[.r.e.s.t.]

Yippi! I'm back, the projects are done, and it's a long weekend here. After having several trips and lots of work, I'd certainly like to have some rest in a clean, serene, comfortable, white with greyish blue and green home. My dream home. [images from Country Living]



Have a restful weekend and see you next week!

[.homework:.tagged.!.]

Oh là! I forgot to post my ”homework!” I got tagged by Sia last week! Yyaay!! It took me a week to finally have it up here! Better late than never, my friends...here it comes:

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Tagged rules

• Start with 7 random facts/habits about yourself

• People who are tagged have to write their 7 things on their blog

• Then choose another 7 people to get tagged and list their names

• Don't forget to leave them a comment to tell them they have been tagged and to read your blog


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7 things about me

1/
I used to hate my name; ”Amreta” is very uncommon name in Indonesia and, if you speak our language, it sounds older than old…’ancient’, that is! And other kids often made fun of it. Until, one day a friend who was studying sanskrit and hindu mythology, recognized that amreta is a variation of amrta, the ’water of life’ (mom also told me that meaning of my name), the drink that gives the gods immortality. I started my research on the internet and found stories about amreta / amrta and loved particularly this story which is related to how Garuda became the vehicle of Vishnu. Well, since then, I like my name! :-)

2/
My little sisters called me ”omeletta” – which is a much-easier-to-prounounce version of Amreta ;-)

3/
My favorite pair of shoes is my knee-length boots, and I love wearing long coats [ I wish there were such things as autumn and spring in Jakarta…;-) ]

4/
I've been wearing glasses since 1995, and just never manage wearing contact lenses.

5/
A home sweet home for me smells fresh brewed coffee and cinnamon over apple pie, and has on the table a bunch of pale-colored flowers with extravagant petals such as peonies or big roses. And the furniture are natural or painted, not vernished!

6/
I’m so curious how come that the Swedish folk song ”små grödorna” [little frogs] is so similar to Javanese folk song ”kodok ngorek” [croaking frogs]. Both songs have the same melody and talk about frogs. I never stop doing my research about it but still no clue until now :-(

7/
During my university years, I was so intensely into practicing and performing with the university’s symphony orchestra, that my classmates in French studies often joked that I was actually ’majoring in orchestra’

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And here I'm tagging (back) Sia, Lola, Meg, Jessica, Maggan, Imelda, Anna, Caroline

[.linnaeus.obsession.]

Yup, still about Mr von L, the King of Flowers. Since day 1 I'm engaged in the project to celebrate his 300th birthday, there's no way of not becoming obsessed with everything Linnaeus. Really, you're blessed if you can see even the smallest and simplest beauty in nature and science, and do good and feel good about it.

There's a particular thing I really love about flowers when it comes to design. And this love just grows as I'm more and more fascinated about Linnaeus' world. And this one, too, fascinated me:



Linnaeus' flower clock - not only that I find this clock beautiful, it's actually the result of Mr von Linné's observation of what time a flower opens and closes during the day, he arranged it in some way that it formed a kind of clock, as described in Philosophia Botanica (1751). Very pretty and clever at the same time!

Heard that in Uppsala, Sweden, where Mr von L's now burried (and the big celebration on his birthday 23 May will take place there!) there's this public floral clock. I'm so curious, just too bad that when I was there, it was in 2003 and I hadn't had enough attention for Mr von L, yet - though I did visit his garden and had a coffee there under the trees amongst the rose bushes. Certainly the fascination started there, and seems like at that point the universe had a thought for me: "beware, it's not over..!" ;-)

I'm so happy I'm not alone (oh, never in this case!) Mr von L has inspired so many people in this world. French composer Jean Françaix has composed a concerto for oboe and orchestra "L'Horloge de Flore" (the flower clock) - from its title you may guess where the inspiration came from.

