This moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember. - Soule Mama

Saskia Abigail

Happy Birthday, my beautiful girl.
xxx

For my friends in Engulund

The National - 'England'

Arrrrrrrggghhhh!

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We wants it ALL!!!!

Cute wee fella does, however, look a little overwhelmed.

Fisher Price magazine advertisement, 1973.

This moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember. - Soule Mama

NOPE! Not kiddin'!!

I'm sorry if you think this kind of thing is ridiculous but I can't stop watching it. And if you don't think this kind of thing is ridiculous, you will LOVE it!! Yeah? Yeah?

Sniff, aah. Flower!

The first of the violets have come through. No matter the season, the garden (the disgracefully neglected garden) continues to bestow.

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(And bestow its beautiful bounty in a more cheerful fashion than the gel above.)

Even as you are reading this, the alternate me over there in a parallel universe is doing this:

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to make something like this:

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In reality, I am too busy reading your blog for such industriousness.

Violets!

'Sniff - aah. Flower. Sniff - ahh. Flower.' There's a lot of this going on at the moment.

My camera is still giving me the silent treatment. Luckily I have recently acquired an iphone and am addicted to Angry Birds. I mean, I can take photos using the take that oinky - Blam!

But all my fancy is for Nancy

Some recent ope shope finds.* 

A pretty enamel pot made in Austria. (Have I mentioned before we got married in Vienna?) We got married in Vienna. Almost twelve years ago now.

Some cute-as-a-button buttons. I'm going to sew some on a few of Saskia's dresses to funk them up a little. See? She's crafty! 

A Randolph Caldecott illustrated book. You probably know that the Caldecott Medal is named in honour of this 19th century dude.

The name of the person I married is 'hidden' in the above stanza. Go on, guess.

A vintage Fisher Price Barn!! With animals and peoples. Oh YAY! 5 x 1 dollars. From Vinnies in East Kew.

I've pulled out a few of our vintage ladybirds to read with Saskia.

I just adore the illustrations.

The colours.

The outfits.

The sentiment. 

Oi! You! Bring that back!!

(Baby is exclusively referred to as 'he'. Baby is 'learning' traditionally gendered 'domestic' chores with Mother. Ah, the good old days.)

We're going to make these doily dollies.

I'm playing along with Sophie and ApronThriftGirl.

*My camera is playing up. Actually I dropped it, but she started it. So these were taken with the iphone and the colours are a little intense. 

This moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember. - Soule Mama

Ballon! Ballon!!

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Balloons make me tres appee. Whenever I see a mass of multi-coloured bawoons my senses are flooded with a moment from my childhood - but I can't seem to isolate that moment.

You know - that feeling, almost deja vu, but not quite. It's similar to a scent that takes you back, or a song. Obviously there was some image that made a significant impact on my young brain.  Was it an image from a book? A particularly extravagant birthday party? (Envy is a strong emotion.) Things like this can keep me occupied for hours.

I am that self-absorbed.

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Perhaps it was, indeed, the endpapers from the Marcel Marlier books I owned. (My favourite was Mary Learns to Dance.)

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Aren't they pretty?

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Bawoons and bubleize.

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The image above is from the classic film Le Ballon Rouge. (The Red Balloon for those of you who do not sachez le Fwench.)

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Have you seen it? It is like a moving picture book. Full of gorgeous Parisian streetscapes.

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The flea market scene is my favourite. Naturellement. Imagine the Parisian flea market in 1956. Vintage finds would be antiques and newfangled design would be our vintage. It's confusing. Like Back to the Future.

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Have a look at these crazy folk recreating the wonder of childhood and its fantasies:

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It's called cluster ballooning.

I don't think I'm that nostalgic.

I'll wait for yerrrr

The Strokes - Under Cover Of Darkness

Kids, huh?