The Maroon Diaries

At first, I wasn't planning on including book reviews in my blog. So, when I first found myself composing blog posts in my head about the books I was reading, I discarded them and thought about something else. Last night, I finally finished reading  The Emperor of Scent - A Story of Perfume, Obsession, and the Last Mystery of the Senses  by  Chandler Burr . It was a heavy one to get through, so it was with some sense of satisfaction and achievement that I closed it on the last page. My mind was just thronging with thoughts and interpretations which wouldn't be discarded. They just kept typing themselves out on my mental screen, until I was starting to wonder whether book reviews might actually be the right thing for my blog. Then today I had a visit from a friend who has a dodgy internet connection at home, and hadn't seen my blog yet. I loaded it up on the screen and we scrolled through the pages together. She said ooh, ah, wow, and all such appropriate interjections, ...

Remember this sweet tie-dyed summer dress I found  on Friday ? I'll put the picture in here again for a more effective before-and-after presentation. It went for a swim in the dyepot yesterday. This excellent pot used to be my Nana's, but she doesn't make individual steamed fruit puddings for Christmas anymore. Good on you Nan. I never thought much of that peculiar Australian custom of making a hot lunch with all the trappings in the middle of summer. Then, this morning, it was a quick spin through the washing machine (where, I must say, my  homemade laundry powder  is performing admirably), and straight into service as my new summer dress. I actually didn't even wait for it to dry. It's 34 degrees C here - nasty! Damp clothes are a bonus on a day like today. It's interesting how the maroon dye all but completely covered up the tie-dye pattern. Usually, if I dye something printed or patterned, the pattern will still be visible, but the colours a...

girl's skirt, $1 vintage rose notepaper set, still in the original packaging, $1 2-piece men's suit, pure Australian wool, fancy-pants Studio Italia label, minor repair needed (one trouser leg hem), $2 pure linen, pure classic kitsch Tasmania tablecloth, $1. This is the gem that made it worth getting dressed and out the door this morning. I think it deserves full-scale wall-hanging glory. tie-dye summer dress, $1. This one actually fits me - it's going straight into the maroon dyepot. bird print black t-shirt, $1 Capture sundress, $1 random piece of gorgeous chiffon, $1 japanese-style small bowl, embroidered doily, woven cane platter, $2 each stunning yellow floral woven single-bed bedspread, $3 *Linked in with  Flea Market Finds  at  Her Library Adventures .

In the interests of living naturally, sustainably, saving the earth, etc., I know it's a good thing to make your own cleaning products rather than buying pre-packaged substances of questionable origin and consequence. I have made and used homemade cleaning products before, and I knew all the amazing things you could do with vinegar and bicarb soda, but I'd somehow fallen back into the habit of using supermarket preparations for convenience. It happens when you're travelling, and it's not really very practical to buy all the ingredients and make up a whole batch of a product, when you can just buy a little packet of something all ready to go. Enter blog inspiration. I saw a post about a lady making her own spray cleaning product out of basic ingredients. The one I wasn't familiar with was borax. I had a little google around and read many different homemade recipes for spray cleaners, laundry soaps, dishwashing products, etc. They all varied around a basic them...

It's like sinking in quicksand. It only makes it worse, and exhausting, to kick and struggle against it. Better to yield, and sink, and just keep breathing. Eventually, I'll go to sleep, and I'll wake up, and it will be another day. It doesn't feel like this can be true, but I know it from experience, and I cling to that. The air is heavy as molten lead, movement is like through treacle. Movement hurts. Stillness hurts. Light hurts. Thought hurts. The world is unbearable, both its beauty and its tragedy are utterly heartbreaking. I want to die, I want it so much, more than I have ever wanted anything in life. Or that's what it feels like. I have realised, after many years of such thoughts, that there is actually one thing I want even more, and that is not to disappoint or hurt the people I care about. So I'm still here. Curled up in the foetal position, whimpering. Tears running down my face. Hungry, but powerless to do anything about it. I just can't de...

One of the things I love about my overgrown jungle of a backyard is that so often there is something new to discover. Maybe the results of my own efforts in the garden, maybe a wild surprise, maybe the work of the assorted wildlife with whom we share our little patch called home. This morning I wrote in my journal, along with notes to self to buy vinegar and other such mundane musings, the following sentence - There are self-seeded poppy seedlings popping up. Wow. Isn't that just such a cute little sentence. I had to stop and marvel a little at the spontaneous alliteration. Try saying it five times, fast. So let's have a look at the events which led to its creation. I planted some California Poppy seeds, just a cheap packet from the $2 shops, in August last year. They performed most impressively, though I was a little disappointed that all the flowers it produced were yellow. The seed packet had promised me 'a variety of colours.' See now, if I'd only plante...

I made a dreamcatcher today. It's something that I've never done before.  I've never used a dreamcatcher myself before, either, but I wanted to make one for a friend who is troubled by nightmares. I find it hard to do something that I'm not already sure I know I can do well. I put it off for quite a while, and had it in my mind to focus on starting it today. I started by writing in my journal about it, and once I identified and named the 'Not Good Enough' fear-thoughts, resistance melted and I was off with needle and thread. Technique was another matter. Someone did show me how to make dreamcatchers once - about 13 years ago. But it was enough to start playing around with it. I started off much too loose and loopy but worked it out somewhere in the middle. I believe a messy dreamcatcher will likely work as well as a neat one. It just needs some dangly bits coming down. I want to use little bunches of eucalyptus leaves. A short Walking Adventure shall be i...