another quick wrapping made with stamp + ink, although as soon as it was finished i realised it would make more sense at christmas!

what's inside? take a long, admiring look here.

.

cannibalizing the financial times . . . 

+ deconstructing prague . . .

. . . into gift tags.


a rainy day recycling project - or when a monsoon lashes the eastern med at the end of may.



.

loving this ridiculously inexpensive bracelet i picked up in town the other day. it has summer written all over it.


+


so does our veranda.

.

a seaside christening brought us to the beach for a few hours last saturday. we kept our distance from the water, not even a. or peter rabbit were tempted to dip a toe in, but it won't be long now...

.



.

.




this week (part II):


/  jewellery-making

//  abstract art-making

///  stone soup-making

// // next door fun-making - thank you, lisa!




.

this week:

/   many tea-soaked hours with adored friends who came from far but feel so near.  plotting more this summer when we fly to their neck of the woods - otherwise known as england.

//  favourite aunt bearing gifts, including this porcelain replica of the paper trays used in traditional confectioneries here.  wrapped in slate-grey muslin and thin velvet ribbon. love. and this (among many other things) for a. - from moma, ny. her alphabet skills have improved in a day.

///  the first jasmine flower in the garden.



.

each new season takes us by surprise
all the new shoes and clothes that need to be bought . .  .

and we suddenly realise how much we miss last year's child.


.

                            
i'm finding now that images
more than songs
hum in my head for a long time.



[janne peters]

.

looks like we may have fffound a bed . . .

                                               . . .  some bedside tables even.

now a carpenter.  and then perhaps we can finally upgrade that student dig into a bedroom?

+

this origami-for-toddlers tarantula, made at the weekend to strike fear into the hearts of friends and foes, still makes me jump a little every time i find it lurking in unexpected places.

.

amused by this relic from the past
of which i have no recollection

apparently it was made for school
- under extreme duress -
when i was 15.

                  
 +


the sort of thing i wouldn't mind to be making now:

[by corey holms]


.

[ a. at her grandmother's ]
[ life partner out of town ]
[ torrential rains instead of preordained sun ]

the kitchen is a good, soothing place to be



[ biscotti al pistachio ] from the kitchen of the american academy in rome - which thankfully did not collapse in a heap on may 11

yields 45-50

500g raw pistachios
200g granulated sugar
1 tbsp honey
grated zest of half a lemon
3 1/2 oz egg whites
150g icing sugar

preheat oven to 180C

pulse pistachios in a food processor with half of the measured granulated sugar until nuts are finely chopped

combine the ground pistachio-sugar mixture with the honey, vanilla and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl. slowly add egg whites, mixing until dough is well combined and soft. at this point, add the additional 100g of granulated sugar and mix gently. the dough will be soft but not sticky

form dough into small balls and roll them in the icing sugar to coat well. transfer the balls to cookie sheets lined with with parchment paper, leaving 3cm between each cookie

bake for 15-18 minutes, until edges of each cookie are golden

may be stored in sealed container for up to 2 weeks

[ note: if you're tempted, please weigh that egg white - there is just no way round it! ]


.

crossing borders

one of my favourite photos

taken by my sister, natasha andreou, of choreographer and dancer (and great friend) alexandra waierstall at the disused nicosia airport.




.

there seems to be a little design fault with our climbing rose [which had initially posed as white] : the flowers grow too big for their stem so they are forever bowing their heads.



happy mother's day!



.

ilse bing
sleeping child, 1945
(via gentleman caller)



that moment when sleep takes her away every night floods me with love and fragility

(via lostudio)


.

pinterest?

as wit & whistle put it: "just what i needed - another internet vice".

better not, then. but while blog-hopping i strayed into coloursknits (if you're good with needles consider moving here) and jumped onto vanessa's bandwagon. her pinboard is perfect. and it instantly killed the need to put up one of my own - so grateful!



 . . . and so glad i followed her thread to TM's work - especially the textiles.

.

a few pretty things waiting to go up on a's wall. . .





                .   .   .   and waiting .   .   .



                       .        .        .  and waiting  .       .        .    





there always seem to be other priorities, like the mouldy storeroom that needs repainting.

[tsk tsk // bookhou // art and ghosts // childlike wisdom // munieca // childlike wisdom // lilymoon // felicula // auntie L ]




.

today's short neighbourhood stroll yielded this simple may day bouquet on the door of an old bachelor.

he may have stopped dyeing his hair black since his elderly mother died a few months ago, but it's heartwarming to see he's keeping up their old habits.




happy may!
.

a walk in the neighbourhood *


                               [taken by K on easter monday]





* we live in an old suburb of cyprus' capital, nicosia. the 'village', as kaimakli is also known, was once inhabited by the stone masons that built the mansions of the old town. here, many houses are of the same ottoman or neoclassical traditions but not quite as grand, mostly in mud brick and honey-coloured sandstone, with some 20th century haphazard additions in between.

the population is a mixture of locals who have inherited property, immigrants renting cheap, dilapidated accommodation, and 'parachutists' like us who were attracted to the quiet, the narrow streets, the scent of jasmine, and the opportunity to renovate a crumbling pile close to the centre of town.

but the melancholy patina that time had bestowed to the place is about to be lifted. the municipality has embarked on a long-term project of renovation and rejuvenation, and the parachutists are in two minds. the place will look neater, cleaner and more uniform, but the link to the past will be broken.

we're hoping to preserve our memory of it by photographing some street corners and architectural details.