May 2013 Newsletter

Friends of Duck Egg,

Hope you are all well, having a lovely time and trying to make the most of this erratic weather (especially if you are a UK reader!).

We have been flat out with a number of projects and sourcing furniture for clients has been taking us all over the country and into Europe.

Lots of new projects to share with you so let's get started:

Bespoke Tables with reclaimed Victorian Tops:



Here at Duck Egg Designs we love our community and are big fans of social media, we meet so many talented, interesting people through it and more and more are leading to partnerships and giving extremely talented people a platform to showcase their talents.

We got approached by a talented carpenter who was as passionate about reclamation and vintage interiors as we are and we agreed on partnering up on his made to measure, bespoke Victorian Tables. To order contact info@duckeggdesigns.com with measurements and colour palette.

Duck Egg Crab Kitchen Splashbacks:



We are very excited about the launch of our Kitchen Splashbacks. This is the first one of the range which comes in made to measure sizes, colours and will be featuring more of our prints in the future, giving a bespoke, fresh, modern feel to a vintage interior or classic country kitchen.

Contact us directly on info@duckeggdesigns.com for more details.

Rocking Summer Deck Chairs:



We adore this gorgeous, stripy rocking deck chair, just perfect for the summer.

Not only is this chair easy on the eye but incredibly practical, with it's rocking motion it makes it easy to enter and exit the chair, perfect for an elderly or pregnant person still keen to enjoy the beach or garden.

The stripes are green and red pastel colours and blend in lovely with our garden.

The Deck Chair is easy to fold away, light weight and very durable (tested for hours by my husband!).

Price: £70

Vintage Weighing Scales:



As gorgeous as they are practical, no baker should be without these timeless kitchen scales. With a large and easy to read dial you will be able to measure up to 1000 ml in capacity and up to 3 kg. This sleek and stylish design with a  hint of retro inspiration is as much as a beautiful ornament for the kitchen as a staple part of everyday life. Perfect to have out on the counter and too good to hide away, this essential part of a kitchen collection looks the part in any style home and the soft Shutter Blue can be matched to other items in our range. Why not match with our storage jars or match to our bread bin?

Price: £20

Seed Box:

More Hints and Tips

Life of Pi Duck Egg Book Club Review

Book Review: Life of Pi by Yann Martel

I am one of those absurd people who insists on reading a book before they watch the adapted film even though experience tells me that the films never live up to my expectations.  Several of my friends raved about how amazing the film ‘Life of Pi’ was and so, dutifully, I decided to read the book before watching the film.

Having done limited research, I have to admit that I thought the book was based on a true story and after becoming disheartened with the pace a few chapters in, finally reading around on the internet and discovering that it was entirely fictional, I almost gave up.

For those who don’t know, Life of Pi is the story of a young boy who is stranded in a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific after a shipwreck in which he loses his entire family on their emigration to Canada.  Joining him aboard the lifeboat is a 450 pound Bengal tiger, an orang-utan, a zebra with a broken leg and a hyena.  It follows the adventures of Pi on his journey to be rescued.

I found the story incredibly slow-going.  I hadn't expected there to be such a back story about Pi’s religious affiliations, his life at his family’s zoo, the different animals, the teachers he respected etc etc before the shipwreck.  Once I realised it wasn't a true story, I actually struggled to see the relevance of a lot of it, so what if he wanted to be part of 3 different religious groups, how does that affect his ability to deal with a tiger coming at him?  Obviously, the skills he learned from his father about handling wild animals had a huge impact but this could have been condensed into a couple of chapters.  I'm sure it is almost halfway through the book before you get to the ‘good’ part.

As you can see, I was not overly enamoured with this story and am actually struggling to think of how to review it in a positive light.  I can see how it would be amazing as a film, the things they can do with graphics and how much detail Yann Martel goes into with the wildlife and fauna and sea creatures would make for fascinating watching I think but as a book it somehow misses the mark.  There is a lot of technical detail which seems irrelevant in a non-factual story.  To me, fiction allows a writer to explore the impossible, to stretch our imaginations and to cause us to wonder ‘what if?’…Martel does this up to a point with the story but then fills in the gaps with, frankly, mundane scientific details which then draw attention away from the fantastical side of this book.

Unfortunately, this isn't a book I would recommend unless you have a particular interest in the finer details of marine life.  The film, however, is one I am definitely looking forward to seeing.

Reviewed by our Superstar Duck Egg Book Club Editor - Jess.

To join the Book Club click here.

Next Book Club Book:



Until next time. x

 

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