all i want for christmas....

image pale and interesting

my husband asked me last night what i wanted for Christmas...... a heaved a huge sigh and then continued to scroll down in my mind the huge list of things that I can't purchase until our Reno is complete. I am an impatient person by nature, if I see something, I want it, and I want it NOW! (Sound a little like Veruka Salt don't I!) This last few weeks has been ups and downs with the reno, our plans went into the certifiers, and you couldn't wipe the smile off my face that day. Then after a real life viewing (and swim in) the intended size spa for our back deck, we realised a rethink was in order and have had to go back to the drawing board to have our back deck completely redrafted, to accommodate the new larger spa. I emailed them a few days ago, and it's not all smooth sailing....new walls, new roof size, new footings layout..... I'm hoping an email arrives in my inbox today with the subject heading..."all complete"!
so back to answering my husband question...what do I want for Christmas.... completed and submitted plans with suffice for now. I promise Santa i will be good!

weekend unwind

With the weekend all but a day away, I am compiling my list of jobs, and it's growing quickly. The builder said that any room that is having work done, needs to be completely cleared out. YIKES! That means my spare bedroom, which will house the stair case and currently there's no room in there for even a 3 rung stair case. One question has me stumped...where ever will I put everything?

pretty things

i have had in my cupboard for nearly 10 years a set of gorgeous green and gold drinking glasses, which I have struggled to use, as they always look odd when placed in a table setting. my husband had picked them up in an antique store in Canberra years earlier, and they have been filling space in my cupboard ever since.

so i was thrilled the other day when I spotted the most gorgeous green tinted glass jug, perfect for my lonely glasses, complete with 'bumpy bits' (as the kids named them).

i could hear my glasses shrieking with delight at the thought of getting out and about for the day, and since my purchase, those lonely glasses have not been put away!

my jug now sits pretty with it's new friend on the centre of my dining table, filled with Ice cold water and lemon, perfect for the summer weather!

in love with...

originally used in France, the glass cloche, or bell jar, was a solid piece of glass formed in a dome shape. The purpose was to protect an early garden from bleak cold and frost. today, i can' think of less useful, but much prettier uses for the cloche..... i recently bought a cloche, and have been searching for ideas on how to present it. currently it covers a collection of shells, but here are a few more ideas....

this gorgeous wire cloche shaped cover above is a favourite.

a version of the original use for the cloche

bleached white coral, saturated with lovely warm sunlight...just gorgeous.

friends....

so nice in this crazy time in my life to have such good friends. when the days are filled with kids and work and husbands and washing and homework and everything else in between, it's my friends that look past all the chaos and see me for me. offering a cup of coffee, a chat, a yummy lunch like the one above...
So thank you to my friends, you are comfort food for my soul.

if only...

if only my work space was as calm and serene as this! mine a miss match of piles of paperwork, cables and everything else in between. Today I am going to attempt to make it pretty. i will be back with more images soon.... I love a good DE-clutter, it's so good for the soul!

image - martha stewart

silly season

alas, it will not be me this weekend, curled up in a chair reading a magazine.... and why would it be when the silly season is all but upon us! So let's begin the season with my pick of the best range of boutique handmade products and designers Brisbane has to offer - with this sunday's, November Boutique Market down at Portside Wharf. Our designers have already begun filling their marquees with beautiful product for your Christmas shopping delight! You can read more about the market here, and more about the designers here.

old things

as I mentioned a few days ago, the kids and have just returned from a little holiday to my mums in central qld for her 60th birthday. As mum is generally in Brisbane for work once a month it has been almost 7 years since we last were at her house. It was lovely to return and again find all those little things that make your mum's home, really feel like home. I spent many hours just photographing things in her house, but mainly the 'old things'. my dad has a beautiful collection of his great grandfathers books (below), many in German and the gorgeous old ruler from primary school above. The books are housed in his great grandfathers writing bureau and i wish wish wish I could have got a good picture of it - it is just divine! these things are such beautiful old treasures that will always be kept!

On our trip we also visited the Mt Isa underground Hospital and I must say some old thing just should be thrown out! There with my sisters, one a GP, one a paramedic the other a dietitian, I had to walk away as they happily had a frank and open discussion about the following two items - both now class as 'old' and used in the 50's.

yes ladies, above is a placenta grinding machine and below the most medieval looking breast pump I have ever seen! (Why people do you have this on display?)

some old things just need to be thrown out!

yes please

image - country style
I love eat in kitchens, the thought of having everyone gathered in one room relaxing and enjoying a meal is such a lovely thought. My husband is the cook in our home and he is forever complaining that everyone sits at the dining table (which is currently away from our kitchen) whilst he slaves in the kitchen...hmm, where have I heard that before? Our new kitchen will kind of be eat-in, with a very large island bench for informal family dining, but our outdoor kitchen on the back deck will be similar in set-up to the one above and I'm so excited.

baking....

i have been on holidays up north spending time with my family for my mothers 60Th birthday. we stayed a few beautiful days with my eldest sister in tropical north Queensland (balmy hot was more like it though), and I watched her each day create the most amazing gourmet food I've ever seen. A busy mother of 2, a university lecturer and doctor, she still managed to come home each day and whip up (from scratch I might add) home made breads, filled with everything bit of goodness from her gorgeous veggie garden.

so this weekend I am going to take a leaf out of her book and make myself some home made bread (I wonder if they sell it pre-done in the frozen section) and as I don't have the veggie garden she does, I am going to get some lovely fillings to pop inside instead. Thinking of something similar to the recipe over here using baby spinach, basil and macadamia pate from Dish and Spoon.

good morning monday!

image - coutry living

today, after a monster weekend, I've woken feeling refreshed and ready to start the week! We headed out to the Brisbane home show on Saturday, which was great, got some great ideas and have eagerly added them to "the list". Then yesterday was the October Boutique Markets down at Portside Wharf, which started off grey and gloomy, and we thought we had been lucky to miss the rain until a downpour 20 minutes before packdown ruined the day. 60 White and very wet marquees later.... to say it was a long day wouldn't be a stretch! Anyway, it's a new day and I'm feeling as happy as the gorgeous green on the walls of this image.