In the garden + safety warning

The one downside to having a good number of roses in the garden is all the pruning that one has to do in winter. I had done one or two bushes out the back recently, but with Sunday being a nice, sunny day (or at least parts of it were) I thought I'd make a dent in the rest of the pruning.

You may remember we have 20 Iceberg rose along our front fence.

Well, I got stuck into them and they're all done now, as well as the two massive standard roses out front as well. I didn't cut them well back as we are after a sort of hedgy look.

I couldn't bring myself to chop off this huge rosehip. The colour is a deeper red in reality.

Molly with the pile of prunings

I have a bit of a safety tip for you all. If you want to be a stubborn woman and chop kindling for the fire, do yourself a favour and wear safety goggles and perhaps a helmet.

This is me on Thurday evening. It was a very close shave!

The latest avante garde eye look

I got to go to work the next day looking as though I had been in a pub brawl when in fact a piece of timber I split, flipped up and split my eyelid and bruised the outer area of my eye.

Would you believe that I managed to do it again over the weekend? Molly, Lyn and I went out to collect fallen sticks to use as kindling and whilst snapping a stick in half a piece managed to flip up and hit me in the forehead! I now have a scab there as well. This time I was wearing my big sunglasses so that was handy in protecting my eyes.

We did have a laugh but really people, be careful :)

Look what I found out in the back yard just now. I pretty blue anemone. I just adore these.

Have a lovely week friends.

xx

Bits and bobs... in the garden + an invitation

Hello friends, today I have another Bits and bobs photo for you which is also a Friday Flowers!

I took this photo the other day after I wandered around what I thought was a pretty bare yard and discovered all sorts of bits and pieces.

The earlicheer is already blooming, as are fragrant violets, a few pansies, good ol' daisies, fuschia, geranium and I found some brighly coloured rosehips.

I would really like to continue on with this Bits and bobs series and I'd like to invite you to join in. I don't plan on setting a theme, that would be up to you and it can be anything really. A collection of mundane items in a similar colour, a collection of precious goodies, plants, leaves, bottles, food, buttons, jewellery. You could base it on a word - sew, pretty, cook, sparkle... the list goes on and on. 

Would you like to join in? Please let me know. I'd give us a weekend's warning, probably posting on a Monday and I can set up a linky if you are keen. What do you think?

Keep warm or enjoy the sun depending on where you are in the world.

Wishing you a great weekend ahead.

xx

PS. I am joinging in with Karin's garden moodboard. Pop on over for a look :)
PPS. I'm also joining in with...

at Life on Planet Baby.

Aware (ah-wah-reh)

"This pretty word describes fleeting moments of fading beauty. Normally used to depict the last couple of days of cherry blossom season, it also refers to that sad, bittersweet feeling when something  is so good that you don't want it to finish. Like a tasty hamburger or excellent book."

Georgia Frances King, Frankie magazine July/Aug 2012

What a lovely word. When you read that, don't you just think, "yes, I know what that means"?

I often feel that way about a good book, I don't want to stop reading, but I don't want it to finish.

The same with pretty blooms. There's that bittersweet moment when they start to fade and you know you'll have to toss them out before long.

I think the sky is like that too. When you see that amazing sunrise or sunset, you know it's very temporary, it changes and fades in an instant. So here I share with you a morning sky that I snapped last week. So beautiful!

It's cold, rainy and windy here this morning, but then it is winter. I'm feeling a bit better but coughing like no-one's business. Bit over it!

Wishing you a happy week :)

xx

Friday flower and sick of being sick!

You can tell there's not much happening in my garden as here's another Friday Flower post of my pretty hyacinth in a vase. I am excited to see the blooms starting to emerge and the fragrance is already amazing. It really has grown very quickly. The other bulbs I have growing inside are also doing well so you might see those next week :)

This week has been the biggest drag, I've been home sick from work with a virus and it's driving me crazy (I rarely have a day off work). So many projects to get onto but I'm just not up to it. I'm hoping I feel a bit better tomorrow so I can get back into things. I have caught up on a lot of dodgy daytime tv and thanks to my laptop I have been able to lay in bed and read lots of blogs and so on.

