a to z

Source: designspiration.net via Jake on Pinterest

I did a post about movies I love not long ago and it got me thinking, if I had to do an A to Z of my favourite films, what would it look like. So I wrote it out.

A} The Assasinations of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Redford. I find Casey Affleck an amazing actor. Simple yet captivating.
B} Big Fish. I'm a big fan of Tim Burtons film, this one is a beautiful tale without the blood and guts.
C} Control. I grew up listening to Joy Division. This is one of my favourite music/band movies. Sam Riley plays lead singer Ian Curtis too well.
D} The Departed. All star cast, all star soundtrack and all star director.
E} Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. One of Micheal Gondrys best.
F} Fight Club. Brad and Edward. enough said.
G} Garden State. Just watch it if you haven't.
H} Hook. Who didn't love Robin Williams growing up?
I} I'm Not There/Inception/Into the Wild/Inglorious Basterds. Too hard to pick, gun to my head....Inception.
J} Juno. All time feel good movie.
K} The Kid. Not the Bruce Willis movie, I'm talking silent film by the great Charlie Chaplin.
L} The Lord of the Rings. All three are the true movie watching experience.
M} Memento. Complex script/screenplay. I love it.
N} The Nines. Ryan Reynolds has a great screen presence.
O} Ondine. I couldn't understand Colin Farrell in parts, but who doesn't love a Irish movie about love.
P} Paris, Je t'aime. A bunch of beautiful short films set in Paris.
Q} Quintin Tarantinos Pulp Fiction. Q was very hard. Classic film.
R} Robin Hood (Disney). Best Disney film. Roger Miller as the rooster. Great.
S} Snatch. My favourite Guy Ritchie film.
T} Temple Grandin. A beautiful movie about Autism.
U} Unbreakable. Who doesn't wish they had a super power.
V} V for Vendetta. Poetically messing up the establishment.
W} Walk the Line. Incase you weren't already into Johnny Cash.
X} X-men. Like I said, who doesn't want super powers.
Y} Yellow Submarine. I had a confusing childhood.
Z} Zoolander. I do like comedies as well.

This was really hard to chose but looking back I think I am happy with the list. If you disagree with some or all of my choices let me know. I would love the challenge to watch movies I have not yet seen.
Enjoy
-morgan

collections.. pt 4 [the owls]

A while back we shared some things we collect [one, two and three] and I have been meaning to share this one more for a while. A few years ago I declared my love for owls, which resulted in an influx if gifts owl related. Now I seem to have collected rather a family of owls and these few are my favourites.







These guys have come from all over the world and have all been such lovely gifts. Although I have actually never brought any of them, I love that I have unintentionally collected this parliament of owls.
-kim

red carnations

For the last few weeks I have been tempted by the fresh cut flowers at my regular markets, and this week I gave in and came home with these beautiful red carnations. I don't often treat myself to things, but when I do I love how much simple joy I get out of them.

I thought I would share a little of that joy with you





enjoy
-kim

jacaranda season

In the mountain top town we live in, every spring these old jacaranda trees bloom with bright purple flowers. This saturday morning kim and I decided to go out hunting for some of our favourites. The bright colour that peeps over houses and other green trees is so beautiful. It was so lovely to go searching for them and see how old some of them were. The way that the small purple flowers carpet the ground is magical, whilst driving around with the windows down, one flower even fell on kims lap. These are one of our favourite flowers and we are going to miss them alot when we leave this town.










ps. so sorry we have not been writing/updating the blog alot lately, we have been packing and sorting through all our possessions. deciding what to keep, sell and throw out. In a couple of weeks we will selling alot of gear at markets and garage sales. Very exciting times ahead. hope you have a great weekend.

-morgan

i read: To Have and Have Not

Because I had so much fun doing the last book review for you, I decided to do another.



One of my favourite authors is Ernest Hemingway. I love his style of writing, and the beautiful scenes he creates in an era I wish I could have lived. I recently borrowed "To Have and Have Not" and once again fell in love with this talented author.

This book centers around a man named Harry Morgan, a fishing boat captain working around the Florida Key. Harry is a hard working man, who gets thrown and few curve balls and this story follows his response over the course of a few years. Hemingway has a way of truly of drawing you into the story and making you really connect with the characters. Each chapter changes from who it is written from the perspective of, which gives you multiple angles for the story.

We lay offshore about a mile in the dark. The current had freshened up, with the sun down, and I noticed it running in. I could see the Morro light way down to the westward and the glow of Havana, and the lights opposite us were Rincon and Baracoa. I headed her up against the current until I was past Baruranao and nearly to Cajomar. Then I let her drift down. It was plenty dark but I could tell good where we were. I had all the lights out.
"What's it going to be, Harry?" Eddy asked me. He was beginning to be spooked again.
"What do you think?"
"I don't know," he said "You've got me worried."

