Sunday, November 10, 2019

Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing birds has come...." Song of Solomon


Hello all you lovely lovelies  How lovely of you to visit my flowery little place where our little plot of land is covered with pretty flowers and the sweet birdies are rejoicing in song. Here in Tassie flower shows and festivals are enticing the throngs to celebrate all things flowers. There are many private homes who have flung open their garden gates welcoming the crowds to stroll around the manicured lawns; oohing and aahing over the floral displays under the shade of ancient trees. If you listen carefully you can hear whispers of the stories of the gardens that rest under the shelter of the trees' canopy.

Yesterday, my good husband and I strolled around such a garden. We enjoyed a beautiful day wandering around the garden and historic house, Entally Estate; drinking in all the beauty that a venerable garden such as this, can gift. It was a magical day; wandering around the stalls, drinking in the beauty of the garden, enjoying scones and tea and taking a few potted pretties home with us. As for those potted pretties we took home.....a few hydrangea beauties were in the mix. I know, I know, it isn't as if I don't have oodles of my favourite flower, but there is always room in my garden for one or two more. I oohed and aahed over many a pretty flower.....bearded irises, foxgloves, roses, peonies....oh the peonies! Their dinner-plate size, diaphanous, petticoat-like petals drew me into the many shimmering folds. Yes indeed, a garden with many jewels to enchant the eye.

Wandering around this garden I was struck by what a difference a couple of hundred years makes to a garden. Ancient, majestic trees stretching and twisting their limbs every which way, gnarled and bent, delighting all who look up to marvel at their splendour. Old-world blooms flowering freely behind borders of immaculately manicured hedges. As I strolled up and down the hedge-lined paths I took a mental note of the essence of this cottage garden. It is a bountiful garden and though the flowers bloom in a happy jumble there is a regulated informality.  Nothing like my disobedient garden back home where of late the weeds have appeared jostling for precious space. Not a weed to be seen here though. Aah....an ancient garden, with many secrets hidden between the petals. I wondered about the gardeners of years past, who as guardians ambled along these grounds. In my mind's eye I could see many a gardener lovingly tending the plants, pulling at those cantankerous weeds, and as they pruned and dead-headed the blooms, smiling at the beauty enveloping them, while the birds chorused above. Oh, the bliss to be the caretaker of such a garden. I discovered too, the conservatory through which I wandered was the oldest conservatory in Australia.





Here at my humble li'l old abode the garden is showing off splendidly, too. The wisteria is in full bloom and the dense panicles of the lilacs are now parading their beauty. The fragrance of the garden, with these two trees vying for most fragrant plant, is intoxicating. I of course, had to, had to play florists, yet again. At this time of year I am spoiled for choice of which flowers to pick for a bouquet. I know there are some of you who don't like to pick flowers from the garden, but I have to say, here, in this little piece of paradise there are oodles and oodles of each species of botanical delight. I simply cannot leave every flower in the garden. I have this uncontrollable desire to snip a 'few' and make each bloom the star of a bouquet or two, thus beautifying each room in my humble abode. The fragrance of the garden's bounty gently drifts from room to room. 'Tis truly paradise, this heady mix of fragrances. Besides, the more you pick flowers, the more flowers the plant produces. 'Tis true.......I tell you no lie!

As I stood under the shade of the wisteria, plonking flowers into porcelain pretties, I was enchanted by the bewitching aromas that floated around me. Truly, the mixture of the heady scents of each flower was something that no perfumer could ever conjure up. If only I could magically produce all the scents into one perfume bottle, why, I think it would be every perfumer's dream. 



I haven't spent all my time this last little while, floating, lost in the exhilarating and paradisiacal world of perfumed flowers. A few more hexies have been stitched. Scores of little hexdens have been cut and stitched together to form pretty fabric flowers. Sixty of these sweet little squares are now finished. ......sixty more to go. =) I haven't begun to join the squares together yet. I am thinking I might wait until all the squares have been finished (but then....I may not)......then I will begin to play.





