What’s Hot + What’s Not
It’s time again for this week’s What Hot + What’s Not. It comes around quickly – take part if you feel compelled and leave your url link in the little widget at the end of my post so we can come and see you hots and nots.
What’s Hot
Around the World with Mouk
Pimm’s: We went to Byron Bay with a UK lad who introduced us to the joys of Pimm’s and lemonade. I gained several kilos from sipping on these. So our new celebratory cocktail is Pimm’s on ice, with a top up with lemonade, with slices of orange, lemon, thin slivers of cucumber and a sprig of mint. So pretty and so delicious.
Holztiger wooden animals: I bought a shark and a dolfin back from Byron for my girls – because not only are they absolutely gorgeous but can go in the bath! Lily’s shark has become a bathtime terror. “Holztiger toys are all handmade using maple, oak, beech and birch and make use of water-based acrylic paints.” We got ours from the beautiful My Toy Shop in Byron Bay. The fox is sitting on my bedside table.
Trop Jr: “The Worlds Largest Short Film Festival for Kids! By Kids! A recent addition to the Tropfest program is a short filmmaking competition open to kids aged 15 years and younger. 2008 was the first ever Trop Jr, 8 Finalists premiered their films to a live audience at the Crescent Precinct, across from Sydney’s Domain, before big Tropfest.” — this year’s signature item (a theme or something that needs to be included somehow) is “DOT”. It’s time to put all those video cameras.
Also: Teddy’s new nose, blue playdough, our new avocado and lemon trees, Flash Forward and Hydralyte Liquid.
What’s Not
Gastro! First Lily, then my parents, now me… who will be next?
Coming home from our holiday to an exhausted and sick family – and all the associated stress and guilt. Not hot at all.
My Mum looking after Lily as I vomited etc. on her birthday – NOT HOT! Happy birthday Mum. 🙁
Blergh. Hopefully next week’s not hot will not be about vomit.
Yay for Wednesdays!
Oh, what an end to your holiday-yuck!I love a pimms, I do 1/2 lemonade, 1/2 dry ginger- delish! Glad it is pimms weather again
Oh, I had the dreaded gastro last weekend and my kids a few day before that, erghhhh!Hope you’re all fully recovered now.xx
Hopefully you are all feeling better soon. I love Pimm’s and Lemonade, must break it out again now it’s summer
Oooh the Pimms creation sounds wonderful & yes please no vomits for you next week! Get well soon to all of you.Happy Birthday Claire’s mum! Chocolate cake all ’round I say.
Love the wooden animals and I hope everyone feels better soon.I did my own!http://aiyanalaughed.blogspot.com/2009/10/good-and-bad.html
Love the idea of the wooden bathtoy. i hate those soft plastic ones that are totally nonecofriendly and collect mold before your can say “fish”. Get well soon! xo Meagan.
Your hot vs not blog made me think of the obsession my kids have with a collection of CD recordings of Roald Dahl stories. Listening in the car though is dangerous: The Twits in particular has seen me nearly go up a lamppost on several occasions.
Oh, you poor Boos. Do get well soon.
Hope you all feel better soon. And thank you for the tip about the book – looks amazing!
Oh Claire I’ll join you in the Pimms at Xmas. It is the traditional drink for us then – maybe we can convert the others ( although I know Andrew isn’t a huge fan – all the more for us!)
Happy birthday Claire’s mum!
Pimms is a big favourite with us in summer. Also Shirley Temples!
Lemonade is on the hot list, all year round! And, I do hope all of y’all get well soon…
Hi Claire, Hoping your feeling much better..no more gastro for you and your family for a while! It seems to go in cycles…hopefully you killed it off with the Pimm’s + Lemonade…so much summery goodness, I look forward to indulging in alcholic berverages again! Love the wooden toys too!
Love the Mouk book, I will definatley order that for Christmas, sounds great!You poor bananas – you’ve had a bad run! At least your mum was not the one throwing up on her birthday. That would be much worse. In on the Hot+Not again – am I linking widgets ok?
Mouk is a firm favourite in our house too, if you like this you would love ‘Just for One Day’ by Laura Leuck illustrated by Marc Boutavant, the illustrations are gorgeous!Pimms is definitely a holiday drink! We take it camping to add a bit of glamour, cucumbers, mint in pink plastic cocktail glasses! nice!Hope you’re all feeling better soon, and don’t feel guilty, you deserve a brake!
