Summer has arrived!

Summer has definitely arrived here! And that means cherries! Lots of them! On the trees (remember this post from last year about these little red jewels?) and being sold off the back of trucks that go slowly through the streets with the seller yelling out 'cherries, cherries - 2 Lira a kilo!'



Yashar and I rushed over to buy a kilo. Just to get us started. I'm thinking about making some cherry jam - which is very popular here - but am wondering if it will take a ridiculous amount of time to get all the pips out. Does any one have any good family recipes? At the moment though we are just enjoying them in a nice frosty bowl straight from the fridge.


Summer also means another trip to the beach. We went back to the same beach again - called Dalia Club near Demircekoy - about a half hour drive from our apartment. And I know I was kind of anti entry fee, but there are plenty of perks!

These gorgeous woven style umbrellas have been put up all over the place . On one of the little peninsulas they've put a lot of chairs and tables with white tablecloths and big umbrellas and they've built a platform to swim out to. I could get used to this...

Making Mondays: Kits and Patterns

We didn't get to do much 'making' this week - except sandcastles! So here are some gorgeous kits and patterns for a little making inspiration.
I want to make this for Yashar - I think he would love 'feeding' the bone to the little puppy! You can buy the pattern from Amy Gaines' cute shop here.


This notepad kit from The Small Object is so cute and Sarah says that making these notepads is addictive! You can buy the kit here. You can also visit her main website here and her 'steno pad' here (which has lots of cute free downloads).

I love the sculptural beauty of these knitted pomegranates from Yoola (designed by Yael Falk -who is also an industrial designer). The kits are nicely packaged too -the perfect gift for someone who likes to make things - or for yourself! You can buy the kits here and Yael has a blog here that I am looking forward to delving in to.

Happy making!

Yashar weekly photo

Wouldn't it be nice if, when you were in a nice cool cafe and were feeling a little sleepy, then you could just grab a little cushion and have a snooze?

We are off for a little relaxation and family time this weekend so I will be back on Monday. I hope you all have a relaxing (and fun!) weekend too.

V
xo

From Istanbul to relaxing on the beach in 30 minutes!

A couple of weekends ago, it was such a nice surprise to find a beautiful beach so close by. It only took us half an hour to get to the beach just near Demircekoy (which translates as 'blacksmith/iron worker village' - I love some of the place names here!).

The sand was so nice - the grains were much bigger than I am used to - and you might remember the pretty pebbles we collected there from this post.

And we managed to have some perfect timing too (not that we planned it that way). The 'season' was starting a week later which would mean 30 turkish lira (about AUS$25 or US$20) per person to go to the beach. I know in the grand scheme of things it is not a huge amount, and maybe I'm just used to the Australian beaches that are free, but I think it is such a shame that these beautiful natural places around Istanbul cost more than a lot of people can afford. Everyone should be able to enjoy them I think. How does it work where ever you are? I do kind of like the lounge chair, umbrella and waiter service you get with paying the fee though!

Anyway, we had some great timing and I plan to visit after Summer too because Yashar loves hanging out and playing in the sand! We had a gorgeous and relaxing day.

ps. if anyone has any inside information on any nice free beaches near Istanbul that aren't too crowded (am I asking for too much?!) please let me know!

Making Mondays: Our little wooden fruit crate garden

The basil seeds Yashar and I planted were starting to get pretty crowded. You might remember the containers from this post where we planted bulbs in them - once the bulbs had finished flowering we replaced them with basil and sage seeds - two herbs I love but that are not widely available here.

Yashar and I have a little ritual going where we water them together each day -Yashar is in charge of carrying the cup of water outside and then pouring - and then we smell the herbs together, which Yashar always thinks is very funny! This is actually often my method for cheering him up when he is grumpy.


I digress...the basil was getting crowded so we made a little balcony herb garden. I got one of the wooden crates that the fruit and vegetable sellers use at our local market and lined it with bubble wrap (because that is what we had lying around). I cut some holes in the bubble wrap for drainage and then filled it with potting mix.

Then early one morning, while Yashar and I were letting Senol have a well deserved sleep in, we put our rosemary and the sage and basil we grew in. Yay - we now have a herb garden!

I'm finding it hard to resist picking some basil to use in our cooking...just a little bit longer and it will be ready.

Yashar this week

It's amazing to see this beautiful little boy, who definitely has his own strong personality, grow.
And to now and then see glimpses of me. Like when I took this photo. He is definitely a dreamer.

Let's make cake!

I love cake! I love making it and I love eating it even more. One of the things I really miss in the apartment we are renting is that there is no oven! We have been contemplating getting one of the ones that sits on the bench that are common here but where would we put it?? I even considered sacrificing the dishwasher to make enough space...but that is one sacrifice I'm just not prepared to make! ; )

So, as a tribute to cake...

I have just put this print in the shop. In between looking after Yashar and running outside to deal with a car that had been left parked without the handbrake on, that managed to go down the hill, turn the corner, hit a car and then hit our car, I managed to do some quick experimentation with taking photos of the print in its natural habitat.

I like how they turned out (although they definitely aren't up to the standard I would like just yet - especially when combined with a computer that has fallen out of love with me and is making the photos look grainy, among many other things!) I will try taking some more when I have time. What do you think? Or do you prefer just the plain images? Or maybe you have a great idea for how to photograph them??

New...but not new new

If you have been visiting here for a while, then you might remember this watercolour and pencil artwork I did, way back when I had just started posting about my work.



I decided to make it into a mini-print for the shop. It's about 12 x 8.8 cm (4.7 x 3.5 inches). I really like it this size and could imagine it in a cute little white standing wooden frame on a shelf or bedside table or in a bigger frame with a nice big pale cream matt-board around it. I always loved doing those sorts of frames when I was helping my Dad out with his framing work.

I have so many ideas and projects swimming around in my head, and many almost completed things at the moment. Then the next big project will be taking some great photos of my work framed...I have a feeling the to do list is never ending! In a good way though.

Making Mondays: Beach Pebble Tea Light Holder

This week's project is so ridiculously easy that I feel cheeky counting it as something for Making Mondays! It's a cute little tea light holder we made using pebbles collected at the beach. (I will post about the gorgeous time we had there soon). The beach has the most beautiful sand and pebbles.


Yashar and I spent some time down by the water's edge collecting the gorgeous, slightly translucent pebbles. Then once we got home, we filled a plain little glass tea light holder we already had about a third of the way up with the pebbles. Then we plopped in the tea light and put some of the smaller pebbles around it. I wish we had collected more pebbles now!

Finished - or as Yashar now loves to say - Bitti! (Turkish for finished) Of course I will be keeping this one well out of reach of Yashar - the pebbles will be too tempting for him to pop in his mouth I think!

7 things I love

I hope you are all having a gorgeous weekend. The lovely Joyce from Pattern and Perspective recently passed on the 'Kreativ Blogger Award' to me. Thank you! The award requires you to post about 7 things I love. I'm going to keep mine short and sweet.

1.Family - but you probably already know that.

2. Creating - ahhh, I'm guessing you already know this too.

3. Old buildings, wooden furniture, handmade.

4. Nature - simple beauty, trees, dappled sunlight, rolling waves, relaxing at the beach, the fresh cool of the forest, the stars, lying on the grass.

5. Books- the stories, the design, the texture, the illustrations, the photographs, snuggling under the covers and reading.

6. Art - the creativity, the history, unique perspectives, the beauty of life.

7. Good food, good chocolate, good coffee.


Here are a few things I love!


ps sorry, as always, I'm breaking the chain here, but if you want to see what some very talented people are up to please have a browse of the links in the left sidebar. Thanks!