Lemon coloured orchid

Today I have been soaking up the beautiful Spring sunshine whilst doing a spot of gardening & working my way through washing a mountain of dirty clothes & hanging them out on the line to dry in the warm breeze. I don't know what it is about the ritual of washing & then hanging out fresh clothes on the line, it seems to make me feel like all is good in the world & gives me a sense of being in control of my crazy chaotic household.
When I was a little girl I used to love washing my dolls clothes in my grandmother's front loader, it was so different to my family's top loader. I would put in the detergent & press the buttons to start, then set myself up a little chair to watch the little clothes spin round & around in the sudsy water.
Grandma would help me tie rope between a couple of the gnarly old banksia trees in her back garden on which I would carefully hang out my clean dolls clothes to dry in the sun. Today felt like one of those happy sunny washing days from my childhood, must be the warm Spring breeze sending those kiddie memories flooding back.
In the veg patch today I through a whole heap of pelletised organic fertiliser all over the beds and then watered it in to the soil. I'm sure the plants will love this mix & will hopefully reward us with loads of delicious goodies to eat during the coming months.
On one of my many trips back & forth to the rainwater tank I spied this pretty lemon coloured orchid. Orchids amaze me, this one has been neglected for so long & has spent much time totally dried out in its pot. A little splash of liquid fertiliser months back & our recent couple of showers of rain have been all it has needed to through out a flower spike. And what a pretty flower spike it is!
Do you have a little ritual in your home life that you don't mind doing more so than other domestic duties??

Spring in my step

Wow, Spring is here in full force in my neck of the woods. The weather has been gloriously warm & we have had a couple of afternoon thunderstorms to quench the thirst of our garden & really get the flowers blooming.
Our garden has been established for seven or more years now with many plants growing wild providing me with a contrast supply of beautiful blooms to brighten our home. Look at this bunch I plucked a few minutes ago. Preeeeetty!
Lucky I have flowers to tart up the house as you can see we are living on a virtual building site. Sure it is getting closer to being finished but oh how I'd love things to be a little less chaotic around here. It will be so fantastic to have the extra space when it is all done.
Today Betty Bernina & I have been sewing up a storm creating a bevvie of beautiful Springy themed skirts perfect for frolicking in your hood, where ever that may be??
I hope you are enjoying the change of seasons & the little rituals we partake in according.

She's back!!!

Hi thanks for hanging in there, I dropped out of the bloggersphere for quite some time didn't I.
Early in June my husband was given some rather shocking & depressing news regarding his health which certainly turned our world around. After months of being in shock & him engaging in treatment everyday which involved him travelling a round trip of 4hrs each day, I'm pleased to say he is a lot better & we are feeling more positive. Phew... now that that's out of the way we can get onto lighter subjects.
Last week I had a visit from a very tame cockatoo who didn't seem at all disturbed by me watching him eating the seed pods from the wattle tree at our front door. He seemed just as interested in me as me in him.
I've also been busying myself in the veg patch of late, harvesting homegrown broadbeans (yum) & planting many more seedlings such as tomatoes, eggplant, beetroots & butternut pumpkin. The plan is to be feasting on nutrient packed homegrown fruit & veg all Summer long.
Do you enjoy getting your hands grubby & attempting to grow your own food? Ever had a little critter from the animal kingdom pay you a visit at your pad?

Hello Possum

I've almost got my sewing mojo back. I had a couple of power sessions at the machine late last week resulting in more Australian themed cushions of varied prints & sizes. I also whipped up another psychedelic terry toweling & Pom Pom beach cover up for a wee little one.
On the home building site front, WE HAVE CONCRETE! After a lot of digging & filling & forming up, the concrete trucks arrived at 7am this morning & the guys have been troweling & helicoptering to get a lovely smooth surface.
Yay progress in the sewing room & the building site.
My son turned 9 last week & we had a ten pin bowling party for him on the following Saturday. 14 kids all sugared up & having fun. Dave (hubby) made the most amazing bowling ball shaped icecream cake. He mixed chocolate & vanilla icecream together along with fresh raspberries & M&Ms & filled a large rubber ball that he had cut in half & lined with cling film. Once pulled out of the mould, it had a few coatings ice magic,the result was magnifique. Yum for everyone.

Busy times

Busy busy times! So much happening on the home front. Last week we finally started the addition to our house.Dave told me the whole yard would be nothing but dirt but I just couldn't comprehend why so much of our garden would need to go. Now I get it, it is quite a process & to quote three tradesmen in the space of a couple of days "you have to break a few eggs to make an omelette". It is rather exciting to be finally making a start, I've been thrown into the role of project manager, talk about a steep learning curve. I think I'm a natural at hounding people. I've even been shoveling plumbers grit into the sewer trenches,very hands on.
I've also added a photo of the garage door of a house my husband designed in Marrickville Sydney. The owner of the house is an amazing women & she commissioned artist Louise Tuckwell to paint a mural over the door.
I love it, it sure brightens up the inner city street scape.
I have a long list of Sean-the-prawn orders building up which I must tackle soon. Plenty of designing & cutting out going on, I just can't get myself into a sewing head space.
What do you do to inspire yourself to get back to the machine?

Hippity Hop Hop Easter's on its way

Happy Easter dear blog friends.
For those celebrating Passover well happy times to you too.
Thursday at my son's school they had an Easter Hat Parade which was a lot of fun, I took my parents along to have a picnic with the kids & to watch the parade. So many beautiful hats & happy faces.
On Good Friday we had a beautiful lunch around at the home of some great friends of ours. Delicious homemade curries, prawn green curry, yummy Malay fish & aubergine curry along with a yummy aloo mater.
We brought dessert, a lemon yoghurt cake with whipped cream & another friend who arrived later served up fresh ricotta drizzled with honey. The afternoon finished up with fresh made mint tea Tunisian style.
A lovely afternoon spent chatting & eating while our kids played together & we had some quality snuggles with the host's 9week old baby daughter. Ahh bliss.
Today is Easter Sunday & the kids awoke at 6.30 am to find that the Easter Bunny had left chocolate eggs outside their bedroom, they were very excited.
My parents joined us for a sumptuous Easter lunch of roast chicken & an array of delicious salads, my favorite being beetroot, bean, watercress, pecan nut & goats cheese.
My hubby tried out a new recipe for sweets, a lime & ricotta pudding.
Soooo good we'll definitely be making that one again. Lately we have been using produce from our home garden:- lemons, limes, basil, mint, rosemary, wild cherry tomatoes, water cress, leeks, green beans, free range eggs & sorrel. I'm a proud, lazy gardener, learning as I go.
It has been a beautiful Easter this year enjoying special times with family & friends.
Now I've crashed out on the bed trying to recover from our healthy feast.
Happy times to you.

Sulphur Crested Cocky

Yesterday I finished making up a cushion of a patched Aussie Flora & Fauna theme. I thought the cockatoo needed a little more attention, so I snazzed it up with embroidered detail in some bright yellow Japanese sashiko thread.
Jumps right at you now.