Although this book is very racist, calling people 'niggers' and 'chinks', you can ignore that and still enjoy the story. When I finished the final chapter I was nearly in tears with such joy shared in this book. I know that sounds over the top, but this book was just beautiful.

If you have never read any work by Hemingway, you should also check out "The Sun Also Rises" and "The Old Man and the Sea"
-kim

body products

For a while now I have been meaning to write about my attempts to try and go more natural with my body products. Most of us are aware of the toxins and "bad stuff" which are in products we use on our bodies on a daily occasion, and this great video below, made by the team at the story of stuff, shares a little more into that.



I thought I would share a few of the products I have been using in my attempt to "go natural".

clean your face
Cleanser: To clean my face I rotate between to products. Most days, inspired by Crunchy Betty I wash my face with honey. Its incredible how simple and effective natural honey can do for your skin. I have found these past few months washing my face with honey, has been the best my skin has ever been.

The other product I use sometimes is the Angels on Bare Skin cleanser from Lush. I do really love the Lush products, which are all handmade and use natural products. This cleanser is essentially ground almonds, lavender and rose.

Toner: I use a tea tree, rose and willow bark facial toner from Orange Fuzz. This is nice and refreshing and 100 % natural.

makeup
I don't wear tons of makeup, but as my products have been finishing I have been replacing them with less chemical based products.

Blush: I wear the Lush Black Stockings body tint as a blush on my cheeks each day. I have found this to be a real nice colour, and is essentially Cocoa and Shea butter.

Mascara: My sister brought me some mascara from New Zealand company Living Nature. This mascara is great, although because it is 100% natural it doesn't last as long as the waterproof chemicals stuff. If I go out after work, I have to re-apply again.

other stuff

Soap: We have just run out of Lemongrass and Cardamom Guinness soap. This was a nice one to wash your body with and left you smelling amazing!

Also, we have previously brought some Moon Goddess Vegan Soap. Once again, this soap left your skin smelling amazing and so soft.

Shaving Soap: Morgan started using the Orange Fuzz Beer and Clay Shaving Soap at the start of the year and it has been so economical. He has quite sensitive skin, and this works a treat.

Body Lotion: The Funk Off Vanilla, Blackberry and Sage Lotion is flipping incredible. This stuff smells amazing, its vegan and lasts ages. We brought some about a year ago, and still going through it. Well worth the buy.

Lip Balm: When we brought our other products from Funk Off, they threw in a Spearmint Lip Balm for us to try. This is great at soothing dry lips, and leaves you smelling minty fresh.

I hope you go check out a couple of these stores and can find yourself some new natural products to keep you looking and smelling amazing, without the toxins.
-kim

our home.

For a while I have been wanting to do something like this. About a year ago I started reading The Selby and since have wanted to share a little virtual tour of what for the last year and a half we have called home. We have about one month before we start selling most of our possessions and clearing this little apartment to prepare for our one way trip to Europe.



When we first moved here, it was very scary, the apartment is built in the steepest street in Queensland, it is always dark and cool inside and when it rains, everything stays wet and the man who built it simply threw together with odds and ends from scrap shops. As Kim and I tend to collect a lot of treasure/junk we have filled this apartment very rapidly, with lots of beautiful things. Sadly, now we must sort, sell, throw out and reminisce of all our nick nacks.


Hope you enjoy our home as much as we do/did.
-morgan

i love my craft group.

I love my craft group. We have been meeting for about 5 months now (I think), once a month, to share skills and take time to make fun things. My friend Talia started it up and I am so glad she did. Our numbers are still small, but new people are coming along every month.

On Saturday at the Sunshine Coast Brown Owls meet up, I learnt how to crochet. I have been wanting to learn for ages, and this month Gaby taught us all some of her mad crochet skills. I am so excited. I have been practicing my skills all the time since then [thanks gaby!]. I can't wait till I can make a granny square blanket.

I often spend time on other people's blogs and pinterest looking for inspiration, but you can never go past an actual craft group to give you a boost of creativity. This month I challenge you to start meeting with your friends or join and existing group of people who join together to share and inspire each other in creative pursuits. It is so worth it.
-kim

summer.

It's starting to get a lot warmer around these parts. It feels like summer is close. I have been wearing singlets all day and a scarf to hold my hair back, I am excited for the warmer weather. It feels like we have had a long winter this year, and it is so refreshing to feel the heat again. I'm happy to be where I am right now. Life is very good.
-kim