Day's of Love, Letterboxes & Longing......!!

It was my 25th wedding anniversary on Wednesday so to celebrate I took my man away for the weekend to Daylesford....which happened to be the second weekend of the Words in Winter festival being held there...love it when I can kill two birds with one stone...I'd never get him interested in a writers festival !!...so he amused himself while I joined a couple of 1 hour sessions I wanted to attend. ...we spent the rest of the time idyllically enjoying the beauty and fabulous community that is Daylesford.

Getting there, I have to admit to an obsession of mine .... which along with old cemeteries...is loving the letterbox groupings that abound in country Victoria....I always look out for them and when they sneak up on us I shout out to pull over,  which never gives my man enough time or space to stop.....so we revisited these two near Daylesford just so I could take a couple of pictures....I love them...such a quirky part of the rural landscape.

On the Midland Hwy just out of Daylesford....

Just off Porcupine Ridge Rd.....I love them !!

We had two nights at The Hide studio Mt Franklin ...a beautiful self contained cottage on 44 hectares...complete with a frog filled dam, beautiful cattle, geese, native birds and about a thousand kangaroos...I have never seen so many...they were everywhere.... but still those wide open spaces set me craving !!

Beautiful accommodation at Mt Franklin ..the little cottage in the middle next to the dam

A trip to Daylesford wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Convent Gallery.....we had a lovely morning tea in the atrium soaking up the fabulous sunshine streaming through the glass...the weather was perfect all weekend....we were so lucky. Inside the gallery I was mesmerised by the incredible artwork of Barbara Hauser ..... Acrylic on Printed Fabrics.....they are so fabulous if I had the money I would love to own one of them....!!

 I can also admit I struggle to walk past a plant nursery without going in and buying a little something to plant when I get home...and this pocket sized nursery in Daylesford is just amazing....it's a work of art in itself and the plants and garden bits and bobs make it a treasure chest of goodies.....such a creative and fabulous use of space...rusty galvanised iron has been put to delightful purpose...everywhere you look there is a creative little gem waiting ...  If dreams were wishes I would love to own and work in this place..!!

Love, love , love this nursery......!!

So much to look at and so beautifully done.....!!

 We had a great weekend away to celebrate which left me longing for all the beauty and creativity that I saw and experienced.....but I feel wonderfully inspired and motivated to get fired up on my own creative projects that always somehow wind up on the back-burner !!  

I'll finish off with a pic of the beautiful bunch of anniversary flowers from my husband.. second time around for me and third for him.... 25 happy years...can't really ask for more than that.

Goodbye July ....!!!

I seem to have completely lost track of time...It's the last day of July !!!  Where did the last three months go??...I've been remiss and not found the time (should read not made the time !!) to pop in here and share what's been going on....I like to think of my blog as just my memory of what's been happening and also a bit of a photo album. ... Just had to update my mobile phone which died and my first thought was..'Oh no' what about my photos!!...thankfully all good but was a reminder to put up pictures here that I will always want to look back on.  Digital images are great but if you haven't printed them..(and not many of us do that anymore)...and something happens, they are lost.  Here's a little bit of what has been happening recently.

Mid May we celebrated a beautiful wedding when my eldest daughter married her best friend...my fabulous G-boy did a great job walking the bride in and giving her away .... a heart warming marriage ceremony followed by a gorgeous afternoon tea to celebrate.... shared by immediate family and closest friends in a romantic cottage on a strawberry farm in Wallan....perfect!! 

The cake 

My daughter made her own cake the night before ... and iced it the morning of the wedding

I decorated it with flowers and strawberries and little cactus from the garden...simple but elegant I think!!

The buffet table....delicious and divine goodies.

Gorgeous home made delights....by both of my daughters and her future mother in law....(just simple fingers sandwiches made by yours truly)...I did do flowers and table decorations though !!

My G-boy proudly walking his mummy to her future husband......so CUTE !!

 My daughter was lucky that a very dear friend and wedding guest is now a photographer and kindly took fabulous happy snaps on the day.....you can see more of Dani's photography on her professional website HERE ..We were so grateful for the great pictures she took....so creative and got the feel of the day exactly how it was....joyful.

Just love this "artistic" shot by Dani....highly recommend her for any photography needs, big or small.

