Rain in the Garden

We are having a very wet week here in south east Queensland. The late autumn winds are howling day and night, and the rain has been almost constant. I have managed a few walks in between showers, but for the most part William and I have spent the last three days indoors.

Yesterday I caught a glimpse of the front garden in the wet sunshine - the clouds had parted for a short time - and it looked so pretty I wanted to photograph it.

I don't plan on planting too much into the gardens as I'm not sure how long we'll be renting here. So far I've planted some lavender, strawberries, parsley, rosemary and daisies into the front garden beds. They're nestled among the petunias which were already there. I would like to plant sunflowers in the garden bed running alongside the house, and maybe a couple of pumpkin vines in the corner of the backyard.

With spring around the corner I may not be able to contain my gardening enthusiasm. But for now, we're happy staying cosy inside with warm cups of tea. ;)

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Thanks to those who have already commented on this post. Please, if you ever drop in and read my blog, if you are a long-term follower or a brand new reader, I want to hear from you! It's a chance for me to discover who is out there, and for you to let me know what you enjoy reading here or have always wanted to know! :)

New Home Tour - Back Garden

Hmmm, not too many photos to show you unfortunately! A few I took the other day are 'up and down' shots, and I can't seem to get them to upload the right way up! They're all on their side.

But here are two little glimpses for you of my back garden.

Just the right amount of grass for me to take care of. Lots of shade, shrubbery and a nice garden wall. Oh, and a climbing tree! And swings. :) I hope to add a sandpit and cubby house at some stage.

Until then, the children have claimed the old (though freshly painted) shed/garage as their Clubhouse, and have spent many hours adventuring out there. Not sure what the adventuring entails, but they always come inside completely grubby and exhausted so it must be fun!

Probably the most exciting thing about our back garden is that right in the back corner is a big mound of dirt. The children put on their 'work boots' this morning, took up their gardening tools and went digging for treasure. :) I swear it must have been the resident's rubbish heap 50 years ago - they have found all manner of bottle tops and miniature glass bottles, tiny chipped pieces of china plates (which Saraya is painstakingly piecing back together) and who knows what else. Each item gets doted over and discussed as to it's identity- then gets a wash under the garden tap, and placed in the special 'collection box' they are using to present their finds. Filled in the entire morning today!

And after all that treasure hunting and pancakes and baths to freshen up, the back yard archaeologists enjoyed some cosy time indoors watching a movie. It is winter after all! A lovely Sunday.

Home

When God is in your heart, love is in your home.

A good friend gave us this reminder (along with some strawberry and tomato seedlings - oh, and chocolate) as a housewarming gift. I love the little stone so much I've added a picture of it to my sidebar.

This is the outside of my new home. It has a cottagey feel. I really love the front verandah area, the lead light features throughout, the sculpted ceilings and the front garden beds. Just enough to potter in, but not too much to take care of. Since taking this picture William and I have weeded out those baby beds (leaving the Petunias and the daisy we planted the week we moved in), and have added some lavender, strawberries and tomatoes, parsely and rosemary. Just enough. :)

Thank you for your encouraging comments on my last post.

Melanie said "I don't believe you have been anyone but who you are in your blog" - she is right. I have never deliberately tried to be something I'm not - but I have put this pressure on myself at times. It's a personal thing, hard to explain. :) But thank you Melanie, and everyone, for sticking with me!

More photos of our new home to come, promise.

Beautiful Moments

Life is so full of beautiful moments. I've had a blessed few days with my Mum visiting.

She brought a puppy dog cake, it was adorable!

The children planted a daisy plant into the front garden yesterday morning, all by themselves.

And I had the special honour of spending last Sunday afternoon at a high tea, as part of my town's annual "Mary Poppins" festival. Maryborough is the birth place of Mary Poppins author P L Travers, and our special guest at this year's festival was Verity Hunt-Ballard, star of the current Mary Poppins musical in Sydney!!

I sung a solo piece at the high tea, and the singing group I'm part of ("The Sisters") sung two songs as well. Singing for Verity was a little overwhelming to say the least!

But she was incredibly down to earth, friendly and encouraging. :) And she happily signed a poster for my three children. She shared her musical theatre journey with the 100 or so people who attended the high tea and it was a wonderful afternoon.

A Nectarine Harvest

Today was the big day - we harvested our very first ever nectarines!!! :D

It was with great excitement (and still in pyjamas) that the children ran inside from visiting our little tree, planted only in January this year, to tell me there were 3 ripe ones! We've been watching them closely this past week.

So, we picked them. And the children ate one each with their breakfast.

YUM!

Can you guess what we'll be harvesting from our baby orchard next?

