I'm Back

Hi Everyone,
Yes I know it's been a looooong time since I've been here. I could go into a very long winded explanation about why I haven't posted anything for, eeeeeek, over five months, but that could get a little boring. If you follow me on Facebook and Instagram you will have a general idea about what I've been up to, but for those who don't let me summarise.
GARDEN GETABOUT
Garden Getabout is an open garden weekend on the second weekend in November. We have our garden open and I'm one of the coordinators so for several weeks before I pretty well eat, drink and sleep garden. And just to put a bit more pressure on myself I also have a my craft work on display to greet visitors.

ROSS' 50th BIRTHDAY
Ross turned 50 in mid December, so after a bit of down time following the Garden Getabout, it was time to think about a birthday celebration. Even though someone didn't want to make a big deal about it, mainly because he didn't want to make too much work for me, we eventually decided to have a casual lunchtime barbeque with family and a few friends. As the day approached it became of obvious that it was going to be a bit more than a casual barbie but people offered to bring salads and my ever reliable party prep side kick Heidi came home a couple of days early and helped with some cooking and made the White Chocolate Cherry Ripe Mud birthday cake, so it resulted in a great day.

CHRISTMAS
We love Christmas in our house (I've heard, believe it or not, that some people don't). We have traditions that have developed over the years, a real Christmas tree with hand made decorations, Christmas Eve mass, a treasure hunt (yes even though the kids are 28, 24 & 22), just to name a few.
This year lunch was at Ross' sister's with all of his family. We had a home made 'Kris Kringle' and everyone put a lot of thought and/or work into their gifts which made for a fun filled afternoon with lots of laughter.

HOLIDAYS

Boxing Day we headed to our annual holiday destination of Narooma where had a lovely relaxing break of nearly 2 weeks.

SCRATCHING AN ITCH
All the busyness in the later part of 2014 meant I hadn't really had a chance to do any major patchwork projects. In fact apart from making a few projects for the Friday craft group at the Neighbourhood Centre and finishing a quilt off for my Garden Getabout craft display I hadn't done much since early April. Admittedly I had swapped my fabric & sewing machine for wool & crochet hook over the winter, which was fun, but by the time January came around the patchwork itch definitely needed scratching. So scratch I have, like a dog with a flea. The itch has eased a little but my head is still full of ideas just waiting to materialise.

EXERCISE
I always been pretty self motivated when it comes to exercise but what with one thing or another the motivation has been a bit spasmodic over the last year or so. I don't like being unfit so after the Garden Getabout I gave myself a kick in the but and decided I needed to do some form of exercise a least 5 days a week whether wanted to or not. I started walk/running every week day and just before Christmas I joined the local Metafit group to work on strength training and add some variety. It has been a lot of fun and I'm enjoying my renewed fitness.

There you have it, between all these goings on and my blogging mojo going into hibernation, that is why I have been absent from this space. I'm hoping, now that I'm back, I'll get into the swing of posting regularly again. I have lots to share, it's just a matter of having or making the time.

 

Hope you've enjoyed the catch up

Thanks for popping by and until next time 

TOODLES

I would love your feedback.

You can either comment here or on Facebook 

or

You can follow me on

Facebook or Instagram @oneearlybird 

 

Doodling to Garden Art

Hey how's it going,

I'm a little bit excited. I should be out in the garden but I just had to share this. You know how I was singing the praises of my handy husband a couple of months ago HERE, well he has done it again and I'm super happy with the results.

I have a tendency to get ideas and then just doodle them down on any scrap of paper I can find. Quite often that is the last of it but not for this little 3 inch sketch.



I had originally been thinking of a gate design but then could work out how to attach it to a post without it losing it's aesthetic appeal, so it got tucked away amongst the numerous pieces of paper that tend congregate on the kitchen table.

I discovered it one lunchtime recently and decided it had merit as a garden feature. While discussing it, one of Ross' mates who was with there, suggested if I still wanted to use it as a gate why not have it pivot in the centre. BRILLANT. So the "leaf gate" got put on the to do list, and I just had to work on the dimensions.

I drew up a more workable drawing the other day and Ross has been working on it. This morning it has been put in position.

 

Looking out of the garden into what will be an arboretum of sorts.

Looking back into the garden.

Looking through the long arbour from the verandah you can just see it in the photo but it's easier to see in real life.

