Neither here Nor there...

Petits Détails...

2009-11-07T19:26:00.007+01:00

Today,

I'm feeling really inspired by these images...

source
.

C'est ce que j'aime le plus...
Des petits détails qui donnent un sens, qui racontent une histoire
ou tout simplement qui interpellent celui qui regarde.

Seasons Come and Seasons Go...

2009-11-04T15:23:00.013+01:00

Autumn

My photo - taken on one of my many walks last week...

.
When the trees their summer splendor

Change to raiment red and gold,

When the summer moon turns yellow,

And the nights are getting cold;

When the squirrels hide their acorns,

And the woodchucks disappear;

Then we know that it is Autumn,

Loveliest season of the year.

by Carol L. Riser

_
I'm finally back, it feels like Autumn is finally here,

and I am one happy lady...
I hope you are too !

'tis the season...

2009-07-14T08:33:00.008+02:00

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

BONNES VACANCES!

Déco. d'éte...

2009-06-29T11:49:00.008+02:00

images

Les trésors de chine s'accumulent dans la maison,

entrent en scéne tandis que d'autres

partent en coulisses,

petit à petit chaque chose trouve sa place...

Love at First Sight...

2009-06-23T11:01:00.022+02:00

My first encounter with Suno NY, by Max Osterweis,

was when I read an *article in the New York Times,

way back in February, about him and his use of kanga and

african print...

I love, love, love his modern take on vintage prints
with stunning effects...

- lots of mixing and matching, clashing and more clashing,
and some african print thrown in for good measure...
.
.
more photos here
.
*"Suno is the result of more than a decade of collecting textiles
during trips to Kenya.."
the New York Times

Parfois...

2009-06-01T18:32:00.003+02:00

.
Sometimes i love to cook,
and sometimes i love to watch

Sometimes i just want to hide under my quilt
and sometimes i want to leap out from under my quilt...

Sometimes i want to be with lots of people,
and sometimes i just want to see noone and be alone

Sometimes i think outside the box,
and sometimes i don't know how to do otherwise

Sometimes i think i can,
and sometimes i know i can...

Sometimes I want to escape for a day...
but I always want to come back!

Sometimes I forget how lucky I am.

Do you have a sometimes?

Résumé d'un long weekend de mai...

2009-05-26T07:59:00.008+02:00

en images...

photo credits

Hope you all enjoyed your (long) weekend..!

Meanwhile...

2009-05-20T06:33:00.014+02:00

"The work goes on, the cause endures,

the hope still lives and

the dreams shall never die"

Edward Kennedy

.
jjjjound

.
Dreaming is just about all I have time for at the moment, other than work,
hopefully I'll be back posting a little more regualarly and
catching with your delightful blogs soon...

My Style...

2009-05-14T12:16:00.010+02:00

The concept of true style is mind-boggling to one and all.

Even if we try to dissect it,

we never come anywhere close to actually attaining it.

The majority of us think it's just a matter of buying the latest,

freshest clothes on the racks and copying exactly what the mannequins

are wearing...

Of course, it isn't, and never has been, about copying others,

whoever they may be...

.All photos from the blog
Sveta Dresher

I love this definition of style by Gore Vidal

“Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say,
and not giving a damn.”
.

What is your definition of style?

Sun, Sea and Sand...

2009-05-11T11:19:00.007+02:00

Sable blanc, mer et ciel bleu,
déco en bois flotté...

Mes photos: Club 55, St Tropez

.
Que demander de plus pour des mini-vacances

"j'oublie tout"...

Thanks for all your kind words left in my absence; I'll be catching up with

all your blogs asap...

Love to Love..

2009-05-04T16:34:00.016+02:00

the iconic Citroen 2CV

(launched in 1948 at the Paris Motor Show )

by Citroën Guy
.

I had a blue convertible one when I was a student in London and

travelled the length and breadth of the UK

and Europe - slowly but surely

(they're surprisingly robust)

A friend of mine calls it a "marmite car", i.e

you either it love or hate it !

