Fabulous Etsy finds

Here are a few more of my favourite Etsy finds.

How divinely cute is the little mouse picture?! (Actually did you know that cute means "interesting but ugly"!!) The detail in Jessica Doyle's urchin is amazing.

We have had a lot of rain these past few days....maybe 2 inches or so! The lake even has some water in it now. My man and I have been planting trees so they will get a good start.

Hope all is well in your world. C x

Pretty pink Camelia

We have three camelia bushes on the east side of our house. One just outside the laundry has bright pink flowers. But these lovely pale pink ones are so pretty I had to take a photo......I really need a digital SLR camera.....must start saving! I'm sure my Etsy product photos would benefit too. Ah maybe one day..... :)

Cleaning up and painting

Hello. For the last few days I have been cleaning up the plantation. The gums drop lots of leaves and sticks and create a bit of a fire hazard. It's tiring work but looks pretty good now (not that I have finished yet!). There is some lovely moss growing here. I love moss!

We had a couple of glorious clear sunny days which was so nice. It was pretty cold at night though and we had a frost or two. The chickens have started laying again. I collected two eggs this morning.

I have also managed to get a little painting done in the lounge room. There is still a lot to do but little by little I will get there! It will be so nice to be able to finally use this room!

Out walking

Hello. This is Little Dog and I out on a walk. We are heading south down the road towards town. The property you can see is our neighbours. I have been making tree guards this week using old cyclone wire fence and a piece of tarp. Not that enjoyable but useful!

We are marking the lambs tomorrow. Boys and girls get ear tags and a ring on their tail, boys also get a ring around their you-know-what's! I am not sure how many we have....maybe 100. Will post a photo of the pen full. We got one set of triplets this year!

I have also been doing a bit of cleaning up around the yard. Raking lots of leaves and sticks from all the gum trees. There are piles everywhere now. I mowed the lawn yesterday for the first time in ages. I love it when it's freshly mown, it looks so nice.

The electrician came around the other day and finished installing the down lights in the lounge and also removed the extremely ugly light fitting in the front hall. He put a cord in and hung a paper oval lantern that I bought from Ikea ages ago. It looks so much better!

The chickens have started laying again....occasionally! It's good to get eggs again. I made chocolate chip biscuits today. The kids are here for the weekend so I thought it might be nice to have some yummy cookies. I used the last two eggs so hopefully the chooks will lay some more soon! Hope you have a lovely weekend. Bye for now. C x

Etsy finds

Uh oh, I've become addicted to Etsy! They have a great section called Treasury where you can create all sorts of different selections of lovely Etsy finds. You give it a title, list it on the site and everyone can have a look. I have made quite a few. Have a look here if you want to!

The photo above shows a few of my favourite finds....there are so many!

Have a great weekend everyone! Bye :)

Made It finds

Hello. Thought I would try out the new website I found thanks to Decor8. It's called Picnik and helps you combine your photos into all sorts of layouts. How fun! I made this one from some great Made It products I found today. What do you think? The possibilities are endless!

It is quite nice and sunny at the moment but a little windy. Yesterday I took the wheelbarrow down the laneway paddock and collected and load of rocks that were scattered around. I then lugged the barrow over to the dam and tipped the load into the in-flow point to help stop erosion. Phew! The Little Dog was running around exploring and then decided he felt like a swim so did a flying leap into the dam. He swam into the middle, turned around and swam back. How funny!

If I have time this afternoon I might make some Anzac Biscuits. Yummy chewy ones.

Hope you are having a lovely day. Bye for now.

Bookshelf treasures

My new Hemnes bookshelf from Ikea is lovely and filling up with my treasures and work stuff. It's so nice walking into the room and seeing them sitting there proudly on display.

I have just finished one of the best books I have read in a long time. My lovely friend Kate put me on to it, of which I am eternally grateful! It is called 'The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society'. Is'nt the title just wonderful! If you have not read it, I highly recommend it. Very heart-warming and extremely enjoyable. I posted it today to my friend Sally so she can soak up it's charm.

We have had a couple of lovely sunny days here so I have been trying to get out there and do a bit around the garden. I planted some tulip bulbs the other day, I can't wait for all the late winter and spring flowers to come. The chickens have stopped laying though which is a shame. I had to buy eggs the other day! Hope you all have a lovely weekend. C x

Little lambs

We have lots of lambs running around at the moment. Last year I hand reared one. This year two were abandoned and although I bottle fed them for a few days they both died. Unfortunately that is one of the hard facts of life in the country.

