CAT GATE

We kept meaning to get a screen door this summer for the back balcony and then, you know, didn't. Not that we still couldn't, but the main reason we wanted one was so the cat wouldn't escape down the back steps whilst the door was open (a hot summer day necessity). Then cat genius over here remembered that Cleo is really a pussy at heart and any physical barrier is enough to keep her from going down the path to cat danger and ruin - she doesn't have a well defined sense of adventure. Voila, cat gate S/S 2011, a window into an untamed world.

Easy as that.

BUSY

It has been an intense couple work-weeks but I believe the worst of it is behind me now. The collection I've been working on has been finished & photographed, leaving me free to focus on other things, at least for a little while. In two weeks I'm off to Vancouver and Edmonton to visit friends and family and then back home again to re-open my shop just in time for August. I need a breather.

SUMMER EATS + A TOUCH OF PINK

So. Hot. Out.

And though our house remains *fairly* cool, the payoff is that we create a wind tunnel with all the open doors and windows so everything falls and flies and blows all over the place. I seriously witnessed a dust tumbleweed rolling down our hallway this morning.

I'm not getting anything done either, other than making iced earl grey tea and a bit of washing up. It's simply not thinking-work weather. I just need to put my energy into a simple project for the rest of the afternoon, I think.

Hot weather instills cravings for summer food. Today I ate carrots, cucumbers & sultanas marinated in olive oil, toasted cumin, lemon, honey and harissa (the miracle ingredient). Add feta & fresh mint from the garden, throw a chair on the back balcony for sunshine basking, and I'm a happy girl.

And look at this new little friend. I like him so much I'm gonna pop him right in my mouth for safekeeping.

Enjoy your afternoon!