Fabbo Friday - Fab & Lovely Finds

Hello,
Hope your week is going well. I've been so busy this week with the renovation and there hasn't been as much time to work on my mystery novel as I would have liked. It's the last week of school holidays in Sydney and I will miss having Daisy around when she returns to her preschool. We've had enormous fun this week together playing fairy games and visiting op shops and toyshops together. It's always a privilege when she lets me into her imaginative worlds.
I've been working through a maze of wallpaper, linens, storage and curtains: the pressure is now on as we are shortly returning to our inner-city home. I'm very sad about that as we have enjoyed being by the beach so much!
I thought I would share a few prints I've picked up for Daisy's room. I bought Ava's Tea Party without realising there is a very tragic story behind it. It makes me value this beautiful print even more and I feel really honoured to have it a part of Daisy's room. I do love the work of this British illustrator a lot as she creates the magic, joy and innocence of childhood. It is such a precious time and I never understand people wanting their children to grow up too quickly. You can read about my lovely print here
The following two prints, Tea for Two and Black Bunny Spell are by the Queen of Fab, Emily Martin of Inside A Black Apple. How can one young girl be so stylish, beautiful, clever and talented? I think Emily has performed her own Black Bunny Spells as she is just so gifted!
And they are my Fab finds of this week. I think they are pretty special and Ava's Tea Party in particular takes my breath away with the beauty that can come from such a tragic story.
Enjoy your weekend. Thanks for visiting me. Hope you find plenty of moments to relax, read beautiful books and reflect on beautiful art.
xx

Chit-chat Wednesday - Tag, Truth and Dare

I have been tagged by the lovely Wendy from The Sice Family Beautiful Day to reveal the following about myself.

1. What books are on your favourite shelf?
I have thousands of books on my favourite shelf. At the moment I am reading Fox Evil by Minette Walters and also enjoying Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer by Jane Brocket.

2. What DVDs are on your favourite shelf?
Again too many to list. I have been watching The Hetty Wainthropp Mysteries and Nigella Bites recently.

3. What are your two favourite cookbooks?

My Grandmother's handwritten recipe book that was passed along to me and at the moment Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer.

4. Select 1-3 recipes you will cook for your special guests.

From Cherry Cakes and Ginger beer I like the sound of
1/St Clare's Éclairs
2/Mary Poppins' Strike-Me-Pink Raspberry Jam Cakes
3/Heidi's Grandfather's Simple Swiss Cheese and Bread Supper

5. What will we be drinking that's available?

Gorgeous Ginger Beer and Easy-Peasy Lemon-Squeezy Lemonade

10 Random Things.

My star sign is Scorpio but I have a Cancer moon which makes me very home and family orientated and very emotional and weepy.
I was a vegetarian for many years and took up meat when I was pregnant. Now I am trying to return to a meat-free diet.
I am a bit of a Bionic woman as I have a pin and plate in my Right arm from an old motor vehicle accident.
I love Aromatherapy oils and blend a lot of my own skin-care products
I am a country girl at heart.
I am a frustrated crafty wanna-be
I need to get more sleep
I tend to focus all my energies and money onto my daughter and shamefully neglect myself.
I don't like a lot of things about the modern age and prefer the charm, quality and nostalgic appeal of bygone times.
I like Oriental perfumes. Two of my favourites are Coco by Chanel and Shalimar by Guerlain.

10 Things That Are True
I am over-sensitive
I am an introvert
My two favourite things to do is spend time with my family and write my tales.
I believe in fairies
I need to lose weight
I love being a Stay at Home Mum even though I originally thought I would hate it.
I love being by the sea
I am not a pretentious person. What you see is what you get with me.
I do prefer to spend money on my daughter than myself.
Ageing hasn't bothered me at all. I am grateful for every day.

And there you have it! Now I am not sure if I am meant to tag people back? Perhaps somebody out there knows? I am never sure of the Blogging world and its games.