From this little patch of perfumed paradise where the flowers are smiling and the little birdies are singing I want to wish you a day filled with wonderfulness. Take time to enjoy something you love to do. May you snatch many moments to sprinkle beauty to your day. 'Tis Sunday here in this flowery little place and by the looks of it, the sun will be casting it's beams down upon me.....well, I hope it does. I am going to join that little band of lovelies all around the world and enjoy a little Slow Sunday Stitching, later this afternoon. Yes indeedy, me thinks a little hand stitching of some pretty hexies whilst sitting in the swinging seat by the pond, sounds like a most excellent idea.

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




Linking up this week to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching



58 comments:

  1. Fabulous!Such beauty...Just wonderful!Hugs,dear Kim!

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  2. Kim, I llllllllllove the flowers of your garden!!!!!!!!!! And your blocks are simply GORGEOUS!!! Many hugs, my dear friend.

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  3. Oh yes, I love all your flowers! And thank you for showing us the garden you visited, it sounded lovely! I love your peony’s we only have one colour, but they are gone so quickly! I love your pink one best!
    Thank you for all the photos of beautiful flowers as most of ours have disappeared for the winter.
    Your blocks are looking quite magnificent too! Well done lovely lady!
    Hugs and hugs,
    Barbara xx

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  4. Hi Kim wow your garden is amaing and how lovely to be surrounded by such beauty.
    Kim i love your beautiful blocks,lovely work my friend xx

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  5. Thanks for sharing the lovely garden scenery!!! Straight away flowers and the beautiful smell of the garden is enough to put you in a happy mood. Love that you are going to do a little stitchery for the day and near your beautiful pond. A good day to you my friend. x

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  6. Surely your garden is a magical place in a wonderous land of make-belief! It's all just so unbelievably beautiful. I love your oh-so-gorgeous floral flowers and can't help wondering where, oh where you are able to find all that lovely fabric.

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    1. Yes, 'our' garden is a magical place, Mary. It is a place both my husband and I spend a lot of time in during the warmer seasons. As for the lovely fabric, I have been hording for years. =) In a quilt such as this pretty, each and every fabric gets to see the light of day, which I love. I adore quilts dancing with oodles of different fabrics. Thank you for your sweet visit. Have a beautiful week, lovely lady. Kim Xx

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  7. Gorgeous flowers, pictures and blocks! I always love visiting!

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  8. Sweet word Kim! The garden is a piece of heaven! I would sure love to get lost inside and just savour its beauty with all my senses! What a true gem! The people who maintain the oldest conservatory in Australia have done a fabulous job and they deserve a medal for it!

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  9. Hi Kim what a wonderful way to start the day looking at you beautiful flower photos so pretty
    Thank you
    Best wishes Kay cxx

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    1. You are most welcome, Kay. Thank you for popping by and gifting me with your sweet words. Kim Xx

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  10. I wish I was there...
    So many beautiful flowers....and blocks ;)
    Have a lovely week !
    Mine will be under the rain that we had since the beginning of November...
    Hug
    Anna

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  11. Another delightful visit to your land of flowers. We've finally had a hard freeze as well as a light snowfall, with more substantial snow due Monday. So all that has put a definitive end to my outdoor flowers for the year. I can almost smell the intoxicating perfume of your lilacs. Hmmmm. Your squares of hexie flowers are enchanting.
    Pat

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  12. As I gaze out the window at the first snow of this winter season, I can smell the intoxicating fragrance of those peonies and oh, my goodness, that bearded iris!!

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  13. Now THIS could make me miss my garden. Your November (our May) was always my favorite month in the garden. Your lilacs, wisteria, irises, clematis and hydrangeas could match or exceed the beauty of ANY estate garden tour, Kim. Those are absolutely magnificent! Enjoy your Sunday, and thanks for sharing the beauty.

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    1. Oh, I don't know, Rita, you would just sit out on your balcony and look at your lovely city view and you would forget your once-loved garden, wouldn't you?? =) As for our garden, even though it is like the air I breathe, there is nothing quite like a walk in a couple of hundred years old garden. I was looking at photos of the beginnings of our garden the other day and am astounded how it has developed and grown in only eight years. I wonder what it will look like in a hundred years?? Such a pity I won't be around to see this miracle. =) Thank you for your beautiful visit and lovely comments, Rita. Have a beautiful week drinking in that spectacular city view of yours. Kim Xx

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  14. What a stunning garden ... filled with floral inspiration, from the looks of your beautiful hexies! Lovely work! :)

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  15. I know what you mean about wandering in a garden that has developed over a couple hundred years or so. We visit lots of national trust gardens in the uk and I always think the designers must of had great imagination because it would have looked nothing like we see it now. The mature trees and plants just make it. Those flowers are just beautiful and looking at your post warms me up! Love your blocks too!

