Sunday, April 23, 2006

Weekend prattling

My landlord finally gave me a bookcase yesterday evening, so I spent the day spring cleaning, y'know, doing the windows, picture rails, skirting boards and the corners. It felt great!

There seems to be a pattern. I spend the winter feeling low and lethargic, thinking, "Will I be like this forever?" and then - it happened last year too - there is one sunny day in April when I just spring to life and clean the room from top to bottom, windows wide open and curtains fluttering in the breeze.

That day was yesterday.

Today I have been wiping down all the dusty books that have spent the past two years stacked alongside the wall by my bed. They are all on shelves now, just about. I have some amazing books, it's so exciting to see them all again! I had to laugh when I went picked one up and exclaimed, "Oh my, I have a Dictionary of Theories?!".

There are more than 200! Half are art and history books and a couple of art historical tomes - so heavy that if you could throw it, you would kill a man at a few paces.

Then there are a lot of nice reference volumes, French/Italian/Latin/Icelandic dictionaries, some family antiques, a couple of box sets, a whole shelf of literary classics and fiction.
And a bothersome pile of Christie's magazines, useful magazines, auction catalogues, maps, and guides from absolutely every place I have visited in the past four years.

Remind me never to buy another book.




My shorter, straightened hair:



















Oven mitt from Jia Li in Newfoundland. It is handmade locally by a granny.
and metal bookmark from Denise in NYC. It's from Kate Spade's paperie in SoHo.





















Piccadilly Circus/Regent's Street.
It is at moments like these when I remember I love London:























A goose by the pond at Regent's Park:

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Like the hair...

I recall suggesting straightening, so I take all the credit for this

Anonymous said...

Bookcases! I love them and keep buyig them cause they are overflowing all too soon. Anyone who isnt bookish would probably find all my rooms rather stuffy cause of them. But oh I too love looking at my treasures! As for dusting them, I admit I only just run a fluffy disposable duster thingy over them from time to time.
Saturday was a lovely day wasn't it. We finally started de-jungle-ing the garden. Kinda like spring cleaning.
I like the hair with the ribbon thingy. Girly in a nice way.

Olivia said...

Anonanon - I remember, but it was so long ago!

The cheek...my prodigal reader comes back wanting all the credit...You can have the hip-hip but not the hooray, how's that?

Rox - I have so much window in my room (woulda been the drawing room) that there's no space for any more furniture.

Hehe, I too have a duster, but it's ostrich feather and more comes off it than it picks up.
This was thick dust from them having been stacked and untouched for so long.

Steli - yes more surprises I found are:
the 1542 Tyndale New Testament, the Morte D'Arthur in original Old English by Thomas Malory, 4 etiquette books (!), a volume of cocktails, a book about Anglo Saxon English, a history of our alphabet...how eclectic.

Hey I was looking at jobs in France the other day!

MattJ said...

Hello you! I personally like having my little set of shelves overflowing with books, I could do with somehting more substantial so I can bring other volums out of retirement but always has to be overflowing hehe. I have a much less ecclectiv mix - all novels or non-fiction mixed in with Techy Books (from chip architecture to programming - ooh the thrill! lol), some cook books and one or two on ethics.

My filing system, as you can tell, is astounding.

you been able to publish posts today Liv? I come back to the fold and now I can't publish my vital and groundbreaking stories! :D

Anonymous said...

your hair looks nice.

Olivia, to tell you to stop bying books would be like telling to stop eating.

I am glad you finally got a bookshelf...I'd love to see your room now. Send me pics, pretty please.

Sorry, you haven't heard from me in a week. Lots of changes this week.

love, vanessa

michelle said...

hey, I love that u love the oven mit

Olivia said...

Matt - I wasn't online much today as I was working so I don't know what Blogger was up to.

Overflowing? Exactly what I do not want my bookcase to be like! I want it to stay as pretty as it is now :)

Vanessa - You're right, I will never stop but I have slowed down a lot.
I wish I had it when you were here!
I took a photo yesterday but I will have to take another because I put my pretty accoutrements up too.
I want to talk to you soon so you can tell me about these "changes".

Jia Li - it's hanging on the side of the bookshelf right now, actually...

Olivia said...

Steli - je ne comprends pas. pourquoi? Tu aimes ces livres?

Also, I have not forgotten that you have requested a Hieronymus Bosch blog. Now that I have access to my books...!!! I am determined to write it without Google.

Max and Me said...

ooh what wonderful photos! i love your hair! and your bookcase looks so neat! i should take a photo of my bookcase...not neat! i am so envious of your beautiful blogger blog! i will have to work hard to get mine to look so lovely...

Um Naief said...

aaah, some more beautiful pics. I particularly like the goose. Your eyes are soooo big and pretty. How I'd love to have big eyes! But.. we always want what we don't have, eh?

I really enjoy your blog.