Hope you feel better soon! Gastro is nasty.I’ve always been curious about Pimms, and after reading your description I must try it! It sounds perfect, especially in hot weather.
Another drink I had long been curious about is absinthe. Saw it on the menu recently at a cocktail bar in the city and tried their ‘Green Fairy’ which had absinthe and lychee liqueur (+ other things I wish I could remember). Very lovely; aniseedy and refreshing.
Hi Claire, I’ve been reading your blog for a while now and just wanted to take a moment to say how enjoyable it is. I come from the land near Lake Huron and I think your husband was at university with me (didn’t know him but I think he knew friends of mine and the name seemed familiar and we graduated the same year -which is ages ago so we’re both really old). (Gee, that was rambly.) Anyhoo, I thought it was delightful when I stumbled across the blog (from door 16) and thought my it’s a small world after all. Your blog is awesome and so very pretty!
Next time you try Pimms, switch the lemonade for ginger beer, you won’t regret it!
Ugh Gastro!!!!We’ve just had our own mini version: Ella seriously sick for only 24 hours. And I am exhausted.Thanks god for mums who step in to help out when you need them most.Happy birthday mum!!!
Pimms! I love Pimms! Especially all fruity and cucumber-y. Yum.
Getting sick is not a good thing. Gareth and I have been rather lucky this year, but I count my blessings when I read the blogs and see lots of people are not feeling well! I like that nifty little linky thing as well, very snazzy.
Sorry to hear you are sick. We had a bout of something similar about a month ago, it was horrible and so exhausting with a baba!The Mouk book sounds amazing, I loved the Moomins and have fond memories of reading the Richard Scarry books when I was a little ‘un!
Hooray it’s Pimms o’clock, chin, chin!!
By the way thanks for your comments – you should definitely make the choux puffs they’re really easy!! I put cream in mine and chocolate on the top!
Marc Boutavant is ALWAYS hot around my home. I made postcards for my girls from the pages of Mouk. I simply photographed their favorite illustrations and printed them on postcard photo paper. Viola! If you can’t get enough of his illustrations check out these other recently released books illustrated by Mr. B. They are so sweet and so perfectly illustrated!http://www.amazon.com/All-Kinds-Families-Mary-Hoberman/dp/0316146331/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256139836&sr=8-2
http://www.amazon.com/Just-One-Day-Laura-Leuck/dp/0811856100/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256139876&sr=1-1
We’ve also been having a nasty little bug running through our house…one finally gets rid of it and then the next has it! No fun!We are going to see if our library has the Mouk book!! I never heard of it before!
I read the Mouk book at a friend’s sometime last year and was so puzzled by it – didn’t get it at all but oh the kids thought it was great! Which just goes to show that adults aren’t always the best judge of what kids will like. Well I’m not anyways 😉
I heart pimm’s!the media in the u.s has gone swine flu crazy…hopefully things are more common sense in oz. otherwise you’d be quarantined with lambs blood on the door during this family gastro outbreak 🙁
I just bought that MOUK book too! I picked it up and had to buy it right away (I rarely buy books from bookstores not on sale on impulse). I thought of Richard Scarry’s illustrations too when I flipped through it. The vinyl stickers are so cool.
God, I love Pimms. Reminds me of sitting on the college backs at Cambridge, our last home, of a summer evening (listen to me, like something out of Brideshead revisited!). Great post. x
I couldn’t resist getting my niece some Marc Boutavant stickers when I was recently in France. I wanted to get her a matchy-block game illustrated by him, but with space & weight restrictions, stickers made more sense 🙂 She loves them! Will keep an eye out for Mouk book.
Your site is like looking at delicious candy! It is wonderful to see such creativity and appreciation for the beautiful things in life. I love how your writing voice is in a (British?) accent! So cute!
*lol* To lea – yes the u.s. is a bit crazy. You should see the lines for the vaccine clinics! They keep running out. my house is staying out of the governmental insanity and being good boys and girls and washing our hands a lot. ;pTo Claire.. Feel better soon! That shark is adorable (and matches some of my tattoos)