Before I go, I have to mention that Tale Peddler has won another Lovely Blog award. Thank you very much to Bella Mumma! It is most appreciated and if you are a mother and interested in beauty, skin care and stylish Yummy Mummies then you might like to check out her Blog. I hope you are having a fun and rewarding week. xx

Shalimar image

Hetty Wainthropp image:

Magnificent, Marvellous, Mighty Monday and Juliette Binoche

I first loved Juliette in the beautiful movie The Unbearable Lightness Of Being. I thought her perfect in the role and over the years I have admired her in a number of films from the grieving mother in Blue to The English Patient.
I was fortunate to watch her dance in Sydney with Akram Khan at the Sydney Opera House (the duet was called In-I). It was most inspiring to see her tackle such a project as she only took up dancing in her 40s and it was a very physical, challenging role. There were flaws in her performance but overall she pulled it off magnificently. I think because she had supreme self-belief and confidence that she could do so. It was magical to witness.
After the performance she was interviewed by Caroline Baum and it was fascinating to see her 'in the flesh' after so many movies.
From memory she wore some very unflattering grey tracksuit that on her looked incredibly elegant. How do the French women achieve that? Is it supreme self-belief and confidence performing some illusion? Her hair was pulled back from her face and not one trace of make-up was visible. She was stunning but not in a perfect, Barbie doll way. She answered questions in an eloquent, abstract fashion, shrugging away the questions relating to body image and ageing with disdain to loud cheers from women in the audience.
She is chic, beautiful, multi-talented, intelligent (she also paints, is politically active and has two children). Why I have selected her as my inspiration for Magnificent, Marvellous, Mighty Monday is her willingness to try something new and push herself beyond her perceived boundaries. Something I feel I need to do myself.
And so let us follow the fabulous Juliette Binoche's example and examine any unfulfilled dreams, wishes and goals we have and have the confidence of Binoche to pursue them!

But I think it's a little different in Europe, because 40 is really the best age for a woman. That's when we hit our peak and become this ripe fruit. Juliette Binoche

You must understand, I don't have to be happy to be happy. Juliette Binoche
image source of Juliette at opera house:

image source of Juliette and Akram Khan:

image source of Juliette:

Fabbo Friday - Friends and Pirates

A grey and rainy day Friday in Sydney. I took Daisy into the city to be fitted for her first proper pair of ballet slippers – quite an exciting event for us both.
Then I met my lovely friend Lesley who has a Blog called The Pink Princess. Lesley was enjoying five childfree days in Sydney. I first saw Lesley years ago in an interior design magazine and fell in love with her very pretty house. She has a girlie, frou-frou style and also has a daughter named Daisy.
We emailed a couple of times and finally met when she came to Sydney. It's always a bit scary when you meet somebody that you've only ever known online before but Lesley has the type of engaging, down-to-earth, friendly personality that even the most introverted person quickly warms to. She says what she thinks and I always love a person who has no pretensions. I'm often in awe of her crafty, capable personality. As well as running a very successful EBay business, she Blogs, cares for two children, runs her lovely home and works in the emergency department of a busy city hospital. We also have in common a love of crime novels. Here she is in the Botanical Gardens. Her Blog is The Pink Princess if you want to say hello.
Bidding Lesley adieu, Daisy and I met the Scribe and we went to tour Captain Paul Watson's ship the Steve Irwin at Circular Quay. It was enormously exciting to be on board the ship that does so much good for our oceans. We saw the effigy presented to Captain Paul Watson by the Dali Lama which is in a glass dome on the bridge. It represents using intimidation to threaten your enemies. We heard from our tour guide James many thrilling stories of confrontations on the high seas and what life is really like aboard for the crew.
As I said in my Monday post the Scribe and I have long been big fans of Paul Watson and so this was a special treat for us. I do love ships very much and the Scribe has often called me an old sea dog because of my love of ships and the ocean. This is a pretty special ship. They played a short DVD which had graphic detail of whales and dolphins being butchered and also shark-finning. When the DVD was over the room of people taking the tour burst into spontaneous applause for the efforts of the crew on board.
We are going to take a bag of groceries to the ship as they are heading down to Antarctica just after midday on Monday and accept food donations. If you are in Sydney and would like to help then please take a bag of groceries (vegan) to the Sea Shepherd at the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay.
Finally, the Scribe (here he is holding his book, Tour To Hell) has recently started his own Blog website. If you feel like saying hello, you can visit him here.
I hope you have a lovely weekend and it is filled with inspiring and lovely things. Thanks for visiting me. xx
ballet slippers image source

