Last Day of Autumn

Summer begins tomorrow! Funny to think that as the rain teems down outside!! l have to venture outside in a minute to lock the ducks and chooks up and l must say it's not something l am looking forward to doing! l think l will be getting a bit wet!

So as Autumn ends and Summer begins ....the wood arrives! 6 tonnes plonked unceremoniously in the middle of the yard.  Incentive to put it away l suppose is that l can't put my car in its garage until its gone! A few wheelbarrows morning and night soon gets it all in the shed ready for next Winter though.

It's always a nice feeling to have it delivered. Geoff always says " a shed of hay, a full tank and wood in the wood shed................. That's all you need!"

We will certainly be having full rain water tanks with this rain coming down so two out of three isn't bad so far! Just fingers crossed for the hay crop now!

 

Cream!!!

Well this weekend the walls got painted out. Twice! Very... very boring! Two coats of drab cream. How l detest this colour!!! Never mind that it makes the room look bigger and brighter and fresher! It's cream! l hate it! But the dark original colour is gone and now its ready for the top coat!

And a final goodbye signature before this alcove gets turned into a bookcase.

l have made it out of some old drawers . Some on their sides , some on their ends. l then added some extra shelves to give it a sort of haphazard quirky feel to it. It took forever but l love the result. It should look great filled with books and SOME of my odds and ends!

Love this!!! It was an old strip of painted cedar which was the perfect size to fit this little gap!

It has old hardwood shelves, pine and cedar. A real mish mash of what was on the wood pile!

Some of the old drawer fittings are still visible

But if ever you see something like this and someone tells you that they just 'throw' stuff like this together....that person is a fibber!!!!!  It took forever and was very fiddly and difficult in parts to get the balance right and to get all the drawers to fit! But l do like the end result and it cost me absolutely nothing

And then today after work on went the first coat.

It's a strong colour but not too  dark. l love it with the splash of green.

Second coat tomorrow. Can't wait!

The Music Room Progress Report

Last weekend l had a marathon picture hanging day!! l have ALWAYS wanted a room like this! A room with pictures from top to bottom! And now (with a rather bruised thumb to boot!!!) l have one!! l absolutely love it! l cannot believe we had so many pictures 'lying around' needing to be hung! Not anymore! l even have a few spare ones left over!

It was so much fun!!!

Love love love!!!! It's going to become my hovel!!!

And over the fireplace l have this gorgeous archy thing my parents gave me for my birthday. It is only sitting on the mantelpiece right now but will get hung up once its all painted.

The ugly melamine shelving will get hidden by this lovely door l bought ages ago for the courtyard then decided not to use it. It's going to be fab!!!

The walls wont stay this colour and the wooden shutters either side of the window will be painted as well. Haven't quite decided on the exact colour yet but it will be bright and airy. Sort of heading for that colonial ,breezy, barking mad crazy lady look!!

Add a few plants like these ones l bought today and it will be stunning..........when it's finished...........it actually looks like a Tip Shop nightmare right now....................!!

And yes............l DID hang all the pictures BEFORE l painted so YES .....l DO have to take them all down again to paint the walls.........but that's ok..........l don't mind..........

l will get there!

 

 

Garden Wonders

Love in the Mist has to be one of my favourite flowers. They are so pretty and l have a lot in the garden. Yesterday evening l noticed that the ones under the Pom Pom Tree were all sprinkled with the confetti like white petals as the Pom Poms start to fall apart.

Very pretty!

But then again....isn't everywhere beautiful at this time of year?? There is always colour to be found. White and red....

Pinks, silvery greys and greens..

Greens and purples!

And crazy mixed batches of every colour imaginable!!

Such a gorgeous time of year..

 

 

The Garage...

My car lives in a lean-to garage. I realised yesterday that it has in fact become a bit of a halfway house for a lot of things that l buy!!! Things that l liked but have nowhere to put.........things that l WILL put somewhere l just don't know where....yet.....and things that l have a plan for l just haven't got around to doing it...... yet!!! So this little shed is sort of developing a character all of its own!!  l got two of these beautiful lanterns the other day. They actually have electrical wiring in them but they cry out for a tea light don't you think?

This has actually made it to outside the garage! It is delightfully wonky but obviously home made. It just needs a coat of paint to change the colour.

This l bought because like the frame. The print is a Rembrandt (sadly not an original though!!!)

And the pine eyes cat!!! Love him! Couldn't resist it sitting in the Op Shop for a dollar! l was going to put him down by the river on a tree branch but l think the weather might deteriorate him, so he's sitting here next to Rembrandt for now!

And this outrageous Sea Galleon!! l think it's ghastly really but couldn't pass it by at the Tip Shop! No ideas as yet where to put it! Geoff suggested hanging it by a big heavy chain in the Walnut Tree so it silhouettes against the sky!!! For now.....it's in the garage!

And these hanging fish!!!! These are definitely going down by the River on my Sculpture Trail. They will be attached to a big rod and be suspended over the water! Ohh such fun!!!

And these! Four of them. Just loved them! They were brass colour but l sprayed them bronze, ripped out the electrical wiring and put tea light holders in them. l wonder WHAT l was in a past life!!!!!

These are definitely for the River Walk. To be put on old wooden posts in the ground. One day.........l just need more days..........

And lastly in my garage! This massive old  bedhead!

The bed END of this beauty is in our bedroom but the head of the bed was so tall it was too imposing for over our heads. It would have been enormous!

l think it will go in the gypsy wagon up against the head wall. It will look magnificent !

l wonder how much more l can fit in there!! Maybe l should put in some shelves.....?

Purple Poppies

l love this idea. For Remembrance Day this year we have seen Purple Poppies to commemorate all the animals that have died serving man in War.
It's incredible to think that in WW1, 9 million horses ponies, camels, mules, donkeys and pigeons died.  8 million of that amount being horses.
It's been harder to track down exact (ish) numbers for WW2 . It seems to be about the 5 million mark with all countries combined. Again , staggering figures.

So at the going down of the Sun , l put my purple poppy in Clip's head collar so that we did remember and we did think about all those that died. Man and beast .

l think its well worth taking a bit of time to remember them indeed...

Lest We Forget....

The Duck Pond

We have a pond in our front paddock that stays full for a good part of the year. A while ago we hustled the ducks and geese down there thinking they would be thrilled ,thankful and excited to be in REAL water and not just in a plastic bucket filled with the stuff! At the time we were wrong and they could never get out fast enough! We always thought they were an ungrateful bunch and couldn't understand why they didn't like it. The answer became clear when Geoff got into the area with the brush cutter  recently and chopped down a lot of the reeds that surrounded the water. Now it is a lot more open and we can't keep them out!!! Every opportunity they are waddling across the yard to go down there!

And the Geese!

Nearly there! It's a long waddle from the orchard!

Duck heaven now they can see out!!

And there are no complaints from these two either!

Now we just have to see how long before it dries up!