Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Boring Blog Business . . .



I've been away. Mentally and Physically. Jaunts down south (to a farm stay) and the beach house as well as jaunts to nurseries to plant the garden for spring. Mentally my mind continually vacates to the images and ideas flirting floating around cyber space.
Pinterest be gone! (just kidding . . . come back, sorry! I love you!)



So here's a blurry, visual and sloppy catch up - images and quick captions. Better something than nothing right? (the procrastinator in me keeps arguing for better photos and more time to write poetically and thoughtfully. The realist in me says "who you kidding?" and the optimist says "share the little that you have - it's all life and it's all good enough"



A jaunt to Bridgetown - historical, crafty, thrifty, tasty and pretty much 
everything else we love in a small community


Young  man had his first coffee - well a Mocha to be precise - with a very weak shot of espresso. 
I keep telling him he's got the rest of his life to discover the perils of caffeine 
but he was curious and his friends have tried it.. blah blah… teenagers!)


The locals told me that in winter they call it Fridgetown because it gets so blooming cold.
I loved it and I'm definitely heading back


The coffee saga continued and after much arguing I agreed to let Young Prince have an
Iced Coffee (decaf - shhh don't tell him that) and thank the heavens he didn't like it!
Mum scores and we go back to having quality hot chocolates and milkshakes.


The beach house was a haven (as it always is) for reading, board games, period dramas, foot spas, 
long walks along the beach, killer pasta dishes and family chatter


Treasures were found and dragged home...


… galleries were visited - this piece Humanature by Kim Perrier


of course there was thrifting...


… and sorting ...


.. and planting - we've decided to concentrate on tomatoes this year.
Herbs too - but we thought instead of harvesting a little of everything with a lot of 
trial and error (not to mention slugs and snails) thrown in for good measure - why not see how
we fare planting many varieties of just one veg - or in this case fruit. Fingers crossed!
Having said that I did recently discover these guys and so I ordered THIS and THIS
Hoping to cultivate a few hot seedlings as Christmas gifts.


On the lazier Sunday mornings we trample (pyjama clad) up the back of the 
garden to sit with with the chooks. Our oldest gal Roz has gone broody (AGAIN) but we aren't
going to put chicks underneath her this time - maybe next year though. She's such a wonderful 
mother hen it would be a shame to not let her raise a few more feathered friends.


I'm still working at my Floral Design course - with an eye on improving my bouquet techniques.
I luuuuurve flowers  - have you noticed? This bunch of Stock, Verbena, Irish Bells and Delphiniums
lasted 9 days before showing signs of giving up the ghost. Just goes to show that regular water changes and stem trimming really do make a difference with cut flowers.


We've had blissful days of misty drizzle too and Young Prince has been rising early in order to
"get the most out of his vacation"
This lasted for the first three days of holidays … then we were straight back to sleeping in
(teenagers)


I've been striking succulents (another Christmas gift idea I have brewing)
and purchasing preserve jars and mason jars for other homemade loveliness
(we also sorted out our pantry - a three hour job that delivered more satisfaction
than I would ever have imagined possible for such a menial task - I would've taken before and 
after photos had I thought this a blog worthy moment but it was not until we'd completed 
the job, stood back, surveyed the VAST improvement and realised what a mahoosive 
difference an organised pantry space makes  - I smile every time I reach for 
a clearly labelled jar of just about anything now . . . small things - big change)



Speaking of small things - Hubby fixed the running loo.
It ran for quite sometime. It drove us nuts. We kept closing 
it off at the wall to save water wastage. We also procrastinated at calling
the plumber - hoping that something else would go wrong so that it seemed
worthy of a visit from a man charging tiny fortunes to replace washers.

Then came You Tube, Bunnings and steely determination.
(He's so chuffed with himself I swear he'd like 
to wear his underpants on the outside - even for just a day)


However . . .
His success has cast a shadow over my failure.
Kefir - cannot - will not - has not - shall not.
So here's where You Tube and steely determination DID NOT succeed.
(I mean come on . . . I wrapped it up and gave it a heat pad - how much 
more love can you show a strain of bacteria?)





. . . and finally, visits with nieces and nephew
Which are always enough to make my heart sing

****

So that's my world and all that's been buzzing around it lately.

Big plans, changes and dreams are on their way though.
New look for here, new ideas for work and adventures for 2015
Stay tuned!

In the meantime please tell me what's been happening in your
corner of the universe - spare no details.
I like details.

In finishing off I thought I'd link to a video that has me simply mesmerised
(the song's not bad either!)




Talk soon
xx 



5 comments:

Vintage Jane said...

What a lovely post.
Happy, interesting chat and lovely photos.
My son has the occasional cup of tea but as I have never drunk either tea or coffee so he's not going to be encouraged down the coffe route by me but I'm sure friends will eventually persuade him and his dad is an espreso addict! The Kefir I had never heard of ... how intriguing.
Lazy mornings with the chooks sounds just idyllic ... I find the sound of clucking hens to be so soothing!
Love the pretty blue of your flowers and your 'succulents striking' has given me a Christmas idea too!
I will watch the video later as I am at work (on my break) and it is blocked here.
M x

Neesie said...

I don't know what's been happening but I haven't been getting your posts. I thought you weren't posting but now this one has appeared I've scrolled backwards and I've got a lot of catching up to do!
I'll be back....
xoxo

Diana Studer said...

the Geraldton wax grows in your garden? Love that arrangement in the yin yang blue and white vase.

Deb said...

What a lovely break you've had. And it sounds like you've been up to a lot during that break :)
That video is spectacular.

cara said...

This made me smile so much, especially the innocence of your son having his first coffee, of sixteen-year-old-first this is not one we often hear about! I hated coffee until I was about 22, but all of the teenagers in the american tv series I watch chug it like it's water, I assumed that was just something teenagers do nowadays.