Telepathy

One of Nu's traveling photos
At least once a week, perhaps twice, it is normal for me to touch base with my best friend Nuala. Our phones calls sometimes send Chris slightly bananas , because we often talk in shorthand.
Shorthand is a normal mode of communication between best friends is it not ?
I have really missed our chats over the last month, for Nuala and her husband Jim are in the progress of a " round the world" trip of a lifetime, and so  today,  as I was trying to scrub a load of " Juniper Blush" emulsion from the side of Winnie's face, I found myself thinking of her with just a hint of melancholy.
Then the phone went.
I just knew it was her, I just knew it
And sitting by her hotel pool in deepest Cambodia , it was indeed Nuala on the other end of the phone
Sounding as bright and as clear as she normally flies when ringing from West London.
I am of an age that international phone calls still hold a bit of thrill, and I still find it slightly bizarre that Nu and I had a lovely phone call catch up as I was in a freezing Welsh kitchen splashed with Juniper Bush paint and she was knee deep in Cambodian hospitality sipping cocktails

The Juniper bush kitchen

Ps thanks to Libby for your pressie

59 comments:

  1. As much as I like your new kitchen colour, it shows very little resemblance to the colour of the juniper bushes around here.

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  2. Telepathy is real. It happens.
    Your kitchen is gorgeous.

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  3. Yes, sometimes best friends just know when to call each other. I love your kitchen John. It looks so warm and inviting. Love the tulips too!

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  4. Anonymous3:23 pm

    I do think that gallery walls maketh a home. Pics and books throughout the house do it for me.
    Your kitchen looks most welcoming, John.
    Those in the same zone don't need the full monty, verbally. I had a dear friend who always talked in "brackets". We got on very well!

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  5. I love the Juniper Blush kitchen John. Our kitchen has been yellow for the last fifteen years. We have redecorated it three times - the first time it was just plain Daffodil,each time after that it was a totally different name but it went over the old paint and was scarcely any different. Such a cheerful colour.

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    1. Especially in winter pat...everything looks so drab

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  6. I have the same otherworldy feeling about speaking to someone in totally different circumstances on the far side of the globe. It seems almost beyond our evolutionary abilities to comprehend.

    Your kitchen is now a very similar color to our own, over here on the other other side of the world, where it is also cold but sunny! We just call that color "yellow," but then again we didn't have to pick it out.

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    1. It's a little brighter than I wanted, but it looks cheerful

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  7. That was lovely she called when you thought about her.

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  8. Oh, I wasn't expecting a 'yellow' colour. It's very pleasant though. I especially like your gallery. How wonderful for you to have such a close friend, she is someone to treasure I'm sure x

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  9. When I think of juniper I think of gin.

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  10. I wish I had a friend like that. You are a lucky man.

    The kitchen is very pretty!

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  11. Your kitchen looks great. My friend and I are like that, when we are together we can communicate with a facial expression or eye roll, very handy when the kids or husbands are around :)
    Twiggy

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  12. Love the colour, and a call from a dear friend is such a wonderful gift. Like you, I marvel at international calls and how we can simply dial the number and talk away.

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  13. What a nice kitchen. I also know who is calling, usually. It's a real thing, for sure. International calls ARE thrilling. It's not just your age, is it? Of course, I'm probably your age. Never mind. :)

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  14. When I start thinking of a friend, sure enough I receive a call or mail.
    I adore your kitchen, all that love makes a house a home. Lovely !
    The tulips are the perfect touch.
    I love having fresh flowers or even a piece of greenery in a vase somewhere in the home.

    cheers, parsnip

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    Replies
    1. Even if I am totally skint
      I always insist on fresh flowers in the cottage at all times

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  15. hey John, please can you tell me where the plate and cup rack in the corner is from?

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    1. I'll have to think...I think it was local and cheap...have you noticed it's upside down?

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    2. I would like one hung over the draining board for more space and to air dry the dishes. I didnt notice but it is a good idea for storage. thats for sure

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  16. Anonymous5:03 pm

    I like the new kitchen colour an I guess Winnie must have REALLY liked it.

