Down In The Garden........

Come down the back steps with me this morning........

I'd like to show you what's going on in the back garden at the moment.

Through the gate......

Scoot, Trixie and the Henny Pennies (minus one) are enjoying the company of a few new friends. At the moment they remain nameless. These feathered friends of mine are being very naughty at the moment and eating their eggs. Any suggestions? I hope they stop it soon - I so miss my lovely eggs from down in the garden.


The vegetable patch is looking beautiful at the moment. The rain and mist last weekend really made everything come to life.

We recently lifted all the rocks in the pathways and put weed mat down and then shovelled them all back into place. We were having terrible trouble with huge weeds coming up in the paths. The mat has worked beautifully.

My lime tree is doing really well too. I have one little lime on it. Hopefully next season will be better.

At the moment we have all sorts of bits and pieces growing.

Peas, Snow Peas, Tomatoes, Corn, Spring Onions, Strawberries, Basil, Parsley, Thyme, Mint, Rosemary. The lemon tree is loaded with about 30 beautiful big lemons. I think they will be almost ready to pick.

The passionfruit is still going beautifully - Passionfruit and Lemon Butter I think will be on the menu, maybe followed by Lemon Delicious pudding and then I think some pancakes sprinkled with sugar and drizzled in lemon juice and cream - so those girls in the backyard had better get busy 'cause I need eggs!

The original Lavendar hedge that was planted bordering the vege patch did not fair very well over summer at all. The runoff from the drive down the side of the house runs directly into the vege patch - I think they got very wet toes and didn't like it. We have replaced it with a Murraya Hedge, so far it is doing really well.

Unfortunately, I hear the Laundry calling my name!! I have a basket of ironing that I really wouldn't be able to jump over!! I am going to do one hour and then I have some new projects waiting for me in the "Studio".

The weather here today is a perfect Autumn day, so hopefully the weekend remains just as beautiful. The children are back to school next week - so back into routine for us.

A happy weekend to all who happen across this little blog today!

Flowers In The Window.....

The newest issue of Homespun has hit the shelves here in Australia. It is a beautiful issue. I feel as though this particular issue has been a long time coming. I have known about a special project that is featured for a very long time. Finally we have seen it in print!!

I have gotten to know Gina Valderrama through my dear friend Barb. Gina is the very talented lady who has created this beautiful cushion.

This is quite large and fits a European sized pillow. Gina is a very talented lady who has other lovely designs to her name. You can find her blog here or her website here.

How exciting for Gina that she also has her delightful cushion on the front cover of Homespun as well.



So today we celebrated with Gina. Our friend Barb invited a group of lovely ladies to her home. It was a lovely Autumn day today - just perfect.

We had the most delicious long lunch on Barbs' beautiful veranda. Barb and her family live on a lovely block of land on the edge of the mountain range. Today it was lush and beautiful. The veranda looks out over a lovely little dam at the bottom of the garden. Today it was full to the brim, I have seen this dam empty, so it was lovely to see it in such a different state today.

We shared lovely savoury food followed by cups of tea and some very scrumptious sweets.

This Coconut cake was particularly yummy. It looked wonderful under the beautiful domed cake plate.

It was a beautiful afternoon spent with friends, laughing and chatting and sharing our latest finds in beautiful books and to die for catalogues from far away places . We also had a really lovely "show and tell" time - so special to see the beautiful projects that everyone is working on or finished at the moment. Gina also blew us away with some more new designs she is working on at the moment. What a clever lady she is.

Thank you Barb for such a special day to be able to celebrate with Gina. I'm sure we will all remember our time with you today for a long time.

Love and congratulations to Gina once again - beautiful!

Easter Wishes.......

Just a little Easter decorating here this year. To tell the truth, I don't know where I put the Easter decorations away! It is a very safe place that is for sure!!

I had a lovely day in Brisbane, especially my visit to Ikea. Love that place!! Bought a few bits and pieces. The frames I wanted weren't there in stock. I did get two lovely big feather filled bolster cushions that I had seen the last visit - a year ago!! I will be looking for some fabric to make covers for them. They will be for the daybed on the deck.


These sweet eggs I found at Bed, Bath and Table. All the decorations were discounted - lucky I bought something new, or we wouldn't have any decorations at all.

This sweet little fellow I found last year.

We had lovely Hot Cross buns for breakfast today, followed by Church and then lovely fish for lunch.

I hope everyone is enjoying a lovely Easter weekend. Here in Australia it is a four day weekend. Unfortunately we have our bakery open Saturday and Sunday. Oh well, it is Hot Cross Bun weekend!!

Blessings for everyone for a Happy Easter.

Passionfruit Dreaming.......

I love Passionfruit. When we built the chook house my obvious choice of climber was a Passionfruit vine. The vine has grown beautifully over the summer and with some tender loving care and the occasional bucket of water it burst into its lovely flowers. I had never smelt a flower up close until today - it is divine!

We are now picking the most beautiful passionfruit , they are not huge but they are all filled to the brim with their lovely golden pulp.

Last weekend I had a bowl full in the fridge and decided to make icecream with them. It has been delicious this week. Of course you only use the yolks in icecream, so a batch of pink meringue was made with the whites. I piped little rosettes of meringue and sprinkled them with pretty pink.

I have continued to pick my passionfruit this week and still had a lovely bowl full. I had been thinking about yummy kiss biscuits all week.

This afternoon I got busy and had a lovely time in the kitchen creating these beauties.


Melting Moments joined with Passionfruit Icing. Delicious. I also made the lovely Lemon Cake from the Gentle Art of Domesticity book. I'm afraid this didn't go so well. It sunk terribly in the middle. I still iced it though.

Afternoon tea was delicious. Lemon Cake and Passionfruit Kisses.

Now I will have to dream up the next thing to make with my delicious passionfruit. As you can see the vine is starting to flower again - the next crop on the way. Maybe I will have to share some!

I am continuing with my stitching of the Gardeners Journal quilt blocks. I would really love to have the stitcheries done this week so that I might be able to cut the rest of the quilt over Easter. I just have two small ones left to do, so maybe I will get started on it.

The children are finished school for their Easter break. It was quite a long term, so they are really ready for a rest. They have this week and then the week after Easter as well. I love the slower mornings of the school holidays.

Maybe that might mean some extra time for baking with my lovely Passionfruit!

Imagine......

This image is from the April edition of Australian Country Style. I was blown away! Can you imagine having this divine conservatory in your garden.

The article on this home is just beautiful from beginning to end. The home "Foxglove Spires" belongs to Sue Southam and is at Tilba Tilba in New South Wales. There is even a Gypsy Caravan - truly a garden dreams are made of.