Saturday, August 21, 2010

Sleep, kip and for butterflies.

I was chatting Needles, who often comments here, and she told me about a beautiful thing which has been making her smile all week:

She says: "I am a lover of all furnishings old....from old and shabby to antique and beautiful. But our economic level doesn't often allow for such things to become part of our home.

"Last Wednesday a co-worker of my husband brought to me not one but TWO of his family heirlooms that he must get rid of!!! My dining room is now home to a GORGEOUS buffet and china cabinet."

She added that the co-worker was not pleased to have to lose his furniture, but knowing that it would have a good, loving home made him feel a lot better about it.

1. This is one of those days when I can't wake up. I tell Katie-who-I-used-to-work-with when I meet her for lunch. She says she's been up all night with her computer, and that she feels the same way. "Shall we just go to the park and sleep on benches for an hour?"

2. Towards the end of the afternoon, I wave the white flag and go back to bed. I don't wake up until Nick gets home.

3. Ivan Hicks' garden at Butterfly World is featured on Gardener's World. He talks about the way his walled spaces provide shelter, and concentrate the smells from the scented plants. The walls themselves are built from broken drainpipes, bottles and airbricks. "Everything is too rendered these days," he says -- his walls are meant to provide roosts and refuges for all kinds of creatures.

Book treasure, worn and speaker.

1. Finding treasure in the Oxfam bookshop. I only popped in to look for a card. 2. Bettany doesn't wear makeup out and about, but noneth...