Saturday, December 23, 2017

Gingerbread Village

Aly and I put in quite an effort to manufacture these mini Gingerbread houses. 
Extra icing applied has been great for disguising inconsistencies- well they are hand made after all.
Designed to slide onto the rim of a mug - just the thing to enjoy with eggnog or hot chocolate.
The idea came from the 2017 Woolworths Christmas magazine but I think we went above and beyond.
Love the little cellophane bags I found at Cheap as Chips.

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Poppy Perfection

I thought these plants were never going to flower as I planted them right back at the beginning of winter.
But what do you know, they were just waiting for Rememberence Day - 11th November.

When just unfolded the petals look just like crepe paper!

Neat as a pin

Even on a day with early appointments Rod manages to make the bed - and always so beautifully done! I'll stick to Garden Beds and leave him to it.


In the early 19th. Century, the development of mass production guaranteed a uniformly high quality and finish of consumer products. Formerly hand-made and thus frequently irregular, now, pins were consistently well made and finished.(answers.com)

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

100% Success with Lamley


Early flowering double dark pink flushed purple. Very long flowered variety on sturdy 35cm tall stems. Good for picking and for pots as well as a great garden variety.

Last years tulip bulbs were purchase from Garden Express- only 50% flowered. This year I decided to give Lamley Nursery a try as David Glenn sources his bulbs direct from Holland and is confident of the quality.  Every bulb produced a healthy large bloom. 

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Waratah Success

After attempting to grow from seed and then purchasing 5 small plants on mail order I had one plant survive, in fact thrive. One flower this year, hopefully many more next year.

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Stationery Objects - A Colourful Post



Stationery Objects. 



After our prized Ghost Gum blew down in July '16 we had a collection of broken permapine posts from our Berry trellis. Rod cut the Permapine logs to size and shape and then we undercoated with Solver Maxi PSU (Primer, Sealer, Undercoat).



The logs were then topcoated with Norglass Weatherfast Gloss in a variety of bright colours, some of which were achieved by intermixing standard factory made colours.



A bin with handles cut off and holes cut out the bottom to drain water was then painted with stripes of Silver metal primer to create the perfect size pencil holder.


Getting to the root of the problem





We are finally getting the potager garden beds remade after the unfortunate falling of the large ghost gum near to the boundary fence in July. Our contractor established that a large root on the uphill top corner was still intact and had not been removed along with the other roots and remaining stump when the stump muncher was brought in. Although the root had been visible in the original potager, the standing tree gave it purpose and it made sense to leave it. Now that there is no tree a visible root just seems unfortunate. A great job for Easter Sunday!

On removing surrounding dirt it was revealed that in actual fact it was a tangle of 3 roots. I could see if we could remove this in one section we would have a special sculpture and a great keep sake from our beloved stately tree. Mission accomplished- root rolled down to the campfire area. Over time I will clean it up to give it more dignity.

Worth the effort!


Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Four and a half years later....

 
I bought this decorative aluminium lacework panel on a Perth holiday in August 2012 from an Antique shop in Guildford
 
Finally it has a purpose and adds charm to the cubby/ rabbit house as a gate.

 
Undecided what colour to paint it I opted for leaving distressed paintwork - this allows the grey metal to be the prominent colour.

 
Another creation by Rodd For which I am pleased and thankful.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Fallen Trees Now B-Log

 

Winter and Spring last year were incredibly wet and windy with some particularly stormy weather resulting in many trees falling down. We have lost gum trees mostly but the last casualty was a pussy willow.


 
Many hours have been spent by Rod cutting, stacking and burning small branches, twigs and leaves.


 

The EPA have brought in new rules meaning we can no longer burn without a permit. We applied and qualified for two permits as the trees kept falling.