So lovely to have shops closed on a Sunday.

"Contented people don't need to buy anything much. To make people buy, first you need to make them discontented".

Due to ANZAC Day, it is so lovely to have the shops closed on a Sunday. Erina Fair is usually jumping
24 -7.

Don't get me wrong, I love a little retail therapy but my fetish is books, most of which I buy online en mass (or I save up and buy a small carton of them every 6 months). $6 delivered to your door for as many books as you wish [see Booktopia, Lane Cove, Sydney].

Anyway, due to shops closed and hanging around the house reading papers and listening to Paul and Lily cooking, I feel very happy to be home.

I read a couple of 'Home' magazines today and although I do love them, I was amazed at the level of expense and waste attributed to so many new products on the market.

Style to me, has never been about gargantuan, plastic candelabras or hideously expensive cushions that in one foul swoop with a toddler or our Labrador can be reduced to rags. A dining table for the price of a very large car, is just ridiculous. Handbags the price of a salary is extravagant. How long do the cushions or the hand bag keep the purchaser happy for?

I love our sturdy, solid, wooden dining table that was hand made with love over 10 years ago. I love looking out to the garden today, waiting for a bird to land in Myrtle, our Crepe Myrtle. I like hearing Lily licking the batter from the bowl of the chocolate cake. All relatively simple and frugal little joys.

Writing also seems to save me money? So impassioned am I by the process that I don't need to be sourcing things off site or seeking fulfillment or enrichment from material things.

I love natural fibres and vintage items. The pared back look, with a beach or country twist. I love pre-loved and precious trinkets that tell a story. Creating something 'new' from something old. I don't like contemporary or industrial. I like calm and peaceful, warm and smooth.

Lily and I collected drift wood from the beach before the cold started to set in. We have bowls of shells in our house. We try to be minimalists but it's difficult with a nearly 5 year old.

I made a poster on the computer and framed it. It said:

"There's no place like home"...
-Dorothy
- The Wizard of Oz, by L.Frank Baum

I LOVE OUR HOME x o x o x Enjoy your day at home, if you are back after marching.
Lest we forget.