Temporary Identity Crisis

The grass can be greener on the other side... of the iceberg. Sometimes, a penguin can be a bit uncertain about whether a dinner suit really is always the best sartorial selection, and if they might like an occasional change from  sashimi for dinner. Maybe other creatures are having far more fun (or at least being more glamorous and with a more interesting dinner)?

This is when a penguin wonders...

All of which is a very thinly disguised effort to make general squee! noises about having discovered a website which has a font made of llamas. Of llamas! What more could you possibly want to randomly discover on a bucketingly wet Saturday afternoon? Well, perhaps an endless tray of brownies and that the spare bedroom has been taken over by speculoos spread and the Kate Spade fall collection. As neither of those is the slightest bit likely, I'll settle quite happily for the llamas...

Read more...

Wednesday Wonderings

It’s the middle of the week. Which is as good a time as any to distract yourself by thinking about pandas (never something I need much encouragement to do). So. To get right on with it...

Do pandas play the euphonium...? Is this how pandemonium starts?

A chair. Made of plush pandas. It may or may not be a good thing, but it’s definitely different...

Panda chair from Moss Online via Lushlee

Alternatively, there is pandammonia, which is what pandas apply to their wash when they start to need a little brightening up to remove nasty stains from their cute t-shirts...

Panda singlet from The Petit Chouette on Etsy (such a great name!). She has very cute animal sleeve Ts as well

After a walk through Hyde Park, I’d recommend those pandas might share some with the resident ibises, which look positively grubby (can you look positively something, when the something isn’t very pleasant? It feels like a contradiction in terms). Perhaps that’s what we need – pandas in Hyde Park. Now, that is a random idea for a Wednesday...

Read more...

Let Sleeping Penguins Lie

Hibernating sometimes sounds a very attractive idea... a cosy little corner to sleep in for a long period of time while the less appealing bits of nature pass by outside. But for a penguin, it'd make so much more sense to sleep through the summer, and come out once it cools down a bit*...

Bears via Things Organized Neatly

Until I found this illustration, it had never occurred to me to attempt to organise a bear, neatly or otherwise. And I also hadn't known that not all bears hibernate. It seems to be a characteristic of those who live in places that get unpleasantly cold, but not utterly freezing (otherwise polar bears might sleep all year round). And a sloth hibernating would just be... superfluous.

Although for somebody who struggles with taking far too much luggage on holiday, deciding on the necessary accoutrements for hibernation could be a challenge. Somewhere comfy to sit (or sleep) would, of course, be essential. Like a beanbag, maybe...

Bear beanbag from Chic Sin Design

Or perhaps somewhere with lots of good books within easy reach...

Bibliochaise from Nobody & Co via Interior Decorating Home. It doesn't look like the most comfortable armchair I've ever seen, but it's a great idea

And perhaps a large picnic basket. would come in handy, too With lots of chocolate...

* Biology, under such a theory, may well go directly to hell in a hand basket. But it's an appealing idea, in any case!

Read more...

Of Bravery And Elderberries

Badgers, rumour has it, eat elderberries. Well, according to the Stoat Appreciation Society* they do. Quite why they specifically prefer elderberries is something that may not be entirely understood, and certainly shouldn’t be questioned. Elderberries, even before this, have provided a disproportionate level of entertainment to the trifle-eating cat’s family, given their reference in Monty Python and the Holy Grail...

“Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelled of elderberries”

My mother was a lion tamer print from Paul of Navarone on Etsy

A considerable amount of time was spent, and unsuppressed laughter emitted, a couple of Christmases ago, when at least half of this phrase was forgotten and attempts made to remember it resulted in the invention of a foolish number of even-more-foolish alternatives.

There is a risk, if your father smells of elderberries, that he may fall prey to a ravenous badger. Accordingly, here are a selection of recipe alternatives to satisfy a hungry badger and preserve your pop...

Chocolate layer cake with elderberries from Hedonistin

Elderberry jelly from Simply Recipes

Elderberry ice cream from She Eats Bears (but what do the bears eat, I wonder? Very well, if the blog's anything to go by...)

Elderberry pie from Namely Marly

Having fed the badgers, a small but niggling thought has crept along about what sorts of animals prefer other sorts of berries, especially given the range of juicy and promising looking berry-related recipes discovered in the process.

In particular, I wonder what it is that hankers after gooseberries? Geese seem to be far too obvious to be an option...

Gooseberry tartlet from Lara Ferroni

I bet my mum would do something wonderful with elderberries (from what I hear, the rhubarb pies are pretty amazing). She gets up to all sorts of things...

My mother was a hired gun print from Paul of Navarone on Etsy

* Or, at least, the Stoat Appreciation Society’s subconscious mind...

Read more...

How Many Words For Snow?

How young is too young to learn the importance of minimalism? It might never be too early with a colouring book like this...

Colouring book from Toronto Zoo via Sutkutusu on Notcot

The number of words that Eskimos* have for snow is legendary (and the subject of numerous old chestnuts**). But how many shades of white are there? At least ten times more than you expect the first time you paint a wall, most likely!