See here

for a fun video which is well worth watching for a laugh...

I'd love to know what you think...

Sailing into the Sunset...

2009-04-29T17:53:00.006+02:00

well, not exactly, as we'll be leaving at dawn, but

I thought it sounded good...

via JJJJound

We're taking a break

- off sailing for the week -

à bientôt!

Who? Me?...

2009-04-28T16:14:00.010+02:00

5. I have an incredible amount of patience for some things,

and absolutely none for others...

4. I love the aroma of freshly ground coffee...

3. I have a special, unshakable, deep-rooted love

for Paris...

2. I don't like people with no sense of humour,

I've no idea how to

relate to them;

I find they take themselves too seriously...

1. I’m more interested in ideas than what other people
are doing in their (private) lives...

A Happier World...

2009-04-27T15:32:00.012+02:00

Image: Côté Sud

If every life learned to share

A happier world we would have

We could share our lives

And share our thoughts

Without any kind of recrimination

We could share our love

With all the strangers

That may come our way

Around the world

Making new friends wherever we go

If sharing was not just a dream

Paradise at our feet

Would unfold

There would be no more poverty

For every crust of bread, we’d share

We can only dream that one day

Many hearts will beat as one

Many minds will think alike

No more terrors will strike discord
And sharing will become the word

David Harris

Tell Me...

2009-04-21T17:16:00.013+02:00

.
Do you blog everything you'd like to,
or do you *censor yourself?
.

via Remodalista
.

Are there times you start to write something

and then think, nah, not gonna write that?

I do, I sit down to write and I find myself

picking and choosing so carefully that I just give up.

This frustrates me.

I don't like it but I have learned the hard way

to be careful.

I won't go into it.

Let's just say once your privacy has been invaded

in an extremely unpleasant way, you learn to exercise caution.

I quite frequently come up with great blog posts

on my way to work and then of course once I'm back home,

poof...

they've either left my head or I simply think better of it.

Maybe with time this will change.

Maybe not. Only time will tell.

Definition of censor :

Verb : to ban or cut portions of

(a film, letter, or publication)

A Great Week...

2009-04-20T08:33:00.005+02:00

was had by all...

Because we had family and friends here...

Because it's Spring and the weather is beautiful and warm

and hopefully going stay this way...
Because we spent the entire week out and about...

.
.

Because the girls were on school holidays and were

on their best behaviour all week...

Because I'm feeling particularly loved and cherished by

my "better half"

(a bit corny but it's true..!)

.
Because I'm well and truly back on my feet
- no more back pain....
Because I was off work all week...
.

all photos by Lord Snowdon
.
Because I love nothing more than spending quality time with

my family and friends...

.
I hope you had a great week, too...

Vintage Beachwear...

2009-04-07T16:59:00.019+02:00

I know it's only April,

but I'm already dreaming of long, hot, lazy days

spent on, and by, the sea...

A trip the beach

doesn’t have to mean leaving style at home....

All photos from May 1954 Seventeen
by myvintagevogue

.
Don't you just love these vintage bathing suits?

If anyone out there knows where I can

buy vintage (or vintage inspired)

swimwear,

Please let me know...

MERCI in Paris...

2009-04-06T01:20:00.014+02:00

is a new concept store like no other that I just know

you’ll all love...

When I popped by whilst in Paris, I found the

layout more reminiscent of a house than a department store,

which I loved...
.

MERCI sells a variety of products both of contemporary design

and second-hand;

on offer are contempory and vintage fashions,

a hardware section with beautiful everyday objects,

a florist, a perfume corner, a Used Book Café

with new and second-hand books

and a "Cantina"...

Last, but by no means least, Merci participates in a
philanthropic project whereby
all the profits go to help deprived children in Madagascar..
.