Congratulations to the happy couple.......love them to bits.

We have another wedding this year when my youngest daughter ties the knot in November....so  lots to look forward to !!

Early July I took myself off on a 6 day yoga retreat at Mission Beach QLD....Quite an adventure....Yoga three times a day...very extreme location in a rainforest at the top of a mountain...(really large hill actually..but felt like a mountain walking the 600m from carpark ...very very steep and a tough climb)...full of wildlife at your door....cassowaries, huge lizards, monster spiders you name it....and it was all vegetarian meals!!....Really delicious and I have often thought of trying to be vegetarian....but boy I really missed proteins...eggs will only go so far....Food for thought because I think I would struggle to be totally vegetarian.... Organised through Robyn ...(my Yoga teacher when I lived in Emerald)...along with 22 others... the experience was really amazing and I learnt a lot more about myself than I thought possible. ....Namaste !

The wonderful Yoga studio....

Three yoga sessions a day in the studio....7am Hatha Yoga , followed by pre lunch Yoga Nidra and pre dinner Vinyasa Yoga.  Really beautiful experience included essential oils for Chakra healing.

Patterns on the sand

I was absolutely fascinated by the beautiful patterns the crabs make all along the sand at Mission Beach...truly amazing...it looked like masses of flowers or fireworks spread as far as the eye could see.

The view of the rainforest from the balcony of my cabin...lots of wildlife going on in there !!

Cassowary walking along the path

Picture of the cassowary who thankfully didn't tear me to shreds when it walked past...did give me the 'stink-eye' though!!  ...  they are rather intimidating up close and personal....but so spectacular to see and hear them walking about the place. 

Brooks Beach 

A few hundred metres from the Resort is Brooks Beach....happens it's a local nudist beach...and 'No' I didn't join the few brave Yogi's who took a skinny dip!!  I had a fantastic and challenging time...learnt a lot about myself  and feel I came back a more balanced and somewhat humbled human being. 

Autumnal April - Bliss.....!!!

There comes a time when you have to take a serious look at how much you are actually spending in the supermarkets and shops on food...  we have been spending an inordinate amount of money recently without any idea of how much is too much.....So we are trying to track our food money spending... I thought I would start with one weeks groceries and see if I could avoid return trips over the next seven days....I took a picture to remind myself what I had bought and was shocked to see (for someone who thinks she is conscious about not using plastics !!) the huge amount of plastic contained in one supermarket visit.  While I never use plastic bags to put fruit and veg in (usually not purchased from the supermarket but this was a test) the plastic wrapped meats ( I usually buy at the butcher), cheeses, pasta and roast chicken etc...... WOW all that plastic !!! While the menu planning did work and I didn't return to the supermarket for 7 days, the truth is I want to avoid the supermarkets all together...easier said than done but my meat and vegies will continue to be sourced from the butcher and organic store, need to find unwrapped cheeses etc..  Food for thought.

Supermarket shopping for one week.....SO MUCH PLASTIC.

The unseasonal autumn heat has thankfully settled down and beautiful mild days have been the norm....I love autumn..long shadows and falling leaves......planting out the vegie beds and growing our own seedlings and getting into the garden...I didn't like the shrub that sits alongside the deck and contemplated pulling it out, but decided to trim it into a love- heart.....'corny' right but I really like how it looks now and happy to not have to remove it.

Practicing topiary in my yard 

 It was a glorious day on Sunday so we took a drive to Noojee.....it was a beautiful trip...we had a picnic on the lawns behind the Noojee hotel....live music was playing as we sat by the river, we then took the dogs for a stroll on the Loch Valley tramway walk...followed up with afternoon tea (thermos and home made fruit cake..very 'old school') and enjoyed it alongside the old trestle bridge.

Trestle bridge in Noojee... amazing.

I posted recently about my wonderful Auntie who passed away from an unexpected stroke .... my cousin was very chuffed to see that they have made a memorial gate in her honour at the football club....so nice that the community remembered her in this way, for all her help and support of the sporting groups over many years....RIP darling Joyce  xx

The sign on the memorial gate in honour of my Auntie.

