What now?

Should I admit defeat and ackowledge that I can't seem to find enough time to blog regularly? Or not worry and just post when I do find the time? Hmmm, let's pop that thought in the too hard basket for a little while!

On a renovating issue I finally got around to removing the old ugly tiles from around the fireplace. It took a fair bit of hammer & chiselling but it looks so much better. I have drawn up plans for a custom fire surround made of MDF that I will paint. Then we can install a gas log fire. Lovely! C ♥

Where did it go?

Eek look at the date! Where do the days go? Where do these blogging people find the time to blog? Maybe I'm disorganised... although everyone tells me I am so far from disorganised it's not funny! Anyhoo, here I am... on holidays actually... which is why I have some time to blog! I am trying to work out how to put my Iphone photos onto the laptop so I can show you some holiday pics. Rain check on that one! Here's one of the Little Dog - he's staying with Uncle Stormy while we're away (and having lots of adventures by the sound of it!). OK well cheerio for now. I hope everything is well in your part of the world. C ♥

A quote a day...

Hello everyone! I love quotes - they are funny and inspiring and make you contemplate life. This one is from Laura Trevey at Etsy.




Life just whizzes by so quickly it's good to be able to slow down now and then and take a breath. This quote makes me think that sometimes life is too fast and we keep putting off things we should be doing now! Not because we can't do them, but because we can't seem to make the time to do them. I hope this year I (and you too?) can achieve something we've been wanting to do for ages. On a lighter note, I found this funny quote on Etsy too! Hope all is well in your part of the world. C ♥

Happy New Year...

Hello blog friends. I am feeling a little flat this morning and was thinking of ways to help cheer me up. Anything orange always makes me feel better so I made a little collection of orange-y fun. I hope the images make you smile too. C ♥

I went for a walk...

Little Dog and I went for a walk last night... he trotted all over the place sniffing and exploring. I found these lovely little plants.

I also saw a copperhead snake... didn't take a photo of that one though! Hope all is well in your part of the world. C ♥

Rushing through...

Helloooo!

Just a quick message to say "howdy" and show you my little TEA letters that arrived from the good old USofA recently. I have plonked them on the kitchen mantlepiece in front of my lovely Japanese tea canisters. Sweet hey? (Forgive the not so great photo but I just quickly took it before posting this note). Hope all is well with you, C ♥

Etsy treasures

Hello there! Hope all is well with you. Christmas is fast approaching, as it does every year, and I have started looking for presents for family and friends. Etsy is one of my hunting grounds. There are so many wonderful items for sale on Etsy - vintage or handmade, there is something for everyone! I bought these old letterpress letters from ThreeOldKeys shop recently. Hmm I know I was meant to be shopping for other people, but I couldn't resist! Cheerio for now, Clare ♥

And a couple of my other favourites...

Hydrangea lamp shade from SarahFoote

Hello sign from Slippin Southern

Almost finished...

Hello! Well, after spending hours and hours painting the wall unit I have finally almost finished it. Just the outside upper panel needs a top coat. I could not wait to start filling it with books and special things and here it is. Just one more box to fill up and a couple of others finishing touches. I am very happy with the way it has turned out and although it was hard to paint I think it was worth it! Everything else here is going along well. I hope all is well with you too! C ♥

Here it is!

Hello friends! After waiting about 4 months our custom built wall unit was finally installed on Monday. How exciting! We now have to paint it which is going to take awhile. Then I can fill it with books and magazines and all sorts of wonderful stuff.

We have had the most wonderful sunny weather these last few days - everything is flowering and you can almost see the grass growing! I hope all is well with you. C ♥

Kittens!

Hello blog friends! Sorry I have been away from my blog for so long. I hope you didn't miss me too much ;) All is well here on the farm. Our lambs are healthy and strong, the crops are growing and so are the weeds! Friends of ours found two little black kittens in one of their hay sheds and asked if we wanted one. Since our Puss died last year we have not replaced him and I had been casually keeping my ear out for another so was happy when Lyndon asked me if I wanted one. In the end the people that were going to take the other one could not so we ended up with both of them. I would like to introduce Itchy & Scratchy to you! They took a few weeks to settle in and the girl is still quite timid but the boy is a real character. Little Dog just wants to play with them but the girl (Scratchy) won't have a bar of it. Itchy gets shoved and pushed around by Little Dog who is a bit too rough sometimes! Hopefully they will catch lots of mice and sparrows. I hope all is well in your part of the world. C ♥

Norfolk

Hello there. Did I tell you about the amazing treasure I found in the barn? It was a Royal Doulton 'Norfolk' 1930's tea and coffee set. This is the beautiful milk jug. How wonderful is the "bamboo" handle? There are cups & saucers, little sandwich plates & a serving plate, a sugar bowl, tea pot, coffee pot. Now I am trying to decide what to do with it. Maybe when our new wall unit/bookshelf is finished I could display them there? Too beautiful to hide away don't you think.

It has been awfully cold and rainy here for the last few days. It's so hard to get out of bed when the weather is like that. It would be lovely to potter around at home all day! Hope all is well in your part of the world. C ♥

Decorate

Hello there! I am a fan of Holly Becker and her Decor8 blog and could not wait to get my hands on a copy of her new book Decorate. Unfortunately I have not been able to find a lot of time to read it yet but it was a joy to receive it and have a quick flick through. So many great ideas and beautiful rooms! In fact the book provided the inspiration for the name of my new Etsy shop "WhiteSpaceVintage". In other farm news we have a paddock full of happy little lambs, plenty of firewood and two lazy chickens who won't lay any eggs. Our wall unit is nearly finished (or so I'm hoping!) and I am waiting feverishly for them to deliver it. I hope all is well in your part of the world. C ♥

Ohhh yum!

Ooo how delicious does this look? It's Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread. I was flicking through the latest issue of Home Beautiful that arrived in the mail today and their Style File "love at first site" section listed this fantastic blog - Joy the Baker. Hmm I wonder if I could find some time to make it this weekend? It is a long weekend after all... which is a delicious fact in itself! C ♥

Confession

Hello peeps. I must confess something... I forgot about my blog! Life has been a bit too busy lately and my mind has been filled with so many other things there was no room for blogland too. *Big sigh*. I suppose everyone's life gets like that sometimes. That's what life is all about!I am at mum's place in the Yarra Valley at the moment. We are spending the day together tomorrow and then I am heading into Melbourne to catch up with my lovely friend Sally. Shopping alert!

Last weekend I cleared out the vegie patch. The tomato plants were looking very bedraggled and the pumpkin was all over the place. I also let a few sheep in there to eat the overgrown grass. I am looking forward to pruning the roses to let the winter sun in. The crepe myrtle has lost nearly all of it's leaves (the made a red blanket over the lawn) and so has the ash tree. There are mice everywhere and even a few rats, eww! Little Dog has caught two, good dog! Hope all is well with you. C ♥