MAGIC PLEATS

Behold the Queen of the Night!!



Source: Google Images



The Red Cardinals have been to see the Australian Opera's production of

Mozart's The Magic Flute.

It was a jolly show, with amazing costumes, giant puppets,

and a huge perspex set.



Source: Google Images



Source: Google Images



Bird fanciers that we are, we were quite taken with these costumes:



Papageno and his birds.  Source: Google Images.



I don't know about you, but pleats were quite a feature in my earlier days:

There were little pleated skirts like this, made by Mum, and carefully pressed for Sunday Best.

And triple pleated, navy school tunics ...

Later there were more romantic, adult pleats:

Then, somehow, they disappeared from my wardrobe.

Well, they seem to be on the comeback trail.

Look at this lineup of royal ladies, off to the Queen's Jubilee Garden Party,

and all finely pleated!

Another Cute Kate Hat ...

Are you looking forward to next weeks Jubilee fest?

Me too!

xx

LAST TIME I SAW PARIS

We live in one of Brisbane's colder suburbs, which I love in all kinds of ways.

As our winter can be a short affair, lasting a matter of weeks, we love to light a fire when we can.

After the long months of Summer, on Saturday we had our first touch of this fleeting cold, with morning temperature around 0 degrees.

Mr C swung into action with the axe, chopping kindling and selecting perfect little logs.

Serious business, when some years we only light the fire two or three times!

We toasted our toes and watched a movie:

We love a bit of Woody Allen,

and this is such fun.  I saw it on the plane in Canada last October and even under such trying circumstances, loved it to bits.

Of course, the Cardinals played the old "Been there" game with this one...

Ah Paris - never get sick of it ...

Who put flannelette sheets on the bed today?

That would be moi!

xx



WINTER IS NIGH

When I saw this photo I couldn't decide what to look at first:

the amazing Rococo tapestries and pink walls, the proud parents, or the gorgeous golden cradle ...

The baby in this fairytale setting is Princess Estelle of Sweden,

and her proud parents are

Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel.

Victoria was pretty in pink, and I love her sweet hat.

Back in reality, we had our grandson, Little Aussie, here for the weekend.

His Dad rummaged in our storeroom, and found the old Lego from back when he was young.  A thorough wash, and we all had fun with it:

Genuine antique 80s Duplo Lego!

Mixed the old with the new Firemen Duplo set -

just like mixing it up fashion-wise ..

Made a bag for Lego storage -

and we are now the proud owners of a child's TV seat and a crazy car blanket.

Talk about rolling back the years ...

The winter chill is about to set upon us, brief tho it be.

My new Annual General fine wool sweater, with

obligatory flash of Hermes scarf.

In other exciting news, I have received another

Award, this one from the delightful Mrs Exeter, of the elegant English blog

Dressing Mrs Exeter.

Thank you so much dear Mrs E.
It continues to astonish and amaze me that anyone is interested in my blog, and this lovely lady was one of my very first Blog Crushes!

From time to time, in between glimpses of the beautiful life in rural England,

she reveals herself to be an excellent seamstress.

In fact she has inspired me to take to the sewing once more, after a very long absence.  Do pop over to her blog and Enjoy!!

May your week be Pinkly Perfect!!

PALE PINK AT THE PALACE

I bet the Queen is having the best time, celebrating her Jubilee.

This week the sovereigns of the world have been in London to join the fun.

I must confess to a lifelong soft spot for pale pink, and loved the look

on Kate and Charlene.  Both looked gorgeous  ..

Here they are chatting at lunch, when Charlene sported a new short haircut and pretty pale turquoise.

Here is the Queen surrounded by all the monarchs at Windsor Castle.

The little girl in me wishes they had all worn crowns!

I have no idea who most of them are, but I did think the Emperor and Empress of Japan looked particularly endearing at the evening function:

I still recognise the exiled King Constantine of Greece and his wife Queen Anne-Marie,

who have lived in London these past 40 plus years.

If they weren't exhausted by the official lunch and dinner,

they joined the Queen for a Military Parade and Muster at Windsor.

Uniforms and Medals were the order of the day.

Isn't Her Majesty amazing? 

She looks fresh as a daisy despite having the Mother of All House Parties!

Wonder what we will see this week ...



HAPPY DAYS AND AN AWARD

The clear blue skies of Autumn are just heavenly ...

and a creek rippling over rocks and pepples is pretty special too.

I love my daily walks at this time of the year.

A special treat - from I to moi - arrived in the post today ...

A much-coveted Hermes scarf, in my favourite colours.

Just the thing to drape over my somewhat assymetrical decolletage!

At last, dear readers, I finished making the yellow shirt, after a kind friend came around and cut it out for me.

Sheer fabric is murder to sew.  Why don't I learn that?

I was unable to use my serger as the edge showed through the fabric,

so I had to make French seams and flat seams, and do quite a lot of hand stitching.  I daresay it was a good exercise in the basics of dressmaking, but it was very time-consuming, and by now I am so over it I am not particularly interested in wearing it!  Fickle woman that I am ...

It is just on a year since I went public with this blog,

and an interesting journey it has been.

Blogging has become quite an addiction - and, for me, a therapeutic way to count my blessings and focus on life's gentle pleasures.

I have loved communicating with other bloggers, particularly those from overseas - and am always thrilled to find a comment or two.

With just 20 followers, I like to think this is a Boutique Blog!

Excitement today: the delightful Valerie of Valerie's Own Sewing Blog

has given me a Leibster Award, for blogs with less than 200 followers:

Liebster is a German word meaning dearest.

Thank you Valerie, that is so sweet of you, and much appreciated!

The Award comes with rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you

2. Link back to the blogger who nominated you
3. Copy and paste the blog award on to your blog
4. Nominate and pass on the award to FIVE other bloggers who have less than 200 followers
5. Let them know the happy tidings by posting on their blog

Now, I am not sure I can do all this, particularly making the links, but I am going to give it my best.
Not to push my luck I am going to nominate just two lovely blogs for a Liebster  Award:

1.  The Silver Bunny, who writes new blog with a French flavour which never fails to delight, The Silver Bunny


2.   Suzy of Rustic Vintage Country, who posts gorgeous photos of her rambles through the English countryside, and is a superb crafter too.

Do pop over and check out these lovely blogs - you won't be disappointed!

Hope the weekend is Excellent for you ...



MOTHER'S DAY - OF COURSE!

Mother's Day 2012 was very special to me.

My beautiful family all made contact and

showered me with love and special attention.

I Loved It!!!

Mr Cardinal gave me the pot of pink double chrysanthemums -

which will of course end up in the garden,

hopefully to bloom again next year.

A cute cupcake tea-cosy arrived from Canada,

and I am reliably informed it was chosen by the Petite Garcon himself

just for Grandma... cute little guy.

The icing on the cupcake was a delightful phone call from his mum,

our dear daughter.

Little Aussie and his Dad sent me these pretty heart soaps and my fave,

dark ginger chocolates.

It is possible some of this chocolate did not survive the day...

Mr Cardinal also gave me these:

Naughty Alice by Vivienne Westwood.

Hmmm - what is he thinking?

Mothers Day really got a go on when our local son and his wife arrived,

took over the kitchen, and turned out their famous Big Breakfast.

Eggs Benedict, salmon, bacon, brown mushrooms, spinach and rosti.

With toasted sourdough bread on the side.

Magnifique!

We have not eaten since...

And on a perfect Brisbane day in the Autumn sunshine,

a special group of friends walked for me,

 in the Annual Mother's Day Classic walk/run for Breast Cancer

Thank you everyone!