.. MERCI is to be found at
111, boulevard Beaumarchais
75003 Paris
which is in the Haut Marais district in the heart of Paris
.
an internet site will be online soon...

Being Thankful...

2009-03-31T13:06:00.006+02:00

Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

My photos: Cuba, Sri lanka, Ghana, Mauritius, St Tropez

Be thankful when you don't know something

For it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.

During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations

Because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge

Because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes

They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you're tired and weary

Because it means you've made a difference.

It is easy to be thankful for the good things.

A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are

also thankful for the setbacks.

GRATITUDE

can turn a negative into a positive.

Find a way to be thankful for your troubles

and they can become your blessings.

~ Author Unknown ~

Yours Truly...

2009-03-30T13:03:00.010+02:00

Photo: VintageVogue
.
° When I was 12, I was in a car accident that, by all laws of physics,

should have killed me.

I still don’t know how I survived.

° I seem unable to work unless I am surrounded by clutter.

If I file things away neatly, I immediately

lose them.

If I stack them up in big teetering piles, I somehow know

where everything is.

° My heart still breaks much more easily than it should.
It doesn’t take much.
I keep waiting for it to toughen up a little bit,

but it never does!
.

° If there is one thing I can't tolerate, it's gossip.

I have no interest whatsoever in the private details of

other people's lives, famous or not...

° I think of my blog as a hobby; a place for me to play

and share things that I like.

Its completely different from what I do

"in real life"...

Past Perfect...

2009-03-27T10:04:00.016+01:00

I simply had to share these adorable vintage
American car ads...

All above by Jon Williamson

.Wish I was off in one of them for a weekend by the sea!

Meanwhile...

2009-03-26T16:38:00.022+01:00

“Somewhere over the rainbow,
skies are blue,
and the dreams that you dare to dream
really do come true”
Lyman Frank Baum

What I'm loving in the images below from the TOAST

online catalogue:

~ the merest hint of blue on the fluffy white bath towels

~ the flooring made of tiny pebblestones

~ the pale blue near-seethrough curtains

~ the plain and simple bed linen, white bedside lamps and

stripped wooden floorboards

.
~ the Xtra large old rustic mirror and, last ,but not least,

all those beautiful straw hats!
.

~ the rustic setting of all these images in what looks
rather like an old fisherman's cottage in the Greek islands

.
All images: Toast

Fin de Semaine Dernière...

2009-03-23T18:10:00.021+01:00

Au chalet, en montagne, en toute simplicité...
.

Mes photos

"The best life to lead is your own.

Forget about what everyone else is doing and

concentrate solely on you."

unknown

Spring Fever...

2009-03-22T19:45:00.007+01:00

"It's spring fever.
That is what the name of it is.
And when you've got it, you want -

oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want,
but it just fairly makes your heart ache,
you want it so!"
Mark Twain

photo: abbytrysagain

Hope you all had a super weekend!

Hey, You...

2009-03-18T09:54:00.013+01:00

can you help?

* The One and Only!

Yesterday, as we lingered over lunch,
a friend of a friend, who's thinking of starting a blog, asked me:
"What advice would you give to someone new to blogging?"
Qui? Moi?
Give advice on blogging?!!
I mean, honestly, who, in their right mind, would ask moi
for advice on blogging?!

Despite my best intentions, I can honestly say
I quite often think of one thing and then something completely
different imposes itself and somehow ends up on my blog
- now, from what I've read about blogs and blogging
on other people's blogs,
this is not the way most bloggers blog...
Posts are pre-planned, thought out, perhaps even written ahead.
I, on the other hand, am still muddling
my way along somehow, pretending I know what I'm doing!
.
It was my nearest and dearest who jokingly suggested
I give her a list of "don't do what I do" tips!
Nevertheless, I must say, this whole conversation
got me thinking and
I wondered if any of you out there (all three of you!!!)
have better advice...
Which blogging platform do you,
or would you, use?
Blogger?
TypePad?
WordPress?
Any others I haven't heard of?
..
* I've had this photo in my collection for a very long time - I've no idea where
I initially sourced it; if anyone does know, please inform me -thanks!

