musings

Exhausted but Content

The above photo was taken on one of the rare moments in Kuala Lumpur (KL for those of you not in the know) where I was able to actually sit still and breathe while waiting for friends to join me for a coffee. Just before a dental appointment if I remember correctly.

It's been chaotic. It's always good to return home, especially to see the family and friends I've missed, but two weeks just isn't enough time in which to catch up AND run around to complete all the chores and errands on my Malaysian To-Do list.

Here are photos of my mum's garden ... more inspiration for my senses and drawings. I didn't have any time in KL to pick up pencils so had to wait till I got back to France and, here, I was finally able to flick through the photos and get some badly needed therapy with the heliconia drawing I eventually produced.

Of course I arrived back in a state of complete exhaustion and then promptly caught a cold. I hate being sick, so am fighting a losing battle with my body as it's insisting I get some rest and stop working. I may eventually have to listen! It is good to be back home in France where the colours may be less vibrant but the air is full of soft, clear light. Now, what should I draw next? ...

Off We Go Again

It's been busy. Still. I've moved in and am happy. I've had visitors non-stop since then, and still do. And in a couple of days I'm traveling once more in order to go through visa submissions again. The final steps I hope, toward a peaceful life spent at the drawing table and in front of the computer :)

Here's a photo of my present guest who is, unfortunately leaving back for the UK today. She's been lucky enough to have experienced cold but brilliant Provencal sun during her stay so I think she'll be missing it once she's home in the lovely English countryside and its er, slightly less sun-filled weather.

I'm now off to do a huge house-clean for the next guests who are arriving tomorrow and are going to keep a close eye on my pups while I'm away for a couple of weeks. I'll hopefully manage to post some photos and news while in hotter and far more humid climes. Cheers!

A Breather

 

I'd hoped to take a bit of a breather yesterday. Even went out and purchased a pile of newspapers and magazines so that I could rest, relax, read, do the Herald Tribune weekend crossword which I haven't done for ages (The NYT Sunday crossword for all you New Yorkers out there!) and flip through magazines for inspiration and ideas. What did I end up doing? A major house-clean instead! Yes, it took ALL DAY :)

It's a huge and wonderful relief to be in my own home again finally. After over a year's worth of temporary spaces, I now have spaces into which to organize (well, I try) all my accumulated clutter. And I've moved the den into the main house as I said I would and am extremely pleased at the result! Here's another photo of it:

There's still a lot of organizing and sorting to be done and I'll probably move furniture around a few times before I have it just right ... and then keep moving it anyway once every few months as I always seem to end up doing! Helps to clear clutter :)

I inherited the old tile fireplace with the house. I confess that I wasn't too sure of what to think of it when I first moved in, but it's growing on me. Next winter I may even light a fire in it!

And here's the kitchen, finally completed! I love it. Love the sink, the nice large oven, and (however silly this sounds), I even love my tall Brabantia garbage bin that is hiding behind the pillar ... it's one of those press-top ones and it's great, and just the right height.

And finally, here's the living-room, where I intend to unfold myself and relax later on this afternoon though I really should be drawing. I haven't opened a sketchbook for over two weeks now and the therapy is going to be much-needed, but I'm still a bit blocked so ...

I am shamelessly going to blame my latest visitor, Za, whom we already miss, the pups and I! We had a wonderful time with her despite the drizzly grey weather that swooped upon us on the second half of her stay. At least we managed a bright, sunny, almost warm and glorious day in Aix and a few lovely lunches at the Salon de The in the village. Here's Za polishing up the remains of her yummy duck lunch:

And here she is with a friend whom we visited in St Maxime ... and were rewarded with a delicious curry lunch too. Yes, food was definitely a priority. I really must run out and buy one of the citron tarts we got addicted to so I can post a photo of it just to remind Za of what she is missing ...

And last but not least, my last drawing was that of a pair of baby booties, so I thought I'd post a couple of photos of the twins it was meant for, Isabelle & Hugo:

Cheers!

Almost There!

It's been busy around here. Kitchen installers, plumbers, painter ... but we're almost there. I've been dividing my time between constant vacuuming, mopping and dusting (oh and assembling furniture, let's not forget that) and working. I've actually managed to start up a new store on zazzle for my typography (http://www.zazzle.com/floatinglemonstype) and I'm doing a Names Database on it, so if any of you want me to do up your names or those of friends or family, let me know!

It was a thrill having the kitchen finally installed. I love it. Of course the ventilator hood delivered was the wrong size and they won't be able to re-deliver the right one (their wrong) for 15 days, but that's small stuff considering everything else I've been through, so am not sweating it :)

The tiling (plain white) backsplash will be done soon and the painter is throwing a new coat onto the doors ... yes, white, all a brilliant white canvas ... so the only thing left once that's done is the Final Clean and a professional one on the tile floors that are full of plaster and paint -- and we're done!

I'm considering moving my studio/den into this room, and the dining table can go in between the rooms. Why? because I love being/working in the heart of the home itself, because there's wonderful light here, and because I've discovered that the dining table actually fits in the in-between rooms space without it being too much of a clutter. We shall call it cozy, shall we?

Anyway, I'll try it out for a few months and see how it works.

It's all exciting stuff for me but as I'm probably boring any reader (yes, you, I know there's at least one out there) silly, I shall stop right here. Have tons to do so am off to do it all. Cheers.

House Stuff

What can I say? Patience, patience, patience. Things are moving along slowly but surely. My builder's assistant is a true treasure, have I mentioned that? He's not only helping me put my furniture together and shelves in my pantry, but is a whizz at cleaning up after himself and the others ... thank goodness as I don't think I'd have been able to tackle all that plaster and paint that has settled so grimly on the floors ...

I'm grateful enough to have my den set up ... and am slowly getting it organized. Still procrastinating as far as filing is concerned though, the papers just seem to be building up on their own. Mountains on my i'll-get-to-it-later landscape!

I'm slightly blocked where my art is concerned but am working hard on the online stores to make up for it. Also on my typography (see http://www.floatinglemons.com for the results) and the sun is shining bright, so despite a few potholes on my mental horizon, life is good. Cheers to you all.

New Studio!

Hmmm, not the greatest photo as you can't tell from this but the room is actually lovely and filled with light. And I still have a way to go as far as getting my things in here and organised, but of course I managed to rush in all the essentials so that it would look relatively good ... it is wonderful beyond words to have a working space of my own again!

One of the builders helped me put most of the furniture together but when he left I tackled the chest of drawers (below) on my own and am embarrassingly proud of it too.

Have to spend the rest of the day working on the online stores and then will get the rest of my "stuff" in here and try not to think of all the filing that I should be doing  ... would rather procrastinate and go assemble a coffee table, dining-table or bed instead ... :)