These Friends Of Mine.

Well, this week has seen us struck down with an 'aul dose' as we say, four of us are at various stages of a stinker of a cold, and my ears pricked this morning as The Smallest headed out to school with a suspicious sniffling. It seems he will be the next to fall.
But next week is mid-term, thankfully, so I anticipate lots of lazy pyjama days, slow breakfasts, and maybe a walk or two, once we are all well. Though there has been a flurry of snow, and more to come, they say, so we shall see.

babaá - no.7 - Flame

Regular readers here know I love the seasons, I love weather of all kinds, and although, unusually for me, I am finding this winter particularly long, let me just ignore that and talk about something I love about winter, which is Winter Woolies! One of my great loves in life; all things knitted. It's the first thing I look for when browsing in shops.
With four children, we have gone through a lot of clothes, throughout their growing years especially, and I have found that it is often the hand knitted goodness that I fold away affectionately, into the box of Keepsakes, like tender memories I am afraid will disappear. And there they wait for the next child who will wear it, who will add their memories to it, as though knitted into the very fabric of it.
How many of you are lucky enough to have had items from your childhood to put on your own children, when the time came?
I love this weave of threads through our lives, the continuity, if we allow it.

babaá - shop

And so, this brings me to Something Lovely. Something new and lovely, and I hope, regular, here on Milkmoon. As I said in my last post, I am bringing back an old Milkmoon model of regular, themed posts, that somehow fell by the wayside over the last couple of years, but with a new spin on it.
To start, I have a lot of very talented family members, and friends, and I just can't help myself, I want to share their goodness and creativity with you. So, introducing a new tag, to sit side by side with my Something Lovely tag: These Friends Of Mine.

babaá - shop

Given the wintery weather we are having, I would like to begin with someone who, while is not officially my sister, is like a sister to me, whom I first met when she was the same age my daughter is now. She was 14, and I was 22, and unusually, in spite of the age difference, we became instant friends. And have remained so to this day.

Ciara and Marta
Dublin - 1993

Marta is now living back in her native Madrid, and has recently launched her children's knitwear label; babaá, and yes, you can immediately see one reason why we get on so well! These are definitely Keepsakes. Timeless, but quirky, with just the perfect balance of functionality. (Is there anything more wonderful than someone you love creating something, and it turns out that you genuinely love it?) You can read here what babaá is all about, and you will see exactly why this gorgeous knitwear is destined to become family heirlooms. And while you are there, take a peek in her shop, (there is a sale on) especially if you have any small people in your life who are growing up before your eyes, and you long to hold onto a little longer, and items like these are perfect memory making additions to your Keepsake Box.
And all these babaá photographs are by the exceptionally talented Clíona O'Flaherty, my lovely sister-in-law, who will also be featured here over the next while.

babaá - jumper no.4 - Coral

I am making my order for one for my Smallest, as we speak, because almost all his keepsakes already have a history to them, and I want to have one that begins with him.

Of Snow And Ice And The Frozen Lands.

I love when something drifts into your ether, and for some reason, on this particular occasion, buries itself deep inside you, and takes hold of your Interest with tenacious hands, and soon you begin to notice all kinds of Things of Interest relating to it positively popping up in front of you.
For months now I have been filling my head and heart with all things of the far, distant North, and farthest South too. Increasingly, as the weeks go by, I have been dwelling, in my mind, in places of ice and water, reading of explorers of a frozen world few of us have seen, watching this drama about Ernest Shackleton, trying unsuccessfully, to see this exhibition about his journey, (although it will be on for two years, so I'm not worried about missing it!), being unexpectedly inspired by a talk I attended by a wonderful geologist-turned-textile-artist called Ann Fleeton, at this months Irish Guild of Embroiderers meeting, gathering books and images and inspiration.

Dark Ice by Camille Seaman.

But it all started with the happy coincidence of two things coming my way within days of each other, which settled onto the already lingering taste of two books I had read in the last year. The first book was The Stillpoint, by Amy Sackville, which I have to say is one of the finest written books I have read in many a year. It contains one of the most heartbreakingly romantic love stories, as well as descriptive writing that will make you swoon, and read and reread countless paragraphs again and again.
The other book is less to do with snow and ice, and more to do with the kind of desolate places that some of the characters of The Stillpoint find themselves. The book is by Judith Schalansky, and is called 'Atlas of Remote Islands, Fifty Islands I have not visited and never will.' Incredibly beautiful and thought-provoking, and in fact, winner of the German Arts Foundation prize for The Most Beautiful Book of the Year. It is a book I keep by my bedside and dip into continuously.