This year, too, Svenskt Tenn re-launched the flora chest of drawers by Josef Frank. Karin in her blog mentioned she attended the launch..ow, I'm so jealous!

[.flower.power.]

It’s been almost a week since my last entry..aaayyy! I’ve been very busy these week, and will also next week. My current project is the anniversary of Mr Flower Power, who will turn 300 years on 23 May this year. And the whole world is celebrating his birthday. He must be a wonderful guy. Carl Linnaeus, that is, probably the most celebrated Swedish scientist, the father of taxonomy, the one responsible for flora and fauna’s classification and latin names.


Carl Linnaeus, painting by J.H.Scheffel, 1739, image from linnaeus300.com


See here: www.linnaeus2007.se and here: www.linnaeus300.com . I never knew science can be so beautiful ;-)

Well, Mr Linnaeus is also partly responsible for my madness about photographing flowers. One year ago a photo exhibition entitled ”Herbarium Amoris – a tribute to Carl Linnaeus” by Swedish photographer Edvard Koinberg was held in Jakarta, and guess, yes, I was captivated. I won’t say much about the exhibition and how I was captivated by the all the pictures because I think you’d better see yourself Edvard’s works on his website.



This is what Edvard said about his works:
"Since 1999, I have collected pictures of plants. It has become a kind of photograhic herbarium. The inspiration comes from Carl Linnaeus writings about the reproduction of plants and I have tried to approach the subject with the same curiosity and eagerness as he clearly had."



Don't forget to check if the exhibition is coming to your town, would be hard to miss it :-)

I’ll leave you now with three pictures I took at the garden café of Rosendal in Stockholm. As I mentioned above I’m mad about taking pictures of flowers... At Rosendal only, three pictures below and about 80 more here ;-)

[.more.of.göteborg.]

This is friday and I will let you enjoy some more pictures from one fine friday [.30.03.2007.] in Göteborg, Sweden. Happy weekend!

.what i could see from my hotel window:.





.what i loved to see at Brunsparken in central Göteborg:.


.the lamps.


.i think i really [heart] taking pictures of signs.where do you want to go?.


.the swedish east india company building, now museum.i love more what's displayed in there.

.what caught my eyes on the streets of göteborg:.


.building number 17 and a half?.


.it means...art epidemic street.wow.



.a nice shiny day.and people are happy.

[.friday.finds.]

I always love-love-love cute ceramic tablewares and just to my delight I saw these 20%-50% discounts for Top Choice at Centro Dept. Store in Jakarta. Wouldn't want to miss it, I love breakfast-ware with illustrations that make me smile...*heart*




Passing by the hyper market to buy some chocolate (*can't survive without some...*) I saw these doormats, made of fabric leftovers from some garment manufacturers. They are woven without precision, none of them has the same color-coordination, but I found that some of them would be nice to be at my home for a cheap-chic look :-)

[.new.web.templates.on.the.way.]

In one of my previous posts I mentioned about more web-templates on the way. They are, with two and three columns, i-frame, and flower graphics. I made more variations with toppers, tables, etc., so I do think some instruction would be good. So that’s what’s cooking!

I have one with my rose bears that’s ready to download from here. It’s not on my webtemplate page yet, it will come together with other new templates (plus instruction and tips on ‘playing’ with the templates) :-)

[.junk.market.chic.]

At the junk market of Senen in central Jakarta, you’ll never know what you can find there. Mostly old clothes and second hand bags, but with a little luck, even if it means you have to walk around the crowded and noisy market, you can spot some stalls selling soft furnishings for the home, at real ’junkie’ prices.

But again, you’ll never know what you may find, that’s the interesting part of going there. Two weeks ago the stalls had piles of table cloths, and last weekend I got lots of duvet covers. Certainly I won’t use them as intended (the guy at the stall wondered if I had a dorm!) but as usual I looked for fabrics with nice prints & patterns and I will think about what I will transform them into later. When I have time *sigh*. Let’s see what inspiration says…