Wonders from the garden

Busy Monday

Today has been especially busy so I have not had much time for creativity.

I thought I would share some of  the pics I have taken to use as inspiration for future projects.

Looking for Inspiration

I am going through one of those creative slumps at present: rthe bronchitis has almost gone which is just as well as I am booked in for an arthroscope on Friday.

 I am sure the endless coughing and of course difficulty breathing results in a different mindset.

Survival mode kicks in and there is no energy for anything else.

 I have spend some time this evening photographing some of our garden and the improvements we have made to the house over the past year or so.

The birds were starting to settle for the night and it is interesting to watch them vying for the best position.

It is quite noisy and busy and then it all goes quiet when the sun has gone.

Yesterday I bought these two little cabinets  to keep my current craft projects in.  This little space between the kitchen and lounge has been a bit bare lately and I think this is a great solution.  I could have bought one large cabinet but I like the fact that I can move these around whenever I want.  By next week I think there will be Christmas decorations on them.

Altered Image - Begonia

I am not sure where the days are going lately.  

There has been little time for stitching but I thought I would just play with this photo of a begonia from my garden.  I used adobe photo shop - filter - plastic wrap option.  It gives an interesting depth to the pic but I think I like the original better.  It is hard to improve on nature.

This week has been particularly busy with the little twins I mind suffering from a nasty tummy virus.  This has meant that my usual babysitting has not happened but there has been lots of intermittent childcare needed and attendance at appointments and other help required.   

Everything seems to have settled down now but the lack of routine and the concern have rather messed up my week.

I will post in a day or two to let you know how I went at the Frankston Waterfront Festival last week.

In the meantime it is Australia Day today and also my youngest daughter's birthday so there is much to reflect on and celebrate.

The weather is continuing to challenge many of us with floods in parts of Queensland as well as the most unusual occurance of tornadoes up that way too.  Fires are still burning in areas of our state of Victoria as well as other parts of this vast land. 

I notice it is cold and snowing in parts of the UK, Europe and USA with many suffering as a consequence.

My thoughts are with those who are distressed and suffering, although these thoughts seem so inadequate.

Take care, keep safe and create something beautiful when you can.  

glorious gladioli

These lovely gladioli grow in my garden without any help from me. They were already in the garden when we moved here and they multiply each year.

They really don't seem to fit in with the other plants in my garden but you must agree they are really lovely. The dark one is a tomato red and the other is salmon pink.

 

I have been trying to create a collage and the result is what you see here.  The pics are taken in my garden with a few altered images included.   

Another lovely weekend

The days have been flying by: Mike is working away from home a bit lately so the weekends are extra special.  We have to do the usual chores as well as catch up on family & neighbourhood news.  We try to go out to lunch on Sundays.  Today we went  to the Rocks at Mornington.   We had a really lovely relaxed lunch although the weather outside was very windy and rough.
The Rocks restaurant and cafe, Mornington Peninsula, Melbourne
Yesterday I went to the football, Australian Rules,at the MCG, with my daughter Rebecca & her daughter Ally.  We all barrack for Melbourne and our team beat Richmond Tigers.   It was a lovely outing - just us girls.  When we arrived back at Rebecca's house her husband had cooked enough dinner so that I could bring some home for Mike and me.

 As if that wasn't good enough: our neighbour Keith filled the trailer with prunings and took it to the recycling centre and came back and took our old fridge away as well.

That's what I call a great weekend.

Oh, the pic at the top shows the books I am using to find inspiration - thanks for all the suggestions. 
 

relaxation

 Today has been a lovely sunny day: cold but sunny.


The little babies I mind each day are such fun.  They are becoming aware of each other and spend time "talking" to each other.  Very funny and sweet.

 The camellias are blooming now and promise a lovely show.


I just love the way the back petals on this one are so pink.


The other bushes are really coming on too.

 The rest of the garden is improving each day.We have managed to make good use of the logs that were cut up from the trees we had taken down.  Some we have kept for next year's fires and some we have used to separate parts of the garden beds.

 The smaller pieces were shredded up to make mulch and we have spent many hours spreading it around the plants.  I am sure we have been making safe places for the lizards and other crawly things that live in the garden.  


The fish pond is settling in well and is ready to for the pump to be installed.  By the spring it should have some plants  in it and some fish as well.

 There is still lots of planting to do but I am very pleased with the progress so far.

This is the view from the top of our driveway.  I just love the shape of our eaucalyptus trees.  They are so unruly and interesting.

From here we can see Mornington and across to Mount Martha.   It really is a lovely place to live.





Tomorrow I am having a day out:  visiting friends for lunch and then I am going to have a massage and a bathe at a luxury  day spa about an hour's drive from here.  I am looking forward to it:  it is said to be one of the best in the world.  My neighbours (parents of the twins) have given me a voucher for a bathe in the mineral pools and a massage and although  it sounds strange to be going somewhere like that in this cold weather I am sure it will be relaxing. 
Peninsula Hot Springs - Welcome - Day Spa on Melbourne's Mornington Peninsula Victoria Australia

I have been spending quite a lot of time in the garden lately.  This beautiful Gordonia had just dropped off the bush and is a little bit bruised but still so beautiful.  The bush is only about 30cm high but covered in buds.  Hopefully I will have a chance to take a photo of some of the flowers when they are still attached to the bush.

We are gradually making sense of the parts of the garden that had the trees removed.  It is hard work but well worth the effort.  

The stack of logs for the fire is looking good and as we have far too much we put some of the logs out the front and today someone drove up with a trailer and was thrilled to take some away.

As some of you know, I mind the little babies next door for a couple of hours each day and their daddy helps us out with tasks that are difficult for us. (we don't have to ask, he just notices things that he can help us with)  Today he climbed up on the roof and cleaned our gutters for us.  You can only imagine how thrilled I am to have that done before the winter. 
Good neighbours are real treasures.   

 

stitched gardens

 I have quite a love of knot gardens:  I have created several and I thought I would show them to you today.

This first one is stitched on hand dyed fabric using silk threads and lots of french knots and turkey stitch.

I particularly like the colours in this one.

This one was my first attempt and I was helped with stitch selection & colours by Bev Tully.  It took many hours of concentration.
Again I used silk threads.  It is lovely and soft to touch and is on the top of a round black box. 

I stitched out this heart pattern on my embroidery machine and then filled in the gaps (hearts etc) with different threads and stitches.  It was a kind of a 
sampler, and looks prettier in "real life". 

I have mounted this one on top of another box which I have covered with an interesting paper.

I use this one in the sewing room for bits & pieces. 

Another of my designs:  I found it difficult to deal with the idea of it being divided into 3 sections.  I do like symmetry. 

This tiny one was lots of fun to do: it is a little pin cushion set in a shallow wooden bowl.

SANTA - TAKING SHAPE

While I was away I managed to fit in quite a few hours of stitching. 
We were travelling light so I just took some of santa's costume, a few threads and needles.

I finished adding the leaves but still have a few crystals to apply on the border of the skirt.

The bodice is to be decorated with some native flora.   On the back and over one shoulder is some yellow wattle.  One sleeve has some daisies and the front and another sleeve features gum blossom.  

I am hoping to finish this project by Monday. There are still quite a few details to be taken care of but I am fairly confident it will look ok when I finish.  I am especially pleased with the hands.  They look really "human" in expression and colour.

The perfume from this gorgeous gardenia filled the humid air after a short rain shower.  It is so creamy and perfect.   It is in the garden of the house we stayed at in Noosaville.