The Last Iceberg Series by Camille Seaman.

So, the two things. First, these incredible photographs by Camille Seaman, which are just majestic and beautiful and completely enthralling to me. (She also photographs clouds like no one I have seen before.)
And then this most wondrous thing that I found via the lovely Nancy, of The b In Subtle, which I now have my heart set on and will go on some day! A ship, The Noorderlicht, a century-old Dutch schooner, which carries a boatload of artists and scientists into waters around Norway's archipelago, who's mission is 'to seek out and foster areas of collaboration to engage in the central issues of our time'. In other words, to 'discuss' global warming and related issues, and to make art about it. The project is called The Arctic Circle , and well worth checking out. As I write this, Irish artist Ruth Le Gear  is there now, collecting arctic water in tiny bottles.
I am...jealous.
I have not stopped thinking about it since first coming across it.
I would give anything to be there right now,  in this magical place who's time is limited, and who's face is changing by the year. To record something of it in my own small way.

The Last Iceberg Series by Camille Seaman.

In all of this, my light relief has been rereading Philip Pullman's Northern Lights. So today, when I saw it, I could not help but purchase, and immediately immerse myself in, a very beautiful, small book by him called Once Upon Time In The North, a sort of precursor to Northern Lights. It was the small size of it, and the cover, that did it, a cloth-bound thing of beauty that had on it an engraving by John Lawrence. Indeed it is filled with such engravings, beautifully rendered, on almost every page.

So I sat in the hairdressers for a little over an hour, while the best kind of misty, autumnal rain quietly closed in around this seaside town of ours, a haze of silver and grey outside the window, and lost myself in a grim, desolate icebound island, where sour, suspicious people live alongside panserborne, or polar bears, a once proud, great culture, and now seen as nothing but drunkards, vagrants, who skulk the bleak streets of the dismal town.
When my time was up, I put away my book, and took a winding road up into the rain clouds, between two mountains, surprised at the lack of icebergs in the grey sea below, through the silent silver haze, listening, as I do most days, to music from the north lands, this time Sigur Rós, (Iceland is about as far north as my music taste goes, for I am well and truly stuck there, without hope, or desire, to be unstuck!), my head filled with snow and ice and frozen lands.
When I arrived at school, it was too wet to stand around chatting, so as I waited in my car I opened facebook on my phone, and the first thing I saw was a post from Charlie and Caroline Gladstone, a video called A Homeless Polar Bear in London. I had to take a look.

As I said, I love how these things all just come together like a beautiful dance that is perfectly choreographed, and suddenly your day just seems like a story, or a dream, with all things dovetailing beautifully.
This time a dream of expansive snowy landscapes, vast tundras of ice, blue icebergs and polar bears, and crowds of white sea birds relentlessly thronging the bitter air.

Something Lovely.

It's many moons since I posted a Something Lovely post, and my desire to share this with everyone I know has prompted me to post it here. Something lovely, something different, something new, for Milkmoon. The beginnings of a shake up? I'm excited!

This here is my video of 2011. It is from one of my albums of the year called Diamond Mine by King Creosote and Jon Hopkins. Don't be put off by the still you see here, it is beyond gorgeous.
I hope you enjoy it.

I Was Taken Away...

Thank you all, for your warm wishes and sweet words. I've had a magical week.

Almost every day this week I was meeting with friends, breakfasting here, lunching there, being fed and spoilt, and pampered and gifted. It was wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. And I'd like to dedicate this post to all those dear folk, you know who you are!

Then, after depositing the children to my most generous (and uncomplaining) parents, on Friday myself and Jay rose in the small hours of the freezing morning and drove to the airport. I had no idea, until we were at the airport, where we were going!

All photos taken on my phone as my camera was on holiday too!

LONDON!

Books...

A favourite place of ours, and although it's only a couple of years since we were there, it's many more since we were there without any little people along. 

