Happy Summer Days

A beautiful summery welcome to all you lovely lovelies♥ AND.....it's the weekend...YAY!! Though in saying this, the last month has seemed like one long weekend to me.

Life down here has been filled with happy summery days. Days of sunshine, days of stitching......spilling over with happy, flowery kinda days.

This past week  another birthday appeared on my horizon. Now, I would not have mentioned this auspicious and propitious day (well.....at least it is on my calendar) had not my daughter sent this little gem of a book all the way from the USofA.

I might say at this juncture, that this is the daughter who continually tells me that I have far too many books!! Each time she visits and raises her eyebrows over my burgeoning bookshelves, she is always at pains to tell me that upon my untimely demise she will have "to get rid of them all.....that I have too many books"!!! Really??? Has not my daughter heard of the word "library". =) Besides, my books are beautiful props with beautiful bindings; not to mention all terribly good reads. All my loved bibliophile fancies make my home....well......home. Let's just say my darling daughter whom I love with all my being has an aberrant minimalist and modern gene. She is of the modernistic ethic that less is more. I suppose on the subject of bibliophilia, she and me will just have to agree to disagree.

I must say that I am a bit surprised this sweet little book arrived in my letter box,  considering my daughter's thoughts on my little problem of hoarding collecting books; but I am so happy she decided to gift her dear ol' mum one more book to brighten her dear ol' mum's day. My youngest daughter is a bit of a book collector so I can rest assured that when my last breath is exhaled she will see that my books go to good homes.

But I digress......it is indeed a little gem of a book. It is a little book overspilling with floral happiness. Each page features a "pop-up" flower alongside a description of its symbolic meaning. 

When the dust cover is slipped off, one turns the flowers up and before you know it  a bouquet of happy, zingy flowers has popped up, sitting in a pretty pot to bring a little beauty and joy to my day.

Isn't this the sweetest, happiest little book?? My beautiful daughter knows her mother very well♥ All that floral prettiness cannot help but make me smile........oh.....and I hope warm your day,  especially each one of you lovelies whom are seeing day after day of wintry grey, grey and then some, as far as the eye can see. This sweet little book looks perfectly at home with my real blooms from the garden.

Flowers have been growing on my garden quilt this last little while. Stitching has been happening in all manner of places; in my sewing room, by the pond, watching the Australian Open tennis on the box, on country drives........yep.....those magical seeds have been slowly blossoming into flowers.

The view outside my sewing room has slowly changed, as have the bunches of flowers that I have picked and placed in a vase to sit on the window sill. Aah yes......I have watched the procession of  blossoms flower outside the garden in succession whilst I have slowly stitched each each petal, each flower.

Stitching is slow going but with each tiny applique stitch, Daisies have 'growed', more Hydrangeas have bloomed......Tulips, more Foxgloves, and even some sweet, dainty, little blue flowers have popped up near the pond. Oh....and I forgot another Water Lily has greeted the sunshine from beneath the lily pads. 

I am still loving stitching this quilt, even though the stitching is at a snail's pace. As I stitch each flower it seems to be mirroring what is flowering out in the garden. With the stitching of this quilt I am finding I am observing all the tiny details of each flower more closely to get a sense of each particular petal, each leaf.....vein, each stamen etc etc. I am amazed at the intricate details in the minutiae within each flower; details that I have never really noticed before.

We have a few weeks of school holidays left down here so I am supposing more applique and slow hand stitching will be enjoyed. I would love to see some Irises and  perhaps some Gladdies, perhaps a Tiger Lily blossoming on the quilt. The bottom of the quilt is nearly finished so I will soon be able to join the sky fabric and begin to design and stitch more flowers towering in the background. I think too, I might also start another scrappy quilt......just to mix things up a bit. To be perfectly honest I am hankering after a little machine stitching not to mention that I just want to play with some pretty 1930's scrappy fabrics once again....but I will see how I go.

Thank you for visiting my summery place. I hope you all enjoy a lovely week. May you find many moments to enjoy the beautiful, to appreciate the simple things of each day. As it is Sunday, I am going to stitch a blossom or two, embroider french knots as stamens on the Hydrangeas; but right this very minute, I am off to re-read my little gem of a book and play with the pop up flowers. After all a book has to be read and loved over and over again.

Until the next time.................


Linking up this week to Kathy Quilts, Slow Sunday Stitching

Gladsome Gladdies

A warm summer's day welcome to all you lovely lovelies♥ Alas, I am waxing lyrical yet again about some pretties that have gracefully popped up in my garden. The reason for my giddy delight this last little while, is the Gladdies. Oh, pardon me, that darn language barrier again.....I mean the Gladiolus, Gladioli etc. etc. Here in the garden these tall, floret-filled spires have pushed onto the stage towering over the other flowers, reaching up to the blue, blue sky. And, the very sight of these gorgeously elegant stems has caused me to bubble over with cheery cheeriness.......and may I say gladful gladsome-ness.

Here in Australia Gladdies became synonymous with Dame Edna Everage (the alter ego of comedian Barry Humphries)  who was rarely seen without a few stems clutched in her hand and indeed often felt the need to share these lovely flowers with her stage audience by tossing them to her adoring fans at the end of each performance. 'She' has retired from the stage now but these striking old fashioned flowers will bloom forevermore.