The more shades of white, the better, if it helps keep penguins safe from those ravening polar bears...

* Which I suspect has become a politically incorrect term of some sort by now. In which case, apologies to any Artic-dwellers who I've inadvertently upset...
** Hmmm... chestnuts. Now those would go well in all that cold and snow. Roasted, perhaps. Or in little fluffy cakelets, like these...

Chestnut mousse cake from Yue's Handicrafts

It's so cute, like a little squishy igloo!

Read more...

It's My Party And I'll Owl If I Want To

On the seventh day of Christmas my penguin gave to me…

Seven owls (just seven?)

Six roasted chickens,

Five golden pastries,

Four wobbling jellies,

Three French badgers,

Two turtle bars,

And a pelican in a pear tree

There’s everyday fashion, which you see people wearing walking down the street, looking like they all read the exact same magazine. Whether it’s stripy tops, harem pants or chandelier earrings (or all three at the same time), it’s out there, on almost every street. Then there are the online trends. Those quirky ideas that look so wonderfully refreshing, characterful and nothing like the everyday fashion. They often draw on retro styling, vintage materials, and handmade elements. Way too cool for those stripy-harem-chandelier types. But then, something scary happens...

You realise that those whimsical styles are just as ubiquitous online as the everyday ones are in real life. Suddenly, vintage suitcases, typewriter key jewellery and moustaches on sticks are there at every click of the mouse. And this is where the owls come in.

Owls are the current motif du jour on everything from food to fashion, stationery to sculpture... anywhere you can put an owl, somebody has put an owl. So it seems only appropriate to round up a sample of owlishnness to share with you...

You can eat owl cake...

Owl cake from Constant Craving - just amazing!

Or cookies...

Chocolate and vanilla hoot owl cookies from Fabulous Foods

You can have owls on the table...

Vintage owl crockery from Carnivore Cockatiel on Etsy (owls were big in 1976, too)

You can carry them to be practical...

Owl purse from Kate Spade, via FMDS Daily and Coco & Kelley

Or wear them to look pretty...

Dew drop silver starry eyed tall owl pendant from Beth Millner on Etsy. For something a little more on the cute side, this might be a good bet, too

Perhaps you could combine them with matryoshka to be really, really cool*...

Nesting owls from Urban Outfitters

You can even have a whole hoot-enanny to celebrate those owls for yourself...

Owl party by Sugarcoated via Concrete and Honey

Pinata from Birchangel on Etsy via Kallie Brynn Photography

So, who decided that 2010 was going to be the year of the owl? Well, that I don’t know, but there are already rumours that swans will be the Next Big Bird**. Perhaps there needs to be a formal announcement, like the Pantone Colour of the Year. Honeysuckle swans – coming soon to a 2011 near you!

* Because combining two trends at once can only be attempted by Very Cool People.
** Not replacing the yellow fluffy one, though.

Read more...

Tres Chic, Le Badger

On the third day of Christmas, my penguin gave to me...

Three French badgers,

Two turtle bars,

And a pelican in a pear tree

French badgers? On stationery? Oh, squee...

Badger card from Darling Clementine* via Papergrain

Or you could always follow convention and have some tres chic chick(en)s...

French Chicks card from She's So Creative on Etsy

* Having (finally) just watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind last weekend, this seems all a little self-referential, in an odd (but not that odd) sort of way...

Read more...

After Dark

At Christmas time, baking is even more essential justifiable than the rest of the year. But with so much else to do as well, this can lead to getting into the kitchen at some times of the day (and night) that are quite unsavoury, but not at all sweet either. Furtive batches of brownies at 11 o’clock, anybody?

That’s why this card seemed especially fitting...

Picture: Card from Paper Source via The Kitchn

And behind every good mouse... there’s a penguin with a Kitchenaid!

Read more...

Start Your Day Well (And With Foolishness)

Fortnum & Mason is full of unusual, indulgent and just plain intriguing things to eat and drink. As well as the only-to-be-expected-but-by-no-means-pedestrian rows of buttery shortbread, brightly coloured boiled sweets, jams, marmalade, preserves and endless varieties of tea, there are giagantic candied fruits, potted meats, seasonal novelties of all sorts (witches' finger biscuit, anybody?)

But while the Other Penguin was distracted by (among other things) candied scorpions, baking supplies were being perused in a quiet corner. Given a choice between two-toned sanding sugar and ants disguised as a snack, there’s no contest What. So. Ever. Come to that, given a choice between attempts to make scuttling things edible and almost anything else in the world, I’ll take the Anything Else. With bells on.

The Anything Elses included, to my enormous amusement, this...

Stoats Oatmeal. Is that stoatmeal for short?

And, if other people don’t immediately think of oatmeal and descend into fits of giggles, that’d be because they haven’t met the Stoat Appreciation Society. Or maybe they’re just grumps the rest of the time, too...

