It's Days Like These...

What a beautiful day Sunday was. It was one of those days that is so nice you feel you could do anything but you end up just sitting and enjoying it. Too good to be ignored. I went to the market just up the road from us and found a few pretty things. I had a general feeling of well being as I left...in my bags I had a pretty, old plate, a couple of old table cloths, a bunch of very green silverbeet, some very large passionfruits, a bunch of flowers and, to top it all off, a budgie. (Actually it was in a box not a bag.) We had recently been asked by one of our neighbours if we would care for their mother's budgie as she had had a stroke and could no longer look after it. Usually I don't agree with birds in cages but I thought we could make an exception just to help out. The little budgie was in need of a mate and I must say she is mach happier now she has a friend. Their names- Maisey and Lacey.

Our Home

Thirteen years ago, John and I purchased a beautiful block of land twenty minutes drive north of Toowoomba. I think we actually told the real estate fellow that if we could get this block of land it would be like living in paradise. At the time we had been living on the black soil plains of the Darling Downs where the weather always seemed harsh. In summer we would watch the rain clouds sweep past us and sit on Toowoomba where it was always several degrees cooler. In winter it was another sad story to be told. We constantly got much more severe frosts and we had none of the wet foggy weather that we loved so much. I would leave home for work and the sun was shining and my little car would pull itself up the range to a find a foggy and wet Toowoomba. Oh so sad when I am a keen gardener.

To cut a long story short, we did get our block of land on the escarpment, went through a lot of worry and trouble getting our 10 square transportable home accepted by council and now we are enjoying our peace of paradise just how we had visualized.

Our little blue house sits on five acres, about one and half of which is under garden. We started with a bare block that had a couple of larger trees on it so it was a very clean slate to start with indeed. With the new garden in mind, I think I had collected about fifty potted plants (before we moved in) ready to start as soon as I could. Thirteen years on you can hardly see the house from the road. By our,I think, sixth or seventh year here we were part of the ABC Open Garden Scheme- we needed a name for our place.Our house was blue...around that time I was fossicking around at a market and there it was.....a plate the exact blue of our house called Chelsea Blue. That was a sign I'm sure. Not only did the blue match but Chelsea in England is where my very dear Grandad Brown had grown up- how fitting.
We fill our home with things we love.....
our dear little dogs Poppy and Susie.....
and with kids. We love having sleepovers. No matter how small the house is kids

can bunk down anywhere...the more the merrier. There is nothing nicer than to hear a bunch

of kids having fun. With their inane conversations and silly giggles you can't help but smile.

Charming Book

Finally finished another charm yesterday for a friend of mine.

I really like the combination of a fresh little watercolour with the old paper from sheet music.

Have you seen this book around? "Home. Living life beautifully", by Sandra Kaminski. It is absolutely gorgeous. Such beautiful photos by Rachael Hale.

I have borrowed it for a little while from my friend and won't like handing it back when the time comes. I think I will have to find one for myself.
Pink and green are not the only colour schemes in the book but I couldn't help but show you these photos!

I am now more inspired to grow as many flowers as I can and fill the house with them.

A Little Sewing and Blacksmithing

Just a quick post today as we have had another big weekend and I have many jobs to catch up on. I had John's 40th birthday lunch on Saturday. In all I think there were about 20 of us so it was quite a crowd to cater for. It was well worth the effort as it was really nice to see everyone.

One of the good things to come out of the get together was that it made me get the director's chair covers made. With that many people you need all the seats you can get. I was going to use material I had painted but I just couldn't resist using this beautiful rose material. I just love roses too much. I want to put them on everything! The other material won't go to waste because I will use it for cushion covers. I did do a silly thing though.... I didn't line two of the four seat covers and, you guessed it, they ripped! Not to worry, I wasn't totally happy with them as the material wasn't the rose material. I had an inkling it might happen; luckily no one hurt their posterior on the way through!

As it had been my 40th not long ago my brother in law gave me this lovely sign. The colours perfectly match a french look clock that I already have on the wall. They will look very good together.
The best thing about the cold weather we have been experiencing is that it tempts John to turn his hand to some more blacksmithing. It gets nice and cosy in his shed with a smithy's fire going. So much so, my eldest son even turned up there to do a little of his own.

This time John made this little candelabra for my new glasshouse. It is amazing to watch a few rods of steel turn into something so good. I think it was the first time he had tried the "knotting" on the top. He cut the little candle holders out of tin so it is entirely hand made. Can't wait to hang it!

A Foggy Start....

What a beautiful foggy start to the day. The sound of rain on the roof has been rather scarce of late so it was most welcome. I know I keep going on about the rain but a wet world is a much better world in my books.
This little building is my youngest son's cubby that John made him when he was only five. We thought that if we made a cute cubby then we could use it as a nice little garden shed when Sam no longer uses it. There is a secret trapdoor in the floor that is very useful when trying to escape the clutches of someone in hot pursuit. Within it's four walls are all the things that a boys' cubby should have....spiders, old bottles, shells, rocks, a cactus and succulent collection, the occasional possum, an old gypsy caravan heater/stovelet....and the list goes on. At one stage, after having grown up in the garden, Sam was a very keen gardener. Most of the plants around his cubby were planted by his little hands and carefully watched for any signs of growth.

From a very young age he new many botanical names like; Solanum wenlandii and Dimortheca. Wonderful words to hear coming out of the mouth of a three year old. I remember one open garden day a little old lady coming up to me saying," I was wondering what the beautiful purple-flowered plant was around there and your little boy assured me it was a Solanum wenlandii. Is he right?" Well, who said the young can't teach the elderly anything?

Cold foggy weather calls for warm cake and a cup of tea. What better than my Grandma Derksen's dutch honey cake. Always a favourite of anyone who tries it. Just add a light spread of butter and enjoy...

Glasshouse decorating for a beginner...

Flowers with happy faces ready to face a winter's day.....

After visiting the very lovely Cherryhill Cottage blogspot, I just had to have a go at making one of the old windows glasshouses. It is not quite finished but I thought I would show you all so you can appreciate the finished product when it is done- and decorated.The day I went to the antiques and collectibles swapmeet was not a very fruitful one but on the way home I managed to find some old windows, at a very reasonable price, for this project. I had picked up a beautiful, pale green, antique glass knob that was just the shot for the glasshouse door. There was also a-wait for it- GRAVE MARKER- that I was rather fascinated by. The lady I bought it off thought it was a weird thing to want to buy. Hey! She was the one selling it. To me it was just a nice piece of old metal with numbers on it. Anyway,I can't go passed something a little different to the ordinary.

As a joint effort, John and I sanded, painted and nailed and voila- a little glasshouse .
I will probably pot some more pretty plants to go in it. John has already turned a large wooden candlestick to add some height to the arrangement on the inside.

Happy day to you all...