I've recently joined a fabulous yoga and mediation studio in Warragul....finally found the right teacher who resonates with me and what I hope to achieve through Yoga and daily practice..... so far it's been a really great experience and I think I've learnt quite a lot about myself....I love it....Namaste !

What's Happened to Autumn ....!!

Is it just me or are we still waiting for Autumn....some of the trees have lost a few leaves and the pumpkin vines have all but died off ,thankfully leaving quite a few pumpkins......but what's with this weather....I love Autumn, in fact it's my favourite time of year.... but it's been so hot and dry here I just want some beautiful mild days and a lovely bit of rain. ... 

Spending so much time watering the garden....the droplets on this plant looked beautiful in the light

I found this picture of hand embroidery in a magazine....I just love it and would really love to learn how to do all of these wonderful stitches.... there is something so beautiful and timeless about this piece.........if I get brave I might give it a try when the weather cools down !!

I just love this embroidery....looks really difficult but I would love to try.

 Couldn't resist adding a couple of pictures of this little minx....she spends most of her time laying around wherever I am ..... 

Daisy in her usual spot on the couch.... !!

Daisy with 'Bed Hair"....she comes up for a cuddle in the morning.

 This week will find me in the vegie garden with more planting for the coming season....fingers crossed we get  a nice decent downpour. 

All About the Boy....!!!

My G-boy turns 7 next week....it's hard to believe how quickly time goes and how fast they grow up.  He's currently into bugs, insects and all assorted creepy crawlies.....I caught up for an after school date so he could see me on my birthday....took his GG (great grandma) along for the trip.

My gorgeous grandson and his new friend......

Milkshakes and iced coffee after school...
and a catch up with my favourite little guy.

I couldn't resist sharing the pictures of his cubby house reno.....my daughter has moved to their new home and the old cubby in the yard was in need of some TLC.....amazing what a bit of elbow grease and a huge slice of imagination can produce !!!....

Poor tired old cubby that hasn't been played in for quite a long time....

His cubby house post renovation.......amazing what a few old bits and bobs can do..

The Week That Was .....!!!

Last week my man and I took a few days away...first holiday in 12 months !! .... after a beautiful 4 nights in Robe, SA, which truly is an absolute gem to visit...breathtaking scenery with a great coastal vibe in the town, we headed to Cape Bridgewater, just 10 minutes from Portland. What an amazing place to visit with its fabulous stretch of beach and absolute tranquility.  

The Doorway Rocks along the Robe coastline, part of the limestone coast...walked the coast trail...just spectacular.

The house we stayed in at Robe was fitted out in 1960's retro - ....50mts from Glass Beach..with ocean view !!

Cape Bridgewater - we stayed in this cute as a button historical stone cottage, with fab views of the beach.

Cape Bridgewater beach which runs for a few kilometres...surrounded by wind farms

The fluffy girls had a blast on the beach....no one around so they were off lead and into it.

My ancestors come from Portland so we visited the grave of Samuel Proudfoot Hawkins..his historical home is listed by the National Trust as he was fairly prominent in the area and also the grandfather of Vida Goldstein who you can read about here ... she was a feminist, a suffragist (along with her mother) and the first woman to run for Federal parliament in Australia.

Samuel Hawkins is the brother of my great, great grandfather.

 I have blogged previously about my love of old cemeteries...there is just something incredibly moving about reading old gravestones...so much history retold in the names and ages.  I came across something you don't see everyday....while it is a bit hard to see in the photo a man called John Pitcher buried his beloved wife Mary Ann aged 32 years in 1867...then proceeded to bury his next beloved wife Charlotte Elizabeth aged 26 years in 1872 in the same grave!!!  Maybe it's just me?

The garden went riotous while we were away and there are eggplants popping up everywhere...we are exhausted with all the tomatoes....passatta, relish and sauce even frozen some (apparently you can do that !) and given many away..  But it was so windy here yesterday that now the garden is in uproar and tomato plants are all over the place...so it may well be the end of the season for them :-( 

Not really an eggplant fan....need more recipes I think....but the sheen and colour is so beautiful

My lovely neighbour looked after the garden and the feathered girls while we were away....but this is the first Isa Brown I have had who has gone broody....I didn't think they did that....I haven't been able to get her to stay off the nest for over three weeks...she sits even when there are no eggs under her and squawks like a mad thing when I move her off the nest....any suggestions gratefully accepted !!

