2019: Setting the Scene…

Earlier last year, I spent more than a few hours flicking through early pictures of Zen Buddhist communities in the US. This was followed (not intentionally), by reading Olivia Laing’s The Lonely City where a few pages about hoarding had a huge emotional impact on me (pp. 167-170).

It’s perhaps no surprise then that the above pic from Donald Judd’s kitchen, master of minimalism (whilst strongly rejecting the term), has set the scene for this coming year (I've thrown in the dining area as a bonus).

Everything that you need to cook is here. No scrabbling around in drawers required. I’ve been trying this out, not just in the kitchen, but for bathroom unguents and the bedroom wardrobe too. Laying things out and deciding what it is that I want and need. Always, much less than I thought.

I want ... #6

It's been a while. The "I want..." series continues. Always stripped down, always about the basics. Happy to settle down here for life...

Plants Taste Better

I'm always looking forward to the publication of one book or another. This is the one that’s currently at the top of my list (due out in March)…

Christmas 2017

My annual excursion to blogger … I am clearly, judging by this picture, as old-fashioned as blogger is for bloggers. The ‘granny gifts’ of soap, socks, and books made Christmas 2017 for me, and have sustained me through this dreary (weather-wise at least) January. Good smells and beautifully crafted (deadstock) socks have done a much-needed job in starting the day off on a fine note. In terms of annual regularity there is stock from the much-loved NHR, top-ups of organic perfume, the addition of the final professional Microplane to my collection, and the welcoming of a few more mainly veggie cookbooks, yoga and gardening books to my ever-growing stash. Vintage is in the mix re. a pocketed gymslip dress and the aforementioned socks. A shout-out to the self-care series by Golubka for beauty recommendations in the form of Océopin’s maritime pine seeds (you can spy the bottle top-right, but, as ever, I am intrigued to rustle up something similar myself from English offerings). Attempts at making myself presentable include brushes by Neal’s Yard and Rodin (both animal friendly) and a (much needed) dark circle concealer by Couleur Caramel. As ever, my make-up routine comprises using the teeniest amount of product possible, deciding I prefer the au naturel look, and taking the majority of the teeniest product off again…

I want ... #5/Lisette

It’s been a long time, blog.

My ‘what I want #’ listings and Lisette postings combine. 100% English Shepley wool sweater, with the spinning manufacturer producing this yarn celebrating more than 200 years in business…

Photo via envelope.

Christmas 2016

I promised myself that I’d post something celebratory in this grey month. My Christmas presents for 2016 seemed a good place to start. Essentially, things that will last forever, pared down and beautiful, and keeping to the tradition of a few chosen categories … clothes, unguents, a single cooking utensil, something to do with yoga, and of course, books. Thus, as pictured, a Cocon Commerz Privatsachen dress (the ethos of the company written about beautifully here), a Dunhill sweater (an extremely lucky unworn ebay find), oodles of organic perfume, an Eric Ravilious calendar, lunch at the River Café (for the greyest of January days), a brush for face powder (of which I can count its use throughout the year on the fingers of one hand, but this brush might make me rethink), liquid Vitamin D (knowing the lack of sun to come in the next few months), a new Microplane to add to my collection and some of my favourite chocolate (but that has disappeared from the shot!).

Last, but definitely not least, the books... I’m often overwhelmed when I walk into bookshops and see piles of modern books stacked up. They seem to come out in a never-ending unthinking churn of production. Perhaps due to this, it’s easy to spot the ‘special ones’, the ones where it’s clear much love and labour has been devoted to the final product. Amongst those in the pile, I can’t recommend highly enough a new yoga book on the legacy of Vanda Scaravelli, Ducksoup’s cookbook, Rococo’s book on chocolate, and Luciano Giubbilei’s sumptuous gardening book, primarily focussing on his time spent at Great Dixter, a garden I’ve been taken to each year since I was knee high to a grasshopper…

The Moon Juice Cookbook, Superfoods, iHerb and Ayurvedic Toothpaste

One of the books I’m looking forward to reading this year is Amanda Chantal Bacon’s The Moon Juice Cookbook out in the autumn. Not because I’m a huge fan of superfoods, powders and supplements with often vastly inflated price tags (my vote is always to prioritise eating the best local organic or biodynamic fruit or veg you can find) but I recognise the place that minute spoonfuls of pretty powders and the cracking open of a glass ampule for an energising elixir can play in kickstarting or supporting a healthier daily lifestyle. If you are spending £££ on a fancy supplement it can inspire you to think more carefully about the rest of your daily intake.

On that note I’d been meaning to try iHerb for a long time. I’d been inspired by these two UK write-ups but it wasn’t until I was nearing the end of my favourite toothpaste, Herbal Crème de Anise by Nature’s Gate, that I was pushed into action. I do stir up batches of my own toothpaste powder, however when I travel, due to spillages, powders give way to more conventional toothpaste tubes. I always look in every health shop I enter but Nature’s Gate seems an elusive brand in the UK, limited in my experience to Uhuru in Oxford and I wasn’t planning on visiting Oxford in the near future, so I turned to iHerb (which seemed cheaper than an online Amazon splurge).

I also turned, inspired by a few flashes of sunny rays, to my trusty guide to all things ayurvedic and was reminded about changing toothpaste flavours for the seasons – the recommendations are fennel for spring, neem or peppermint for summer, liquorice for autumn and cinnamon or clove for winter. In the end I plumped for aniseed, liquorice/mint, neem/cinnamon and neem/pomegranate. All vegan and with varying combinations of fluoride free, paraben free, gluten free, etc. There was one major disappointment as it seems that Nature’s Gate have changed from aluminium tubes to plastic (all the other brands pictured were plastic too). Yuk. Yet more plastic in the world.

The key to iHerb as this guide helpfully outlines (the site itself give minimum information on international shipping) is to keep your order to under £15 (be sure to include shipping too, which is extremely low) to avoid charges on entering the UK. Be especially careful with iHerb discounts of $5 off here or there as whilst these are given (and gratefully received), the full price (from the evidence of my recent order at least) shows up on your shipping label.

Next on my list is vegan vitamins …