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  16. After your last post, I realized I should have asked about the lilacs. They are a heavenly flower and I'm enthralled when Spring comes and the lilacs show their splendor. Need I say, I was so pleased to see all your splendid photos of the lilacs; a joy to see. I know you're enjoying all the warm weather. I'll be thinking of you when the high temps here are supposed to only be in the 20s this week! Yikes! Too chilly in November for even us winter-hardy people.

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  17. Thank You for showing the beauty of your garden and the one you visited. It seems you are living in a Fairy Tale .
    HAPPY SUNDAY
    Marilyn,Joan and Marion

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    1. Thank you so much, lovely ladies! Yes, I suppose our little garden is akin to a fairy tale. I am blessed that I get to walk in a beautiful garden every day and drink in all the pretty flowers....so, so very thankful. Thank you for the gift of your visit. Kim Xx

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  18. Dear Kim,
    Oh my goodness, I just came across your beautiful 💐blog. What a wonderful weekend I’ve had slowly going through your story right from the beginning. I can tell you I am so inspired. You love the things that i also hold dear to my heart. The colour, the beauty, the creativeness, oh it is just too lovely for words. Thank you, thank you for the effort you have put into this little show of beauty. One could never feel down when looking at your creativity. I just want to stitch and stitch and then go and play in my little garden. During the weekend I also was stitching little half inch hexes. Such delicate little things. Have a wonderful week and I look forward to next time you write.
    Blessings to you, G🙋🏼

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    1. What a delight it is to read your beautiful words; thank you. I am so happy my little blog inspires you. How lovely to discover a new friend, a kindred spirit; and...one who loves to stitch tiny hexies...perfect! Aren't hexies the best?? I am impressed at you stitching half inch hexies. I too would love to fill my days with stitching and playing in my garden. Why, I think I will go outside right this minute and play with the pretty flowers. Have a beautiful week and may you find much delight with the stitching of those itty bitty hexies of yours. Kim Xx

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  19. Ah such beautiful flowers! They look magnificent in the porecelain vases. And the hexie flowers are a great way to enjoy them year round.

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  20. SO many beautiful bouquets of flowers... scented ones and fabric ones :)

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  21. What a gorgeous garden to visit with your hubby, so nice to spend time together in such beautiful surroundings. Mind you, your own garden is just as beautiful, filled with gorgeous flowers as well. A wonderful setting for you to enjoy some hand stitching.

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  22. What lovely flowers. Your garden is beautiful. Continued success with the quilt.
    Marilyn

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    1. The flowers are rather lovely at the moment, Marilyn. Thank you for delighting my days with your lovely words. Kim Xx

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  23. You’re in a flower filled wonderland both inside and outside, Kim. You either are enjoying their lovely beauty and fragrance or creating flowers with your magical hands. It’s always a pleasure to see your world! 💕

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  24. So beautiful. Thank for taking us along. Love your quilt pieces-are you following a pattern or just doing your own thing? I'm still working on my crochet project-finished the 4 round doilies and I've started the larger oval. I have made several of the round ones so the oval is new to me. It is getting very cold here in the States. We have a park that has a lot of old growth woods and a large creek running through it. It's where Dad taught me to skate when I was a wee one. It's so much prettier than the newer park where it's formally landscaped and has baseball diamonds, etc. We had a freeze and the flowers that were hanging in there succumbed. I was cutting back some flowers and found the loveliest little Johnny Jump Up in bloom! I smiled when I seen it-I love those little mini pansy looking flowers. The big bushy flowers must have protected it. Enjoy your summer....I'll be making a mug of hot chocolate (makes me think of Poirot) so I can cozy up and work on my doily while watching some Midsomer Murders and I think I have a Doc Martin episode waiting for me too!

