Happy Australia Day and 1 Year Older

Australia Day is celebrated with mixed emotions around the country but is generally a time where I know I am grateful to be living in a country like this - free from war and oppression. Despite the devastation the weather has been creating in some states, we are still so rich in resources, we have a Government that actually help us and an overall desire to help each other. What is not to love about that!



Strange photos to match the content you might be thinking? It is also my birthday on Australia Day and if my 3 year old has anything to do with it we might just be playing pin the tail on her baby brother?!?! I saw these gorgeous photos today and they said Celebration to me! I suddenly don't like the age I am creeping towards but know I better embrace it - I have no other choice :-)

Photos by Confetti System as seen on Decor8.

Happy New Year lovely people

Happy New Year to all my lovely friends, customers and readers (one in the same;) Thank you for your patronage throughout 2010 and for all the lovely comments, conversations and feedback! May 2011 be a year of promise - whatever that means for you!

{photo from Riverfire in Brisbane back in 2005}

Wishing you a very Happy Christmas

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Joy to the World , the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

I think Summer found us again - It was a hot one today on my side of the world :-) Have a very Happy Christmas everyone! I hope you have a lovely break with your friends and families! Safe travels and may this be a season of promise and peace. See you next year xx

Ed's note: I didn't make the biscuits and unfortunately saved the photo during the year and can't remember where from to credit it! let me know if you know!

Internet Issues...

We are having teething problems with our internet in the new digs - will be back in a couple of days hopefully! These Cymbidium orchids have lasted 3 + weeks - I love it when you are sold fresh flowers :-) See you soon x

Fabulous Finds - Doug Up on Bourke

I had heart palpitations while browsing the Doug up on Bourke website! When I found out it was Bourke St SYDNEY not Melbourne I was reeeeeeeeally excited!!!




Packed with super cool pre-loved gear it is used as both a retail store and prop hire.



You can't imagine how badly I want to get in the car and go NOW, especially after posting these photos! Aghhhh.....



This has my name written all over it! *sigh*

Maybe I don't want diamonds after all...

Now this worked with my birthday tea-towell and that was unplanned!! (I know my husband reads my blog!!!) Wouldn't this mini secret tablet from Uberkate make a lovely "thanks for giving birth" gift... with our two children's names on it - sans DOB. I spied it on a friend recently and I love it!

Family Photos - by the amazing Amanda Keeys

Last weekend we trekked to Sydney to hang with my family and have a few photos taken with the brilliant Amanda Keeys! I love all these photos - particularly that first shot of Anya and this black and white. Anya barely sat still - Amanda did a fabulous job capturing her. {images - Amanda Keeys}

Chandeliers #4 - wine glasses

It seems Chandeliers can be made from any sort of glass!! Made from wine goblets it's fitting to be hanging in a bar! {Image *} I love that wall behind it too!

The most romantic thing ever done for me...

In light of all the lovey dovey stuff that we have endured over the last few weeks for Valentines, I thought I would share my favourite romantic story - the best part is - it actually happened to ME! In 2002 Gordon & I went with a few friends to Thailand to help out at the Agape Orphanage build in Chang Mai. I celebrated my birthday while we were there and after a lovely day off we went out for dinner with the group then Gordon and I went off for a wander through the night markets on our own.



Little did I know the rest of the team had strict instructions to carry out a secret squirrel operation in my honour from the gorgeous Gordon (then 'boyfriend'). To cut a long story short - the team purchased an entire truck of flowers from one seller and the seller was so overjoyed he drove them all back to our hotel in his truck, flowers and all!! They then set about decorating my bedroom with 1000 roses, fairy lights and other lovely flowers :-)



You can imagine my delight and surprise when I walked into my room - I burst into happy tears - it truly was such a grand romantic gesture... I felt like a movie star going to bed that night and couldn't sleep. Everyone thought a proposal was at the fore but we weren't ready for that yet! Needless to say the rest of the boys on the trip weren't happy with Gordon and the girls romantic expectations had just gone up a notch. I was one giddy girl :-) (Gordon thinks it is worth a trip to thailand to do this fella's as you could never afford to do it in Oz!) {my images - from Christchurch Botanical gardens - I couldn't find my actual photos of the day - that is why this post is sooo late ;}

Ribbon love

These stunning ribbons are from a fabulous website I found that supply EVERYTHING you could think of for events and crafting! Unfortunately they are in the states and of course they don't ship to Australia. They have alternate ways you can ship to Oz but the price is ridiculous :-( *hmphh* When our dollar is so strong it sucks that we can't take advantage of such great suppliers....

I love the names of these ribbons & colours:

1. Mint Green Parisian Grosgrain
   
2. Sea Foam Pearl Finish
   
3. Austrian Silver Velvet

We are home safe and enjoyed one night at the beach and a little relaxing before driving home yesterday. Of course it stops raining after we LEAVE the beach! ha ha - always the way. I am just happy to have my little family all back together again.