Last Spring a beautiful friend of mine (actually....she is one of this sweet life's treasures) gifted my husband and I with corm after corm of these gorgeous flowers. She had dug what seemed to be hundreds up from her garden and asked if I would like some. On second thought, I cannot remember if she asked me or if I dived  onto the ground where the Gladdies lay, clutching them to my chest asking, pleading.....if I could perhaps have a 'few'. Whichever way the story goes, they came on home with my good husband and my good self and are now showing off in spectacular fashion in the garden. My husband dotted a few here and there throughout the garden but he decided they would strut their stuff better if they were planted en masse  in a garden by the pond. Flowers planted en masse always dazzle.

We have a variety of colours.....the brightest of shades; red, orange, yellow to the softer spectrum; lemon, pink, mauve, apricot. I have never thought about Gladdies in the garden before but seeing their elegance in the garden I will definitely be purchasing more colours next Spring.

Magical reflections mirrored in the pond.

As the sun sets on yet another week, I sit here in the garden watching the fading sun cast a suffused glow on the pond  with rain drops gently puddling  on the water. The end of another magic Summer's day. Another Summer's day drifting into a balmy Summer's evening. Another Summer's day sprinkled with magic moments spent in the garden enjoying the bounty of flowers..........the gladsome Gladdies. Enjoy a beautiful weekend. May you find delight and a little beauty in your days.♥

Until the next time.........

Summertime, and the livin' is easy.

Happy New Year all you lovely lovelies♥ Another new year has slipped quietly in. Down here at the bottom of the world I am enjoying summertime and the easiness of it. It is Summer holidays here. Each day rolls lazily into another. Days where the order of each day is an easy one. Days beginning with sleep-ins, a cup of tea in the early mornings, a little reading (if I am to be truthful...a lot actually), watching movies, playing with my camera, walks in the garden, snoozing by the pond, a little stitching (just a little), visiting friends, country drives............and a lot of the time.......not much 'doings' at all.....just dreaming, imagining.......bliss! I love kicking back and not having to be anywhere, do anything in particular, prepare any sewing lessons, no tyranny of a timetable that has to be kept. Love, love, love long casual, Summer days that slip into balmy, starry nights.

Though I suppose  there was a whole lot of shebang and fireworks in many corners of the world to usher in a new year,  here in my humble abode my husband and I greeted the brand new year rather quietly.  Me and my good husband sat in the swinging seat by the pond....just the two of us and a gazillion, scintillating stars twinkling in the inky black sky. Not a soul in sight, not a sound to be heard; a most perfectly wonderful entry into a new year. You can have your fireworks, you can have your parties......as for me the theatre of the heavenly realms at night will always surpass anything that man can produce; indeed saying hello to the new year with the night sky above will always be my fancied choice. Sitting under the umbrella of a moonless  and cloudless night sky, marvelling at the magnificence of its beauty is profoundly satisfying to me.  Sitting quietly, listening to the whispers of God through nature, is a most splendid thing.

As I sat quietly with the sky winking at me, reflecting upon the beauty that encompassed me I wondered what words will be written on the pages of my book this year. I wondered and still wonder what words, sentences, paragraphs........chapters will be written in my book titled '2019'. I suppose the narrative that inks onto each page will  tell  multitudinous stories. Joyful stories, funny stories dripping with facetiousness, sad stories, exciting stories, stories with twists and turns,  simple every day stories wrapped in a little beauty and simplicity, stories that perhaps I would rather not be written......some stories that have never been. As I pen the words of my stories this year, regardless of what may come my way, I want each page to be underlined with thankfulness, gentleness, beauty, kindness, patience, faith, love....to find the joy in the ordinary....the simple things in life. I want each page to have the nuance of God's love for me invisibly threaded throughout.

As I am a gal who adores illustrations in my books (yes I still purchase children picture books, even though my girls are all 'growed') I can only imagine the illustrations that will be sketched in this book of mine. I know there will be many illustrations of pretties fashioned by my hands......quilts (finished ones, I hope), bags, cushions, the tarting up of a chair or two, the gussying up of many a corner in my humble abode, probably too many photos of the garden (sorry), a vintage find at a market or op shop.......so many colourful pictures to enhance my book.

Now.............enough of my reflections upon what may be and those unwritten stories swirling around and around in the future, if you please, may I begin my fresh, new book with some illustrations. My lovely husband gifted me with this sweet present for Christmas. Three little clouds with vintage pages of a book resting within. Those of you who like me, were a child of the sixties....do you remember the ubiquitous three ducks or three pigs flying up the wall?? Considered kitsch in some circles but it appears these days they are highly sought after. Here is my representation of that theme. 

Love these sweet little illustrations. I cannot help but be reminded of my two girls when they were little. Many a delightful hour was spent with the three of us huddled together on plumped, squishy squashy pillows........me reading with them and to them, escaping on a magic carpet ride to the land of make believe.

Remember how I said there would be a 'few' illustrations of a flower or two......or indeed of the garden.............well.......let the camera roll.

As it is Summer the Roses are blooming beautifully at the moment and are basking in the warm Summer sun.

Soft, frothy Roses♥ Ballerina pinks, rosy reds, creamy whites, buttery yellows, soft mauves, peachy tangerines, voluptuous apricots.........all are beautiful, not to mention the heavenly scents.

One vase of roses is enough to make a room sing the most beautifully scented song.

It is nearly but a week into the new year and already there are many stories to pen and even more illustrations to 'draw' with my camera. I cannot wait to write those stories. I too, cannot wait to visit your lovely places......to read your stories and to ooh and aah over your beautiful and glorious illustrations you capture with your cameras. A visit with each one of you is truly a most splendid thing.

From my li'l humble abode to yours......may your new year be a beautiful one♥

Until the next time..................