Little Retro House

Wednesday

It's starting to get a bit wintery out there now isn't it? I'm loving this colder weather, especially at night time when we all snuggle under the extra layers on the bed. I am in bliss under all my vintage eiderdowns. I bet there are a few readers out there who have never even heard of that word before - eiderdown. It's what doonas used to be called when I was little.

Unfortunately I have succumbed to the household illness doing the rounds. I woke up yesterday with a sore throat, runny nose, watery eyes and a headache. Nothing for it but to lay on the lounge all day. Luckily I had stocked up on some new loves, oops, I mean books to keep me company for the day.

The new arrivals

Did you notice that they are lying on the blanket I have knitted for Miss Rhianna. Not quite finished yet. I will have the big reveal soon. But don't get too excited as my blanket is the very essence of "homemade".

First book I purchased is "Homemade" (what a funny co-incidence) which was co-written by Elspeth Thompson.

I have followed Elspeth's blog for a couple of years and logged on last week to congratulate her on her new book only to read a short post by her husband saying that Elspeth had committed suicide a few days prior. I can't tell you the absolute shock I felt upon reading this.

In her previous post there is no hint that all is not well. And she was such an accomplished person writing books and the like. But depression has no mercy even on the very talented, creative and just plain lovely people of the world. I suffer from depression myself and this was a timely reminder to keep taking my medications and to remind myself that we all have our demons to battle in this life.
The book is lovely and I got my copy in Big W. Have a look, it really is a gorgeously styled book.

Second book is the Cath Kidston book called MAKE. I adore her craft and sewing projects and it looks pretty easy. The pictures are very English and kitschy.

The last book I bought was a a bit of a bargain purchase from Lincraft. It's a papercraft book so it has a mix of scrapbook ideas and lots of other cool things to do with paper and cardstock.

Anyway, I am inspired by all this printed goodness and cold weather to get creative. Hopefully I'll get back here to post some results. But first, the knitted blanket needs to be completed. One project at a time.