Strangelands & bookish delights

image from Strangeland: Margot loves coffee & has become quite the connoisseur, always trying different cafes with her Moleskin & man in tow!

image from Strangeland: Margot and Alex are keen cyclists and have all sorts of wonderful adventures on their bikes. This is one of my favourite photos that she has taken. It features her bike 'Lady'.

The pictures Margot has gathered on her book blog are insanely gorgeous. I would very much like to go to all of these places/read all of these books, thank you!

she found this one at:Vintage Camera & Books by ►CubaGallery on Flickr...

...and this one at: Read Me by StephanieSimos on Flickr.

When I was little, Mum took me to drama classes. A wise thing to do with any hyperactive, hair-brained and over imaginative 6 year old who forces family members to sit and watch them recite lines from 'Sleeping Beauty' and clap enthusiastically at the end (whether or not they were, in fact, witnessing such a self-indulgent display for the 8th time that morning). At these classes, I happened to meet another little girl of freakishly similar ilk and after a quick discussion, we decided to be best friends. Well, 20 years later, I can proudly say, we are still the very dearest of friends. We have remained close despite distance, different schools and friendship circles and we have always been kindred spirits. She went from helping me 'fly' off the front porch at the age of 10, to painting beside me for our year 12 art prac and now we support each other through the 'big stuff'... the loves, the moves, the heartbreaks and the struggle to be arty nerds in this funny old world. She is an extremely talented writer who is on the cusp of completing her PhD in Creative Writing (just quietly, I can't wait to call her DOCTOR!). I have had the privilege of reading some of her poems and articles and every time, she manages to give me goosebumps. She just has an incredible knack for putting words together and I am in awe of her dedication, drive and determination to continue in her chosen field. She is so focused, intelligent and organised. Three things I seemed to miss out on when skills and attributes were being handed out at birth!!! But despite any differences in our personalities, we have effortlessly maintained a much treasured and unique friendship. One I would be completely lost without. She is hugely encouraging of my art and she has urged me to keep going at times when I have lost all faith. I will be eternally grateful to her for that.

It gives me great joy to promote her 2 incredible blogs that I have been following religiously over the last few months. Her pictures and experiences are inspiring and exciting and despite having what I know has been a challenging year (to say the least!) she always manages to find delight in the every day. Strangeland  is a blog that explores her 'observations of place and displacement' and Fireflies in the Labyrinth is packed with images, quotes and her reviews of all things bookish. Do yourself a favour and have a look! You won't be disappointed.

Margot moved interstate with her lovely partner just a few weeks ago and I would be lying if I said I didn't feel lost in Adelaide without her. But we are all grown up now and there are things we have to do as mature, responsible adults trying to get by and do our best at it. I know we will never lose touch and with the internet and cheap flights, catching up is always at our fingertips. But the best thing is, I will never lose my memories of us playing stowaways together in the garden, satchels of feathers and flowers over our shoulders, and I draw enormous comfort from the fact that she is the one person who would play make-believe with me again in a heartbeat.


May you take a little moment to think of your best friend today and send them a little bit of love.
xx Jessie Lee.