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    1. She slowly pressed her face against the wall just to piss me off

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  17. Ahhh, a dim bulb brightens! It's Juniper BUSH, not BLUSH. Mystery solved :) And it looks very nice. We had a yellow kitchen for years. The kids did not like it, for some reason. After they left home we decided it was time to paint and we went with beige/cafe au lait combination. The kids - who no longer have to put up with it - approve.

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    1. Just to be totally clear, "dim bulb" refers to MY thought processes!

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  18. I can't do shades John. Red is red, blue is blue and green is erm..? I get very confused when I hear people talking about Cerise or even Juniper. I do know what Azure is though. It's the colour of the sea from our kitchen window. Nice kitchen John!

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  19. I still find it amazing that we can Skype our friend Kath in Melbourne and it's like she's in the next room!

    I like the new colour in your kitchen. I also like the ingenious use of the radiator as a resting place for the ladles.

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  20. I too thought the colour 'Juniper Blush' might be more berry coloured but, I do like the colour on your walls, very fresh looking.
    Great that Nuala called when you were thinking about her!

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  21. Very nice John, love how bright it makes the room.

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  22. so THAT'S where the baking magic happens! loverly, john; the flowers add that special touch.

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  23. Is it Juniper Blush or Juniper Bush or is it a blushing bush? !!! Whatever it is nice and cheerful. Has the colour got Chris's approval? I would have thought he'd go for a more neutral shade judging by what I know of him from on this blog!

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  24. The warmth of the kitchen is evident from your photos, good job! I am a big fan of photos on the walls of my home, pictures tell a story. As for the BFF code talk.......I have one of those and it's a rare gem indeed to have that connection with anyone. xo

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  25. Cozy kitchen, perfect color.

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  26. I suspected you may be a witch, John.
    LOVE LOVE LOVE that colour!

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  27. I love black framed pics on a yellow wall, very nice. And Juniper Blush did make me think of a drunk's purple nose hehe.
    I love the idea of the poolside/kitchen link up! I am like that too about such things, I get ever such a thrill!! Isn't the modern world amazing! Actually much of it is absolute pants in my opinion, but things like blogs and international mobile phone calls are fabulous!!!

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  28. Juniper Blush looks like yellow to me. Previously I thought that Juniper Blush was the florid complexion of habitual gin drinkers. Did you paint round the many framed pictures or take them down beforehand.

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  29. I'm of an age to remember when even simple long-distance phone calls were "an occasion." Usually it meant big news, that someone had died or something, because it had to be of that calibre to justify the expense of phoning long-distance. And remember how everyone spoke loudly over the phone precisely because it was long distance? LOL, those were the days alright.

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  30. All the way from Cambodia - wasn't that brilliant. Nuala must have a built in telepathy gene. I think you do when you're close to somebody.

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    Replies
    1. Funny I always seem to know when she and chris are ringing

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  31. Global interconnectiveness: I have this great photograph of a Kenyan Masai tribesman surrounded by desert and scrub herding goats with his staff over one shoulder and chatting away on a mobile phone with his other hand.

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  32. So juniper blush is actually juniper bush and it is, in fact, yellow. Glad that's clear, you had me mystified. My kitchen is also yellow, as is my bathroom. An excellent colour for kitchens and bathrooms!

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  33. I love having that connection with friends. Knowing when it's them on the phone, and then the shorthand. We're lucky to have that. It's not everybody, just the really close ones. The besties.

    Love your kitchen. I would love to sit down and have a cup of tea and a bikkie with you. Cheers!
    plufrompdx

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    1. If you lived nearer I would be pleased if u did

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  34. i thought it was ‘blush’. Nice, though.

    I know what you mean about recognising the phone call. Weird, but comforting,

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  35. I'll be depending on international calls, come this time next week, when my BFF lands in NZ to take up residence there. The melancholia has set in already. Love your kitchen. x

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  36. What a beautiful yellow (I'm slowly coming 'round to liking that color) and what a beautiful relationship you and Nu have! x

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  37. Great kitchen, good color for it, I have always like soft yellows. I need to get better at talking on the phone.

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  38. That's Juniper!!

    I would never have guessed, it looks lovely though.

    But put those pictures STRAIGHT, they would drive me mad!!

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