everyone loves a bargain...

what. a. morning.
we decided to hit the black & spiro sale. you know, black & spiro, only the most lovely design & interiors store in brisbane?? goodness there were a lot of people, and even more bargains! a LOT of self control was used this morning, and in the end i came home with an armful of material (lovely material!), some babushka dolls (!!) and this awesome stool...

i think it has found it's home beside my lovely tasmanian oak sideboard, by MOMA New York in a Bag, and my beloved Tram Roll Tea Towel that I won over at Daily Imprint!

what do you think?? you will laugh when i say i paid 2 (yes, TWO) dollars for it!! it's been a productive weekend already!

the lobster

 

...because sometimes you just need to look at a crazy photo of a dog in a lobster outfit...

 pic by jayph // via hayley's twitter

the music room

this morning i got a chance to potter in my music room. It's such a wonderful thing to have a little room dedicated to playing my piano, and filling it with things i love. So i thought i might just share some pics...



my piano is an heirloom. passed down from my great-aunt, to my mother, to me. i love that both my mother and i learnt on this piano. It's a bit battered, and bruised. many a frustration have been banged out on the keys, and it's getting a bit honky tonky. But it's mine and i know every one of the 85 keys like the back of my hand. my mother was my teacher, which was a beautiful and frustrating thing at the time! but what a blessing it is now to be able to free your mind with music.
All music rooms should have a chandelier. Mine, a wall decal, adds a bit of glam to my playing... the book "How Green Was my Valley" by Richard Llewellyn was sacrificed to make the book sculpture. i found the how-to in real living. seriously easy, too cute! I just love my beautiful antique frames. gold and worn. they're very striking...






I picked these up for a song at a tiny little antique shop in a country town in tasmania earlier this year. They are too beautiful to put anything in.

my music room is also my library... fiction, non-fiction, cook books, music, magazines. it's lovely to get a cuppa (lady grey all the way...) and sit and read for a bit. my grandfather used to work at "The Canberra" hotel in Toowoomba. i'll always remember the chairs in my grandparents house in toowoomba which came from the hotel. When they moved into a retirement home i had to have them! they were a disgusting 50-year-old brown colour, and so a little love from an upholsterers into black has given them a glamorous make-over. I have 2 and they are a real treasure to me.




i feel relaxed just talking about my reading corner. Add a replica Philippe Starck stool and an amy butler pillow... and a little red tea cup. bliss!


and what am i playing at the moment?
Chopin, Trios Nocturne Op.15 No.3, & Deux Nocturne Op.62 No.2
Bach, J.S. Englische Suiten Gigue from Suite 5 in E BWV 810
Mageau, M. Ragtime - Elite Syncopations (in hommage to Scott Joplin)
Hanon, The Virtuoso-Pianist. (an everlasting love)


"Where words fail, music speaks" -Hans Christian Andersen