Home Sweet Hydrangea Home♡

 

Hello lovely lovelies; lovely friends♡ A lovely welcome to my Home Sweet Hydrangea Home, on this Sunday evening♡

Today is the very first day of February. 

Eighteen years ago, on 1st February, my youngest daughter, Pete and I left the cacophonous, urban jungle of Sydney, and  with all our worldly goods and chattels, arrived in an idyllic, pastoral corner of Tasmania. When I look back at that time when we three were entering the great unknown, I remember many mixed emotions at the time, but always with the quote of Van Gogh's quote "in spite of everything......yes let's"... foremost in our minds we were excited where our new journey would take us. I remember we three were all too ready for the challenges ahead (of which there were many) but, also new friends and adventures; and a different lifestyle. And, I must say we've met gorgeous people and kindred spirits, here in this far rural outpost. I'm so very glad we swapped a frenetic city existence for this quiet and peaceful country life, which blesses us every day. We've become rather accustomed to our bucolic and simple life.

Eighteen years down the country lane we are happy to live in this little piece of paradise; our home sweet hydrangea home. Well, I suppose our little place is really Home Sweet Flowery Home, as there are always sweet blooms blooming in the garden. But, at the moments it's the hydrangeas which are the stars.

The hydrangeas have begun to delight and I of course have filled my home with vases of these beauties. Two years ago Pete took to 'my' hydrangeas with a machete and hacked them to within an inch of their life. Last summer wasn't  great for the hydrangeas but this year they are fabulous. At the time of Pete massacring the hydrangeas the word divorce did fleetingly cross my mind but it seems the gardener knew best. He proved yet again that he knows a thing or two about gardening So, with divorce put on the backburner, Pete and I continue to skip down the garden path of matrimonial bliss. =)

This week, Pete hooked up the plumbing in the garden shed. It's a quirky little building of which I have taken possession. A fabulous little place where I can play florists to my heart's desire. There's a deep sink which I fill with water to soak the hydrangeas for a couple of hours before plonking arranging them into vases. I find if I smash the ends of hydrangeas with a hammer and submerse the flowers in water for a couple of hours they last in vases for weeks. Other flowers get a little soak too, to rehydrate before arranging them into vases and bouquets. AND....I can sweep the helluva of a mess I make, out the door. And, believe you me when playing florists I can make an almighty mess. There's a small window with a view of the garden which is lovely. Of course, the walls need a lick of paint and a wave of my styling wand needs to create a li'l magic. But for now, it's nice to have a place where I can be messy.

Love, love, love my new, little flowery, workroom.

Enough of flowers!! =) Let's chat about a little stitching; after all it is Sunday when I and other lovelies all around the world enjoy a little slow stitching. More trippin' around the world with fabric squares was enjoyed this week. Two more 'flights' around the world. All from the comfort of my sofa. Thus far I'm still finding fabric from my stash, so, no need to go to the fabric store........yet. =)

Thank you for visiting my home sweet hydrangea home, lovely lovelies; lovely friends♡ Sending you some hydrangea love♡

Enjoy your day, joying in something that puts a smile into your day♡ Take care♡

Until the next time......

More Trippin' ♡

 

Hello lovely lovelies; lovely friends♡ How was your week?? It seems another week hurtled by filled with too many 'WHAT THE....??!!.' I'll let you fill in the ellipsis with your own word/words! Oh, to wake up to a world, a day; where no idiocy, no evil, has occurred.

I feel strange chatting about the pleasant week I've enjoyed, as yet again, ambivalent emotions co-exist, sitting on both my shoulders. It's a fact of life these days, isn't it?? 

But, it was a pleasant week  just moseying around here at home. Mostly  reading, hand stitching and unpicking said hand stitching.......walks in the garden, snippety snipping blooms.

Ahh...."when the world wearies and societies fail to satisfy, there is always the garden" Minnie Aumonier. I'm with Minnie!

We did go out for a day in celebration of my birthday which was pleasant; and a lovely afternoon was enjoyed with my sister from another mother; yet again passing the time drinking tea and eating cake. Knocks at the door where delivery men delivered bunches of flowers; charcuterie delicacies. Oh, and said delicacies were delish. Pete and I snacked on a curated selection of cured meats, cheeses, fruits, nuts, crackers, condiments and chocolates. Ain't birthdays grand!!??

