Garden Design in the Making

Inspired by the intricate paved streets of Rhodes this paving feature has been in the planning for quite some time.  The terracotta edging is cut from terracotta roof tiles, the slate is left over from our kitchen floor and the Basket Range sandstone rocks are bedded in Brightonlite Mortar to match Rod's walls.  This project Rod and I are working on together  however I am pleased to say that the stone work is my own achievement. Check back later to see it finished. 

Chipping in!

 1) the trees shed ribbons of bark 

 2) the bark is gathered into a heap over summer

 3) Rod tricks the Chipper machine into starting

 4) cart loads of bark chips are wheeled away..........

5) .............and heaped into a pile ready for spreading onto garden beds 

(12 and a half cart loads in total)

Up the garden path.......................

........................actually it is down the garden path.

Completely Stoned

 This stone wall was a massive undertaking but I am pleased to say that it is complete. 

 Now it is over to me to bring in some soil and plant out the beds so that the garden complements the wall.

Thanks to Rod for his patience, skill, craftsmanship, stamina, perseverance and perfection.  This was indeed a physically demanding job which took many hours to complete.  I absolutely love the wall and will place more orders in the future (that last bit was not what he wants to hear!). 

Flowers for.........................

.....ME

(Graham Thomas Roses, Plectranthus, Lavender, Yellow&Green variegated foliage, green Hydrangea, Solanum rantonnetii & Salvia)

Chloe's Original Handmade Birthday Quilt

 I'm pretty sure that when you are invited to a 21st Birthday Party which will have ........

 ........Bouncing Castle, Slushy machine, Fairy Floss, Face Painting and Kids Games

 you can get away with giving a gift of a Quilt Cover and 2 Pillow covers featuring ............

...........THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR

A Pleasing Plant

Alstroemaria psittacina (Peruvian Lilly) flowering at Christmas time

 Seed Heads make delightful addition to flower arrangements

Pretty in Purple

Plectranthus Ecklonii

Geranium Rozanne

DRIVING MISS DAISY

Progress Materialised

If you look closely you will see that this square features trapunto quilting of the caterpillar.  A technique that I learnt 25 or so years ago from my days at Material Matters.

Flowers for Anya

At first glance I did not think there were enough flowers in my garden to make into a bunch for Anya's birthday.  Again I am pretty happy with the outcome.  Foliage = Acacia cognata, Pittosporum Irene Paterson, Variegated Dietes, Senecio cineraria 'Silver Dust'  Flowers = Salvia, Solanum laciniatum, Kathleen Harrop rose, Pink Hydrangea and aged Hydrangea turned green, English lavender and finally one of my favourite additions = seed heads of Altromerea.  I had been keeping the Pink fibrous wrapping for something special, and I think you would agree that it teams with the Hydrangea to perfection.

Spot the Difference

Okay, without being too detailed the main difference is that Alex has bought a new 42" flat screen TV.  The arrangement was that if he bought the TV I would get the cabinet modified.  So the surrounding frame has been remade to stop just below the bottom open shelf, this has given 120mm of extra width.  The other change is that the decorative moulding above the arch has been replaced with a higher, more ornate moulding.  As the designer of this cabinet in 2003 I was a little disappointed when the cabinet was installed, that I had not selected a moulding with more impact.  So now, seizing the opportunity to make the improvement I am very pleased.  (Note: The colour difference is due to photography only.)

GOODBYE LITTLE ONES

Our latest litter of 4 Bunnies has now been reduced to 2.  Tonight I delivered Wombat (pictured top) to Jessica who has just started breeding rabbits.  She had several other cute lop ear bunnies running around on her back lawn.  Last week Chessy (pictured with Mug) was collected by Harry and his mum.  Both rabbits will receive lots of attention I am sure.

CREATIVE BEGINNINGS

Keep watching this space to see how these items come together to make a Quilt cover and 2 pillow cases.

Welcome House Guest

I found this little Gecko Lizard inside the house.  We have thousands of skinks outside but these Gecko's are much rarer.  This one is quite small - very cute!