Did I mention how happy I am with how it turn out. Love it. When it rusts it will be perfect. Now I just have tidy up around it and decide what sort of fence to put either side. At the moment there is a steel post and wire paddock fence there and it will probably have to stay in the short term. These decisions can't be rushed.

Now I'm off to have a cuppa and then out into the garden to pull some weeds and lay some mulch. Garden Getabout is less than 4 weeks away. I'll be back on Friday with the final step of the Mystery Project Craft Along.



 

Thanks for popping by and until next time 

TOODLES

I would love your feedback.

You can either comment here or on Facebook 

or

You can follow me on

Facebook or Instagram @oneearlybird 

More Than Plants

Hi Everyone,

I'm a very lucky and thankful girl you know. Why? you ask. Because I have a husband that doesn't mind doing stuff for me in the garden. Now don't get me wrong Ross doesn't weed, do edges or dig very often (I do that) but he does keep the grass cut with the rider mower (actually he is more diligent about mowing than me) and with about an acre of garden and lawn that's a big help. I suppose I would be lucky enough if he only did the mowing (I have heard some husbands/partners don't even do that) but where I'm really lucky is he can make stuff for me.
If I see something, or have an idea for the garden I will float the idea past him to see if it's possible. Usually I have a fair idea about what is doable, or I have thought about it long enough that I know that it is. There is a discussion about exactly what I have in mind, he may add his two cents worth and then say "draw me a picture". This means that it can be added to the to do list. YAY!
The ideas aren't always totally clear in my head so drawing them can be a challenge and size can be hard to visualise particularly when something is going into a large undeveloped space. So far we have managed to get things right, sometimes with a few modifications along the way.
For this month's garden post, I thought I would raid my photo files and show you what my handy fella has done to help make our beautiful garden.

 The arbour on the left (#1) was the first garden feature Ross made for me and is the entrance into the rose garden aka "Penny's Garden". There are two "Penny Lane" roses growing on either side.

 The arbour on the right (#2) I call "Insta" arbour. Why? Well the story goes something like this.

Ross came in for lunch after mowing the lawn demanding we do something with THAT rose ("New Dawn", you can see it growing on the left of the arbour). He had been spiked once too often while he was on the rider mower, and enough was enough. I must admit he had been quite patient while I was deciding what sort of arbour I wanted to put there. After discussing it over lunch I agreed he could make one the same as #1. Being a man of action he went and bought the materials after lunch and by 5 o'clock that afternoon the arbour was in place. #1 had been bent around a concrete ring but we had since given it away so Ross improvised and used a tree stump in our neighbours paddock for #2 hence the slight flat spot near the top of the arbour which you probably hadn't even notice until now. Let's just call it character plus the rose should cover it up anyway

The arbour seat was made as a birthday present. I was my idea and provides a nice shady spot to sit in "Penny's Garden". It also has two "Penny Lane" roses planted either side. 

 

I like the look of timber but Ross likes to make stuff out of steel, won't rot, last forever, permanent steel. If I want anything made out of timber it has to be made of Redgum (for overseas readers that is a hardwood eucalypt that resists rotting) if it is going in the ground and Stringy Bark (another hardwood eucalypt) for above ground. Neither of these timbers can be easily bought at your local building supplies so what do you do? You cut your own, of course, if you have your own saw mill, which we do (Ross build that too) and access to some trees, which we do. I have to be really patient for these projects as milling timber doesn't happen every day and takes some planning.   

This long arbour leads to the back part of the garden that I'm currently trying to establish. I have wisterias planted on the four corners which will be trained over the top and climbing roses trained along the sides.

The idea for the arbour swing came from a scene in the film "Ten Things I Hate About You", and my adult kids, as you can see, still love swings (particularly Heidi), so why not? And make it a double because it's more fun to swing with a friend. I have 2 white 'Lamarque' climbing roses planted either side and look forward to them covering the sides and making it pretty. They have actually grown quite a bit since this photo was taken.

The gate arbour has only been completed recently. It has wisteria longissima planted on the left so that when it covers the top it will create a curtain of long flowers (the flowers can get up to a metre long) in the spring. It won't be this spring though, maybe next year.

The sunshine gate leads into our front paddock and allows vehicle access into the front garden. The aim is to cover the fence either side with a creeper or hedge.

 

Blue granite retaining wall on the top side of the pond aka 'The Froggery'. My friend Gabby came up with the name. The pond is a natural spring that we had dug out a bit (it's only knee deep) and I haven't been able to get rid of the weed in it but the frogs love it, so why fight it.