So, start your day with a bowl of Stoats’ Oatmeal* – nutritious, tasty, and a great source of B vitamins... and mirth!

Stoats oats are available from http://www.stoatsporridgebars.co.uk/... that's right - they have bars as well. Stoats love bars...

* Which, I fervently hope, is solely a branding exercise and not anything akin to, for instance, civet coffee...

Read more...

Why Did The Capybara Cross The Road?

Picture: Claudio Lara on Flickr

A very purposeful capybara, who looks as though he is going somewhere very specific. I’ve been a bit intrigued by capybara ever since I found out that villages (in South America) sometimes have semi-domesticated ones that swim with the local children in the river.

That, and they’re effectively a friendly looking version of a Rodent Of Unusual Size.

Or a larger version of a coypu (which are entertaining simply by virtue of the incongruity of them being randomly escaped across East Anglia*. I guess everything has to be somewhere).

* Although it appears they have now been eradicated. Very disappointing (especially if you were a coypu).

Read more...

Yo Heave Ho, To The Bottle I Go

However much sherry is put in a trifle, there are always some people who claim that even more would make it even better. Short of funnelling custard, fruit and savaroiardi into a sherry bottle, I question whether it might even be possible.

Given the trifle-eating cat’s trifle-eating tendencies, it can probably only be a good thing if there isn’t more sherry added to the trifle (the idea of stopping the trifle-eating cat from living up to his name is, perhaps, a fraught and unlikely proposition!). Although perhaps I should be relieved that trifle is the worst of his (numerous, if he could get them) excesses, and that he doesn’t go for anything stronger...

Picture: via terr-bo on Flickr

Read more...

Feeling Foxy

You might think foxes are inquisitive... that was a mistake – they’re actually acquisitive...

Picture: REread on Etsy 

Maybe it’s because of their feat of mediocrity...

Picture: REread on Etsy 
 
But I think they don't have anything to worry about - especially these ones.

Read more...

Leap With Me

I love this photo... it's the feeling of jumping into the great unknown (and a little of the oh, bugger!* when the thing you’re trying to photograph escapes. And yes, that happens with inanimate things too. At least, it does for me)...

Picture: Wit & Delight

And it seems kind of appropriate to be bouncy, now that it’s spring. And now that there is a loomingly big unknown out there to be leapt at!

* Not oh, burgger! - that's completely different...

Read more...

Another Lifetime

Sometimes, I think it might be good to be a cat – although that really all depends on whose cat you are (or, perhaps more accurately, who you deign to let look after you). It definitely isn’t all beer and skittles in some cases – or trifle and tails on strings, as the case may be a little closer to home.

This picture seems to perfectly capture the carefree life of the cat I might wish to be... endless fascination with small but enormously mystifying things... and perhaps some frolicking followed by a long nap...

Picture: Audrey Hepburn Complex (via Sabino)

Perhaps the trifle-eating cat would enjoy some bubbles next time I visit him...

Read more...

Lucy In The Sky With Armadillos

Picture: Osoo on Etsy via Lo's List

It’s not just any old armadillo. It’s a beautiful, sparkly, decorated armadillo. A Sunday best kind of armadillo. The sort that can make you forget it all began with just a hedgehog and a tortoise and a lot of confusion*.

* Especially for the jaguar.

Read more...

A Bucket List

Not that kind of a bucket list*. A list of things to get you through the latest burst of mad winter weather in Sydney. Bucketing down. Just for something different.

The print on this shower curtain would be perfect on an umbrella. Or perhaps you could just carry it above your head, with a stick at each corner - it might be more effective...

Picture: Urban Outfitters

Or you could opt for the regular sort... with ears...

Picture: Peters of Kensington

Or the canine version...

Picture: Kidorable

These boots, though, are just too good for words...

Picture: via This Next

(unfortunately, it looks like I'm not the only one who thought that, as they appear to have vanished into the void of unattainable things).

Then there are the preferable things for these sorts of days...

Picture: David Lebovitz on Flickr

Picture: House To Home

* If you have to make a list to make sure you fit all the things you want to into your life, you will have No Fun At All. And I should know. I practically wrote the book (or at least the list) on making too many lists. Lists of lists... Lists of lists of lists... Eep!

Read more...

This Little Piglet

Perhaps it was the thoughts of yesterday's excesses. Perhaps it was just the random draw of the rabbit hole. But I think there is another reason these little escaped piglets have come to my attention...

Picture: Wild Life Prints on Etsy

If I was an escaped piglet, I think I would want to go on an Expedition... maybe to find something tasty to eat...

Picture: The Terrier and the Lobster

Or maybe two somethings...

Picture: Trissalicious

And a cup of tea to go with them...

Picture: Honey and Jam

Or just enjoy some good company and go for a little pootle...

Picture: E.H. Shepard via The Mookse and the Gripes

You could also combine your pigs and your tea cups... possibly ill-advisedly so...

Picture: Geoff Robinsons

Or you could simply bask in the sheer enjoyment of helping a piglet escape...

Read more...