I like how furniture designer Haldane Martin has given it a completely new colour and twist – In his design he replaces the riempies with recycled plastic! 
We have some South African friends who live in London. Their Riempie chair needed some repairs and so they asked us to send some of the leather strips or riempies over. 
I was delighted to receive their “before” and “after" pics today! Well done Colin and co!
We’ve just been away to a lovely Game Reserve down the South Coast at Oribi Gorge, called Lake Eland. The natural beauty of the area is stunning and well worth a visit
- but I really enjoyed the delightful log cabin chalets overlooking the lake. 
The creative use of natural materials to make just about everything in the chalet was very inspiring! I love these sturdy Horn door handles!
My son arrived home on my birthday and presented me with these on behalf of his sisters and himself...
The gate buzzer went and I was told there was a flower delivery for me. My friend Fernanada had sent me these...
And then I received a message yesterday from Erin of Miko Design to say that I had won a surprise package for giving a name to her lovely new range of Prints.
I cant wait for it to arrive in the post! 
But now they look like this... 
Soon I'll find something else creative to do with them! Actually I wouldn't mind filling them with some beautiful birds from the print by Carolyn Gavin of Designer Blog . Her range of stationery is 100% recycled and it's delicious!
And Bird lover Michelle of the delightful Cher Ami featured these beautiful birdcage cards from Luxe Papiere. 
All of this reminds me of my collection of bird cages. A while ago I used them to decorate a lunch table. Tomorrow I'll tell you what they are up to now!
I love to put some of my everyday posessions on a podium. It makes me look at them with new eyes. [I do it quite a lot] These paintbrushes add a touch of rhythm to this table scape. The tray came from an old tea wagon and the legs for the tray came from a local charity shop. The Bromeliad in a pot was a surprise gift!
We celebrated my birthday yesterday. It was a cold and rainy day, but we had a lot of fun. My daughter hand drew the gift wrap. She knows I like silhouettes and so she made this one for me and decorated the gift and card with satin ribbon stripes. 
Then I hauled out my old spoon collection and a vintage tray. 
We sat around the table and "played". I recorded some of the results
!
When can we make a date again?
I have a weakness for saris. I live in Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa, where we experience a rich Indian Culture. This means that on my frequent visits to Charity Shops, I am almost always confronted by some "Second Hand Saris for Sale"! I just cant resist all those metres and metres of beautifully patterned fabric for around $1.50 or 70p [R10 for those of us in SA]. 