This coming week is the last week of January. How quickly this month has passed by. January, a month where down here the air is thick with the sweet fragrance of roses, sweet peas, buddleias.....all swirling around in a delicious potpourri of intoxicating aromas. The air is deafened too, with cicadas chorusing to their lady loves.  It is a sound synonymous with an Aussie summer.

My sweet Riley gifted me a darling little book for Christmas. It's title is Little Bee's Year Of Blooms. It's a book where on each page interesting insects explore the neighbourhood in search of which flower is flowering, in the quest of extracting pollen. A sweet little book. I'm accumulating a little library of sweet books gifted by my grandbabies♡ Mmm......what to buy Granny?? Why, a book, of course♡

 

Did you enjoy a little stitching this week?? I did. More squares were added to my TRTW quilt.  The thought did cross my mind that when I say I'm trippin' around the world with all my squares....round and round and round, you might think I'm a tad crazy, confused even.... a gal 'trippin' with hallucinogenic drugs, perhaps?? Nope. I've never had the need, nor desire to 'do' drugs. Indeed, I've always had a healthy fear of chemical substances. I'm just trippin' on love and sunshine; and 2" squares going round and round and round. =)

This week I stitched the floral Liberty-like fabric to the quilt and a green and white polka dot fabric, also. I'm now adding  ditsy yellow and mauves florals; together with a purple and white polka dot, and a pretty Tilda fabric, too. Purples and yellows do dance rhythmically together. I'll continue some fabric trippin' today in celebration of all things slow stitching. With each round more fabric is needed. Thus far, so good, but I have a feeling I'm going to need to go a little fabric shopping. Damn! I did want to make a dent in my stash. C'est la vie!

So, another Sunday of trying to chat about all things pleasant while an evil regime endeavours to destroy the rule of law, due process, morality, ethics, decency, goodness, integrity, kindness..... Let me say to those of you who are living in the middle of this dystopia, that this gal way, way down here, at the bottom of the world, thinks you are  'just so very grand'♡ Keep on keeping on♡ Take care, lovely lovelies, lovely friends♡

Until the next time......

Trippin' Around The World♡

 

Hello lovely lovelies; lovely friends♡ 'Tis Sunday evening once more. How quickly the weeks pass by. How quickly summer is passing by. Though, the days here are anything but summer. Too many cool days and not enough of the summer days of old. I do live in Tassie though, where one can experience four seasons in one day. One always needs a cardie, or indeed, a denim jacket with crochet sleeves, on standby. =) Perhaps, some hot, sizzling days are just around the bend of my country road.

The hydrangeas are finally beginning to morph into their lovely colours. It's taken an age for the gorgeous hues of blue to burst onto the scene. Outside my sewing room window the deep mauvey blue hues are lovely. Needless to say, I managed to fill a few vases with these pretty blooms. =)

This week I've been trippin' around the fabric world again. Since I last chatted about my Trip Around The World quilt there are several more rounds of 2" squares that have been stitched onto the quilt. Though the stitching of each square is relatively quick, the choosing of the fabric for each new round is not. It can take what seems like forever to choose the 'perfect' fabric which will dance harmoniously with the others. Also, the fabric which I consider to be the bee's knees, I discover there's not enough fabric to dance all the way around. Sadly, this is one quilt which certainly isn't going to use up my scraps. Before I embarked stitching this quilt I was all excited about the fun fabric play, but again, there's a helluva lot of omphaloskepsis going on. There's that word again. It's the story of my life, these days. =)

Today, for a bit of slow Sunday stitching, I continued trippin' around the world with a pretty blue fabric; reminiscent of a Liberty floral, me thinks.

This afternoon, from the comfort of my sofa, I enjoyed taking a trip to a few countries of the world. With feet up and cozying down on plump cushions I picked up my In Her Studio magazine and visited many artists, of all genres, and had a sticky beak into each one's studio. I zigzagged from country to country, visiting Fleur Woods (of The Untamed Thread fame) in New Zealand...Joanna Turner-Fuller who creates whimsical botanical art in Northamptonshire, England...Pamela Angus who works magic with glass in France........artist after artist inviting me to spend a moment in time in their creative space. I must say I'm always thrilled to escape into another's unique creative space, drooling over the photos, reading the artists' words...their stories. From cover to cover, inspiration abounds.

Thank you for visiting my little place, lovely lovelies; lovely friends♡ May we, you and I, this week, when the world seems to teeter on the brink of several calamities at once, find pleasure in the simple, everyday things which make you, and me, smile♡ Take care of you♡ Let your little light shine♡

Until the next time......