J"ADORE...

2009-03-17T18:00:00.021+01:00

"Dancing with the feet is one thing,

but dancing with the heart is another"

Author Unknown

This was sent to me by a friend without a source; if you know whose work this is,

I'd love to know so I can credit them here...
.

Time Waits For No Man...

2009-03-16T12:40:00.007+01:00

"I try to take one day at a time,

but sometimes several days attack me at once"

Jennifer Yane

My all-time favourite watch

.
Prends le temps d'aimer...
C'est le secret de l'éternelle jeunesse !

.
Prends le temps de lire...
C'est la source du savoir !

.
Prends le temps d'écouter...
C'est la force de l'intelligence !

.
Prends le temps de penser...
C'est la clé de la réussite !

.
Prends le temps de jouer....
C'est la fraîcheur de l'enfance !

.
Prends le temps de rêver...
C'est un souffle de bonheur !

.
Prends le temps de rire...
C'est la musique de l'âme !

.
Prends le temps de pleurer...
C'est l'émotion d'un grand coeur !

.
Prends le temps de vivre...
Car le temps passe vite
Et ne revient jamais

Love to Love...

2009-03-14T19:49:00.009+01:00

Barbara Tfank's autumn 2009 collection...

.I was so impressed with the beautiful dresses and the incredibly

beautiful models...

not to mention, the luxurious fabrics...

. See the rest of the collection by clicking

here
.

photos from style.com
.

Barbara Tfank is a costume and fashion designer.
Her simple and elegant clothes are classic and very reminiscent of
"Breakfast at Tiffany's"

So Far, So True...

2009-03-13T10:49:00.009+01:00

THINGS I KNOW FOR SURE...

..
- Laughing is good therapy

- No matter what, at the end of the day

you can't recapture lost time

- Reading the instructions makes all the difference

- What you do to others reflects on you

- My occupation does not define me

- When you make big mistakes,
you make smaller ones next time

- No-one can see dust in candlelight

- The older I get the more I appreciate my youth

- It takes two to be a couple

- It is physically impossible to tickle yourself

- There is no recompense for the loss

of one's self-respect

- I love the sounds of happiness

- Do not set your goals by what other people

deem important,

only you know what is best for you

- My position in the community does not define me

- I like my bed better than any other

- Thoughts without action are only daydreams

- To attract friends you must be friendly

- No-one is ever going to take me camping

- Never compare yourself with others

- It is because we are different

that each of us is special

- To attract love you must be loving

- They don't make movies like they used to

.I'd love to know what's on your list...

Less is More...

2009-03-12T14:21:00.016+01:00

"...we can describe *voluntary simplicity

as a manner of living
that is outwardly more simple

and inwardly more rich,

a way of being in which our most authentic

and alive self
is brought into direct and conscious contact

with living..."

Duane Elgin

Here are just a few of my simple pleasures :

(I have many, many more..!)

.
° a simple fresh salad with fresh seasonal fruit

- my favourite summer meal...

.
Lucy's Kitchen Notebook

° my fresh, warm, morning baguette - a simple but delicious
breakfast...
.

Home and Gardens

° my simple garden chairs

.
° my simple but favourite summer table decoration - an antique linen

sheet; flowers from garden and mis-matched

tableware and vintage silver...

flickr

.
° walking barefoot on the sand - one of my many favourite

summer pastimes...
.

Decorative Country Living
.
° summer shopping with my French market basket - no logos, no plastic,
just stylish and practical..!
.
Simplicity is a quality that is frequently tinged with
negative connotations.
Hence - She's a bit simple - He's a simpleton
- It's so simple anyone could do it.
Simpleness may suggest plainness, a lack of style and sophistication.
I want to speak up for simplicity.
To me it's something that we should often both seek and treasure.
With simplicity you know what you are getting
- it is clear and honest and true,
unadorned and pure...
.
What are some of your simple pleasures..?

