By this I mean: friends, food, ferns and falls...let me elaborate...

One of the wonderful things about blogging is you get to 'know' people from all over the place. And if you're lucky, you get to meet them for real J

Such was the case last Wednesday night when I had dinner with Sarah from Molly's Maison and Jane from Life on Planet Baby. Here we are looking surprisingly presentable after a few bottles of wine, lovely Thai food and a great deal of conversation. Jane's car got locked in the carpark we yacked for so long!

And even better, Richard and I were invited to their homes on Saturday afternoon...now that I consider a real privilege. Beautiful pastries made by Jane and India for afternoon tea, and champagne at Sarah's...spoiled rotten we were. I wanted to take photos of their houses but thought that would be stretching the friendship a bit far! Just go to their blogs for that ok?

And then there are furry friends.  I had no hesitation in taking photos of the famous Molly in her natural habitat!  I'm not a dog person at all really, but I've fallen in love with Molly...well honestly, who wouldn't. Just look at her J

The day before this we'd headed off on a bit of a drive and ended up at Russell Falls in the Mt Field National Park. This place was stunning, really serene, and the oldest national park in Tasmania. We didn't have the best weather while we were in Hobart (and yet today it's going to be 36!) so it was quite cool but that didn't matter at all. I'm a bit fascinated by ferns...and moss apparently!

And the food...oh the food! Several kilos later...thanks in part to these delicious things. Without doubt, without a shadow of a doubt in fact, the raspberry danish you can see behind the chocolate thingies was the BEST Danish I have ever tasted.

From this place...

And then there were the oysters! From the Barilla Bay Oyster Farm, a saturday lunch of 30 assorted oysters (for $39...I thought that was really good value) and a wonderful ploughman's lunch that Richard got to before I could take a photo...you think he'd know about bloggers and photo opportunities by now wouldn't you! And as an added bonus, a view over the bay and a glass of Tasmanian wine. Bliss.

The produce at the Salamanca Markets on Saturday morning was also brilliant. We were going home the next day so didn't get to sample any of it, but doesn't it look amazing...all those jewel colours?

And just because I can, I'm going to finish off this post with alpacas. They're furry. They're funny. That fits with the theme right J

all images: a tranquil townhouse

Hi everyone...we're in Hobart

the diversion project

and loving it sick!

peep my style

We spent today at Mona

all fashion allowed

M.O.N.A.....Mona (sing it with me!)

design is mine

Can't help thinking of Lola whenever I say Mona

desire to inspire

Those of a certain age will get it I'm sure

desire to inspire

I've taken eleventy seven pictures today

greige

and then some!

justb

Deserving of a post of their own at some stage.

sfgirlbybay

But for today...it's the first top ten for the year!

And tonight I'm having dinner with Jane and Sarah...yippee :))

molly's maison

I'm a lucky blogger!

December was a very light on month for reading I'm afraid, but I did manage a few, somewhere in between the manic last few weeks of work, Christmas nonsenses and NYE frivolities...here they are:

Great House by Nicole Krauss - fiction

Shoe Money by Maggie Alderson - a selection of newspaper columns

Angel Puss by Colleen McCullough - fiction

All That I Am by Anna Funder - fiction

Freedom by Jonathon Franzen - fiction

Apart from the short collection of columns, all of these books were very good reads. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Angel Puss, set in Kings Cross, just around the corner from where the first born used to live, it was incredibly evocative of the area and the people who inhabit it. I bought it from a remainders bin on a whim...good use of a spare $4.95! 

And now the hard part...my favourite books of 2011. All in all I read 77 books last year (still finding it hard to say last year!). I was only going to nominate five, but a six book collage was easier to make J Bloody heck it was hard...even my very favourite author didn't make the cut this time! Because I read so much, the books I chose were the ones that have stayed with me...the ones I don't have to remind myself what they were about, the ones that made me cry, question, wonder, smile, cringe...the ones with 'staying power'. So, for what it's worth...my recommendations for incredibly good reads are, in no particular order because no way am I picking a no. 1 (oh, ok...Peter Carey!)...

