Home and Garden Recent Picks

This issue - December 2008 / January 2009

The title-underlined links will take you directly to our catalogue.
Some featured items are linked via a book cover to enable you to read more reviews.

Tea cosies, [editor: Virginia Brehaut].
An essential accessory for your favorite teapot and the ultimate in homely comfort: tea cozies are a feel-good and fun way to enjoy tea! With many quirky examples to knit and crochet, culled from the pages of "Knitting "magazine, your teapot can be the talk of the town. The easy projects are accompanied by detailed patterns and instructions for how to create your own delightful cozies, and many of the suggestion can be made with spare bits of yarn lying around the home. Whatever your taste there will be something here to tempt you. From the classic rustic charm of a delightfully striped cozy to contemporary chic with a touch of kitsch (try the woolly sheep!), the world of tea cozies is just waiting to be discovered!. (Syndetics)

But wait folks! There is more!

Wild tea cosies : 24 patterns with step-by-step instructions, Loani Prior.

Bazaar style : decorating with market and vintage finds, Selina Lake with words by Joanna Simmons ; photography by Debi Treloar.
"If you like rummaging through markets for unusual fabrics, and can't pass an antique or second hand shop without popping in. Bazaar Style is for you. I'm a huge fan of the colourful vintage and bazaar-style look in the home, it makes personal spaces that little bit more original. I love to search charity and second hand shops for the kind of finds featured in this book and I have to say that it is the most inspiring book of this kind I have ever come across. If you are searching for a few tips, ideas and pointers on how to pull this look off, this book is well worth a purchase." (Customer review)

Gaia's garden : a guide to home-scale permaculture, Toby Hemenway.
"Welcome to paradise! This is not a dream. This is your own backyard. This book describes a gardening system that combines the best features of a wildlife habitat, edible landscapes, and conventional flower and vegetable gardens into a self-renewing landscape that lets nature do most of the work. Rayher than mastering your garden with gas-spewing rototillers and chemical fertilisers, let Tony Hemenway show you how to create a backyard eco-system that balances the needs of humans and nature."

"Gaia's garden is neither manifesto nor eco-romance, but practical science for making your yard produce food as well as beauty. Toby Hemenway is a professionally trained scientist, but he prefers spending time in his ever-evolving garden in Southern Oregon. He is an associate editor of the Permaculture Activist.". (Book cover)

Urban eco chic : how to create an eco-friendly home without compromising on style, by Oliver Heath.
"Oliver Heath believes in the importance of achieving a balance between function and style within interiors, teamed with a conscious effort to reduce one's environmental impact. In Urban Eco Chic, a design led yet practical guide, he shows how you can incorporate eco-friendly design into your home combining chic aesthetic ideas with functional know-how. The unique eco-style that Oliver Heath has evolved is based around the three elements of technology, nature and vintage. This book promotes a philosophy that combines the use of the pioneering technologies powered by the least possible amount of energy, sustainable natural materials that leave the lightest impact on the earth, and recyclable products, such as vintage furniture and accessories that limit the resources used in the creation of interiors and home-wares. The result is a contemporary style that is ethical, eco conscious and yet as individual as each homeowner." --Inside cover.

A home afloat : living aboard vessels of all shapes and sizes
"A home afloat is a treasure trove of inspiring ideas for anyone wanting to make their home abroad a boat of whatever shape and size. Bursting with interior design and furnishing ideas for making boats and other small living spaces cosy, original and appealing, it also provides an enticing peak through the portholes into all sorts of motorboats, riverboats, houseboats, yachts, barges, tugs and commercial vessels. A home afloat gives an intriguing insight into the lifestyle of people who have made their decision to live afloat, and the beautiful photography shows that life on the water can be every bit as luxurious as life on land." (Book jacket)

Pattern and mosaic in the garden, by Clare Matthews.
"Any garden or outdoor space can be transformed using mosaic and pattern to create original features. The stylish projects in this book will add your stamp of individuality on an otherwise ordinary garden . The projects range from simple Mediterranean wall pots and a tiled daisy through to a stunning beaded centrepiece or a corner patio that could become the focal point of your garden. Very few specialist tools are needed to complete the designs which are made with everyday household materials, such as pebbles, terracotta pots, tiles crockery and glass beads." (Book jacket)

Common ground, by Janice Marriott, Virginia Pawsey.
"Janice lives in central Wellington, where her riotously colourful mix of flowers, fruit and vegetables surrounds her tiny house in the midst of the CBD. Virginia and her husband Harry, run a hill-country farm, where he5r garden has to feed shearers and farm workers as well as cope with possums, runaway livestock and the challenges of rural life. They begin to tell each other about their loves and loss, and as the seasons unfold, the stories of their gardens become metaphors for life. Beautifully written, their letters are funny, clever, poignant and perceptive, as two wise women provide a wonderful insight into a delightful friendship that will warm the coldest soul. Common Ground is the perfect book for women who love gardening, from two gardeners who love life". (Book jacket)

Using the plot : tales of an allotment chef, Paul Merrett.
"Michelin-starred Paul Merrett swaps his shopping trolley for a wheelbarrow. In this witty tale of urban survival, chef Paul Merrett challenges his family to break free from the lure of the supermarket and live off the produce of their small allotment in London. Taking inspiration from the self-sufficiency of his grandparents, Paul plants his first ever seeds, battles aggressive pigeons, braves uncooperative weather, and teaches his vegetable-phobic children a thing or two about getting back to the land. Part memoir, part cook book, this is the honest story of how one family tries to make a difference. Just don't mention bananas..." (Book cover)

The minimalist garden, Christopher Bradley-Hole.
"Minimalist gardens, with their emphasis on clean lines, pure form and a strong sense of space, are becoming increasingly popular -particularly with those who want to create a tranquil retreat where they can unwind from their over busy lives. The added pleasure of the minimalist look is that it suits small urban spaces and demands of the low maintenance gardener. Award-winning designer Christopher Bradley-Hole has selected the very best minimalist gardens from around the world, large and small, urban and rural. He demonstrates that the best gardens relate most carefully to the house they join and the landscape or cityscape in which they are found." (Book cover)

Naming the rose : discovering who roses are named for, Roger Mann.
"Roses bring beauty and joys to those who grow and admire them. Often a rose will bear a person's mane, for the breeding of the roses is an art and, like all artists, the raisers of roses enjoy dedicating their creations to people they love or admire. But who was Madame Hardy? Bettina? Lorraine Lee or Henri Martin? Vita Sackville-West asked this question many years ago and rose lovers are still asking. Here, at last, in an elegant, timeless and beautifully illustrated edition, is the answer. Anyone who loves delightful flowers will find this collection of stories as beautiful as the bloom itself." (Book cover)

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