A spring day

- dozing in the morning sunshine, listening to magpies warbling down the chimney in the bedroom

- sharing stories and vegies (fresh from from our garden!) with friends

- cycling slowly through quiet streets to my pilates class, turning my face to the sun and drinking in the heady scents of spring blossoms

-  savouring each luscious segment of home-grown artichokes, freshly picked, cooked and dipped in peppered lemon butter while still hot

- sunning myself on the verandah with a cup of tea in hand, a good book on my lap, and a snoring dog at my feet

-  chatting and dreaming with my husband as we relax in our sunny room, serenaded by birdsong and the dozy buzzing of bees as they busily bumble from flower to flower

- walking our dog in the local park where people stretch out on picnic blankets and play ballgames, drawn outside by the glorious weather, as the sky starts to change from azure to burnished gold; treating ourselves to icecream on the way home

- enjoying a simple meal, watching a couple of episodes of Mad Men, then soaking in the bath, with the blowsy scent of an unknown flower filling the night air and billowing through the open windows.

♪ ♫ It's such a perfect day, I'm glad I spent it with you!  ♬♪

Spring has sprung!

.... time to get busy with spring cleaning, sewing, picnicking and such ...

Here are some inspirations for my Spring wardrobe from this evening's ramblings in webland:

 Super cute!

... and of course I couldn't possibly face the hot weather without a parasol or two:

Image sources:
1.
2.
3. & 5.
4.
6. & 7 (uh-oh! - I've forgotten ... sorry!)
8. & 9.
10. & 11.

Managing the Missus

Poor G has been doing a bit of this lately, as we try to bring some sort of order to our new house and garden ...

We spent much of the weekend tidying, fixing, shopping and organising. It's fun though - we're gradually sorting out our stuff, finding places for some things and deciding what we can pass on to others. Today our house is flooded with sunlight, and I know we're going to be happy here!

This afternoon as I was walking home from work I stopped to watch a pair of rainbow lorikeets chirping and snuggling in the low branches of a neighbour's street tree. They didn't seem worried by my standing so close, and their gorgeous feathers looked amazing against the new green spring foliage.

We have lots of birds in this area .... I've named my resident garden blackbirds Henry and Matilda. Love their crazy jazz tunes!

Somewhere ....

I've been so happy about the rain that's fallen in Melbourne over the last week or so, but water tanks won't be installed at our new house till next month ..... bad timing eh?!


We got the keys to the house yesterday and are now working to fix up some of its little quirks before we move in a couple of weeks. It's fun to have a new project!

A blur of color in the wind *

Today was the first day of Spring, and things are certainly starting to move in our little garden!

On the weekend I was delighted to find that this slightly sinister, yet mysterious and beautiful, bloom had emerged overnight from its green cowl ....






I don't know what it is .... any suggestions?













I also found this spring-themed poem, by Christine Klocek-Lim, called 'First Crocus':

This morning, flowers cracked open
the earth’s brown shell. Spring
leaves spilled everywhere
though winter’s stern hand
could come down again at any moment
to break the delicate yolk
of a new bloom.

The crocus don’t see this as they chatter
beneath a cheerful petal of spring sky.
They ignore the air’s brisk arm
as they peer at their fresh stems, step
on the leftover fragments
of old leaves.

When the night wind twists them to pieces,
they will die like this: laughing,
tossing their brilliant heads
in the bitter air.


* Today's post title is from the poem 'The Flower Garden' by Wayne Jarus

Just around the corner ....

I love these clear and sunny winter days, even though we really need much more rain.

In my street the fruit trees are already covered in blossoms, and the magnolia buds are bursting forth as they do so reliably every year at the end of July. I took these pictures as the sun was setting yesterday so they're not as clear as I'd have liked, but the trees and soft evening light made my heart leap.

Can you see the blackbird nest in the centre of this picture?









Eeek! When I reduce the resolution of my photos to post them online, they go stripey. ugh. I'll try and fix them later.

Spring passtimes

Today I enjoyed total design-deliciousness overload, visiting the Melbourne Design Market at Fed Square (after a quick spin around the Bizarre Bazaar at the Famous Spiegeltent). It can be overwhelming to be surrounded by hundreds of amazing design products, but very inspiring too.

It also occurred to me that today is the last day of Spring, and we haven't even done any dastardly things to local birds this year...



(... in commemoration of which, I would set up a collection of these little pigeon lights:)



Pretty, no?

Spring things