Some recycled fence posts form the retaining wall on the bottom side of the pond. Ross replaced a fence for a local farmer and was allowed to keep the old posts. I came up with this idea before they were attacked with the chainsaw for fire wood. Up until last year, when these two walls were done, the pond area was my least favourite part of the garden because it always looked untidy. Now it is one of my favourite spots even with the weeds.

This pathed area, complete with Ross milled timber fence, provides a nice eating area adjacent to the house.

I picked up an old cast iron bed from the local second shop and had Ross make this seat. The bed was already painted red so I decided to leave it. I think it makes a nice feature against the greenery. I'm still waiting for the other end of the bed to be converted.

This seat is chainsaw craved from one solid log of Redgum and was all Ross' idea, as a surprise for me.  

 This rock seat/bench was only completed last week and was another of Ross' ideas after seeing one somewhere. I had been wanting to put something here to close off the carport area a bit and this is perfect. I have since extended the garden along in front of it.

And the latest addition, only made this week. I thought it would nice to officially rename the pond so I got Ross to make this sign. He wrote with the welder on a piece of steel plate and I love the rustic look. You can see what I mean about the weeds. They look particularly bad this time of year.

So don't you agree I'm one lucky gal? I'm so grateful I can have my ideas made to order and don't have to settle for flimsy garden features. Everything is constructed to the "Rossbuilt" standard, strong and made to last, and at a fraction of the cost of buying them. He actually enjoys it, except if I get too picky but that's not very often, only when there's a communication breakdown and he hasn't read my mind very well. We have a couple of other projects in the pipeline that should be finished by the time we have our garden open for the annual Corryong & district "Garden Getabout" in November. I will tell you all about that another time.

I started preparing this post a couple of weeks ago when it was still really cold, and there wasn't much else happening in the garden, but we have had some beautiful weather lately and the spring flowers are starting to appear so I will be back soon with a more flowery garden post.

 

Thanks for popping by and until next time 

TOODLES

 

 

I would love your feedback.

You can either comment here or on Facebook 

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You can follow me on

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More Than Flowers

Hi Everyone,
July is the month when the garden seems to take a deep breath before it has to put on it's show in the Spring. There are still a few flowers putting some cheer into the winter days but there is also plenty of other beauty and interest. So let's go for a June/July garden walk.

FROSTY MORNING

 I love the way the frost covers everything and then glistens in the morning sun.

 The birdies need ice skates

 The frost can even make the weeds look pretty

THE TREES



 Cockatoos enjoying the morning rays  

 Bare elegant branches of the gleditzia & silver birch against the far to regularly grey sky

 

 Seeds of the rain tree, silver birch & maple.

SUCCULENTS

These succulents don't mind the winter frosts. The red one is green in the warmer months.

VEGGIE GARDEN

Not much happening here but red spinach & self sown parsley

SIGNS OF SPRING

Daphne and daffodils.

AND THE FLOWERS



 

THE NEIGHBOURS

 

The mild winter has confused the Arum lilies, they shouldn't be flowering. 

View of the foggy Towong valley from their arboretum. 

Shaggy gum tree.

So that is some of the wintery garden. If the truth be told this post was going to be last weekend with more photos, but I had an lovely impromptu visit from my eldest sister from Campbelltown near Sydney on Sunday. Then on Monday I travelled to Melbourne to help my eldest daughter Cherry with some finishing touches and  preparation for a very exciting event which is happening tonight. That is a whole separate post though, but a sneak peak it involves this

or if you are on Instagram you can search #cherrycollinsofficial for more sneaky peaks.

Well anyway there goes the alarm, time to get my girl up and moving. There is still lots to do today.

 

Until next time

 TOODLES

 

 

I would love your feedback.

You can either comment here, or you can also comment or follow me on Facebook 

or Instagram @oneearlybird

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are always flowers

       for those who want to see them. - Henri Matisse.

Hi everyone, hope some of you have had the chance to try the soup recipe from the last post.

It is officially winter now and the weather has finally realised what season it is, though it isn't as cold here as it usually is in June. I accidently let the fire go out last night (ie. I fell asleep watching TV and it was out when I woke up) and normally I would relight it before I go to bed but I didn't bother last night, and the house wasn't that cold this morning (normally it would be freezing this time of year). Anyway I have lit it now and that will make sure things stay nice & cosy.

