Many loves, all in a row.

{Happy in my new home.}

Right now I am loving...

Cats curled up in warm nooks, dotted about the house.

Wearing woolly layers.

Chuckling as I leaf through It's WrongBoy's History of the Earth - An Inaccurate History of Evolution by William Bishop-Stephens. Did you know that mice once ruled the earth? Or that Mouse-like Mammals were the inventors of many fine electrical goods? Neither did I.

Catching up with blog chums. Marsha and her friend, Sara, are in Melbourne for the briefest of spells, and Louise and I have been lucky enough to catch up with them at Arcadia on Gertrude Street for coffees and teas. Marsha came with two novels from Shari tucked under her wing; The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax and A palm for Mrs Pollifax (think Agatha Christie's Miss Marple... paperback tales of espionage, red herrings, I presume, and secrets to be sniffed out. Thanks, Shari ♥, pity there was no room for you in that suitcase too). Marsha also gave us each one of her beautiful glass creations... a ring for Louise and a necklace for me (yippee!), some Mexican Day of the Dead ornaments to hang with our growing collection by the kitchen doorframe, candy treats and postcard delights (Thanks, Marsha ♥). It was, needless to say, a thrill to catch up with someone I have only meet via email and blogging. See you soon, perhaps?

Setting up Inside with Pencils at Imp gallery. An exhibition of thirteen of my Mum's recent drawings in the small and front galleries above the Greville Street Bookstore. Marsha and Sara have already been able to sneak a peek today... here is a little of what they saw en route to Fed Square and the galleries of Flinders lane.

Want to come along? Please do.

INSIDE WITH PENCILS - ELAINE HABY
7th July - 29th July, 2007
Opening, Saturday 7th July, 2-4pm

Gallery hours Wed-Sun 12noon-5pm

IMP
above Greville St Bookstore
145 Greville Street, Prahran

{Inside with Pencils. Please click to enlarge.}

I'm also loving...

Late nights, and late starts.

Hot bowls of veggie soup... with a ripe, homegrown butternut pumpkin from C & R. There's still another two thirds of the pumpkin on the kitchen counter waiting to be made into another soup, or perhaps it desires to be roasted in the oven?

{Sweet eats consumed... two for you, two for me. (With a frangipani tart in a maroon box behind.)}

{With the moon up above, we head to the airport.}

Picking up dear friends from the airport on their way home from adventures in Venice, London and Singapore. Through them I was able to see this, this and this... travelling vicariously through others seems to have been the theme of the week.

A full moon at night.

Eating a slice of frangipani tart.

Reading wintry tales... A Winter Book - Selected Stories by Tove Jansson (yes, she of Moomins fame). Newly translated from Finnish, a collection of stories all to do with winter... warm and charming, and full of friendly advice. Did you know that "you should never keep a single inessential object in your boat" (The Boat and Me)? Well, now you do.

The smell of fresh jonquils in the hallway.

The joy of hanging something new on the wall.

Folding away clean clothes that have dried by the heater.

{All the fishermen in Riga had missed what I had found.}

{Milano two step.}

Happy end to the week all.

Comments

[shari]

happy week's end gracia! your mom's new show looks lovely. so glad you were able to meet up with marsha. love your list of loves for the week. winter tales and moonlight, sweets and reads. all perfect in my book. and that fabulous milano two step. adore! xox

[lottie]

hi! your wintery vignettes sound so lovely. it might as well be winter in london at the moment as we have unseasonable rain and even hail! I've just started reading Fair Play by Tove Jansson. I think it might be a good un. have a great weekend grache, lottie x

[Andrea (Scout)]

Oh goodness...my first comment here (though I have been a silent admirer for a long time). I just have to ask if your mum is, in fact, Beatrix Potter reincarnate? My love for Beatrix knows no bounds. Greville St. bookstore sounds like a dream, and your shows there, even more dreamy. Wish I was in Australia right now; I do love wooly layers.

[cruststation]

Sounds like a lovely week, especially for meeting marsha. I really love the drawings by your mum, they are brilliant! Love your new collages too, can't resist the cute owls.

[julie]

Wow, your Mums drawings are beautiful - as her paintings are so full of life!!
And meeting Marsha must have been lovely!!
These new collages are wonderful - i love 'Happy in my new Home'!!
I hope you are enjoying the winter over there with stories of abroad xxx

[amisha]

what a beautiful, wonderful list gracia. it sounds like it was a very good week indeed! how amazing to meet up with blog friends. and your mom's show looks fantastic... congrats to her on the new work!!
and i'm getting hungry now for pumpkins and delicious tarts :)
xo

[Tiffany]

What a week!

[risa]

what delightful drawings! there is soooo much talent in your family. once again, i am wishing i could have been there...