Chandeliers #2

An unusual place to have a chandelier I thought, - this is in a mosque in Pakistan! I decided to do a weekly series on Chandeliers - for my own viewing pleasure and hopefully yours. {image}

Monday Musings - A day in Bowral

I had a lovely girls day in Bowral over the weekend with my cousin, Melanie (left) and my sister-in-law Kate (right). We kicked the morning off with a coffee and cake at the Elephant Boy Cafe - my favourite... It has a great ambience, old books lining the walls and a lovely, hard-working hostess with quirky glasses, braids and great calves :-) She is there every time I go and is always BUSY!

We pottered around the shops and spent quite some time in Seed and another favourite, My Place. Seed is divided into two sides, childrens clothing and lovely stuff for Mum (pictured). They had sensational props, old hat boxes, hat blocks and a massive glass jar full to the brim with letter press letters! I wanted to tuck that under my arm and bring it home! All in all it was a lovely day out.

I unfortunately blew my back tyre on the way home in the middle of nowhere on the highway :-( I have been a paying member of NRMA for 7 years and the one time I need them I get told it will be 2 hrs minimum wait - sorry. I couldn't even lift the spare tyre out of the boot - I sat on the back of the car and cried! That lasted all of 5 minutes, pulled myself together, prayed for some divine intervention and no later than 5 minutes a tow truck heading in the opposite direction crossed the split highway and came to my rescue - changing my tyre in all of 5 minutes. *sigh* Thank you God! I was extremely grateful (as was Gordon) and got home in one piece. A great ending, for a great day.

A light has gone out ....

On Friday we learnt our lovely friend Susannah went home to heaven at the tender age of 30 after enduring 3 tough rounds with Cancer. Susannah and my husband Gordon grew up together in North Qld as children and their families have remained wonderful friends over the years. Susannah was a beautiful, Godly, vibrant woman, devoted wife, mother of two sweet little girls, daughter, sister and friend. I want to hold my daughter & husband that much closer and longer every day - grateful for every moment we have together. Keeping Susannah's dear family in our prayers.

Chandeliers

I could do a whole series on Chandeliers - oh I love them so. When I was 10yrs old we moved from the Snowy Mountains to Sydney on Christmas Eve to a house that was over 100 years old. My sister and I had a chandelier a little like this one in our bedroom! Sooo extravagant and glamorous for a young girl. I loved lying in bed at night staring at the chandelier pretending they were my beautiful jewells - we also had an elaborate pattern on the roof which I memorized and could trace in the air - it felt like a castle. Mum, Dad and my youngest brother still live there. Speaking of 'little brothers' - the surprise baby of the family starts as a senior in high school this week - eek. {image - Mahine on Flickr}

Back to reality!

Well tonight our holidays are official over! Hubby goes back to work tomorrow and it's back to just me and Anya (and the baby bump who lets his/her presence be known!) It's also our 7th wedding anniversary today hence Gordon starting back at work tomorrow. We had such a lovely time away, both over Christmas with family, then some time at home in Canberra then 5 nights at Jervis Bay at the beach which was superb! Jervis Bay has some of the whitest sand in the world (according to the Guiness book of records). Such a beautiful part of NSW. It was hard getting used to 38 degrees in Canberra today with no sea breeze or beach views to ease the pain! ughh. Thrilled to make some new flowers while on a break too! More about that tomorrow!

Monday Musings

It's that time of year, Christmas decs are in the shops, which my daughter is LOVING! Birthdays are starting to roll around en masse, soon it will be end of year parties (I'm already planning our playgroup "mums night out"). However, this time of year is always twinged with a bit of sadness as we remember two lovely friends that 'went home' too early (in our eyes). So, do yourself a favour; appreciate life, family and love hard as if it's your last day on earth.

Quiet on the creative front....

Well, there is always good reason isn't there?! I have been mega tired and not in the zone because I am 3.5 months pregnant and trying to keep up with a 2yr old! I am starting to get my energy back thank goodness but have been very slow on the creative front and very un-motivated I have to say. But with less than 4 weeks to go till the next Handmade market I do need to get my butt into gear. Yay for no morning sickness and having a very helpful husband!

I would like this on my wall...

Maybe this colour, maybe in another lovely shade... this is by Bernadette from Sugarloop - a talented NZ artist. Mmm pretty

Necklace Craft

Celeste is wearing the latest in children's craft - pasta and cupcake liners on silver thread! Available in a household near you. What a quick, fun craft - Anya and I made this last week. We didn't do much crafting last week - we were very busy with outings :-)

Retail Therapy

I hate early morning starts and 5.30am wasn't my idea of a good start to the morning. My poor little babe wet through to her PJ's which is fine, we dealt with that promptly but normally she goes back to sleep snuggled in with us quite nicely... not this morning. Aghhh.... Anyway, I am trying my best not to be grumpy and would definitely like a shopping fix to brighten my day - however shallow that may be... a girl can dream. It is supposed to be spring here in Canberra but it's been freezing... the weekend was a killer. So these Anthropology pieces might help me feel I am heading into summer and a little retail therapy never hurt anyone.