Ron D Swan

Summer in Melbourne is great for enjoying a blissful, car-free existence. I'm sure when the next bitter, erratic and squally winter comes around I'll be singing a different tune, but right now I'm loving the head space and sense of freedom and connection with my surroundings that I get from jumping on my bicycle to get where I need to go.

It's also handy that my home and work are both located just a stone's throw from the Capital City bike path; a 20 minute ride is all it takes to get to work versus 40 or 50 minutes on tram and bus. That's good motivation!

Anyway naturally since moving house I threw myself with enthusiasm back into riding my beloved (yet somewhat neglected) bicycle and requested a pannier as an xmas present from my family. Not just any pannier mind you, but a locally & ethically made Ron D Swan bike pannier that was made in Castlemaine!

Ron D Swan pannier on my bicycle

The extra cool thing about this pannier is that the hooks are attached to your rack rather than the bag itself, and it comes with a nice wide shoulder strap tucked inside. This means you can carry the pannier around comfortably like a normal bag when off your bike. Clever!

Ron D Swan pannier - as a shoulder bag and attached to the rack

Totally love it and highly recommend getting one ... and as a bonus you're supporting a small local business. Win.

x

Melbourne maker collab

In what turned out to be a bit of an unlikely incidental "collaboration" of sorts, my mum's Christmas present this year consisted of my Leuca print made into a shade by a lovely Melbourne company, sold by Wilkins & Kent, and then put together with a gorgeous turned base from Southwood Home.


Leuca drum shade and base

Hmm, timber and textiles. Just need to find a local furniture maker to officially collab with :)

xx

Hobart!

I am not very good at sitting still. Holidays intimidate me - that long stretch of nothing planned, commitment free time. This is some people's dream, but for me and where I am in my life at the moment, not so much. So for the first week I kept very busy. I built things, rearranged things, gardened, tidied, cleaned out my computer, saw friends. In the second week I kind of got into the swing of slowing down and spent some time on the road, on the beach and in the bush. Nice.

But throughout it all I was very, very glad that Dana and I had planned a little trip to Hobart. It was one of those spur of the moment "OK lets book tickets right now!" kind of things ... after we'd quickly made sure someone was free to look after Dana's kidlets and that we'd have somewhere to stay. And somewhere-to-stay we indeed did have. No less than the awesome, gorgeous, art-deco-granny-mansion that is Beth-Emily & Tom's South Hobart home. Have I told you how lovely these people are? We met Beth and Tom at a market in Adelaide and have been buddies since. Not only did they provide us with a comfy bed and delicious brekkie every morning, but they also spent three days showing us around their hometown and helping us eat Hobart. Because that's what we did. We pretty much just ate our way around town. And it was good.

Here's a little of our trip in pictures!

The home of Beth & Tom and the view from their harbour-side studio rooftop - I do love rooftops!

My gorgeous travelling buddies - Tom, Dana & Beth

MONA! Also known as The Place Where it's Impossible to Take Non-Blurry Photos

More MONA

Relaxing in beanbags on the hill at MONA, Tom my fellow photographer

Views and sights abound!

Food, delicious food! Highly recommend Ethos, Smolt, Garagistes & Piccolo

Yay, thanks Beth & Tom for such a great time :)

xx

I like this place

So, 2011 was a pretty good year, but not without it's ups and downs. I haven't been writing much as I've been busy settling into my new home and routine and headspace. But... I'm very much looking forward to what 2012 has to offer. I'm cautiously optimistic that this year is going to be a good one.

Here's a little snippet of my new Nth Fitzroy home. I do very much like it here.

A happy new year to everyone. Here's to making 2012 a year for fulfilling dreams and finding your place in the world. xx