projects as the "to finish" pile is now reaching epic proportions.  this will look lovely tho once i sand, paint and put a new foam cushion and fabric on the top - don't you think?

paul the poulpe

a sad farewell to Paul the octopus who died this week.  originally hatched in Weymouth he ended up in a German sea life centre and correctly guessed Germany's football team results in the World Cup this year.  he even predicted Spain being the overall champions. on the same day i saw this fab wall ornament in anthropologie and had to have it.  so now Paul hangs by the front door holding all my favourite daywear jewellery on his wiggly tentacles and reminds me to put them on before i leave the house!  bye bye Paul (gone, but not forgotten) you were a very special poulpe!

hang it

i picked up this mouldy old clothes hanger outside a house near my parents a while back and thought it had potential.  a little sanding, priming and (thanks to my dad) a lick of paint and it now looks lovely and is infinitely better (looking) than the old plastic one i was using....

fortune cookie

how gorgeous are these fortune cookie ornaments - slip your own fortune in the cookie and hang from a christmas tree (via lushlee)

lady in lace

beautiful photo - styling via anne sage

undertoooooowww

nice trippy track from Warpaint - Undertow ...thanks very muchly Rough Trade for the free download!

 

hot crumpets

 

some great gift ideas from crumpet and skirt spotted via we make london - mirrors, tea towels, crockery and i particularly like the cushions.

hot corn

 

 

amazing editorial photos from Vogue Nippon via new fave blogger la flaneuse - hot, hot, hot, whilest outside its cold, cold, cold!

wardrobe wannabe

 

spotted photos of this very stylish girl via la flaneuse blog...i love her look...spesh the little bum-ruffle!

love-locked

 

apparently this practice began in Hungary in the 80s - sweethearts affix padlocks to a fence to symbolize their love.  a custom which has now carried to Paris as reported by la flaneuse in her blog (photos courtesy of aforementioned blogger).  sweet.

oh my!

 

 

 

i just love these limited edition prints and brooches from Oh My Cavalier! spotted via design is mine.  love love lovely...think i must have the pink brooch with the robin - how cute!

mirror mirror

from house and gardens via delight by design

oh i do like to be beside the seaside

just back from a lovely trip to Bournemouth.  i always have conflicting emotions when visiting as i spent 7 years at boarding school there so, much as i love the beach, it still makes me shudder a bit as it brings back memories of being on constant "lock-down".  and of being forced to single-file crocodile-style to church on a weekly basis with the other inmates, all dressed in green capes, looking like abandoned orphans (tho, admittedly, as my auntie used to say...fairly well-off orphans!).  anyway - it was wonderful to stroll along the beach with my parents, aunt and uncle, cousin and her children (what does that make them...2nd cousins?).   the weather was glorious and as my family always say "it never rains in Bournemouth"!!!

 

 

 

 

 

we also popped into the fabulously grand Russell Cotes Art Gallery & Museum.  Sir Merton Russell Cotes, owner of the  Royal Bath Hotel, had the house built for wife Annie in the grounds of the hotel in the late 19th century.  as many of the wealthy Victorians did, the Russell Cotes loved to travel and collect.  they accumulated a wonderful collection of paintings, sculptures and knick-knacks which, following Merton's mayorship of Bournemouth, they donated to the town.

 

the bedroom windows afford the most spectacular views and the house really is choc full of amazing art (there's even a Rosetti) and stunning decor.

wonderful portrait of local resident Stewart Granger

Rosetti's Venus Verticordia

we were delighted to see that there was even a painting (The Venetians) by a distant relative of ours, on my father's side, Sir Luke Fildes (1843-1927).  we have always had a copy of his famous painting The Doctor hanging in our hallway - the original can be seen at Tate Britain.  

The Doctor by Sir Luke Fildes

 

The Venetians by Sir Luke Fildes

on the way back to my parents we stopped at the Rufus Stone in the New Forest which marks the (alleged) spot where King William (nickname Rufus) was shot and killed with an arrow (allegedly) mistakenly by his French archer.  said archer then fled the country, asking a blacksmith to put backward facing shoes on his horse to deter pursuers, but in fact as Rufus was such a baaaa...rbarian and not a popular monarch at all, he needn't've bothered as noone followed, in fact noone even collected the body.  a local took the body to Winchester where a quiet burial was performed and everyone was very happy that the new King Henry was enthroned pdq.