reasons to be cheerful - home comforts

I'm not usually one to invite the internet into my bedroom, but I've been spending some time on Etsy recently, and I'd like to show you one of my finds.

I saw a cushion by Utilitarian Franchise in a magazine, and decided I had to have one.  I love the collage images silk screened on their handmade covers, the only problem I had was choosing which image (I couldn't, and got two...)

Utilitarian Franchise is based in San Fransisco, and you can buy their work here.

Left: Growing Human Heart and Lungs, teal on unbleached canvas.  Right: Growing Human Heart, red on light blue, both by Utilitarian Franchise 

reasons to be cheerful - unexpected blooms

One day, on my walk home from work I saw a large growth, like an artichoke, on a tall, skinny cactus. I was intrigued. I had never seen anything like it. Was it a fruit? A flower?

Over the next few days it grew longer and my curiosity grew with it.

It was late at night when I saw the flower had eventually opened, luminous under the streetlights. I woke up early to photograph it, before anyone could pick it.

reasons to be cheerful - a morning spent baking

My good friend Snaily celebrated a birthday recently, and what better way to make merry than with some sweet treats!

I came across the recipe for biscuits, by Sarah Hobbs, it can be found here. The snail cutter came from Ikea, in the Drömmar pastry cutter set. When I first bought them, I can't describe how excited I was at the prospect of making moose-shaped biscuits...

reasons to be cheerful - a bittersweet bombshell

Sometimes, after a long day at work, a girl just needs a drink. I never say no to a Tom Collins, but was inspired by its refreshing flavours to invent the following, and my resident mixologist is always happy to oblige.

bette marie

1.5 oz vodka

0.5 oz cherry brandy

0.5 oz sugar syrup

1.5 oz lemon juice

soda water

Build on ice, in a lovely glass, stir and top with the soda water.

Adjust the measures to suit whether you prefer it bitter or sweet.

PS. Maybe you'd like to try a Bombay Bette, switching gin instead of vodka...

reasons to be cheerful - the bricks of waikiki

Waikiki is full of great buildings, decorated with great bricks.

This is an apartment pool surrounded by feature bricks, palm trees and hibiscus bushes.

'

The apartment building above, facing onto the Ala Wai canal, is delightful, but nothing beats the Waikiki Skyliner.

reasons to be cheerful - cyprus club bricks

I've never been inside the Cyprus club, but I am often hypnotised by their wall...

58 Stanmore Rd, Stanmore

reasons to be cheerful - footpath gardens

The neighbours might complain and the council threaten to remove them, but I like footpath gardens. They have a nostalgia for when people actually knew their neighbours, when homes weren't restricted by their front gates.
It seems like a nice street to live in.