How to: Annoy your OCD housemate

The lovely Alice has a slight condition. She describes herself as "a little bit anal" and you know what that means, if someone even acknowledges their desire to have all forks facing west then you know they are fully obsessive compulsive!

For some reason Alice and I were drawn to live together. I suppose there is something we need to learn from each other.

Alice needs to learn not to control me and I need to learn not to be controlled by Alice.

That was a joke (Alice!). What I really need to learn is how to be true to myself within a more controlled environment as well as partake in some of the order, respecting Alice.

Alice needs to learn how to not get wound up by my spontaneous, messy, creative chaos and let things flow more.

Right?

But it's fun to tease Alice...

Leaving a pear with just one bite sitting on the kitchen bench all day.

Not properly closing the pantry door which leaves the auto-light on.

Taking the ordered cutlery and turning a spoon completely upside down. I'm so crazy.

Mixing up the canned vegetables varieties and making a pretty pattern.

Leaving a giant pom pom on the sofa.

Turning the right nob to face right, not left like the left one.

Taking over the kitchen bench with your office, hard drives and dirty crockery.

I've noticed Alice is getting used to it now. I think she's learned all she needs to from me and it's time to move on. My job is done.

As a farewell gift I bought her these gorgeous, handmade, imperfect, colourful tea cups

and she really liked them.

[current mood] Sushi & Other People Doing Hard Labour

ps I warned Alice about this post and the information herein may be slightly exaggerated and I may have in fact learned a few things from Alice. I'm balancing out my freestyling condition with a good dose of zen-like cleanliness, attention to detail and some planning. Just some.

House Leftovers

You know when you have to move and clean out the entire house, leaving it in better condition that you found it? Ugh...

I've done it at least 12 times in my adult life. I think that averages once a year. Hmmm, maybe what 'they' say about me is true.... never settled, always changing. The statistics agree.

What I always find amusing is which final items lie around the house. The little things that didn't make it into a box. The leftovers.

And an asthma-inducing-load of dust...

[current mood] Getting My Own Ditties Stuck In My Head & New Housemate's Cooking

Making Things for ME, for YOU and for NOW

I've given up on the thought that I'll make things as I want them later... when I own that acreage... no, instead I'm just doing it now. And part of my inspiration is for sharing with others. I want a friend like me! One that makes a beautiful home and invites you to come and stay. People have been that generous to me in the past, and finally I open up my home for my friends to enjoy.

The first guests are here and they've jokingly described it as a 'nudist health retreat'... but that's just one of many ways you could use it... It is healthy and you can get naked if you want to!

You are arriving, that's an excuse to pick wild flowers, curb-side cute weeds and colour from the garden to create a little welcoming collection of pots on the dining table. Oscar is here to greet you too.

Welcome to your room. That's right, I don't have an iron but I think you'll find your queen bed delightfully comfortable and you'll wake with a sunrise that will send you back into a blissful nap of joy...

Oscar will be your second alarm clock if you're not up at 7am from the bird-chirping.

Yes you can get nude with a view of nature in the morning.

Or in the evening you can light some candles and ponder the hippy crystals...

I'll wake you up with a fresh juice, green smoothie, banana milkshake or cup of chai and a bowl of bircher muesli.

Or you could have some of Irene, Mildred and Beryl's poached eggs on local sourdough.

 There's a book collection to meet all tastes, from bird-watching, origami, spiritual classics and books on goldfish. As well as plentiful board games...

Even an art corner

if you want to sit on the verandah and draw bottles and shells

or lorikeets, black cockatoos and parrots.

Otherwise take a stroll through the garden and try to identify fruit trees. Like this one. I'm not sure yet what it is! I know we have avocado, mulberry, peach, mandarin and lime. Next door is a huge mango tree so come at the right time of year for what you want to eat.

Head down to the vege garden and pick your salad for lunch

This one includes my fresh lentil and fenugreek sprouts.

This home is on rain water and solar so you'll feel extra good.

The view is spectacular...

especially from the upstairs bedroom!

If you like you can lounge about, the purple armchair is most opulent. Or play your choice of instruments, stoke up the fire or watch a dvd...

or get inspired and leave your own special mark...

[current mood] Everything & More

Another Favourite Cottesloe Moment

Does this sum up why I love Cottesloe?

Every evening is a visual show. I never tire of the swiftly shifting colours of sunset. I never know which way to look - at the melting gold dissolving into endless ocean or at the reflections in windows or the pink haze of the opposite sky...

This evening I was in my sunset buzz and adoring the view of bronzed windows with pink walls yet managed to run home in my uggs to snatch the camera and run back to this building standing against the purple sky, full moon and sweeping flocks. I got it, before it all went into black.

I wish photos could capture the energy of moments, but they really can't. Even as a photographer, I know their lack.

Nothing beats being there.

x

[current mood] decaf detox hell & South Rakkas Crew

My Interiors

Little rectangles of my home that I love.

Shrines of Love

A card from a gift, a vase from an op shop and some willows from a trip to the beach.

Collections

Teacups and Pot from Guildford Antiques and tall Vietnamese teacups from Anita.

Reminders

A special card from a friend with the kindest of words.

Wearables

On display to remind me of all my colourful options (before I choose jeans and black singlet).

The World

Asia, Latvia and South Africa. My travels interact.

Play

'Monkey and baby' finger puppet peek out of antique cuff bracelet.

Creativity

Giant Latvian pegs hold curtains apart, Turkish hanging plays with light.

Art

Batik Zulu art hung against window with clothes pegs.

Inspiration

The undeniable gorgeous Amethyst. Right where I meditate and do yoga.

[current mood] Victor Valdes (I LOVE YOU!) & Raw Foods

Archiving Junk

I've been doing the slow 'junk shuffle' for years now. Every time I move I place all my things in boxes and shift them to a new space "to be sorted out later". Sometimes when the mood takes me, I go to the piles of boxes and think I can manage a little throwing out and sorting.

I tend to find myself cowering in a corner crying over dusty photographs, reading old diaries, dreaming of past adventures and admiring my more creative moments...
rarely do the things make their way to the bin. They just switch to different piles, different boxes.

I tried really hard this recent time to place stuff into the actual rubbish bin, and realised one of the issues I have is to never lay eyes upon the object again, once gone, forever forgotten.

So I solved this by photographing it before its disposal.

Here are three items from this recent (microscopic) clean out.

A drawing I did in first year uni, a Latvian bus ticket and a headless Guatamalan dancing couple brooch.

A weight has really lifted....

[current mood] Fish of The Day with new friends & Latino Rhythms

The beginnings and the ends

Collecting Lemons

Making Lemonade for the lawnmower man and me

Isa Browns, my friendly new pets

Poached eggs for breakfast

And sometimes pancakes

[current mood] Sunrise Birds tweeting & Coffee, gimme more Coffee

A New Home

It seemed only fitting with my new move to Cottesloe beach that I should move into natalija.com.au

My long winded URL never did me any favours at parties, but then again, the level of complexity seemed to reflect my own.

I'm not really a dot com kind of girl, but I need this little home to take with me into the future.

I also got a new phone with a crappy camera in it, so I tested it out on some photos of the wander home from the pub (when normal privacy laws go out the window and I have no trouble encroaching on to peoples front lawns to catch reflections of the sunset.)

Right now, Cottesloe is the best it has ever been.

[current mood] Rhubarb Compote & Love Songs