Take care everyone and have a lovely weekend.

xx

Bedroom thoughts and wardrobe update

I love blogland, I really do. I was so impressed by all the wonderful comments received on my last post about my new/old wardrobe. The response, not surprisingly was an overwhelming NO! to my thoughts of painting our wardrobe. Thank you so much to those of you that took your time to write such passionate and thorough responses. It really was fantastic.

You will then be glad to know that for the time being, you have talked me out of painting the wardrobe.

I've posted a couple of images here of how I'd like the room to feel. Light, relaxed and cosy.

Look at that pretty wardrobe below. Inspiring? No really, as much as I love this look I will resist the lure of the paintbrush :)

Apart from my lovely wardrobe, the only other pieces in our room that I like is this antique chair.

Really, it's a bit of a blank canvas.

Paint the walls, consider a feature wallpapered wall, patch the skirting, install picture rail and cornice, sew a pretty curtain, acquire a new bed and some bedsides, paint the set of drawers and Bob's your uncle. Sounds easy?

So why hasn't it happened yet?

Do your renos and spruce-ups take forever or do you just get them done?

xx

ps, unfortunately we missed out at the auction at the weekend. We unsuccessfully bid on three doors that would have been great at our place. Oh well, hopefully there's a next time.

Images 1- via Brabourne Farm, 2&3 - Irideeen blog

last image - moi!

Furrniture Friday... to paint or not to paint?

After 3 years of living without a wardrobe we hit the jackpot at the start of this week.

Behold the wardrobe!

It's solid Blackwood (a Tasmanian native hardwood), probably from around the 1920's. Found on good ol' Gumtree website. How good is Gumtree?

It has some nice details but most importantly, it fits a whole heap of clothes.

Inside, the right door conceals shelves and drawers and the left-hand door and behind the mirror is hanging space with a handy shelf above.

Mirrored door strategically placed to hide the messiest of all bedside tables :)

Getting this puppy inside was no easy job. Thankfully, we were able to borrow a big truck from Lyn's work and perhaps even more thankfully, the wardrobe came apart into 4 sections - hanging section, drawer section, base and top pelmet thingamy.

Boy oh boy were we pooped!

The big question now is... to paint or not to paint?

A lot of people would think it terrible to consider painting over solid timber, but I suppose it could always be stripped. I am considering milk paint, but more so I think I need to paint that awful purple feature wall a nice clean white and then see how I feel about it. The room doesn't get tonnes of sun so I'd like to create a light feel I think.

Of course now that I feel slightly more enthused about this room and how we could decorate it (another post on that to come), the boy decides that maybe the hallway should be next to attack. Whatevs Lyndon :)

More on that later no doubt...

Above is the crappiest pic you have ever seen me take, but I had to share it. Here is the little girl being the total life of the party last weekend. She was festooned in streamers and chased and popped as many balloons as she could. A real party animal that Mollsie girl. It made me feel really happy just to watch her have so much fun.

As you can see I have been playing with camera apps.

I love my furry girl just sooooo much. Way too much.

I know I have posted the image above before, but it I've re-fiddled with the filters and thought I'd post it again. We always need some flowers on Friday, after all.

Yay for the weekend. Anything good planned? We are off to an antique auction tomorrow.

Looks like being rainy so keep warm and dry my friends (and enjoy the summer those of you in the northern hemisphere)

Love to you all xx

Friday flowers...still growing

Hello friends!

Has this week seemed super long? YES!!

I have been fighting a sniffle, but I think I'm winning, so thank goodness for Friday.

There's not a whole lot happening in the garden at the moment, but I feel bad if I don't do a Friday Flower post :)

So, here's an update on my "inside bulbs".

