December Theme

The December theme is "Lines". 

I'm keeping it broad on purpose,but I suspect my main interpretation of this theme is going be drawings and doodles - i.e., lines as drawn by my own fair hand. 

I was going to title this month's theme 'Doodle', but 'Lines' is a bit more broad and allows for some abstract interpretations too. So 'Lines' it is!!

Obligatory and obvious statement: all images, photos and drawings are mine (and obviously copyrighted to me), unless I use someone else's work - in which case, I will provide full acknowledgement. 

Quick self-review: not quite sticking to the post-a-day goal I set myself. But I'm bulk-posting whenever I can and if I can count properly, November has 30 posts. And that's good enough for me!

And into December we go!

Lines...

ReeDaBee

Pot of Tea

Continuing the tea theme from the previous post, this is a delightful little teapot. 

Scalloped and squat and sweetly decorated with scrolling vines and flowers. 

It's got a good little handle and pours cleanly - no dribbles!

It's much too delicate to be used alongside my big, blunt favourite mug. 

One needs tiny cups which can match the delicacy of the teapot in spirit, if not on design. 

It's a good teapot for one.

It tends to get used for medicinal teas, turning the imbibing of (usually bitter) herbs into a soothing ritual. 

ReeDaBee

Elephants for Tea

A lovely keepsake of a tin. 

Once full of loose Darjeeling tea, now kept because, well look at it, how can I not?

Happy and handy and airtight! 

And a chance to continue the elephant theme that's been threaded through this month's photo montage!

ReeDaBee

Tray Nostalgique

The good old 'souvenir of Mauritius' tray from my decades-old childhood that I used to have all my TV snacks and dinners on. 

What am I saying - 'used to'?! I still do!

 

Actually, it's in pretty good nick, considering its advancing years. 

And here it is with my favourite mug.

And before you ask, it's not going anywhere! Memories, nostalgia and kitsch appeal have made sure of it!!

ReeDaBee

Ready to Shine

The joy of a brand new, pristine, not-yet-lit candle.

 

A little cup of wax perfection.

ReeDaBee

Silk Scarf

A beautiful scarf in the lightest, most delicate of watery silks.

Probably hand-painted too.

It's about a metre in length, and around 25cm in width. 

It's absolutely beautiful. 

I don't like to wear it often because I'm scared of hurting it in some way. Even fingertips with that level of light roughness - because they've have been washed several times and not moisturised each time - scrape across the silk alarmingly as though they're going to rip it into shreds!

Treated with nervous kid gloves.

ReeDaBee

Polka Dot Cherry Earrings

The title says it all - polka dot cherry-coloured earrings!

Fun and frivolous and makes you feel delightfully dotty!

ReeDaBee

Tai Ji Sword

A Tai Ji straight sword - currently sheathed - for practising one's forms. 

For a mass-produced item, it is very pretty. 

With animal motifs on the ... hilt? (Sorry, I don't know the different 'body-parts' of swords very well).

Partially unsheathed, to reveal a shiny, unmarred blade.

It is of an ideal length to trip me up, were I to try and walk with it. So I don't. Walk with it, that is. 

I just handle it gingerly from time to time and pretend I live in a time and place where wielding this type of sword is an everyday thing...

ReeDaBee

Clip(ped) Tones



A familiar, insultingly ordinary little object - that most simple of hair clips! You've seen one, you've seen them all!

Not quite. I've had this one since I was a kid, decades ago now (gulps at the realisation of counting the distance from childhood in decades!!).

 And of course, back in the day, I had dozens of them. And as is the way of bobby pins, bic pens and hairclips, I've managed to lose and misplace multiple ones over the years. This is my last, solitary survivor.

And this is of course the big tragedy, because the similar ones in the supermarket now, are not like this authentic back-in-the-day one.

The ones now are bigger and somehow more gauche. I don't like the look of the new ones and can't bring myself to buy any of them as replacements.

I will probably lose this one (I've misplaced it numerous times) - or break it (the tip has an extra upwards kink to it that isn't meant to be there).

And I will mourn its eventual loss/passing. But for now, *cue the angelic singing choir* as the light shines on ye heavenely clipe.


ReeDaBee

Dodo Au Go-Go

A groovy stone carving of a Dodo. 

I don't know what kind of stone of stone it is: for something that is small enough to fit into the palm of my hand, it is quite heavy. 

'Which is my best side? This one?'

'Maybe this one?'

'Definitely the second-last one. At least you bothered to get me in focus for that one!'

(A temperamental Dodo and all!)

 

ReeDaBee

Elephant Stool

Elephant stool: Not quite what it sounds like, and yet exactly what it sounds like...

A little stool carved to look like an elephant. 

(Not the stuff Bear Grylls has tasted in the name of testing out survival techniques!)

The carving is unusual and intricate.

Detailed and distinctly in that Balinese style. 

From every angle.

Just lovely. 

