Wednesday 17 August 2011

Shopping: Tescos smartphones




Im not keen on Tescos. Even less so the 'Tescolisation' that is happening all over our planet. However, I do think this is a very clever idea.

Knowing that the locals in Korea are time starved, the store posted photographs of real ailes in railway stations. Consumers are able to purchase the products by scanning them with their smartphone, using the 'dead' time whilst waiting for a train. When they get home, TaDa! The shopping is delivered.

Rather than Tesco's there are loads of things Id like to be able to do this with. What about ordering a coffee, or a pizza to greet you at the other end.

Friday 12 August 2011

BBQ shenanigans


Two weeks ago, we bought a new BBQ. A much considered item for which we spent several hours talking to the lovely man at the BBQ shop, learning the intricacies and specialisms of cooking with gas. We learned that we must have marine grade steel, due to our proximity to the sea. We also learned about flipping bricks and adjusting knobs and cleaning, in some detail. I know pretty much everything there is to know about a BBQ, in fact! Just ask me!

What we didn't learn however, was how to fight off the wildlife for our supper.

We live at the top of a hill overlooking a reserve and over that, the sea. We are woken by cockatoos, entertained daily by rainbow lorikeets and their clown like walks, are blessed with a garden full of shy red parrots and are in the flight path of bats. I love them all, but most of all, the laughing kookaburras who make me take nothing seriously.

Until now.

On the first trial of our shiny new toy, where my beloved nuked the sausages in the name of cooking, our leisurely mock-spring lunch on the deck ended in disaster. From the mouth of babes (well, the boy, who's 9),the kookaburra plucked.

It got even more plucky the next morning with the bacon, wrenching it from the hot grills. And lunch that day with guests (more nuking, a chicken this time) ended with a leg missing.

And yes, for those of you who laugh and scorn the meat, my Quorn sausages were not safe either!!!

So, what to do? I asked Everybody.

(Like the kookaburras, Everybody laughed!)

So, for a sensible answer, I wrote to the zoo. And today, a lady called Vanessa answered.

"You're stuffed", she said, (but in a roundabout way).

And so, it's war, and I'm dusting off my Super soaker 2000!




Thursday 4 August 2011

Shop: Wardrobe by Wilkinson-Wyke

A biased bit of blogging here but not without some satisfaction. I have a dear friend Soraya, who has a knack of always finding something gorgeous where others fear to shop and who delves into her deep and magical wardrobe and adorns herself with something beautiful and stylish in a way that the rest of us can only drool. Until now, she's used her talents for friends who need something spectacular to be sourced. I've been on at her forever to turn it into a business and now it seems my nagging might have worked! Finally she has done it!

So (drumroll please...) ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce to you....

Wardrobe by Wilkinson-Wyke.

Soraya specialises in Art Deco and early 20th Century pieces - clothing, accessories and homewares. Happy shopping!

Home: Garden update






Been a bit slack of late, keeping up my postings. For two reasons really. Firstly, because I'm working on a New and Very Exciting Project, of which, I will tell you more very soon. Secondly, because its still winter but 24 DEGREES today! Who can sit indoors on a day like that?!

Certainly not me anyway. Not when I've got this much of a challenge with our new garden. We had a survey done, whilst I was away, to determine the flatness of the bottom and the possibility of putting a studio on stilts down there. To do this, the vegetation, that had not seen human foot for many years, was slashed and we were left with a big pile of brown. And there its remained for 2 months, along with the debris and plant-age and about 2 foot of soil which has slid down the hill during last week's rain.

So today, aided by the lovely Stuart, gardener-extraordinaire, the garden has been half cleared and some light at the end of the tunnel has been spotted. Its a tiny pin prick of light mind, it's a very, very long way to go!