They're doing well. I've brought them out of the cupboard and they're now sitting in the coolest room at the back of the house. The crocus is growing well, though it's beard of fine roots are just now getting moving.

I made the mistake of wandering by the half price bulbs at the local hardware store.

These blue hyacinths looked so healthy and were only $5! Well, I could hardly leave them there, could I?

Instead of planting them in a pot, I decided to try growing them in a bowl amongst small pebbles.

They've been under the sink for about 2 weeks now and their roots have started to reach the bottom of the bowl!

They look healthy and strong. I'm hoping the roots growing in amongst the pebbles will hold the flower head upright. We'll see what happens :)

Well, what have you planned for the weekend?

I have to work (again!) but we also have a 70th birthday celebration for Lyndon's Dad on Saturday evening. Just a family thing at his home, but I am planning on baking some thing nice. I just haven't worked out when I can do it.

Have a lovely day and thanks for dropping by :)

xx

ps still SO impressed with the pooter. I put this post together in about 10 mins and that included taking the photos. Must jump in shower and go to work now!

Bits and bobs... wood

This is hopefully the start of a mini series for me, a way to get a bit of bloggy mojo happening when there's not much else going on during winter.

As many of you will know, I love collecting little treasures, vintage bits and pieces as well as memories. I love those vintage-inspired specimen photos you see around the traps and so here's my first - a small collection of wood items from around the house.

Twigs, old cotton reels, letterpress letters and a beautiful children's shoe form (I adore this!).

I hope you might enjoy this and future photos.
Is it cold where you are? Boy, it's becoming a struggle to get out of bed in the morning. Brrrr!!!

xx

The spoilt one

Molly sits up in the car like the Queen of England. All she needs is a nice hat and matching handbag.

This is her recently waiting at the traffic lights on her way to be dropped off at Gran and Pops for a day of babysitting. We often see people chuckling at her whilst driving along, she looks a bit of a sight in my tiny red car.

Cosy on the couch

Her fur is starting to cover her leg again after her surgery. It was about 3 months ago now. I'm not seeing the degree of improvement that I would like to so I'm not feeling super positive about the surgery's success.

I suppose it takes footballers a long time to recover so maybe I'm jumping the gun.

I might take back to the vet in a month or so to see what they think.

In Lyn's chair. Bit of a squeeze.

As you can see, she is very content. Who wouldn't be with a big cosy, woodfire heated 'kennel' and servants (Lyn and myself) meeting your every demand?

Have a lovely week. It looks like being grey and dismal here in Hobart all week. If only I didn't need to go outside and strip paint off that darn window as well as getting some garden bed preparation done. I'd prefer to be inside in front of the fire with the furry one :)

xx

Friday flower...orchid + a thank you

Firstly, thank you to those of you who left advice for my interior design dilemmas on my last post. I really appreciate each and every comment. There were some really great ideas in there which I will make use of. It's so great that you take the time to help me out.

Friday flowers this week is the beautiful orchid that I brought inside the other day.

I am just amazed at how well it is doing. Four flower spikes! It obviously enjoys being neglected.

I clearly must have my orchids sitting in just the right spot out in the backyard as they seem to thrive on virtually no attention. Of the other three that are still outside I think two of them are going to flower as well.

This one is sitting in the lounge room in a galvanised bucket on my old chest.

Oh thank goodness for Friday. It has been such a long week!

Of course much of it has been happily spent on my new computer. Lyndon is quite a fan of it too.

Another highlight of the week was reading this lovely post over at McCarthy Designs.

Nellie very kindly purchased some of my stationery off Etsy the other day and then super surprised me with a blog post about it! Bloggers are just so sweet!

Please pop over and check out her blog and lovely new store.

Shadows. I just love shadows. Ha, I think I just about drive Lyn mad with all my comments about the "beautiful light" and "look at the light on that" etc etc. I get quite excited by a nice spot of light.

Happy Friday buddies. Have a lovely weekend.

xx