Gingerbread

Just...

..wishing my lovely blog readers a very happy and safe Easter
 I hope you have a wonderful time with your family :) Gx

 Japanese Windflower from my garden

rainy days..

I can't remember a wetter week or 2 since the summer of '96/'97 when Miss R was
born..we've had some minor flooding here recently and a landslip or two near our
road with the ground being so saturated, but  hopefully  that's the end of it  for a
while.as much as I love the rain..I was glad to see a break in it by the end of last
week..so I dashed outside to take some pics around the garden..





You may remember M's labour of love - his stone workshop is slowly taking shape with
some window frames set in place this month..I'll post a proper progress update soon



first bud opening on my camellia made me so happy..a sign of Spring not far away..



the little black dog waiting patiently for me to put the camera down and pat him!



and about an hour later..to my amazement we had some sun and blue skies :)

Hope your week is off to a good start..will be back later with some scraps..and also
long overdue blog visits..please forgive my slackness once again Gx

SSS #25 and Sunday's flowers..

There's not a great deal in flower at the moment, but while in the garden today,
the Japanese wind flowers were looking pretty nice..



and I noticed this interesting shadow cast by some lemon balm..



For your weekly fix of shadows, head over to Hey Harriet and Happy Sunday!

Spring Blooms ~ Take 2

The above is a type of Rock Rose

Plenty of blossom on the old pear tree..but doesn't mean we'll get pears..
last year we got one at the very top of the tree!

the unusual flowers of the grevillea (Australian native) ground-cover

gorgeous magnolia flowers..still a fairly young tree

unfortunately these flowers are rain damaged but the colour of this azalea are
sooo beautiful and unusual..it looks like a rhododendron but it's an azalea from
a specialist nursery in the mountains, which has since closed :(

Hope your Tuesday is a happy one :D

Brown Boronia

The above Brown Boronia is an Australian native..and a favourite of mine..it has the
most incredible perfume...there is nothing like it!  I love having a few sprigs
on the kitchen window during Spring. Some of you may know of May Gibbs.. creator
of the Snugglepot and Cuddlepie adventures..her books fascinated me as a child
and I had so much fun reading them to my girls..I still marvel at her talent! :D


image from harpercollins.com.au

As promised, here is a pic of some of our spring wattle (acacia)..the one on the left
is called Varnished wattle, not sure of the middle on and on the right is the most
spectacular blossom of the Oven's Wattle..we have many planted on the property



Tomorrow morning is the big date..I'm looking forward to getting it over and done with!
Thanks for your sweet blog messages and emails....catch you on the other side! Gxox

Spring Blooms & 12 months on...

Everyday there are more signs of Spring around the garden...the bulbs are out and there
is a mass of yellow wattle in the valley..will have to post some wattle pics next time..

Luckily the weather was kind today and 'the big pour' took place for the new rock
studio/workshop.. here it is with all the preparations done..ready for the concrete
delivery..unfortunately I was taking Rhiannon to an art course while the truck was
here..so not able to get any action shots...

Here is my dear Dad..helping M to float off the concrete..he will be sore tonight 
Hopefully I'll be posting more progress shots later this year..will be sooo good to
see something happening above ground level LOL

And..today is the first anniversary of my blog..you can see my first ever post here..
I'm so pleased to still be here 12 months later..it's been so fantastic to meet such
lovely people along the way and share snippets of our lives...I'm looking forward to
 many more years.. ;D
I'm planning a little give-away soon to celebrate..but since I'll be out of action for a
while soon (I have a date with a surgeon....or my gall bladder does LOL)..
I will have to  postpone the giveaway until next month..so please stay tuned :D   Gx

Inkurable Stampers Card

Here is my August entry for the Inkurable Stampers challenge blog..  This month's
challenge is to use a flower stamp along with at least one other type of stamp.
The flower, leaf and spiral stamps are all from Autumn leaves and the black
gaffer  tape...is from 7 Gypsies..I will be very sad when this runs out!
The paper was actually a freebie from a magazine, I just love the colours...
They reminds me of the colour in this pussy willow...



Isn't it gorgeous? We have 2 old trees on the property.. I should really strike a few more.
 Yay for Spring starting tomorrow.. my favourite season.. the first of the
daffodils and wattle have opened their blooms this week.. the daffodils below are
wild ones picked from the side of our road.. Only 2 have opened in the garden so
far..so I just couldn't pick any of those!.. Hope you're having a sunny Sunday!! Gx

Mixed Bag

Well I had an eventful night/morning just over 24 hrs ago..I awoke to sharp pain in my
chest..well really it was at the top of my stomach right through to my back..I thought
it was stomach cramps due to food poisoning because I also felt quite nauseous.. M was
thinking of heart attack.. after 10 mins it was getting worse and I was having trouble
breathing..think I was actually just panicking..so M called the ambulance at 2:30am
I told him not too.."what if it goes away shortly?, I'll look really silly calling them out"..
But it didn't relent..and they arrived in about half and hour..after several Qs and some
 tests their diagnosis was gallstone attack... aaah so this is what it's like!... then the
morphine in a drip was a huge relief!! This was followed by my first trip in an ambulance
and nearly 5 hrs of tests and rest in hospital and the doctor's advice that I will need to have
my gall bladder removed.. so even though it won't be fun I would not like to have a repeat
of Thursday night..so will be getting it done as soon as I can...hopefully next month!


