I heart Paddington!

My sister and I went to Paddington, {a gorgeous inner city suburb of Brisbane, in this instance, for those of you who don't know} to buy birthday and Mother's Day presents for our Mum!
We also did manage to fit in a spot of afternoon tea at Monty's Chocolates. I love a visit to Paddington but what made it extra special this time was this...

Look what I found!
I love the person who trims their hedge into a heart. I'd like to see more!

perfect sunday

 Went for a walk, went to the markets for fruit and veges and finally went to the garden center for some plants and saw these lovely lisianthus. Aren't the colours divine! I brought a pot home as a Valentine's to myself thank you very much. I borrowed the bathroom bin {ikea} for them and put them next to my front door ~ very pretty. All that before 10.30 am! I guess getting up early has it's virtues.
Now I will wait till it's cooler this afternoon before I do any gardening.

This is also happening... from maccas, first coffee in a week and it was pretty amazing !

Have a perfect Sunday!

perfect sunday

I went for my long hilly Sunday walk and took my older son with me.
His Uncle Dan is going to keep us honest for the rest of the year - as he said, "only 40 or so more walks to go and imagine how fit you'll be!"
I am impressed with myself for sticking to it for several weeks now, mostly because I am most definitely NOT a morning person, especially not a 6am Sunday morning person! But it's been great and when Liam joined us today for the first time, he kept up all the way and we kept our speed from the week before - what a champion! Helps when you have got someone to motivate you and be waiting at your front door each week - thanks Dan!

Some beautiful "rain flowers" at Dan's and my sister Louise's house.

Apart from the fitness benefits of our walks - getting up early makes the day really long and I have
been fitting heaps in!
I have finished my "Back Room Reorganise" and took some photos...

One room down and quite a few more to go but it feels great having a proper dining room after being squished into a corner of our lounge. Our back room now has an area to eat and a reading corner. Behind the table is my cupboard holding all of the riffraff such as cleaning stuff, my ironing board and vacum a shelf for all of our board games and puzzles. We've been enjoying family dinners and sitting around fighting over games. I thought I'd better take some pics before the table inevitably becomes buried under homework, sewing, projects, etc over the next week.

Like my free suitcase? Courtesy of The Side Of The Road.

Then there was the last minute grocery shopping to for The Start Of The New School Year...

Who on earth goes to Woolworths on a Sunday afternoon the day before school's back?
Geez, get organised people - it was really crowded and annoying. {okay, that admittedly was me}.
It was gridlock with trolleys fully of school lunch paraphernalia being strategically crammed into queues at the checkouts. It was like a badly played game of tetrus by a lot of harassed looking mothers.
The streets outside the school are going to look like that too tomorrow morning and I just know there
are going to be tons of new parents who don't get the parking system.
{like me ~ again, who got a ticket on my first child's first day of school ~ so mean!}

However, it was worth the trip. I found these ~ BANANA MILKY WAY!

Did some office tidying - it's a "Work In Progress"...

And finally, just because it's been so unusually cool and breezy in the afternoons for this time of year ~ another walk...

Another perfect Sunday. Hope yours was too!

perfect sunday

The day started out promising with my early Sunday morning walk. I thought I would get so much done but as the morning wore on I got tired and ended up having a nap on my son's bed. I had sat down to watch him play in his newly tided room and well, one thing led to another. 

My little house was dark and cool today. We turned on the lamps by lunchtime to make it a little more cheery. It rained outside. I admired how much my herbs, tomatoes and bok choi my friend gave me for christmas have grown.

I took some photos of my bookshelves which I have just finished re-organising. Very satisfactory. 

Do you like my little twin bird salt & pepper shakers? My friend Leesa gave them to me for my birthday. 

She has her own blog again. Leesa Perry Photography. Leesa was my original blogging buddy back in, 

I think it was 2005 when she first encouraged me to start a blog. 

We had a great old time, blogging our socks off. We both joined in with the phenomenon that was Loobylu's Month Of Softies and one of Leesa's softies even made his way into a softies book! 

