Missed Opportunities

Opportunities are constantly throwing themselves at me and I don't know what it is but I think I feel like if I go with it that it will consume too much of my life and I won't be able to do ALL the things I want to. Take for instance a couple of days ago. I went to an art gallery with my mum and two of my aunties to see an exhibition of very good paintings done by local artists...some of which were superb. Anyway, while I was there one of the ladies that volunteers at the gallery noticed the charm that I had made that I was wearing. The gallery has a gift shop and she was very keen for me to make some to sell in the shop. At first I'm very delighted that she would think they are good enough to sell in there and kind enough to offer. Then, the same old thing that always happens when I go home-I start to have self doubt and talk myself out of it. Normally I'm not like this as I'm a firm believer in the old saying..."if you don't open the door, you'll never know what is behind it". This has happened on several occassions but now, all of a sudden, I think I am up for the challenge. To really make a go of it and to see what I can do. I have had offers from a couple of outlets to sell my charms so I think I will decide on themes that are unique to each shop. Because my charms contain miniature water colours I think that I will make batches of them and offer these for sale, that way I'm not hurredly trying to fill last minute orders. I have to be in the mood to paint so rush orders just wouldn't do.

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I would really appreciate if you would leave me a comment. Happy days to everyone until next time. I think I will make a coffee and relax for awhile in one of my favourite parts of the garden...where the smell of honeysuckle scents the air.

Stop! Cleaning in Progress!

Cleaning cupboards....need I say more. What a job. Not much fun while you're doing it but very rewarding when the job is done. The one I'm doing today is one that I haven't ventured into for quite some time for fear of everything falling on me! Lots of fabric remnants, clothes that need a new home and bits and pieces that MIGHT come in handy one day. What to do with it? I think it is time to be brutal and to make the hard decisions.

I must say that tidy cupboards is definitely not one of my strong points. Once upon a time when the kids were little and we hadn't accumulated SO much stuff, I did have clean cupboards. I think the main problem is that we have grown out of our cupboard space. No matter how much I get rid of, there always seems to be an abundant supply of things to take its place.

My cupboards are home to a rather alarming number of unfinished projects....some from years ago. This fabric painting/stitchery was to be the middle block of a quilt that I was making when I was pregnant with Isaac. I am ashamed to say that Isaac is now 16 and there is no finished quilt in sight. I'm sure it would have turned out to be a very lovely quilt!

I've also found that as I get into more and more baking and cooking the number of ingredients I need doesn't actually fit into my pantry in any organized manner. Every time I clean it and think I will keep it good, I get into a mad cooking frenzy and well, that's the end of it. Lucky to last a week!

Anyway, I must keep going on this cupboard cleaning or I will run out of day.
Yes, yes, I know these photos are of my garden but I think it's a much nicer place to be than staring at the inside of a cupboard.....don't you?

Warm Days and Visitors

I had a really good time at the beach...both the air temperature and the sea temperature were just right. It was a nice little break from the normal routine. I went to a market at the marina that sold mostly jewellery, soaps, lotions and potions with a few home wares thrown in for good measure. Not an old thing in sight so needless to say, the only thing I bought was a selection of soaps for my good neighbour for looking after our animals while we were away. It all looked very colourful with the cute little tents each stall owner had. Since being back the days have been very warm ( around 30c) and you know what that means....SNAKES and GOANNAS.

Early one morning I noticed that the wild birds weren't using the bird feeder and were kicking up quite a ruckus. I stepped out onto the verandah to find a large carpet snake making its way through the bamboo right at eye level. Then, horror of horrors, it made its way onto the barbecue on the verandah. Judging by the large lump in its stomach, I think it may have already eaten a large bird or something similar! These snakes usually eat a couple of our chooks over the summer which is a bit sad but it stops the number of chooks building up too much. The blood curdling screech of the chook being crushed is definitely not one of the best noises to hear in the middle of the night though!

Every year without fail as the weather warms up this goanna makes its way from the bush to our place. I think he comes up for some water and eggs. I can hear him coming as the birds in the bush sound alarm signals as he crosses their paths. If I go near him he usually runs up the closest tree where he is very good at camouflaging himself.

On a brighter note, I thought I would leave a couple of flower photos from my garden.

I love all the different sorts of iris'.

It has been such a good spring this year as far as the number and quality of flowers. There has been so many insects.