My Cubby House

I thought I had better touch base before we go away for a few days to the beach....I'm really looking forward to it as it has been quite some time since I have felt the sand between my toes.
The wisteria has been looking a picture in the garden. It is such a lovely shade of mauve and the beautiful blue of the spring day just sets it off.

Down in my garden there is a little play house....Lavender Cottage. It is very special to me as my Dad made this for me in 1974 when I was seven. I remember feeling so lucky and feeling like it was like a dream to have something so wonderful being built just for me. I have no sisters and three brothers so I guess Dad and Mum thought it would be nice to have a girly cubby house to play in....and that I did for hours on end. When I shut the door I was in my own little world and my dolls of course would turn into real babies. Sometimes Mum thought that I was lost in the bush or something because I was quietly playing in my cubby for so long.

When we moved away from the town in 1977, we left it at my cousins place to use. To cut a long story short, we eventually were given the opportunity to have it back again for my own children and after a couple of moves, here it sits (for thirteen years now). It's been painted several different colour combinations over that time and I finally named it a couple of years ago. Lavender Cottage because I love lavender so much and it is surrounded by lavender. It has been so nice to see my only daughter, Erica, also grow up with it and maybe one day she will have a little girl to play in it too.

It was always so much fun to do it up for open garden days. A cute little hutch with a vase of flowers, a little table with more flowers and a tea set, pretty little curtains, a little bed with pretty covers and big colourful butterflies all over the outside were a few of the girly touches. One year Mum and I could hear giggling and squeals of delight as we walked by. Ducking our heads around the door to watch the little girls having fun we were taken aback and some what amused to find that the little girls were in fact grown up little girls....Grandmas! It's always hard to resist a good tea party!

It is currently stacked to the brim with toys that we are not quite ready to find new homes for. One day I think we will line the walls with book shelves and have it as a little garden library with a comfy reading chair in it.....ONE DAY. Before I go I'd just like to leave a couple of leaf photos for my good friend Aina at Modern Country. I know how much you like them Aina and thought you would especially like the "heart leaf" ( Cercis "Forest Pansy"). I hope the week ahead and weekend will be a good one for everybody....mine will...I'll be AT THE BEACH!

A New Book...

Pull up a chair and I'll tell you about this ever so lovely recipe book that my very generous and thoughtful friend Cathy gave me earlier this week. ( A treat for looking after Cathy's cute little goat Barbara while she is away enjoying the sun and surf.)

"At Home with Magnolia" by Alyssa Torey is a beautifully presented cook book packed full of delicious recipes that are simple to prepare and full of fresh ingredients....just what I like.

She has included pretty pictures throughout the book, not only of the food she has cooked but also of her lovely home and garden.

I can't wait to try some of the recipes!

I've been busily working away in the garden again this week and I guess, this is where I will spend most of my time creating. Oh it's been so good since it has rained to watch plants grow and flower instead of watching them deteriorate as the drought worsened.

I found this old tub at a secondhand shop recently and planted it up with Lavender "Kew Red" and English Lavender. I painted the lattice behind it and planted some sweetpeas and blue rescue. I think it will be lovely when it all grows and it will add a bit of zing to an area of the garden that has been in desperate need of a makeover.

Every year I look forward to this very hardy species tulip coming up....Tulipa saxatalis. It's from the Middle East I believe and so it can take a lot more heat and dry than the normal species. It also spreads under the ground and so the clump is slowly getting bigger. I don't ever water or feed it and up it comes every year without fail...THAT is my kind of plant!

Nature's Artwork...

There are remnants in our garden of the ancient forest that once covered this area. Huge stumps of trees that once towered overhead. I feel very privileged to be the custodian of these beautiful pieces of nature's art. I love the texture of their weathered surface.
Within the crags of this beautiful stump there is new life springing forth.

There is a myriad of life in and and around the stump...insects, lizards, the odd snake and possums. And, I am quite certain that if one was to be very quiet and wait for a while the odd fairy might be seen. (Or should I say, a fairy or two, not an "odd" fairy as such.) When my oldest son Isaac was a little fellow, he would check the stump regularly for fairies. Then one day...no he didn't find one...but a spider had spun a shiny silvery web just outside the "fairy door"entrance. As the sun shone on it, it was bejewelled in a rainbow of water droplets....a sure sign of fairy dust...or so it seemed to anyone with a modicum of imagination.I also love the texture of the bark on the gum tree next to the old stump. Its girth has almost doubled since we have lived here and, if I have anything to do with it, will hopefully grow very old and become an ancient tree itself.

For now it is loved for its sculptural form, its shade and habitat and its branch that is just perfect for a swing!

Enjoying Life!

What can I say? The bees are buzzing....

the flowers are blooming....

the weather's been beautiful and

there are birds everywhere!

Including in my lounge room! When silly season comes around (spring) and the birds are in hot pursuit of each other, we have a constant supply of birds flying full pelt into closed windows. Needless to say, it doesn't really agree with them and they spend the next few hours

in a state of stupor! For a fortunate few, we hear the bang and run to the rescue. There is a bright side to this tale of woe and that is that we get to get up very close and personal with them. It never ceases to amaze me just how tiny and light some of them are...you can't even feel them in your hands.

To anyone who has been feeling a little sad of late...I hope the bluebird of happiness is on it's way.

And to anyone in blogland who has been feeling not-so-well...I hope you are on the mend.

Happy days to all...