Shopping in Style...

2009-03-10T19:06:00.010+01:00

I love, love, love quirky independent stores...

Caravan

in east London is one such store

Browsing in places like this is not at all like the usual shopping experience;

shopping here feels like an adventure and
I always find something to please

family and friends...
.
I love the whole concept created by Emily Chalmers,
who started out as an interiors stylist.
.

Do checkout their site,

it's a real treat..!
.
All photos from the Caravan site

Personal Style...

2009-03-03T10:29:00.010+01:00

It wasn't until I'd been collecting favourite home interior

photos for quite a while that I started to see

some common elements...

Of course, that's why professional decorators advise clients to start

clipping photos of favourite home interiors before they even think

about decorating their own home.

It's true that when you spend time finding what you like,

you end up being able to separate your own taste

from the trends you see around you...

Here are just a few of the many elements that have emerged

over the years in my personal collection...

quirky, unfitted kitchens; solid stone sinks, antique cookers and

linen curtains instead of cupboard doors...

Vogue June 2004

extra large mirrors,

bare wooden floorboards and stunning leather pouffs...

Photos: Living Etc.

..antique leather Club armchair, mis-matched bric-a-brac,

book-lined walls...

Photo from stylist Atlanta Barret's site, Beach Studios, in the UK.

Keep Smiling...

2009-02-16T10:30:00.009+01:00

10 Reasons to Smile Today

You'll be amazed what could happen if you just

keep a smile on your face...

Audrey Hepburn, UNICEF ambassador
.

1. When you don't have much to offer

a smile always saves the day.

2. Smiles and laughter are proven to help

sick people get better faster.

3. When you smile everything seems easier.

4. Smiles are more likely to get you where

you're trying to go.

5. Sometimes when you smile you make other people

forget their worries and smile too!

6. If you smile more you'll age less.

Laugh lines are easier to deal with than worry lines.

7. If you smile everyone

will wonder what you're up to.

8. Smiles make it harder for people to be angry with you.

9. If you smile when you're upset

it'll be easier to carry your burdens

and you might just forget what you were so sad about.

Go on try it, just smile..!

Just Another Day in Paradise...

2009-02-14T22:03:00.005+01:00

"There is more to life than increasing its speed"

Mahatma Ghandi

There's nothing quite like a long hot soak

at the end of a long hard day...

Coup de Ceour...

2009-02-10T16:15:00.010+01:00

Hey,

where'd the beginning of this week go..?

I wasn't ready for

it to be Wednesday yet..!

rick owens leather jacket

ndc washed suede boots
.
Just sharing two of my latest favourite finds that I could
easily find room in my wardrobe for...

J'adore l'hiver quand il ne fait pas trop froid,
(pour l'instant ce n'est pas vraiment le cas car il neige dehors...)
je peux mettre des bottes tous les jours,

si je veux,
et des bottes, j'adore ça..!!!!
.

De Bric et de Broc...

2009-02-07T18:05:00.009+01:00

En attendant le début de la saison des Brocantes

et vide greniers

heureusement que les dépôts-ventes et
les blogs de brocanteurs sont là

pour les chineuses impatientes et trépignantes...

Images: Inredningsgalleriet Knut&Svea

Acknowledging Classic Design...

2009-02-01T12:40:00.017+01:00

I've always loved bandanas

and although this may seem like a strange blog post,

I decided the bandana is a classic design

who's style and function need to be acknowledged...

It began when I started travelling independantly and

needed to condense my luggage as I knew

I would be walking everywhere and jumping on and off trains and buses...

I remember throwing a bandana in my bag

thinking it would serve me for so many things:

A headband

A wash cloth

A Kleenex

A napkin

A shower cap

A luggage tag

A towel

A necklace

A Band-aid

A carry-all when tied hobo style

And finally,

a scarf...