And so, we spent a weekend wandering the streets, Covent Garden, Charing Cross, Primrose Hill, Portobello, Notting Hill, browsing bookshops and markets for hours.

Books...

And the highlight was a most exhilarating, spine-tingling, magical night with some dear friends, Tom  and Nina, (thank you!!!) who brought us to see this incredible performer, Jónsi, who is someone both myself and Jay love, which is rare enough! It was, I think the best show I've seen, in the best year of amazing gigs I've ever had. And the most visually stunning. Take a look here and here  to see what I mean. It was an Icelandic cornucopia of falling leaves, tidal waves, flocks of birds and butterflies, racing, chasing animals, and thunderstorms that breathlessly swept you away. I was moved to tears on more than one occasion, and the show is something that is impossible to do any justice to here. This man is a wonder. And I was left wondering just what creates someone with such vision and beauty and absolute magic that seems to explode out of his very pores.
I thought my heart would burst right out of my chest, and I was left feeling battered and bruised and elated all at once, such is the power of his music.
An amazing night, truly, and one I will never forget.

We packed a lot into our two days, and although it was cold, it was the most perfect, crisp, blue-sky kind of weather that made walking around very pleasant, once we were dressed for it!

And of course, when it's cold what do you do but eat! Which we did. Heartily. And often.
And while we didn't do much in the way of shopping, just being away, being able to sleep in, and wander and browse, is as much a tonic as anything.

...and more books!

The other highlight for us was visiting The Museum of Everything in Primrose Hill, which is holding an exhibition of the Collections of Sir Peter Blake. It was one of the most wonderful, surreal and completely Marvellous shows I have ever seen. Unfortunately photography is forbidden, with signs like "No Photography = £1000" and "No Photography = Death"! so I have nothing to show for it, and even their website, frustratingly, has no images. But it does have lots of links so if you have the time, do explore them, and be prepared to be amazed. Let's just say it is a magical, marvellous, experience, and at the same time strangely sad.
And if by any chance you will be in London any time soon, I urge you to pay it a visit.

A visit to the fabulous Pedlars shop in Notting Hill.

It was wonderful to have some quiet time to hang out together, after all the chaos and busyness of everyday-life-with-four-children and work taking Jay to the oddest corners of the world. We both agreed another two days wouldn't have gone amiss.

Thank you Jay, for an amazing weekend!

We came home to a snowy, winter wonderland, (more on that later), to happy children, to tired grandparents, and to not just a house warmed for us, but to dinner cooked for us, by Lisa. So thank you, thank you, thank you to you all! 

I feel incredibly blessed.

It was a wonderful birthday week.

The Sweetest Balm For A Broken Heart.

Meet Sparrow, the loveliest of tiny things that has brought the sparkle back to My Only Girl. You may remember our most heart-rending little tragedy, still regretted today and every day.

She was worried about how she would feel, afraid she would be trying to replace Oz so soon, (she was adamant about no more black cats~that would just be too heartbreaking) but this only girl of ours needs something small and helpless to love. We all need some unconditional love in our lives, and as I know many of you know full well, the love of a pet is wholehearted, unreserved, and unlimited, and a perfect, pure balm to the tribulations of life.

Somethings just go together, and need no explanation, and a girl and her cat are one.

Something Lovely: Missed Connections.

This afternoon I sat in the garden. A rare enough occupation in my busy week, but it was such a glorious, sunny day that I couldn't help but collapse into a deck chair for a short while and watch my two  tow-headed charges romp around in the sunshine.
I was listening to something that was so heart-stretchingly beautiful that I had to write a whole separate post about it here. And the combination of warm sunlight and such heavenly music was so heady that I found my mind drifting, dreaming, thinking about these wonderful illustrations by Sophie Blackall that were brought to my attention this morning by dear Nancy from the b in subtle. And I decided that it was time to reinstate my regular 'Something Lovely' post which had sadly lapsed somewhat.

Find these potential sweethearts here.

Sophie finds these lovely people on Missed Connection websites and turns her marvelous hand to capturing them on paper. You can see lots more over on her blog Missed Connections. 

What is it about these stories that I find so arresting? And often, in their short few lines, so moving? We all have these stories in our lives, and I often think about how chance has put us where we are, with the people we have in our lives. Chance.