Broody girls wont get off the nest....Oh Dear !!

Some of the other girls who don't know what all the fuss is about.

Travelling from Joy to Heartbreak........!!

A very busy time this past week......a wonderful celebration on Saturday at the engagement BBQ of my daughter and the lovely  man in her life...a beautiful day that they had both spent so much time and energy preparing and everything... even the weather...was perfect. They now live up country so we stayed the weekend at a lovely guest house in Benloch with my eldest daughter and her family...such a nice break.

Check out the bride to be's new blog here ..hopefully she learns to cook..!!

The engagement sign my eldest daughter and I created....she did the fab lettering and I did the chalk flowers...
made to match her engagement invitations..

The oh so cute cake and a snippet of the pink DONUT wall....delicious !!

The happy couple....can't wait for November 

Sadly my man and I then had to travel to Sea Lake for the funeral of my much loved auntie who passed away unexpectedly from a stroke....she was an integral part of the small community there and it was so wonderful to see well over 300 people at the service in the community hall...she was an avid supporter of all the town activities but the sporting clubs in particular..she sold the tickets on game day, volunteered behind the club bar and prepared meals for the teams after training..at 81 she was fiercely independent..spent most of her time maintaining her beautiful lush garden..a rarity in the dust bowl that is Sea Lake..and visiting and taking care of 'elderly' town residents...the funeral cortege drove down main street to the cemetery and shop keepers lined the street......to know her was to love her and the town will sorely miss her vibrant personality. 

Rest in peace darling Joyce...the world shines a little less brightly with out your amazing sparkle .

This poignant wreath in club colours hung in the ticket shed where she sold tickets every game day.

I always like to finish on a positive note so I thought I would include a picture of the basket of goodies delivered to Aimee yesterday....includes a jar of my man's beetroot... I have finally gotten him interested in getting involved with the produce !!!

Eggplant, celery, rhubarb, cherry toms, passionfruit, spring onions, zucchini, pears & Bonza Beetroot !!

2018 Hopefully a Year of Abundance ..............!!

How distracting life becomes when it takes us away from spending time doing what we enjoy....The start of the year has unfortunately been filled with nothing but bad news about family and friends....Illness and loss has pervaded the first few weeks but life being what it is we continue to try and make the best from awful situations.  Loving thoughts to all friends and loved ones who are going through difficult times.

On a lighter note the New Year has bought forth an abundance of life into my garden....even my fruit trees have started to produce fruit...and like all other vegie gardeners the zucchini and tomatoes are rampant.  We planted a small but mature little peach tree that had two buds on it several months ago and they turned into two lovely peaches, the birds didn't find them and we picked them yesterday.....they were delicious!!  A sign of things to come I hope....as the Apricot tree was laden with fruit but was useless as they had a brown fungus on them which we will have to watch next year.

Yesterday's haul from the garden including the Peaches and the fist of the pears, passionfruits and eggplants !!

The chicken coop got a revamp last month....we have raised the enclosure fence...the new girls..even with clipped wing....managed to get over the small fence....we have also netted the roof to keep out birds who eat their food and poop in the water....we hope to put raised garden trugs in there along with the chooks, to grow berries that we wont have to share with the wildlife !!

The new fenced enclosure attached to the chookhouse to keep out wild birds and keep the girls in.

Planted pumpkins along side their chook house to try and create a bit more shade.

In just over 18 months that the garden and trees have been planted it has all grown incredibly well...the red soil we have in Gippsland must be doing the trick....even after all the really hot weather we didn't lose too much....kept the water up to the plants and heavy rain last night seemed to have made it all look quite lush today.

All of the pink flowers in the front have self seeded...not sure what they are called but they look lovely...I love anything that self seeds 

You'll have to excuse Daisy taking a PEE on the path as I took the photo !!!

We have over 17 fruit trees planted in our small suburban back yard....our whole block is only 800 sq metes....we put in the Avocado tree that you can see above surrounded by hessian...it's been in since September but is the only tree not doing very well... keeping water and food up to it but it is struggling....Just have to wait and see.

It's a little late for New Year wishes but I hope everyone has an abundant 2018 !!