{Lucky Dog is right there on the front cover!} 

However we took quite an extended break from blogging but I am now so glad we are both back! 

She is a natural light children's photographer and has some really stunning images. 

She is currently doing the 365 photos project and each one is a delightful peek into her world.

A nice quiet day, thankfully nowhere to go. A perfect Sunday! I hope yours was too.

inspiration for your new year!

This post from Foxs Lane has inspired me so much I had to share it with you.
Naturally everyone at this time of year is having a rethink, re-evaluating, re-energising themselves for a new year. Perhaps you are coming back from holiday feeling revitalised or like me have just had a break from work and a change from the routine of the daily grind {kid's lunches, uniforms, homework} uggh I shouldn't mention it. I think this list is a fantastic reminder for me about simplifying stuff and sticking to what's important for me and making it a daily ritual.

❤ top ten tips for settling back home beautifully

Happy New Year's Eve!

Have a great night - what ever you are doing!

  

a fern in a cup

so maybe things can be fixed...

Susan suggested a bit of tarzan's grip so I got some and fixed it and it worked.

It now has a pretty fern in it and everyone's happy ~ Happy Friday!

Jacarandas!

I think they may be gone soon, the storms will blow the blossoms away. 

As I took these photos I could see them gently falling. There was also a beautiful soft scent and a lot of bees, possibly humming but I can't remember. 

jacarandas

It's that time of the year.
People say you can't see the seasons living in a sub-tropical climate but really you can.

Veranda Time!

I have been asked to "consult" on my friend's veranda redesign!
I have been pinning down some inspiration over at pinterest.

What do you think Linda?

I think this is spectacular*

*View not included

You must have,

a daybed

or a hammock

or something in-between!

A table large enough for your whole family...

{and yes, the people in her family actually look like this}

Does your budget extend to a shopping trip to Palm Springs?

You will have to by a cat.

                                       

I really feel one end of the verandah should be dedicated to a serious tiki bar with a well established drinks cabinet or at the very least a cute little trolley.

I guess you'd better get some outdoor lighting for all the parties you will be having to justify the tiki bar.

Should I stop now? I couldn't - there's more here

{all images from pinterest, please click here for credit and source information}

My Front Garden ~ More Green, Less Mean

An old pot which originally belonged to my Nan, I love the yellow/green lichen or whatever is is.
A new plant I found called Artic Snow which grows into a little bush. It looks like one of my favourite plants Star Jasmine which I love but have to avoid as it makes me sneeze. This one has no scent so should be safe!

I was feeling very AB Positive after donating blood on Friday afternoon, however I was awoken during the very early hours of Saturday morning with a very nasty tummy bug and yesterday was completely horrible! I spent most of it lying in bed and feeling pretty miserable. The worst part was that I had to ring Red Cross and tell them that I had become sick since donating and the guy said he would have to bin my blood! Apparently some of it could be used but I think he was just trying to be nice. What a waste! 

And I feel like today is getting wasted too - it's so beautiful and sunny and breezy and cool outside but I've got a whole day's worth of dishes, laundry and MESS etc to catch up on and I feel too weak to do much anyway.  Oh well, I did have a huge sleep in and am feeling heaps better than yesterday.

I took some photos finally of the front garden {although they didn't turn out so great in the midday sun/shadows}. I think it looks so much better and I can't wait for the new plants to grow and fill up the beds a bit more. The little white bits are a collection of shells and pebbles, mostly bought which I have had for years and years and usually use scattered about my pots. 

The Agave were replanted from the large white pots which are now home to a pair of Yuccas. Both of these originally came from my sister's garden. Her and her hubby have been propagating plants like these for quite a while and have helped me stock a large part of my garden for FREE! Plants such as bromeliads and moses in a basket, which are all doing very well in their new homes. I have transplanted some baby succulents into a pot which you can see below.

~ this little tin pot, one of my kerbside finds ~

Ok, back to cleaning and I will do something fun to try and salvage the lost weekend!