Think about it. 

Find this perfect profile here.

To think, Jay, we would not be here together if...you hadn't gone to my friend's party. Or even before that, if your father hadn't taken a chance on a girl who might have let him down, and put her in the very place that you were. Does he know the part he played?

And what of all those dear connections we have made with those incredible, special people we know and love? The combination of our decisions and theirs bringing us to that magical point where we connect.

I could list so many friends, and wonder and shake my head in amazement. Right down to all you wonderful blogger friends. What are the chances any of us would have met 'in real life'?

Find this mysterious chap here.

And to what extent is it fate? Do we have any control over any of it? It is so heartening to think about all these millions of human connections being made, and missed, every day. 

So there is hope and love out there. And there is people like Sophie who breathe life into these little stories, and today as I sat in the sun I wasn't marveling at the beautiful view, or the gorgeous sunshine, but I was marveling at the human spirit, and the spiderweb of possibilities that we have all around and about us.

And the strength of the human heart. Because I do believe we hear one another's, beating through the daily traffic and toil, and I do believe if we remember to pause and listen to one another we just might be amazed.

And we just might fall in love.

Something Lovely.

So it's been a while since I posted about Something Lovely that I have come across on my wanderings of Blogland. In truth, I have been inundated with invitations to visit blogs and I am doing my best to get around to them!

But occasionally I get distracted and stray off, following my nose into the wilds of Blogger, and a little light amongst the trees twinkles and beckons me and I cannot resist...

(I like to think of Blogland as being a Narnia~like forest with doors to other worlds...)

This illustration above, I spotted and it seemed to call my name. Something about it... And I realised immediately that the style reminded me strongly of a favourite childhood book that still sits on my shelf, along with my little collection of now vintage children's books.

I had to investigate further...

It is by a lovely lady called Paula Mills who lives all the way around the world from me, in Melbourne, Australia. Her style is so evocative and nostalgic that I was immediately captivated.

And even better, she has another blog called Sweet William with her sister and sister-in-law which is choc~full of gorgeous creations and finds. Do take a peek!

So, Happy Weekend to you all! I hope your festive preparations are going to plan.

For the record, mine have not even begun...

I am waiting patiently for that sudden rush of panic which I have no doubt will blindside me any day now!

Won't it...?

Something Lovely.

Well, today was a blast of summer if ever there was one. Almost felt like a trip to the beach but yes, those early mornings are killing me. And I also have an extra toddler to mind these days, which makes my days lots of fun, but oh so tiring. Two two year olds...

Anyway, as the evenings draw in, from next week I'll be gathering together again with a bunch of friends for an evening of stitchery around the fire. It's always fun to see what projects people are planning.

So with that in mind I thought I'd share this wonderful idea I found months back, though how I found it I can't remember.

It's a French site called Golden Hook that offers a service for people who wish they could knit but know they never will. You go onto their site, choose a hat design you like, choose the yarn you like, and then you choose the Grandma you'd like to knit it!

How brilliant is that!

~*~

I had an extra spring in my step today, all because of the wonder of human loveliness.

If you want to know why, take a peek at the footnote on my most recent post over on ~Carnival~!

~*~

Something Lovely.

It's been a while since I posted about Something Lovely and I thought I'd share these gorgeous images with you.

They are the work of a lovely lady called Doreen Kennedy, and she is a graphic designer and photographer based in my hometown of Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.

Paris.

For any of you who have been to the Electric Picnic in Stradbally, Co. Laois over the last few years, you will have seen Doreen's 1,000 Flowers, where she covered trees with 1,000 pictures of flowers!

However, I have to admit it's her Holga images of Dun Laoghaire, Dalkey and Killiney that I absolutely love. I've had her calendar on my desk all year and I never get tired of peering at these beautiful images.

Killiney beach.

It seems a contradiction to say that a Holga image can be crisp, but that is exactly what these are. They pull you right into the picture.

This beach is the beach of my childhood. A place I go to still. And these in some way capture the little ghosts of us, right there on the sand and shingle, and it tugs my heart. And the light, somehow is that very light that beckoned us into the waves.

Killiney beach.

Dun Laoghaire pier.

