WINTER DAYS

Hello

I found the perfect bird lovers clothes pegs at K Mart.

They are fairly clumsy, but for $2 a bag, I could not resist.

Don't you love our crisp blue Winter skies?

We are having unseasonally high maximum temps for the middle of Winter...

24-26c, even - but it is near freezing just before Dawn, when we love our electric blanket.

Layering is the secret of the Queensland Winter wardrobe.

Across in Canada, our two little grandsons are enjoying the Summer holidays.

Small boy goes strawberry picking.  
Only one in the basket, I see.

Winter brings the Australian Golden Wattle into bloom...
I pass this tree on my daily walk:

Which seems reason enough for another showing of my Wattle Brooch, copy of the one presented by Australia to the Queen, back in the 1950s.
I notice H.M. wore it when meeting our Prime Minister at Buckingham Palace recently.

Also noticed that Canada presented a Snow-flake brooch to the Queen, to celebrate Canada's 150 Birthday this year.

I wonder if they sell replicas of it in Canada...

Countdown time - we are off to Canada this year for Christmas!
I can't wait to see those two cute little boys again.

The new garden steps are finished, and so much easier to run up and down.
The previous ones were very steep.

It will take a while for the garden to regenerate, but it should be good in a month or three...

A celebratory barbeque to show the steps to family.

Little Aussie was here - not so little anymore, is he?

Mr C loves the new handrail down to the pool, and the three new bollard lights.
And we have another garden to regenerate...

Mr C is now able to go to the movies again - he was warned by his therapists after the knee replacement because the prolonged sitting is painful in the early stages.

We saw 'Dunkirk' and thought it brilliant.
We grew up hearing of the 1940 Dunkirk evacuation, and the heroism of the English people crossing the Channel in their small boats to rescue the trapped Allied forces on the beach at Dunkirk, France.

There are a series of sub-plots, but the overall effect of the cinematography made us feel we were there in the middle of it, in real time.
Definitely worth a look if you have an interest in history.

I've been shopping at Ladychatterleysaffair again...
It was the red bug brooch that enticed me -
and the napkins..

Be safe..
and have a beautiful week

XXXXX

      

THE GOLDEN STAIRCASE

Good evening everyone, and yes, Long Time No Blog...

Who would have thought the replacement of a rustic wooden staircase through the tangled Garden of Neglect would take so long...

and go on..

and on...

First remove old staircase.

Followed by all the builders rubbish found beneath it from a previous generation...

Draw string lines and experiment as to where 'the lady' wants her stairs to float...

Destroy a few more plants, and trample on the agapanthus...

Foggy mornings, followed by frosty mornings.

Ice on the windscreens,

 and shivering tradesmen on the doorstep soon after 6.30am. 

Made them muffins...

Maybe this will work out ... ?

Sort of coming together..

The Overseer...

Meanwhile, they also built us a handrail down to the pool area.

Mr C has had enough of walking down those rough stone steps with nothing to hold onto.  We have to take care of the new bionic knee now.

Things are looking brighter...

and we approve.

I made the workers scones for Friday afternoon, but forgot to take a pic before they had demolished the lot.

Meantime, this iris could not wait to return to the garden, and bloomed in the holding pen temporary pot.  What a stalwart.

I have been home much more than usual.

Because they come with questions and requests all day long.

There is other work going on as well, including a new laundry tub and cupboard.

But I did step out one day and buy some new bedroom curtains.

French blue, birds and flowers.

Of course.

This is where we are at - 

Not quite finished, but definitely promising...

We have enjoyed a weekend to ourselves, including the movies.

They will be back tomorrow, bright and early.

Might make them a chocolate cake this time.

How do you feel about having tradesmen in the house for a couple of weeks?

I find they certainly seem to take over our lives, as well as our facilities, for the duration.  These men are well-mannered, try their best, and quite obliging.

But they still miss things, forget things, get mixed up etc.

I suspect this will be enough home improvement malarkey for 2017.

Have a good week everybody.

xxxx

PURPLE AND GREEN, AND OFF TO THE BALLET

We love it when the Red Cardinal garden celebrates Iris Season...

This year, however, it will be a short event.
They have been growing adjacent to an old wooden staircase in the garden, and it is about to be re-built.

Yesterday I had to dig up most of the iris -

 to protect them from earth moving equipment, men with tools, and possibly concrete spills.

Their remains are now divided and waiting in a couple of big pots for a re-plant in a week or two.

Weekend sunrise - and morning temps down to a brisk 2C around here..

Lorikeets send a cheerful greeting..

They will not like it when the workmen arrive, invading 'their' territory...

I have been to my sewing group - Note: This is not my work, but that of a very talented friend.  It became a ring cushion at a Wedding.

Can't claim credit for these either - I was stitching a secret project..

Meantime, Britain's Royal Ballet have been paying Brisbane a visit.

I went with my friend A to see 'Woolf Works'.

We are both fans of Virginia Woolf, and enjoyed this so very much.

Google Image - 'Virginia Woolf'

The ballet is a triptych, based around three Woolf novels, Mrs Dalloway, Orlando and The Waves as well as aspects of Woolf's own life.

The dancers portraying Mrs Dalloway, both young and older, were costumed to look very like Woolf herself...

It was mesmerising, especially to those familiar with the novels and the Bloomsbury set.

'Orlando'

'The Waves'

Google image

I was soon thinking about my visit to Woolf's country home, 'Monk's House' in Rodmell, East Sussex, in 2004.  I loved her green interior so much.

At the end of the garden is her little writing lodge, preserved to this day.

Vanessa Bell 'Portrait of Virginia Woolf' 1912

Virginia Woolf's sister Vanessa Bell painted this portrait.

Stay warm, and have a great week.

xxxx