And a bit too delicate these days to be used for its functional purpose, and decorative it must therefore it remain.

ReeDaBee

Drop of Another Hat

Either the sunshine and rain are in cahoots - taking turns trying to bamboozle us for their own amusement or they're in a vicious, yet evenly-matched, duel. 

Hence the need for the Nepalese beanie one day, and the surfie-influenced, stylish  and chic woven straw hat. To be worn with just that blend of carefree je-ne-sais-quoi and aplomb, of course (how else does one wear a hat?!) 

Tres handsome. 

Bring it on, ye mighty weather gods, I'm all prepped! 

ReeDaBee

Drop of a Hat

With the weather deciding to slap us with a rude reminder of wet, damp and cold, I was sent scurrying back to the warmth of the winter woollies (which can never be completely packed away until summer has baked the world into a moisture-free zone).

This beanie of funky colours comes from Nepal. 

It has a fleecy lining ( I like to think of it as being Himalaya-inspired) and the ear flaps are helpful for stopping your ears from feeling as though they're going to snap off from your head and shatter on the hard muddy ground below. 

An obligatory accompaniment to the hat is a mug of hot chocolate, served in my fave mug.

Once ready and rugged up, watch the sun come out...

ReeDaBee

Sculpted Ganesh

Such simple, simple blocks of wood - carved inindividual pieces that, when put together, are completely recognisable as Ganesh (one of the Hindu Gods). 

Delicate Indian artisan workmanship at its  skilful best!

ReeDaBee

Rocking the Carving

A piece volcanic rock from Bali, carved in the Balinese style. 

Beautiful from every angle. 

Including close-up.

ReeDaBee

Shopping with Frida

This is a great grocery shopping bag - roomy, strong enough for the bulky, heavy stuff, and as far removed from the bland shopping bags as you can get!

(Just in case it's keeping you awake at night burning with curiosity and/or because it's twitching at your latent OCD tendencies: the Frida image is actually in perspective on the bag itself. The camera just happened to be a genius at distorting the perspective).

ReeDaBee

Eye Spy

My can't-leave-home-without sunglasses, or sunnies (as they're usually called here in Australia). They're by Red or Dead. (You can find them via a quick online search; I hadn't intended for these Objets Trouves posts to become plugs for companies I like...).

Case first: I've never seen a groovier design for the inside of a case! And of course, you don't pick your sunnies by the case. The case you get handed is usually pot luck. And I've been handed some spectacularly (pun NOT included on purpose!) ordinary cases in the past. So it's a nice, cherry-on-top, kind of feeling to have a nice case too!

After all, thinking about it because of this post, we do actually end up looking at the case just as much as the sunnies. The sunnies are either hidden in the case or perched on our faces - either way, we don't see the sunnies as much as the cases!

I was hesitant about the design on the arms, but I've decided it's fun, but without being blingy. And woe betide anyone who dares describe them as 'blingy'. You've been warned.

The lenses actually have a rosy-brown tint, which the store manager suggested would be best, and even though my preference is for the cool-blue-grey kind of tint, her advice was spot-on. The tint is perfect, and I like the rose-coloured view of the world they give me - especially when I'm sulkily starting my commute every morning.

And they're just removed enough from the fashion trends so as to be timeless (IMHO, of course). They look lovely, graceful and chic! And while the rest of me might struggle to get the glam-Cannes-Film-Festival look, at least the sunnies are ready to go. 

ReeDaBee

Canine Kongs

The Yipsters (yipping hipsters) enjoying their Kong toys - one of the best doggy toy inventions ever!!

Sorry about the blatant brand plugging. 

Oh please! No, I'm not. 

One of the best toys for doggies ever! Ever, I tell you, ever!!

Ready for the doggies to investigate!

Cue the song by The Goodies' Bill Oddie: 'Kitten Kong'. 'Canine Kong'...

ReeDaBee

All that Glitters

A silly little novelty item, you ask? Nothing more than glittery pinkness to capture a kid's attention for a few mere seconds??

Oh dear. So wrong, so very wrong!!

This, my friends, was intended as nothing more than a light, $2 'gag' item for a very serious, work-related planning day, peopled by serious, high-thinking and deep-thinking individuals (i.e., the Serious People). 

Instead, the closing speaker, who looked - it must be said - for all the world like an absent-minded professor, summarised the key thoughts of the day using this very pen as the key connecting point. 

The 4 feathery tails were paralleled to a four-headed Hydra - the different 'pulls' of competing priorities, which get united in the 'pointy end' of the pen - which in turn symbolises the writing that gets things done. Feathers, glitter and the pen colours were all pulled in to a witty, clever speech incorporating all the themes of the day that had all the Serious People laughing out loud. The Serious People rarely laughed for this long, and never all at the same time. 

I was crying with laughter. It was the most perfect closing speech I've ever experienced!  

And that's why I still have the pen, even though I've shifted offices multiple times since then. It still makes me grin. 

ReeDaBee