Time for a catch up?

My brother got married! ( I took all the photos! argh!)

Dirt Girl turned 8!    8!!!

We took some girls camping to celebrate.....

We took an overnighter to the beach for Robs Birthday..

It rained

But it was fun and funny

Planted some a lot of beetroot, someone else is enjoying them too?

Lettuce seeds planted

Tomatos too (with a nice little cover for the nights to save them from frost)

Bird watching. One of Zaras gifts was a HUGE book called 'What bird is that?' we identified this lovely one as a red browed finch, extremely common :)

Important holiday business

The luxury of time on school holidays

I like to call this one 'The Reluctant Walker' thats the boy, not the dog :)


What a whirl wind few weeks! But the future is all relaxing and sewing, well for the most part!
We will be at The Castlemaine Artists Market on the 7th of October for our first market for the spring. How is your spring going along? Do you have a great spurt of birthdays at this time too??

I am linking in with Squiggly Rainbows garden journal this week.


Jacq :)

~Tuesday~

“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”
― T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets

 

all taken at http://www.montsalvat.com.au/

We have had a wonderful beginning to spring here, some sunny days to shake away those winter blues (although I do know there is more rain coming) ...

A tiny Silver Eye (?) eating some stale bread

Oh how we love passionfruit!

The potato plot

How is this for an awesome fence! whats even better is that its recycled packaging! I was very honored when someone thought of me when they saw it, thinking it would make a lovely fence for my garden :)

All ready to go now, I think? I just need to watch those pesky frosts....

Linking in with Squiggly Rainbow

How is your garden growing?

Thursday Garden Journal

Well its not a very spectacular update today.

While I was digging the posts for our garden I discovered that it would have been far more sensible to extend the edge of the garden a couple of feet over, right up to the concrete, if I didn't I would be left with a trip of coochy dirt to contend with.....

'I'll just dig that bit out' I said to myself

Hours and hours later....

This is all I had achieved!

I found that much stuff in there! carpet, hoses, plant pots, pruning shears, more plant pots, old metal pipes...a spoon....and of course cooch....all in that little strip!

It was slow progress which stopped me from any other more interesting jobs! 

But on a happier garden note, these are some of my very ordinary Hellebores that I am 'collecting'. I have been trying to fill a small area with them but they are expensive. I only buy them when they are a bargin, at markets etc. Aren't they just a beautiful burst of cheeriness in winter?

One last picture I wanted to share with you was from this mornings sunrise.. spectacular!

“Like a red morn that ever yet betokened,

Wreck to the seaman, tempest to the field,

Sorrow to the shepherds, woe unto the birds,

Gusts and foul flaws to herdmen and to herds.”

~Shakespere

joining in with Rach from Squiggly Rainbow

How is your garden going? Any signs of spring yet??

Jacq :)

A weekends worth

Well Saturday was nice,  strolled about our local market chatting to all the people etc, would have taken some spectacular photos except.. yes, no memory card in the camera AGAIN! I was pretty peeved, those cameras are heavy to carry around along with all your vegies and other yummy goodies!!

That leaves us with Sunday

mmm pancakes for breakfast/lunch!

Working on that garden all day!.....
I love my fence posts...
.not so much the digging of the holes! 

How was your weekend??

Jacq :)

A Day Off, well mostly!

A Butterfly, either a very new one or a very old one...

A Teeny Snail, found by my snail lover

Baking bread and saving seeds

Another use for that expensive Italian preserving jar that I couldn't live with out

Pretending to be a farmer (metal flowers from Shades of Gray )

Ah Autumn! Roasting pumpkin for soup... 'again??' said Avalon, yes my love, again :)

Robs new project..finished!

Noah's Ark pulls apart to store all those lovely animals

Mr & Mrs Noah

I am so excited to show you Rob's finished Ark! I am not sure when one will make it into our Etsy Shop or to the market, it seems they are quite in demand! This one was sold before it was even finished and there are orders for 2 more.....We require a little time to complete one of these as you can imagine, but if it tickles your fancy, let us know, we will put you in line!

What are you up to during these lovely Autumn days?

Happy Days!

Jacq :)

A Tuesday Ritual of mine

I love living in a small town, sure it has its drawbacks, but generally its pretty great. Its great for children to grow up in a real community and be so 'known', always safe and surrounded by friends. It was one of the reasons I wanted to move from the big city out to the sticks, so when it came time for me to have a family they could spend their childhoods listening to the crickets, walking to their friends houses and seeing their school teachers in the supermarket. 

But as an adult, sometimes it can feel a little....ah....boring? or plain? Sometimes it nice to have the fancy shops or a special place to go. 

So when ASQ bought our little local nursery and butterfly house Skydancers and turned it into a super lovely cafe/nursery/gift shop, I was excited! Its a beautiful place to visit, nice coffee, gifts and plants, it also caters to children with the outside area having games like quoits to keep them busy. And another bonus, the staff are lovely too.

So every Tuesday some of us small town mums (and their preschoolers) get together, we call it Mums on the Move, in the past we have played basketball ( well you know, we gave it a bash!), netball with the Grade 5 school kids, a dance class but most of the time we go for a walk to Skydancers have a coffee and walk back. 

Its lovely to take a couple of hours out of the week to do something social and for ourselves only! 

If your in the area, do stop in for a look, you won't be disappointed!

Here's some pictures of yesterdays visit for coffee

You can check out what butterflies have hatched

and what sort they are...

this is the outside gift shop, the one inside is extra lovely....

My friend Fizzy found a butterfly wing (she wasn't really sad!)

Work by local artist Ben Smith for sale in the garden

room for the kids to run and play

Check out this sculpture.....some people are so clever!

An inspiring nursery to wander through

 If you fancy checking Skydancers out on the net you can click here.

Maybe you can organise a walk with your friends to a local coffee spot, its always nice to have a chat don't you think?

Jacq :)

Peas PAHLESE!!!!!

Really you can't go past home grown veggies can you!  

If you have a fussy eater, perhaps give some thought to growing some veggies somewhere in your yard. There is so much fun to be had, planting seeds or seedlings, watering daily and watching them grow into dinner!

These wonderful peas were grown by my mum in her garden, I am sure that makes them all the more attractive to my girls, who ate quite alot of them while they shelled them ALL! 

There are so many learning opportunities (and memories) to be had in simple everyday tasks, if we choose to take the time to move slowly and take notice!

Happy Days!



Jacq :)

A slow(ish!) weekend

We went out and about this weekend to visit Robs brother David and his wife Maree at their beautiful home/paradise!. 

It was such a treat to sit about in their lovely garden eating a delicious meal, watching the cockatoos, butterflies and dragonflies, all the while chatting and chatting! And you know I can't resist a photo,  between the kids and I we took at least 100! Here are just a few special ones :)

 

My Chalk and Cheese :)

 

The lovely Sasha

 

An explorer

 

A quiet shady spot 

 

 

A visiting cockatoo

 

 

The kids asking David many questions about his fire shelter!

 

The more my eyes open, the more I marvel at this place we call earth :)

What did you get up to this weekend??

Jacq :)