As I'm having a bit of a day off of serious blogging (see day's nastyness detailed before), I leave you with a nice piece of news: Adolf was not a vegetarian. See here.

When we first saw our flat, I felt a bit... umph. We had already agreed to renting it (it belongs to the University, so it's affordable and we are surrounded by fellow student families and couples), so we had to stick to it. The couple who had it before had not moved a single bit of furniture, and had not put up any photos or pictures. they had no flowers or fruit bowls. It felt so cold, I was taken a bit aback. But now we've been there for a month, the place has a bit more of life. We have moved the furniture about so that it suits our needs (working, living), and we have injected a bit of color into the rooms. We are going to be there for 10 months, it's owned by the Uni and we are broke. This means no Eames chairs (some day...), or vintage wooden tables, or plush handwoven textiles. It means make do with as little as possible because it's provivional and it was half-furnished (grr, ugly, ugly, ugly). We can't even really hand things on the walls! But, ha!, we can stick things to the walls!

And this is what I wanted to tell you. How it marvels me how two pieces interact when they are placed next to each other. A narrative evolves, and the pieces acquire a whole new meaning.

(Pic before, the Moomin and "Eliminate with softness" from my sister).

These are on top of our "sofa". They are acrylic portraits of Mr. M and me, with all the testing of the print I posted about some days ago (still to come to the shop). When the two portraits are shown together, they have a sense of unity, of "us". And with the prints, it' a full on declaration.

I wake up everyday to this wall. I consider it a work in progress. Little bits and pieces are added as they join the family. You can see pieces I've talked about. The two top sketches are studies for the portraits on top of the sofa. Then there's a Betsy Walton; a Louise Bourgeois handkerchief for Third drawer down (it reads I've been to hell and back, and let me tell you, it was wonderful). This contrasts the ad man print (from Bricklane in london), which claims It's going to get worse. There's my new Sandra Jutos (see some posts before), and the Mon petit phantome owls. Oh, and the ukio-e images (search old post).It all speaks about life and growth to me.

And these are doors, to our bedroom (Ashley G and Drew again), with decals from Tasty suite (you've heard about them before, too). And the front door, with a ahnd crocheted robot from the V&A in london, and another decal.

This is my 100th post and I want to dedicate it to my darlingest, bestes, lovedest, amazingest Mr. M, who is tuning 22 today! He's a grown up boy, now. May your 22nd your be the happiest yet!

I hope yesterday's last post didn't make everybody feel too downbeat!

I am very, very honored to introduce you to Gone rural. Gone rural is a company that mixes beautiful, classic-with-an-edge design with traditional and local resources, crafts and, on top, empowers women. What else could you possibly ever ask for? The word is starting to spread; I've seen their stuff in Liberty of London (I am 99% sure) and it says on their website they're now available in Anthropologie stores.

I lived in Swaziland for two years, and I can only admire and love what Gone Rural stands for. They remain the closest to an ideal business I've ever come accross. Check their products out, they something to celebrate.

This Saturday Mr M. had his Matriculation. This meant he had to get his "Harry Potter" look on (remember, this is Oxford) and get pictures taken. That did not take too long, and I had taken a day off to be with him. So we explored Oxford a bit more.

I had been hearing lovely things about Cowley rd, which is a bit like London's East end: multicultiral, alternative, young, arty and second-hand-ish. You get the idea. And there I found the first lovely treasure in my mental Oxford map.

Oxford has plenty of small independent galleries, buit this one was bolder, more vibrant and full of light. It happens to be Galeria Brasil (33 Cowley Rd). The Brazilian owner displays the work of Brazilian craft-makers and artists. It reminded me badly of my much beloved Cape Town. The energy, the will, the beautiful results of make-do. She was fantastic herself. If you ever pass by, say hi, have a look, breathe it all in. And buy something (the prices are very decent).

PS: Isn't all the crockery just beautiful? And the cock sculpture?

Since you guys are from all over the world, I wanted to get a bunch of suggestions going: how the hec do you keep super warm and cozy in winter? Our flat is fitted only with electrical heating, which we obviously don't want to use too much. Any cheap, smart ideas welcome. (and if anyone has just bought a super warm sweater or coat, drop in where you got it from!).