We have had quite a bit of rain over the last few days. The rain gauge showed 24mm yesterday which is great for the crops. I have been stuck inside as a result so have been baking. I made a double batch of chocolate chip biscuits yesterday and lemon slice today. Yum.

My Hemnes bookcase from Ikea is finally assembled and stacked full of lovely goodies. It is so nice having some extra storage space and I'm loving the organisation. I look at some of the great blogs and websites out there and get inspired. I wish my place looked as lovely as theirs! One day.....

Winter lemons

I made lemon slice today. Our lovely lemon tree is brimming with fruit so I had to make something! I found the recipe on this great website.

We crutched some of last years lambs this morning. They are now off in their own paddock as the ewes are lambing. We have about 15 little ones teetering around with lots more to come. It has been really cold lately and today we've had a few blustery showers of rain. I don't know how the little things survive! Brrr.... Time for a cuppa and some slice! Cheerio, C x

Winter flowers

These beautiful flowers are from a huge gum tree just near our BBQ area. It's about 55ft tall and big droopy branches. It got attacked by some bad bug a few years ago that ate heaps of it's leaves but as you can see it's pretty healthy now, thank goodness.

I have had a busy week. Lots of little bits and pieces to do so although I've been really busy I feel I have not achieved much! Some of the jobs I wanted to do did'nt get done. In particular I really wanted to get some sanding in the living room done. Oh well, hopefully next week!

L and I are off to Melbourne tomorrow. It was his birthday on Wednesday and we're having a little treat. Dinner at my sister Julie's place (yum, she's a great cook!), visit a mate of L's and do a little shopping. Yay! :) C x

Raking leaves

This is our BBQ setting under the ash tree which casts lovely shade in the summer but I spend ages during autumn raking up it's leaves.

I was sitting at the computer in the front room this morning and a fox trotted across the lawn! It then went down the footpath along the side of the house. There are quite a few around at the moment and the Government might be bringing the bounty back again so we are keeping the tails of the ones we kill.

I am working on a bathroom renovation at the moment. My client is a farmer and is very busy so has asked me to oversee the whole thing. I have prepared two plans and am now working on the fittings. There are so many to choose from! Cheerio for now. C x

Fencing

For the last 3 days we have been taking down two old fences that run east-west across part of our place. It will end up making one huge paddock the full length of our property which will make cropping a whole lot easier. It is quite tedious removing the staples and wires etc holding the cyclone and barb on but it's nice being out in the autumn sunshine. Little Basil has been keeping me company and is slowly becoming accustomed to the frequent trips in the noisy old Land Rover. We finally finished removing all of the steel pickets this morning so the last thing to do is clear the mess and collect any rocks. Needless to say my household chores have been neglected and by the time we get in at 6pm I don't really feel like cooking dinner either! Lyndon had to go and rescue someone who's trailer had broken so I've finally got a little time to myself while he fixes it.

Mum flew out for Europe yesterday. She's is going on a river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam. My sister Julie is meeting her in London afterwards and they are exploring Ireland for a couple of weeks. Mum is then heading home and Julie is going to visit a friend in France.

Bon Voyage!

Steady!

Lyndon made this signpost when he moved to this property 25 years ago. It's getting a bit weather beaten now so I thought I had better take a photo before it falls down.

I am at mum's place in Healesville now. It takes just over 3 hours to get here from our house. Mum and I are going into Hawthorn tomorrow to get her new car serviced and do a little shopping. Tuesday I am spending the day with Sally and her gorgeous daughter Mieka. I am also going to take some of my artworks into a shop to see if they would be interested in buying them. It will be interesting to see what a retailer thinks of them.

We're trying to trap a fox at the moment. One keeps coming over to the house and leaving droppings and scent everywhere and scaring the little dog.

Cheerio for now. C x

New puppy

Here's the new puppy. Ten weeks old and very fun, cute and a ratbag! He's settling in nicely and has a new kennel Lyndon made from an old drum. He gets a hot water bottle every night to keep him cosy. We go and check the chooks every morning and he's getting a lot more adventurous. He's showing signs of being a great dog.

We've had a nice little bit of rain today. Lyndon has been working on a customer's air-seeder. It's a huge 56 ft one! The farmers around here will be starting to sow their crops soon.

I am off to Melbourne on Sunday. Spend some time with mum and catch up with my lovely friend Sally and sister Julie. I am also taking some of my Dandelion Design work into a shop to see if they would be interested in buying a few. Fingers crossed! C x