BUG-POP-BABY-DAY!

I agreed to have my niece for the day today, so lastnight I spent ages baby-proofing, as she's just walking, and putting everything in her mouth! As I work from home, there were jewellery parts, beads, charms, fastenings, links, and pins hidden EVERYWHERE around the room and ingrained into the rug! The day was hectic, to say the least! SO exhausted now!!! Here's a picture of her morning nap-time. The calm before the storm! Haha!

SUNDAY SONG TIME

The 30 Day Song Challenge has been taking up the virtual-time of half of my Facebook friends, and while it looks fun, there's some questions I would waste wayyy too much brain power trying to decide on... Like "Day 01 - your favorite song"?! How anyone who loves music can decide that, definitively, is a total and utter mystery to me! It hurts my brain!
I'm just going to take inspiration, and make up some of my own too, every Sunday!

So... A SONG FROM MY EARLY CHILDHOOD - Woody Guthrie - This Land Is Your Land - A song my Dad taught me to sing with him and his accoustic guitar. I even have it on cassette somewhere. Maybe one of these days I'll get around to digitising it. This one's for Poppa B!

WORSHIPPING THE VOLCANO!

Leaving the island today. For our last night, we went for a drink at a sea-edging cocktail bar. These cocktails were ridiculously good! The bar is known as the Island's best vantage point for seeing the neighbouring Island's lava displays! YES! The whole of the nearest island is an active volcano, which erupts every 15 minutes. Always. So we sat and watched it again and again, showering it's distant but unmissable orange-red glow into the blackness. Today I looked at the volcano again, its lava bleached from sight by the bright sun, and I thought about negative space, and light and dark, and what colour is!
And then I had to go and pack!

IL POSTINO!

Ending the holiday on Salina, at a too-swanky hotel! We are still eating the best food ever, and having funny adventures and rambles through rocky dusty terrain! Today we hired a car (littlest one, Alessia, had to sit on a knee so we all fit. Oops!) and all went out to see the mountainside house where the fantastic Italian film "Il Postino" was filmed! I LOVE this film, ever since my Dad bought me it on VHS, so was very star-struck and excited!
Me and Gia walked up the side of a vast, cloud-skimming mountain overlooking the house deciding to head back, only when it got too steep to carry on, and we realised that the two huge screeching birds of prey 30 ft above us were definitely sizing us up, and would probably win in a fight!

BLISS IS THE LIFE!

Holiday is located in heaven! I have turned into the Eliza Doolittle of the party, merely for the fact that literally EVERYTHING around us, and the beauty and luxury we have been living in, excites and enthuses me, and brands me with a permanent silly grin, and a hundred thankyou's! The rest of the family have enjoyed it all, but it has been taken very much more in their stride! Soppy-Enthusiastic-Overexcitable English Girl, anyone?! ;-)

VACANZA A FILICUDI!!!

Mr G's Dad has brought the family on holiday to the Eolian Islands- a small row of rugged, arrid islands off of Sicily, with pebble beaches and the clearest sea water I have ever seen. So much Sun, and Realx, and gooood food! Apart from being stung by a Jellyfish yesterday within 3 minutes of entering the sea, I am in heaven! Infact, I even quite enjoyed that experience as part of the adventure!

BRAMBLING ROMAN STYLE

I did so much Blackberry picking when I was a kid. Free stuff, doomed to dry out and fall off it's tree-perch, unless you, the hero picks and eats it! And weren't they ALWAYS growing in abundance in some walled off wasteland, or bit of somewhere that you couldn't quite get to?! We went picking in a big wasteground by the American School today, and in Roma they get to pick wild figs too!!! Really! We got a ton, and they were the best fresh figs I have ever tasted! YUM!

JOEY CHAINSAW x

I have been asked to spread the world of an artist who had only begun to scratch the surface of his genius talents in art and music. Mister Joey Chainsaw was a sweet gentle soul, and a creative force I barely knew, linked only by our love for Jewelly (AKA mepresents - another amazing artist!), his sister, and one of my dearest friends. He left this world behind on Monday morning, and we found out on returning home from Garry's funeral, when Jewelly recieved the worst phonecall of her life, and lived the most distressing days I have ever witnessed. We are like sisters, and always look after eachother, but I know I will never be able to make this okay. Shocked and grief-stricken cannot begin to describe how I am feeling for my friend and her family. All the love in the world goes to the family Chainsaw! Above is one of my favourites from his painting collection, and below are some links, search him out and spread the word of JOEY CHAINSAW! xxx
Joey's Myspace Page
Cardboard Paintings
Album Covers
A video of the last sessions Joe recorded

SENDAK, MY HERO!

I really miss my childhood Maurice Sendak collection, but I don't think my Mum will be parting with it anytime soon! It's so so hard to decide my favourite, but "In The Night Kitchen" always sticks in my mind! Hmmmm.... I see Sendak inspired creations turning up in my sketchbook this week!

MEXICAN WAVES!

So lastnight it hit me, that I wanted to make a big big Mexican dinner for my lovely friends. I made it tonight, for 8 last-minute mouths! It was gooooooooood! x