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.

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!