Solid wood

We recently became fed up with our old Ikea chopping board. It looked pretty, but needed regular oiling where it had warped and split due to moisture seeping into the joins. It probably wasn't the most hygienic chopping board, either.

I embarked on an online journey to find the perfect rectangular solid timber board (none of these 'freeform' types). My search led me to to the 'Rocky', a beast of a board made from sustainable camphor laurel, and with red gum handles. It also turns out that the seller lives close by, and was able to drop my board off to save on postage. I can most certainly say that the investment was well worth it!

I was also recently given this adorable strawberry chopping board from Freedom. I have a feeling that it will end up making an excellent cheese board!

Farewell gifts

On my last day at my job, I was treated like a princess! It's no secret that I love my cakes, and I was certainly indulged in that department. This is just a small selection of what was provided for morning tea...

Lovely Laura also baked me this platter of amazing brownies!

My colleagues all chipped in to buy me some truly wonderful goodbye gifts. My love of both books and design must be really obvious!

By far the BEST (and most thoughtful) present was this vintage milk glass vase, complete with a red bird print! Followers of this blog will no doubt recognise just how many boxes are ticked by this gift. Apparently this lovely item was hurriedly shipped over from the US. How lucky am I to have worked with such thoughtful people?! 

Ampersand

The day I accepted my new position, I decided to treat myself to a little gift. I've long admired the wares of Bespoke Letterpress, so when they released a French navy version of their ampersand print I was ever so tempted. As I am an editor, this print really was an appropriate purchase.

Thank you to everyone who left kind comments and sent emails in response to my last post. I finished up at my 'old' job yesterday, and I have a couple of days off before launching straight into the new one on Monday. I got some truly lovely farewell gifts, and I promise to reveal them here soon.

My heart wanders...

Yesterday Tracey and I had the pleasure of attending an afternoon tea at St Francis in Milton to celebrate the launch of Pia Jane Bijkerk's new book my heart wanders.

We had a little hiccup on our way there (as a delightful little canine chap named Tedwin needed to be rescued from his adventures on a busy Nundah road), but we still made it with plenty of time to spare. We sampled some of the tasty treats on offer, and couldn't resist sitting on the very green (and very soft) grass. Later, we were lucky enough to meet Pia herself and have our copies of her book signed, and I look forward to reading it one winter's day with a blanket, a chocolate slice and a big cup of chai.

A big thank you goes to Kylie Johnson of Paper Boat Press and, of course, Pia for organising the event.

Also, just a little note to explain my diminished blogging activities of late. Recently, my heart has wandered a little bit too, and this has just last week resulted in me resigning from my job of more than nine years in order to move on to a new adventure in educational publishing. I'll be packing up my things over the next couple of weeks and the tears will no doubt flow, but I am excited to begin this new chapter in my working life.