And I almost cannot bare to look at these pictures of Dun Laoghaire, it tears at my heart so. So much of my childhood and teenage years was spent around Dun Laoghaire pier, and I feel I am looking through the years and could put my hand out and touch that child that I was. The otherworldliness of her ghostly images goes deep into my memory and shakes me there.

Over the months I've been looking at these, I have felt a homesickness in my heart that I thought was gone forever. And it's strange that I have felt this at a time I have never felt more settled and happy living where we do, just a few miles down the coast.

But it's a happy, nostalgic homesickness that satisfies something I cannot explain. A letting go maybe, for I am happy to have the memories I am blessed to have.

~*~

Do take a look at the rest of Doreen's work over on her website. And thank you Doreen for sharing such beautiful images with us.

~*~

Something Lovely.

Now, I've gone and done what I always do and forgotten where I first came across this delightful Etsy shop Tiny White Lights.

If it was on your blog then let me know please! 

I adore these evocative photos so much. Am I predictable? There's something about them though...

They must appeal to my overactive sense of nostalgia!

Something Lovely.

So, getting on with the theme of decorating and houses etc, I want to share these gorgeous photos with you. The lovely Sharon from Friendly Cottage took them in Avoca and Cath Kidson and she has a wonderful post on painted wood on her blog. In it she waxes lyrical about how much she loves painted wood and I have to say I'm in total agreement with her. 

I just adore this green dresser! We have a similar one that is painted white and green (see below) but I am totally enamored with this one. (Jay doesn't agree but he might just come around!)

My Dresser.

And my recently acquired oak table that my Dad spotted in Dunnes Home sale for €50, (thanks Dad!) is lined up for a similar brightening up as this divine lovely, though I think I'll staple on my oilcloth a la The Yvestown Blog.

We also even have this very chair which is at the moment painted white. I went through a paint-everything-white-for-now phase which the older two children complained loudly about and I now feel ready for some colour. 

The colour scheme in the kitchen at the moment is pale pink with accents of red and orange. It works and it's fairly subtle but I'm ready for a change. 

I'm starting to get excited about planning for this remodeling now and I'll be sure to post some before and after pictures as we go. 

There really is so much inspiration to be had out there. I feel a few more posts on the subject coming on!

What The Postman Brought.

We don't have a proper post box. We have a painted, peeling old box that sits on our doorstep and the postman has to walk all the way round to the back of our house to put our post in it. Every so often I think we really should get a new one. It's on our list. Just not very high up. He has never complained, although maybe he's just too polite. 

It's always a thrill to pull it back and peep in to see a big envelope or package sitting patiently waiting for us. 

So, today there was something waiting for me. All parceled up beautifully with a lot of care and attention. 

This is what I won on a generous give-away over at Mimi Charmante a couple of weeks back. I got to choose a print of one of her delightful prints from her Etsy Shop. Do take a peek there. As well as prints of her photos, she also has sweet bags for sale there.

I just love this lonesome, slightly melancholy image of train tracks disappearing off into the distance. (Though just let me say all the other prints at Little Bluebird Studio are not melancholy by any means!) It must be our proximity to the railway line here in 'Lis na Mara' that makes it appealing to me. That and my underlying penchant for melancholy.

So thank you dear friend for a very lovely print, which will be straight up onto my wall when all this remodeling is done.  

Something Lovely.

I'm thrilled to share with you a gorgeous collaboration between two of my favourite designer-bloggers. Studio Violet is Camilla Engman and Elisabeth Dunker.


Check out their porcelain gallery here.

I just adore this circus themed re-used porcelain.



They also have these sweet posters.



As well as stamps and wall stickers, among other products.

And check out their blog here.

And of course, their SHOP!

I hope you like!

Something Lovely For The Weekend.

Here's to a happy weekend to you all! Hope you have something lovely planned and the sun shines for you. 

I thought I share this sweet and funny bit of nostalgia with you. My brother Chris emailed it to our Dad with a tag line saying how it's exactly the sort of thing he would have made with us when we were kids. 

It's a silent one this time, which you can leave as such if that's your fancy. But I'm such a music muppet that I couldn't resist putting on  a song from one of my all time favourites, Iron & Wine. I'm sure there's an easier way to do it but this is what I've got. Just press play on both and enjoy!