

Excess
"You can’t just push the door and walk in; no… here you ring a bell, and wait for the door to be opened and for you to be greeted. It...
Dec 21, 2022


A tablecloth
"Using a tablecloth adds character to the table and enhances the aura of the dining area." Quora commenter What do you know about...
Nov 4, 2022


Still life
"simple, wholesome food standing on a sill or held in air by the hand of a geometer and poet adept at ordering a world of marvels: did he...
Oct 14, 2022


Morello cherries
"où sont les neiges d'antan? (where are the snows of yesteryear?)" François Villon (1431- after 1463) Now what has that quote at the top...
Oct 3, 2022


Why do we photograph food?
"Studies show that the connection between food photography and cravings is visceral. Eating with your eyes is more than a witty saying –...
Sep 5, 2022


Angels, cocktails and cakes
“When one has tasted watermelon he knows what the angels eat.” Mark Twain In Rome, in front of the Castello Sant'Angelo is the Ponte...
Aug 31, 2022


Random thoughts on an ordinary day
“Whatever — the soup is getting cold." [Last sentence of a mathematical theorem in Leonardo da Vinci’s notebook, 1518]” Leonardo da...
Aug 26, 2022


So much to see, do, experience ... always
“It's never too late to have a happy childhood.” Tom Robbins Yes it's another painting from my desk diary. It's called...
Aug 23, 2022


Another Parisian address
A while ago now I did a post on an address in Paris that featured on a notebook of mine. It was just plucked out of the air almost, but...
Aug 15, 2022


Crumbs
"something you wish to share with your online friends." Urban Dictionary "a small fragment" Merriam-Webster Actually I think that first...
Jul 30, 2022


When the background is the foreground
This is today's Impressionist desk diary picture from the Met. It is by Edouard Vuillard and is called MIsia at the piano. It was...
Jun 13, 2022


A moment in time - on beauty
"Beauty is an experience, nothing else. It is not a fixed pattern or an arrangement of features. It is something felt, a glow or a...
Jun 7, 2022


Art in the kitchen
"The thought came to me of a kettle that told you stories while you made your tea in the morning." Alison Page The AFR's weekend luxury...
May 31, 2022


An afternoon with Van Gogh
“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” Vincent van Gogh Yesterday, my niece and I, accompanied by her...
Mar 31, 2022


Strawberries - Manet, Renoir, Jane Grigson and Snow White
"When Chardin lived, wild strawberries were the only ones. His contemporary, Diderot, described them as being like 'the tip of a...
Jan 12, 2022


Two for the op shop?
“Today, if we cook, we Google it. New cookbooks lie on the coffee table and we drool over Tuscan landscapes and rustic bread ovens....
Jan 5, 2022


A table, a drink, an artist of silence
"a dreamy ambience of silence and stillness." Christies I am not an artist, or even very well versed in art criticism, but I do enjoy...
Nov 17, 2021


What happened to afternoon tea?
"The morning cup of coffee has an exhilaration about it which the cheering influence of the afternoon or evening cup of tea cannot be...
Oct 13, 2021


Cubist bananas
This is definitely a quickie because what on earth am I going to say about this? It's called Cubist still life and it's by an artist...
Sep 7, 2021


Time for this and that
"Some bits and pieces from here and there." Chia jam Strawberries are amazingly cheap at the moment - $1.00 a punnet and so I am going to...
Aug 21, 2021