. Some of you may avoid this universal accessory

thinking you look like a cowboy or pirate when wearing one

(not that there's anything wrong with that)

.
Designers from Louis Vuitton to Ralph Lauren

have taken this scarf to a whole new level
by adding their familiar signature...
.

More recently, my collection of bandanas
(which I no longer wear)
have been used by daughter when skiing or snowboarding
and to tie around our Golden retriever dog's neck
(she doesn't wear the same one as the dog..!)
.

Coup de Coeur...

2009-01-29T12:10:00.014+01:00

J'adore...
Baileys Home and Garden
the products sold on the web

but also their shop and café in Wales...

Images: Baileys Home and Garden

Checkout the

Baileys Home and Garden

website for more...

Happy Being Me...

2009-01-28T19:11:00.019+01:00

image: flickr

.I keep trying to escape this reality

that threatens to define me

Box me up and go ahead and blind me

Is this really all you think there is to me?

With this mystifying sense of deluded supremacy

You'd go ahead and try me

This misleading sense of equity

With which you choose to judge me

Because you don't feel comfortable in your own skin

You go ahead and blame me

Denying my freedom or the right to simply be

The comb in your hair does it give you such airs?

To think yourself better than we?

Then let that be your portion

'Cause I'm happy being me

Omotoke Olagbaju

Vintage Vogue...

2009-01-27T22:03:00.010+01:00

J'ADORE
Fashion Photography...
.. Capri, 1947

Helen Connor, 1954

Unknown model in Dior day dress, 1948

See below for more of these sublime photos :
myvintagevogue

World Music...

2009-01-24T14:54:00.008+01:00

à (re)découvrir…

‘Yael Naim’

Son répertoire qui marie français, d’anglais et d’hébreu

est très touchant de simplicité et beauté...

J'ADORE..!

Yael Naim

Simply beautiful music..!

Liens intéressants:

Gagnez des places pour le concert Privé Europe1

Le Parisien : petit reportage vidéo chez Yael

La suite des Aventures de Yael et David en Amérique

Keeping Things Whole...

2009-01-21T16:22:00.008+01:00

Image: Shaahin Madani

Keeping Things Whole

In a field

I am the absence

of field

This is

always the case.

Wherever I am

I am what is missing.

When I walk

I part the air

and always

the air moves into fill the spaces

where my body's been.

We all have reasons

for moving.

I move

to keep things whole.
.

Mark Strand

from Selected Poems

A Bientôt..!

2009-01-14T10:38:00.009+01:00

Off to visit a great friend...

a great friend makes you feel as though they were looking for you

even before they had knowledge that you exist

a great friend is one who would wish you to get well

before they've even learned what your favorite ethnic food is

a great friend is one who can speak of spiritual matters with you

without even knowing where you went to college

a great friend is one who can see right through to who you are

without having seen you face to face even once

a great friend is one who can sense your needs

without having been told what you do for recreation

a great friend is one who knows how to make you smile

without knowing yet what your favorite comedy is

.a great friend is one who knows what you see

without having glimpsed at the color of your eyes

a great friend is one who gives you the gift of insight

before being told when your birthday is

a great friend is one who gives you joy

without trying—without even knowing it

.a great friend is a great thing to have.

have you a great friend..?

i hope so

i do

.
Back Soon..!

Amo Paris...

2009-01-12T22:12:00.016+01:00

"I love Paris in the spring time
I love Paris in the fall
I love Paris in the summer when it sizzles
I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles
.

I love Paris every moment
Every moment of the yearI love Paris,
why oh why do I love Paris
Because my love is here".
Cole Porter
.

photo: Spirit of Paris

"Amo París en el tiempo del resorte

Amo París en la caída

Amo París en el verano en que chisporrotea

Amo París en el invierno en que llovizna

Amo París cada momento

Cada momento del ańo

Amo París, porqué oh porqué lo hace el amor París de I

Porque mi amor está aquí"

Cole Porter
.