The above is one of 2 rock sculptures M made for the garden..this one is developing a
lovely aged green look after 4 years or so.. He was inspired to make them after we
did the 'Sculptures by the Sea' walk a few years back.. I love them and hope that when
other projects get finished he will spend more time making things around the place...

The camellia is in full bloom now and a joy to look at..I have been attempting to catch
a pic of the olive whistler which keeps visiting the flowers..but it is too shy and flies
away the second I get close enough..hopefully later today I'll get another chance..

..and I must thank the following boggy friends for their kindness in the last fortnight:

Thank you Pat from Mille Fiori Favoriti for this cute award
(originally created by Gail using her son, Alexander's cute drawing of her)



..and Thank you Suzanne and Christy for passing on this award



..and to Beth for the Tree of Happiness award:



I've only recently discovered Beth's blog ~ Cloth and Fodder but have really enjoyed
her posts ~ so many delicious things to see..she made the most gorgeous octopus
cake (among other yummies) and has an interest in carniverous plants.. :D

The award requires me to list 6 things that make me happy right now:

#1 Watching the Olympic Games Opening Ceremy and Jemma's excitement
at seeing so many countries represented and of course watching her
favourite sport of all - Gymnastics (probably my fave too)

#2 Watching and listening the native birds through the window..spring
seems to already be here for them..

#3 The yummy aroma of chocolate cake baking in the oven made by
Rhiannon and her friend Ella

 #4 The sun and warmth streaming through the windows at the moment

#5 The strong coffee I'm sipping right now

#6 That I'm all ready for Shadow Shot Sunday given tomorrow's forecast
for bad weather..I have my shot ready to post :D

I would love to know what these bloggy girls are happy about:
Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti,  Tracy @ Hey Harriet, Christy @ Sweet Tidings,
M.Kate @ La Vie Est Belle, Sandra @ Bubble Babble and Karin @ Ute och Inne


Many of you will have already seen this clip on YouTube..it has had a lot of
hype recently..but just in case you haven't seen it..you MUST and it wouldn't
hurt you to have a box on tissues on standby!! Thank you Sandra for sharing! :D

LAST but not least I was recently blown away by the amazing dragonfly pics
that Kitt and Fishing Guy managed to catch..I'm sure you'll be impressed too..

Signs of Spring

There was a pleasant surprise on looking out the window this morning..
the first buds on my favourite camellia (well actually I have 3 but 2 refuse to flower!)

...and a debut bud on one azalea...

This is a Tasmanian native shrub Banksia marginata..not as speccy as some
of it's mainland Australian relatives..but it's one of my favourites...

It's wonderful to see new flowers (dead ones behind)..because I collected the seeds
and propagated it and it's one of only a few that survived in the dry soil we have here..
it has become quite tall...look at that gorgeous blue sky.. a rarity around here lately.

some new buds on the verbena

 

a little pottery man/urn thing?.. sits on the rail.. 50c at a garage sale a few years ago

and last but not least.. Jesse boy..on the 11th attempt he sat still..only after hearing
the chicken squawking..he usually can't sit still for a second.. that's why so few pics
I can't believe how calm and well behaved he looks here!  :D

Have a wonderful weekend all!  Gx

Frosty & Frozen..

Winter has really set in this week with some wonderful downpours and the last
couple of mornings we awoke to a rather frosty start.plenty of early sunshine
 and a few nice surprises can be found around the garden...

 Frosted foxglove & silver birch leaves

A rock collection frozen in this carved wooden dish (garage sale find several years ago)



Not many flowers can be found at the moment but this little native ground-cover is lovely



You can just make out the frost on the other side of our valley...



Thanks to the lovely Mel for giving me an Arte Y Pico award this week :)
If you haven't already visited Mel's gorgeous blog Day to Day, it's
SO worth seeing her beautiful crafts: knitting, sewing, card-making
and scrap-booking, scrummy recipes and recently some amazing
handmade soaps, that I can't wait to have a go at making!

...and today is her birthday so HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mel! :)

Another surprise this week was to see our Autumn lanterns from
 this & this post featured on a great kid's craft blog Crafty Crow!

...and lastly I would like to give a little Australian on-line
 shop a plug.  I recently bought some new stamps and other goodies
from The Scrappin' Kats and really impressed with the personal
service given by Kathryn and very reasonable prices she has
and such beautiful supplies, I will be back again soon :)

Hope you're having a fantastic Saturday..whatever you're up to! Gx