Apples!!!!!! I am SO excited about this. The orchard brings me much delight. I'll have to plant all these trees again in our new place. They've done so well and there's nothing quite like growing your own fruit. :)

And I just couldn't help taking this shot. Naked bottom and his rainbow gumboots. He he. :D

The Celebrating Begins

Traditionally, I bake our Christmas Cake in early November to allow it several weeks to rest and develop it's delicious flavours. :) Yesterday was Christmas Cake baking day for 2010!

We will cut it on the 1st of December as we put up our tree and decorate the house (and celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary! :)).

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Today (Saturday) has been very restful after the enormous week we have had getting ready to list our house. I had 3 cancellations with music students today, and must say I enjoyed the down time as Stuart did the running around town with the kids. He returned with the boys in time for me to scoot in and collect Saraya from Art Class. I hadn't had the opportunity to get in there yet, and was so delighted with the teacher and the art studio! It is a beautiful space and I plan to take my camera next week to catch some photos to share and remember this time in Saraya's life.

Stuart is at work this afternoon, assembling report cards. I have played and read with the children, pruned the roses, cut a new bunch of flowers for my vase, hung some washing, and written some dates in my newly purchased 'Diggers Gardeners Diary for 2011'. :) Yes, there are dates to go in already. And I'm dreaming gardening dreams for our new, more suburban garden of next year. The diary is inspiring me.

Happy Weekend All! And happy beginning of the Christmas season. :)

Life Goes On

And so Life Goes On!

* We are in 4th Term, the busiest time of year for us (and everyone else)

* Stuart's annual Prep Movie premiered last night at the school, with a shared dinner and an actual Red Carpet for all the little prep movie stars to walk down - gorgeous! The photos above I took last night. We really dressed up for the event!

* Report card time for Stuart

* I started online Christmas Shopping this week. Thank you Ebay and the Oxfam Australia website! Oh, and the Book Depository...

* We have signed a contract on a house!!!! Here is a sneak-peak photo of the front for you:

* It is very different from our current house. It is low maintainance, much smaller block of land, etc. It's going to be a huge change for us, but there are some great points about it - 4 bedrooms instead of 3, rumpus room with internal and external access for my piano teaching, quiet cul-de-sac with only about 6 houses in the street, already has a chook house, sandpit, and the list goes on. We really love it.

* Buying this house will hopefully cut a huge chunk off our current mortgage, which will alleviate the financial stress we've had since moving here.

* We have 60 days in which to have a contract signed on our place for the contract to become unconditional. We'd appreciate your prayers that we sell quickly!

* We are working really hard to get our place listed. The agent is coming out on Wednesday so it's all systems go here. I've been cleaning all week, and gardening/weeding/mulching today. Stuart is working hard on the property as well as dealing with all his teacher responsibilities at the moment. Poor guy is really tired.

* My health is going pretty well, thankfully. I am using my medication as needed, and it definitely helps. Still having lots of headaches and am looking forward to getting to the bottom of those soon. I am heading to another town on Tuesday afternoon to have an exercise stress test for my heart, to make sure it responds normally to exercise. Here's hoping. :)

* The kids are all doing great. Saraya works through her contract sheets each week, as well as several dozen chapter books. :) She continues with her art classes on Saturday mornings which she loves. Stu takes her while I do my music teaching. I'll put up some photos of her art sometime soon. Elijah and Saraya both start swimming lessons on Monday. Eli is really excited for his Prep Orientation Day next Tuesday morning. Will is still his bubbly self, certainly growing up in leaps and bounds. He really wants goggles at the moment. :) I think I'll take him to toddler swimming lessons next year while the children are at school.

* I need to go change Will's nappy and get into some more weeding.

That's it, all caught up!

Home Beauty On A Sunday Morn

My beautiful old piano

And I even managed a practice this morning with no 'helpers'!

Little boys playing with helium balloons from a party yesterday

Little boys with cheeky grins and dirty faces

Tables where little boys have been playing...

Our beautiful jasmine vine - the smell is overwhelmingly divine!

A lavender hedge that I planted recently is starting to bush out

Little boys peeking out from secret hiding places

Freshly mown grass thanks to my hard working husband

Hardworking husband :)

White roses in bloom in Saraya's Garden

And red ones!

And pink roses by the driveway (ignoring all the grass I need to weed out...)

Lovely Molly

Gum trees shedding their bark - they are everywhere and really amazing to see

Strawberry flowers!

Baby nectarines - William loves to spot them

And a fuzzy little peach!

Apple blossoms

I don't know how I will ever leave this place. I know with God's help I can do anything. So in Him I trust with this one. The beauty here is indescribable, especially on spring days like today. Yes, it's a lot of work living here. But it's so beautiful!! My heart will always be here on this land. I just love it. Thankfully wherever we move I get to take my family with me. ;) And the cats and the chickens. Just as well!