Chit-chat Wednesday - The Dolphin's Call

This post is because the beautiful and talented Stephanie from Owl in the Dark requested I write it after I left a comment on a post of hers. Here it is in its entirety because you asked, Little Owl!
Many years ago I was nursing in a very large and gothic hospital. Night shift was always my preferred hours as I enjoyed the night and having just one other person to work with. Every two hours we would do our rounds and the rest of the shift was spent pretty much trying not to fall asleep, huddled up in over-sized armchairs with a stack of magazines. 3.30 am to 4.30 was always the hardest. The patients and the world around us seemed to be in the deepest part of sleep, our blood pressure would drop, our minds seemed to consist of part dream state and partly wide-awake.
That was when I first started to hear the clicks. As in a dream, I knew what they were without knowing. Dolphin clicks. I was hearing dolphin sounds that seemed to talk to me with great enthusiasm.
The RN (registered nurse) with me didn't appear to hear them as she just kept reading her Australian Women's Weekly. I said nothing to her and I listened, night after night for several weeks.
Perhaps it seems far-fetched that I didn't question the clicks or my own sanity. I knew what they were but had no idea of why I was hearing them. I had no experience with dolphins and wasn't particularly into New Age dolphin mystical experiences.
Shortly afterwards I went to a New Age Shop to see if there was anything that could help explain it. The gypsy-looking woman there – all cleavage, flashing eyes and jewellery – showed me a course taking place in Perth (Western Australia) by a metaphysician named Stuart Wilde, a Warriors Wisdom course which involved walking on fire. I immediately signed up.
"You know that the course is held near Bunbury?" the gypsy woman said. "It's a great spot to swim with dolphins in the wild. Not as commercial as Monkey Mia."
I knew then that I was meant to travel to Bunbury and that my dolphins would be there. And so I travelled to Perth to walk on fire and then went to Bunbury.
I reached the shore near where the dolphins came. The only other person there was the woman who supervised the swim. I looked out to sea and noticed a group of fins approaching. I love the sea but I also fear and respect it and the sight of those fins filled me with a tentative fear. Were they sharks or dolphins?
"They're not sharks!" the supervisor called. "Swim out to them but don’t approach them! If they want you, they'll come to you!"
I was in the cold sea and the fins were coming towards me. It was an incredible feeling to see this intelligence approaching me that really did seem to have some knowledge of me being there.
I would love to say I was filled with joy and ecstasy but at this point I was afraid. I'm not the strongest swimmer and these dolphins were large and (gulp) could be sharks.
The largest one came towards me very fast. An electrical charge zapped from him and hit my body. I felt as if he had communicated or passed something onto me. To this day I can't explain it. I felt that this was the pod of dolphins who had called me during my long and lonely night shifts in the hospital. It filled me with a wild joy. I was crying when I left the water.
Since that encounter I have read more information on dolphins and other people have described that same bolt of electricity. Some were later found to have an undiagnosed tumour where the dolphin hit; others had their lives changed around dramatically.
I can't explain why I had that experience but it was a gift, a blessing by the dolphins. I have never heard their clicks since but I know they are out there. To me they are proof that when it comes to communication between the species we are far more linked than we might ever realise.
And that is the tale of the dolphins call