In order of reading:

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield 

(a famous dying author summons an obscure unknown author to record her autobiography...ancient houses, bookshops, 'ghosts' and heartbreaks);

Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey

(A french nobleman and an english servant travel to the new world...full of beautiful historical detail...I especially loved the early days of Manhattan... wit, friendship and love)

The Tall Man by Chloe Hooper

(a very well written account of a pointless death, life on Palm Island and the brutality of our treatment of indigenous australians, but with a balanced compassion for all sides in this story)

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

(a 50 year old Harvard professor suffers from early onset alzheimers. This book's every word was enthralling, highlighting both the inner and outer 'workings' of the disease with an incredible sympathy for the sufferer and her family as they come to grips with what it all means)

Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg

(a thriller...not everyone likes this I know, but I found it  fascinating and different. The heroine is unusual...a bit like Lisbeth Salander in the Millenium Trilogy...hard to like but you just have to know what happens to her)

All That I Am by Anna Funder

(the story of a group of Jewish Germans and their resistance to Hitler in the 1930s, set then and in the present through the reminiscences of Ruth, an old woman living in Sydney. Based on fact, it's a story of right and wrong, deceit, justice and injustice. Loved it.)

So there you have it! I hope to read more than 77 books in 2012, but I haven't started all that well...I've been painting my bedroom and putting up picture ledges. I'll show you all that when I get back from Tassie...off there on Monday for a holiday...and I'm having dinner with two bloggers on Wednesday...yippee!!

I don't know about you, but I need a bit of a break J

It's been a big year for all sorts of reasons...some good, some things I could have done without, and some significant changes on the horizon!

So while I have a bit of a rest from the blog and as many things electronic as I possibly can, there's some work to be done on my bedroom involving a whole pile of pictures and two Ikea Ribba picture ledges...

I'll be painting the lower half of the room and installing a gallery wall...I can hear it calling to me..."hurry up, I've only been waiting about a year for you to get off your butt and tart me up. Neglected, that's what I am!"  

I'll see you sometime soon, ok?  Early in the new year I'll sort my top ten pics from all of the top ten posts in 2011...I'm looking forward to a trip through the archives. 
In the meantime, have fun, relax, stay safe, hug lots of people. But more than that, congratulate yourselves for being a very fine bunch. Caring, kind, supportive, funny, thoughtful, crafty, nutty, talented, eccentric, intelligent and a few other words that will no doubt spring to mind after I've hit publish. You add another, very lovely dimension to my life. You are admired and appreciated. Lots of love to all of you...even the bits you're not fond of! 
See you on the other side (of the wall). I'm going to have to do it now aren't I?
images 1 and 3: pinterest; image 2: ikea

Well that year went in the proverbial blink of an eye didn't it J

There have been times when I thought...

this weekly top ten thing is a bit of a pain in the neck bother

and I might give it up and read a book instead

but thank you for encouraging me to keep going 

the truth is, most of the time I quite enjoy doing it

most of the time!

And I have to tell you, I've got the most awesome record of rooms I like now

Ha! Who needs pinterest J

I'm going to attempt to select my top ten pictures for the whole year some time over the holidays...

watch out for that one!

I don't know why we post snow pictures at Christmas in the southern hemisphere...but we do...click on it for a bit of magic!

Covering my bases with this next one...

Only two more days before I get to have a break...yippee! Thanks to all the wonderful bloggers who have provided so much top ten inspiration this year, and especially to Jules, the fabulous woman who owns this blog ...you never fail in the interiors stakes bloss, never. 

kxxx

images seen on: little green notebook/lime in the coconut; rummage; brabourne farm; an indian summer; decorology; elements at home; livet hemma; the diversion project; houzz (2); head over heels; tiny white diaisies; beautifulism

Jennie aka Posie Patchwork tagged me to tell you what's on my ultimate Christmas wish list.  Since the 100 day don't buy anything you don't really need challenge, I rarely think about buying stuff (I know, who would have guessed the impact of that little experiment would last this long!)...but, if anyone was wondering what to put in my christmas stocking this year and was flush with funds, this would be it...

a rug from loom...one day!

or a painting...

pink rabbit by adrienne gaha - we saw this at the tim olsen gallery last month

a book (well of course!)...either of these would be fine and dandy...

 

some simple jewellery from elk...

and perhaps some bling from tiffany...why the heck not...it's a wish list right!

oh yeah...one last thing...more space in the kitchen :)
or failing that...a cushion!

from here...

I haven't tagged anyone...honestly, and sorry, but I'm just too busy and tired to think at the moment, so if you'd like to play along, please consider this an open invitation and try not to call me a slacker!!

Hi there. Today's the day I'm off to Newcastle again

the weather's not all that great for a road trip

...but tomorrow's really the day

...for mum's operation, rescheduled for the third time

I'm sure we'll be right this time though : )

And...

hopefully I'll be able to grab a coffee with this lovely lady while I'm in Newcastle...

I love meeting blogsters for real!

Thanks for all the well wishes for mum.

They mean a lot.

See you later.

this week's images seen on: wish you were here; scrapbook; a life's design; apartment therapy; the design files; color me carla; effortless style; gild and grace; pia jane bijkerk; white trash beautiful