Painted by mother nature

Melbourne is notorious for its weather: it is very changeable.

The last few days have been a great example.  Saturday was hot - 30 degrees and since then each day has been wet, windy, hailing, cold.

The garden is enjoying the water - although I am constantly having to deal with snails.

I picked these leaves up from under the orange tree.  They look amazing and I couldn't resist sharing them here.

The garden is a constant source of inspiration.

Perfect beach weather

Today the weather was reminiscent of summer: in fact the last few days have been perfect.

This morning I had some time with the twinnies so we went to the beach.  Canadian Bay is just 5 minutes away by car and is a very shallow and quiet beach.  Perfect for small children.  When we arrived there was one person and a dog on the whole beach.  

 Taking the twins to be beach is a bit of an effort but once we are there it is just so much fun. 

 With the temperature about 30 degrees at 6 pm we went back to the beach when the twin's daddy returned from work.  Mummy was out with big sister at swimming lessons so we took the little girls for another swim before the rain arrived.

The rain has started and I think today might have been the last good beach day for a while.

 Meantime, while we were having fun the weather proved ideal for bush fires and so there are various areas under threat at present.  I do hope the cool change means some relief for those facing these fires.  It has been a long summer and there is so much fuel on the ground that grass and bush fires take hold quickly and with strong winds they are impossible to control.

I love winter on the Mornington Peninsula

 The last few days have been bitterly cold with gale force winds and heavy rain.  Of course my first instinct is to stay in bed for the day or at least to stay inside but I have decided to embrace this wonderful weather, after all we are recovering from 9 years of drought and we asked for this rain.

Today I went out for a coffee at the Rocks at Mornington which is one of my favourite places.  On the way back I took a few pics of the bay (Port Philip) which looked so beautiful and of course the clouds were piling up with more rain promised.

 I am not doing much stitching at present as this weather does cause me some 
difficulties with my hands.  I wake in the morning with stiff and painful fingers and it takes most of the day to loosen them up.  

 I can still take lots of photos, look at all my books and mags for inspiration and of course I have my sewing machines.

The grandchildren are on school holidays and so all four will come for a two night sleepover tomorrow.  That is always something to look forward to.  

holiday shopping

We are back in cold and gloomy Melbourne now: after our quick visit to the lovely warm northern New South Wales coast.  

It was good to see my father-in-law and spend some time with him.  We always enjoy our time together and the warm weather is a real bonus at this time of the year.

I managed to visit 4 op shops in the area and bought some lovely vintage doileys and a bag full of buckles and buttons.  I left most of the buckles at Maurice's (father-in-law) home as they were heavy and I can bring some  more home next time.  I  bought a pretty little cane case which I fitted out with scissors, tape measure, needles, beads etc and that also stayed for my next visit.  I think it is wise to leave some necessary items there in case of a quick and unexpected visit sometime.  Toothbrush and moisturiser etc are already there as are some bathers and beach towel.

The doileys will need a good wash and iron and maybe some starch; the buckles are a mixture of metal and plastic and will be ideal for future projects.

 I am looking forward to putting some of my recent purchases to good, creative use.

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.   

 

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.

RAIN, RAIN & MORE RAIN

We have had so much rain lately, it is great for the garden after so many years of drought conditions and water restrictions.

A lot of the big trees in the neighbourhood have suffered from stress over the recent years and now that we are having rain & strong wind storms they are falling over or at least dropping large limbs.

 

I took these pics of the views from our kitchen window yesterday.  We are up fairly high so there is no risk of flooding:  it is lovely to be as high as some of the big trees.

Of course this kind of weather is ideal for stitching which is great.