*Listen to Frank Sinatra's version of this song...

Gone But Not Forgotten...

2009-01-10T17:27:00.015+01:00

Year’s End meme

2008

Image: Absolutely Beautiful Things

.1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
I travelled on the upstairs deck of a

double decker TGV..!
2. Did you keep your 2008 resolutions, and have you made
more for 2009?
I didn’t make any last year, this year I'm aiming for
a "bigger smaller life"..!
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, my neighbour,

does that count..?
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Yes,
and I miss them terribly.
5. What countries did you visit?
Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Italy, England...

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
The ability to say NO more often...
7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your
memory, and why?
Husband and daughters' near fatal road accident...

say no more..!
8.What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Just getting through the year,

alive and still kicking, to be honest..!
9. What was your biggest failure?
Still not learnt to relax...

I'm always on the go and have zillions of things permanently on my mind...
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing major as I'm extremely healthy, however my weak back is in
the habit of playing up at the most awkward moments,
e.g before a long-haul flight..!
11. What was the best thing you bought?
All I bought (food, medicines, clothes...) for one particular homeless,
fatherless family (one of many forgotten victims of the 2004 SE Asia Tsunami)
I met on my trip SW Sri Lanka...
12. Whose behaviour made you appalled or depressed?
She will remain nameless;

she knows who she is...'nuff said!
13. Where did most of your money go in 2008?

I wish I knew..!
14. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Reconnecting with my "bestest of best" friends from my childhood
spent in West Africa...
15. Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier or sadder?

Happier...I'll soon be reuniting with some other friends
I haven't seen for years..!
Thinner or fatter?

Fatter -I needed the extra weight..!
Richer or poorer?

Much richer for all the wonderful people I met, the experiences I had,

the discoveries I made...
16. What do you wish you’d done more of?
My abdominal exercises

- the more I do, the less my back aches..!
17. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Carrying heavy loads

- this is what always does my back in..!
18. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate
this time last year?
No, I don't hate anyone, I never have...
19. What was the best book you read?
As a bookworm, this is impossible to answer, I've read too many
"unputdownable" books in 2007..!
20. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Again, impossible to choose just one...
21. What did you want and get?
A maximum of love and affection...
22. What was your favourite film of this year?
Little Miss Sunshine (in English) Dialogue avec mon Jardinier (in French)
I know, I'm cheating, but they are definately on a par..!
23. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably
more satisfying?
Had my family been free to accompany me on my latest

trip to Sri lanka
24. How would you describe your personal fashion
concept in 2008?
Well, I don't know about fashion concepts...

I've been wearing jeans, and in particular, my Levi 501 jeans, for what feels like

forever (not the same pair..!) regardless of whether they are in or out of fashion;
I've always lived in my Tod's Italian leather loafers - well before they became

the "in" thing to wear;

I simply couldn't survive without my pashminas

(the real thing : from Nepal and India)
and my love of T-shirts is near legendary..!
According to friends "in the know", my style is "sport chic"...

that certainly sounds a great deal better than my own

description of my thrown together "look"..!
25. What kept you sane?

Who said anything about being sane..?

Someday, Somewhere...

2009-01-08T12:06:00.011+01:00

Un jour, quelque part

- toujours partout,

vous vous trouverez,

et cela, et seulement cela,

peut être le plus heureux

ou le plus amer heure

de votre vie...

Pablo Neruda
.

Algún día

en cualquier parte,
en cualquier lugar indefectiblemente
te encontrarás a ti mismo,
y ésa,
sólo ésa,
puede ser la más feliz o
la más amarga de tus horas...
Pablo Neruda
..

.
Someday, somewhere -

anywhere, unfailingly,

you'll find yourself,

and that, and only that,

can be the happiest or

bitterest hour of your life...

Pablo Neruda

Images::danske