favourites on friday {1}

I thought I would like to show you some of the things I love. Many of them are things I have in my home, some are places that I love in the town where I live, and others might be things that I love to do during my day.

So, today, a little post about creativity and my family. Although none of my family share my interest or enjoyment in the 'domestic' arts such as sewing, knitting, crochet and so on, they are all quite talented in their own right. My Mum, for quite a few years, painted lovely Australian landscapes in oils, and my sisters are very talented at drawing; my younger sister took classes in botanical drawing, and has produced some beautiful pieces of work. She also wrote - and half finished - a wonderful novel which she never completed, and which I truly believe would have been published had she sent it to any publishers. Sadly, none of them now do any of these things.

My father, who passed away almost four years ago and to whom I was very close, loved to work in wood. He made many beautiful bowls and occasionally pieces of furniture, and when my niece and nephew were little, he created cute little wooden jigsaw puzzles for them.

I have one bowl (among many) which I treasure. Dad made it especially for me; it was a design in a woodworking magazine which he thought I would love.



It is based on the planet Saturn, and it's rings are represented by the wider rim around the central bowl shape.

I don't remember what wood it was made in, but the turning is so fine that the bowl has almost no weight at all. I was devastated when in moving house several years ago, a large, jagged piece broke from one side. Thankfully a friend of my Mum's was able to fix it without the damage being too visible.



I cherish this bowl, and what it represents of my relationship with my Dad. It sits in a spot in my living room where I can see it every day, near a photo of my Dad and I together.

This one is not just a favourite; it is one of my most treasured possessions.