The garden always knows what season it is, even if there are a few plants that are a bit confused by the warmer weather. We have been getting the usual morning fogs that are associated with our area at this time of year, but they have been leading into glorious sunny afternoons just right for gardening. Normally I don't spend a lot of time in the garden in the colder months except to do the essential pruning of roses and dead heading of some of the perennials.
Our garden is geared towards spring, that is when it is at its spectacular best and it is open to the public for the annual Garden Getabout. For that reason I probably don't appreciate the beauty of the winter garden as much as I should, until last week. I was out planting a few things that I had bought, when it dawned on me that there were quite a lot of plants that are flowering or having their moment of glory while they don't have to compete with the spring 'show offs'. So I out with the camera and decided I would take you on a garden walk.

The abutilons or Chinese lanterns are really full of flowers and doing their best to attract my attention.

Some of the camellias are just starting to burst into flower and they will do their best to provide some winter cheer right through to spring.

 Winter seems to be the season for these natives to shine.

And sometimes you just have to look a little closer to see some little pretties, a few of which are taking advantage of the warmer weather to have their last hoorah before the frosts come.

There's no ignoring all the yellow in the garden. It's very cheery and seems to be the dominant colour, particularly the daisies.

I love the cotoneasters for the their red berries and the rosellas they attract.

The last of the roses before the frosts, and they have to be pruned in a month or so.
And even if there weren't any flowers I certainly couldn't ignore this.

 A beautiful sunset viewed through the branches of the Gleditsia or as my daughter once called it, the 'spooky' tree.

So really there is a lot to appreciate in the winter garden. I might do this as a regular monthly post. What do you think? Would you like to see what's happening in the garden on a regular basis? It's something for me to think about.
On the crafty side of life there hasn't been a lot happening (well not by my standards) but I have cracked out the crochet hook and wool. Some of the ladies at the craft group I coordinated want to learn how to crochet, specifically a traditional granny square. I've been crochet for over 40 years and have never made a traditional granny square rug so I thought I'd start one as a sample.

I'll keep you posted on how it goes so until next time

TOODLES

 

 

 

Busy April

Hi everyone, how busy is April for all of you? For me, it feels like I've taken a big bite and now I having to chew like heck.
This weekend starting yesterday our little country town of 1500(approx.) hosts(or gets invaded by) 10,000+ people for this event

From official website

The Man From Snowy River Festival centres around the poem by AB "Banjo" Patterson and if you've followed the link you can see that it involves a lot of horsey stuff. I'm not a particularly horsey person but I do like to look at the Art & Photography Exhibition and watch the final two events the 'Brumby Catch’ and the ‘Stock Saddle Buckjump’ on the Sunday afternoon.

Photo from official website

Photo from official website

I also like to watch the street parade

This year some friends & I decided to participate in the parade, to promote another event that we are passionate about "Garden Getabout"  which happens on the second weekend in November. Anyway this is the situation this morning.

Yes, rain. I love the rain (goodness knows we need it) and I even like walking in the rain, but I not to sure about parading in it. The Festival committee have already had to postpone one of today's event until Sunday so we'll have to wait and see. Hopefully the rain will stop by parade time.

The other event that has been keeping me busy is this one.

This gathering in essentially a "get away from it all" weekend for rural women. It is a weekend full of workshops, tours and dinners with speakers telling their stories, and is hosted by a different Victorian town each year. This year we are hosting it so I been working on;

these for a workshop

 

this for our contribution to the official banner

 

these for displaying

&

 the most time consuming

 this for a garden tour.

 

The poor garden has been a bit neglected (apart from watering) over our VERY HOT DRY summer and up until a couple of weeks ago I thought I would have to pull out, it was looking so forlorn. A bit of rain has sparked it up though and the plants are starting to look refreshed but also the weeds have taken off. So there's a lot of weeding and edges and cutting back to be done. The bright side, a lot of the work that I would have do in preparation for the "Garden Getabout" will be done.

 

Now on top of all that we have to fit in Easter which involves a big family camping weekend and of course the Easter season wouldn't be complete without baking lots of these



My family would kick up a real fuss if there weren't homemade hot cross buns. I love them too, there's nothing quite like fresh out of the oven buns. Mmmmmmm yum.

There you go busy April wish me luck as I chew through it. See you soon. Toodles