Domus love

Here's a run through of my latest personal home-related projects. Essentially, little chores I kept postponing due to work and related chaos. Stuff requiring so very little effort and yet, once finished, yield such satisfaction.. yes we're dealing with general-disposition alteration matters here. Once you get down to crossing out long forgotten projects from your to-do-list, the rewards reaped can border on the ridiculous. Or so I find.

A Pelmet: to generally enhance the atmosphere at the dishwashing end of the tiny kitchen space. I am of the opinion that a tassel or three can go a long way towards making life and daily chores bearable activities indeed. The flat and very carefully lined pelmet hangs on a spring rod for minimum effort and damage. I must thank Alexandra for helping me figure out and put up said rod on a night-in where I was a sip away from collapsing. So yes.. even though the sheer ugliness of sliding aluminium windows is something I shall forever have to contend with, at least the baroque swirls of the pelmet numb the pain.

A Brooch Storing Solution: Taking my cue from a favourite vendor at the flea market (teh ex-brooch collecter whose name I still haven't got round to asking) who keeps hers on a strip of textile which can be rolled or hung up as a display I have ventured to make my very own so as to save my ever-growing collection from ruin ... the 'all jumbled up in a trunk-like tin box' solution was not making life easier for anyone and frankly, not caring about the pieces just because I have a rather non-chalant attitude towards collecting was making it all look like the sad affair of an over-spender. I have now paid my dues by separating the golden from the silvery and colour coding the items for easy access. Only sad thing about it.. I only have round about 10cm of free space left and that only means I shall have to start another strip soon.

And Cushions: I kept piling them in a drawer away from sight. I kept buying mismatched covers for 5o euro cents from jumble sales and charity shops.. I even had the audacity and presumptuous impudence to hide the hand woven moroccan one in the front for so long.. how could I have postponed the stuffing and threading of such a generous gift from Mohammed the carpet vendor for so long

(story goes:

me: 'aaaa.. very nice cushion' (I sit on it and look at the carpets)

mohammed: 'you are nice maltese people, my friends, Miss please take a cushion.'

me: 'I LOVE YOU MOHAMMED'

or something like that)

That's all I got round to photographing really.. I'll soon have photos of some of the curtains up.. the curtains also being a project I've been postponing.. a big project I often dreamt about, pelmets that filled my zzzz-hours with unfolding pictures of symmetrical oriental flourishes. Here's a picture of my sewing chair. It loves and cradles my lower back just as a sewing chair should. An unlikely shape choice you might think... well it is... but my grand dreams of a kitsch neo-roccoco affair on wheels haven't yet materialised, and I fear that if they did the resulting chair might still not be all that comfy to work long hours in.

On another totally unrelated note.. here's a duck casserole dish which I love.

And just a carefully edited glimpse into the major project in clay which has been keeping me super busy this last month or so. I need to keep this under wraps for teh moment even though I'm tempted to shout out about it and my newly found (or rather re-explored) love for working in clay from the roof into the insect ridden august nights.

Dear April and May ...

The gods of all things jumble have been very good to us lately.. following a long stretch of rainy sundays, hawkers are now out with a vengeance and stock they've been hoarding all winter.. making every sunday morning flea market almost impossible to pass on. Also I happened to come across a charity shop in Bormla and surprisingly enough I've been making sure it's on my way to and from work of late.

So in a bid to compensate for the lack of personal-work related posts I am here submitting a couple of photos of items I consider myself lucky to have come across in charity shops and markets across the island.. and although I am fully aware of the possible implications that such a post might have (i.e. many will follow suit and seasonal yield will deplete :...( ), I just cannot not bring to attention what a wonderful thing it is to find a new home for unwanteds.

Earrings. Many of them, and in very good condition. They're too darn beautiful, all detail and miniature charm.. they also (usually) come in pairs.. so double the love! I exhibit a particular weakness in the face of oriental pendant shapes, but being generally so tiny and non-space consuming makes it difficult for me to draw the line at just one type. I think I might as well speak of myself indirectly as a collector.

Same goes for brooches.. am a sucker for them as well. Recently I was lucky enough to meet an ex-collector who happens to be in the process of selling her box-fulls. Amongst these please note an eight pointed cross with skyblue stones that may also be worn on a chain (genius) and a flower basket terrine of-sorts.

A Made-in-Malta ('Calypso' label) starched collar shirt just out of its packaging and a Thierry Mugler inspired jacket in a dubious colour combination which I think I like.

And from a charity shop in Sliema: a badly sewn pleated shift dress in a lovely muslim-mosque print, a charming hit of a blouse made out of strategically placed pieces of patterned material, and a woollen blue and white dress for the winter.

As well as a pair of bedside slippers in a favourite colour combination which matches my Moroccan shift dress and square heeled two-tone beauties with gold trim.

Dear April and May... honestly you've spoilt us all!!