Flipper image source

Nereides image source

Magnificent, Marvellous, Mighty Monday and CAPTAIN PAUL WATSON

I first heard of the Captain many years ago when the Scribe and I were watching a documentary on this warrior of the sea. I was transfixed to the screen as he described the moment he looked into the eyes of a dying whale that he had bravely attempted to save from a whaling vessel. He described the intelligence and knowing in the mammal's eyes, the knowing that Paul Watson was attempting to protect him. That was the pivotal moment when he pledged to do all he could for the creatures of our oceans. I realised I was watching an individual of enormous nobility and courage; a unique soul with an enormous challenge to stop the carnage being done to our oceans.
Always controversial because of his proactive modus operandi of ramming whaling boats, he has been vilified, imprisoned, shot at and has to face political bureaucratic stupidity time and time again from governments attempting to appease the Japanese who continue their cruel and senseless slaughter.
One of the founding members of Greenpeace, Paul left them in 1977 because he didn't feel they were doing enough direct action.
Captain Watson has attracted a large band of celebrity supporters over the years, from Mick Jagger to Martin Sheen, and has won many awards and been honoured by Time magazine in 2000 as one of the environmental heroes of the 20th century.
Captain Watson sails into Sydney today and we are hoping to tour the Steve Irwin at Circular Quay. As usual, his visit attracts the usual controversy with the Australian Federal Police investigating the Captain thanks to Japan's complaints. For some reason our present government is content to stand back and do nothing whilst Japan kills our whales in protected waters. It continues to infuriate me that a hero like Captain Paul Watson and his crew are subject to such shabby treatment in Sydney.
I am very proud to say the Scribe has met the Captain, attending a talk, and was also fortunate enough to interview with him for an Australian men's magazine. He spoke to him for about half an hour and found him very much how he comes across in the media.
Here is a link if you would like to read more about the Captain.
Sea Shepherd:
And so on Magnificent, Marvellous, Mighty Monday let me salute the courage of this great and might warrior who achieves more in one weekend of his life than most of us ever will to protect our oceans and the wonderful creatures who live within them. Thank you Captain and safe journeys as you sail!

"I have been honored to serve the whales, dolphins, seals - and all the other creatures on this Earth. Their beauty, intelligence, strength, and spirit have inspired me. These beings have spoken to me, touched me, and I have been rewarded by friendship with many members of different species.
If the whales survive and flourish, if the seals continue to live and give birth, and if I can contribute to ensuring their future prosperity, I will be forever happy."
- Paul Watson

Paul Watson image source:

whale image source

Fabbo Friday and Fab Op-shop finds

Regular Tale Peddler readers will know I love op-shops (thrift shops to overseas readers) and EBay. Here are a few of the fab and lovely things I've purchased recently.

1/ Mark and Mandy book. Daisy adores these sweet stories of two cousins and their adventures. This one is in new condition and so it will be a surprise in her Christmas stocking gifts. (I hope she takes the hint in the title!)

2/Cath Kidston bag. I always love CK's use of colour and this pink and green bag 'pops' nicely.

3/Toile curtains. I picked these up for our tiny loungeroom. I love toile and this has charming scenes of village life.

4/Kate Bush book. This classic came from a French EBay seller. It's another from the '80s. I used to borrow this book from the school library and it brought back many pleasant memories as I perused the photos of the amazing Kate.

5/Poodle shower curtain. A vintage '50s shower curtain featuring French poodles against a background of Eiffel Towers and pink macrons and baguettes was probably my most extravagant purchase, as I already have several white shower curtains. But I couldn't resist those poodles!

It is fortunate my writing, Blogging and playing with Daisy takes up all my time or I would blow our budget out with op-shops and EBay.
Is there anything you can't resist when shopping? Do tell!

I wish you a relaxing weekend filled with abundance in all areas of your life. I've just received my two US subscription magazines (Cookie and Romantic Country) and so I have plenty of light reading.
Keep creative and stay chirpy. xx