[marsha]

yah for your mum's show! it was so kind of you to let sara and i have a peek! i am sure the opening was fun and i'm sorry to have missed it!

thank you both so much for making time and for all your great melbourne travel tips. we had a great time in your city - and i hope that i'll get to see it again.

ps yah for late nights and late starts :)

[Dijanne Cevaal]

I have just spent a wonderful hour looking at all your things- enjoying the pictures of your mother's wonderful upcoming show- and your wonderful artists' bookswith Louise!

[sabine Brandt]

· { Hi Gracia .... sorry not to respond about the »swap« .... I been sooooo buzy at the designstudio .... and now I need vacation, yepeeeeee .... hope you up for it, when Im back in August? Take care! Peace Sabine } ·

[A Fanciful Twist]

Your world is always so lovely. I adore frangipani!!!! Give me my two.. hehehe. Oh, the pencil....of, my goodness!! Incredible!!!

[Marieke]

Ooh macarons! That show of your mother looks so good - you girls are always busy! :-) x

[gracia]

Hi there Shari,
Me too, me too. It was so exciting to meet a blog chum face to face and to recommend places for Marsha and Sara to explore… and so exciting to receive one of your watercolours fashioned into a card as well as two copies of a certain Mrs Pollifax… fingers crossed next time you and T will be winging your way here. One day? One day, I’m sure.

Rain and hail, Lottie? Doesn’t sound all that summery to me. Sounds more like a chapter in A Winter Book - Selected Stories, and more like the winter I am facing largely indoors. Here’s to great weekends indoors reading Tove Jansson, be it summer or be it winter.

Hi there Andrea,
I’ll pass on your fine compliments to my Mum… and post a few more photos of her work as seen at Imp on flickr soon. You’ll be able to have a closer peek at her drawings that way… the next best thing to seeing them in person. I’ll wear an extra woolly layer on your behalf as I curl up to read Harry Potter on the weekend.

Hi Crust Station,
Yep, it was fun getting to meet Marsha in person, in my neck of the woods of all places, and whilst it wasn’t possible for them to come along to the opening (they were flying to Tassie), it was great to be able to show them a small preview of the work at Imp… thirteen large scale drawings all laid out on the floor.

Hi there Julie and Amisha,
Yes, it made it all feel as though perhaps we are not so far away, geographically. Receiving a little something from Shari, hand delivered, makes it all seem most likely that we’ll one day get to meet up face to face. And I’ll be sure to pass on your compliments to my Mum… her work looks grand at Imp and with plenty of space around each. She is sitting the gallery on each of the four Sundays and when it is quiet, she creates felt flowers (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6271735 ) for me to sell at Craft Vic or on our etsy store. No idle moments, eh?

What a week? Oh, yes, upon reflection it was rather a busy one, Tiffany.

Wishing you could have too, Risa. Fingers crossed tightly that one day you will be...

Welcome home, Marsha. It was great to catch up, and to be able to show you a peek at my mum’s drawings pre hanging. It went up in record time, post coffee break. Which reminds me, I have some photos of us all grinning like loons which I really must send your way.

Thanks, Dijanne… too kind. Do spin by again sometime soon.

August sounds just perfect to me, Sabine… no rush, it’ll be great when it happens. Enjoy all that busyness and here’s to getting a little break too.

Hi there A Fanciful Twist and Marieke,
Frangipani, macarons… favourite treats indeed. All this talk of sweets has me longing for a little more. How about you?

take care, g xo

[Marieke]

I reread your post and I thought Ms Pollifax - did Dick Bruna design the cover? I am a big big admirer of his spionage bookcovers and always pick up one in 2nd hand bookstores. Take care Grache x

[gracia]

I think so, Marieke. Shari sent Louise and I a copy from 1970 and one from '74. Neither credit the cover artist but if I were to hazard a guess I'd say they were by Dick Bruna. Absolute seventies espionage with pastel spines.

see you, grache xo

[simple me]

hi Gracia,

your mum's drawings are so wonderful. I bet the exhibition is a stunning success.
it really must be fun to meet people you only know from emails and blogging. I often think about that.
I'm here reading your words and it is fun to think that you are wearing woolly layers and enjoying hot soup :)
love the milano two step.

[gracia]

I know just what you mean, Paula. Summer feels so very far away right now as I read of sun drenched days overseas. Here I am wearing small woolly gloves and travelling not all that far from the nearest heater when at home.

Being able to catch up with Marsha was also fun. it has me longing to travel myself, or to have other blog friends drop by in person.

see you, grache

(Oh, and my Mum's exhibition went well at Imp with several of her drawings finding new homes. It was also a breeze to take down last Sunday night. All done in under an hour, putty, paint and all!)

xo