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  25. Thank you for another delightful visit in Tassie with a bonus of a stroll in two gardens. I can almost smell the peonies ~ lovely! The mix of various porcelain pots and a variety of blooms are similar to your current hexie quilt project. Your garden is a beautiful place to sit and stitch! Certainly you enjoyed your day with hopefully an interesting program to cap it off.

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  26. How lovely to visit you & your gorgeous blog Kim. Just stunning photos as always my friend. Such a beautiful garden but I think yours is equally gorgeous. I have returned from Mums again & am slowly catching up on all my favourite blogs. Your patchwork flowers are stunning. And Oh those lilacs .... be still my beating heart! Wishing you a wonderful week in that paradise you live in my friend xx

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  27. Oh that sounds like the most wonderful day out strolling through someone else's garden and getting ideas about your own. I would say yours is just beautiful but it is always fun to see what others have done with theirs. I so agree that the outdoors shouldn't be the only ones to enjoy a beautiful flower and the wonderful scent they produce but to bring them in and fill a room with their scent and beauty must be shared with the indoors too!! You always do such a lovely job making a bouquet too!
    Wow 60 more blocks to do, that is going to be an amazing quilt, and sounds like you are enjoying every minute of making it :) Hope you enjoyed your day out by the pond swinging away and stitching your lovelies!! Thanks for sharing all the beauty with us!

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  28. Oh dear! Greenhouse envy. And peony envy. Thank you for sharing a bit of spring! Anna x

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    1. I too have greenhouse envy....and peony envey, Anna! =) Kim Xx

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  29. Greenhouses are such magical places. Along with your garden. My! So utterly fabulous, Kim.
    What a treat to visit you, especially now that my flowered world has
    settled down for a rest.
    Your hexies are so pretty!

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    1. I too, consider greenhouses to be magical places, Dixie, where much beauty is to be seen. I have always loved them. A perfect place to while away many moments of the day. 'Tis sad that your flowery world is now resting. I will keep on beaming happy, flowery happy snaps up to for a little while; shall I?? Kim Xx

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  30. Oh, how beautiful all those flowers are, the purple iris is almost of an extraterrestrial beauty!
    If only I could walk in that beautiful garden to enjoy all these exceptionally beautiful flowers, to sniff their intoxicating scent.
    Love this wonderful post my dear Kim.♥

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    1. I know, the iris is spectacular, with an out-of-this-world beauty. I was tempted to pluck it out from the garden, but I thought better of it. =) Now if I only had an iris such as this and a piece of one of your out-of-this-world cakes, then life would be perfect! Hope you are enjoying a beautiful week, Loes. I am supposing you are cooking up a storm in that magical kitchen of yours. Kim Xx

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  31. Great account of time well spent. I visited Tasmania last year, and have the fondest of memories of my visit there. It was far and away my favourite part of Australia. Everywhere was green and lush and the temperature was pleasant. When I look at the map of Australia now, with all those terrible fires burning, Tasmania is the one area free of them as far as I can tell. I will be returning to Australia next year, unfortunately not to Tasmania, and I am wondering already about the kind of devastation I will find in some of the areas I plan to visit. Thanks again for rekindling happy memories.

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    1. Hello David, Yes, Australia is a hot and dry continent and fires at this time of year are always a grave concern. There are many fires blazing around the country at the moment. Many people have lost everything which is heartbreaking. A good part of Australia is in the middle of drought. Here in Tassie there are always concerns regarding bushfires but for now all is calm. Tassie is a beautiful island and very green and lush as you say. The climate and the regularity of rainfall where we now live is one of the reasons my husband and I left the insufferable temperatures and high humidity of Sydney.....also we wanted to escape the 'rat race'. My husband who is a gardener wanted to create a garden in a place where rainfall is never a problem. I suppose when you next visit Australia you will be witness to a lot of devastation but the good thing is that the Australian bush always regenerates rather quickly. In a few months there will be parts of Australia that will probably be battling floods...it is the way of Mother Nature. Thank you for visiting, David. I hope when you revisit you will enjoy a fabulous time rediscovering Australia. Kim

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  32. Your post is beyond gorgeous . . . I don't have a word for that, maybe "gorgelicious" LOL. I love your fancy hexies, this is going to be a beautiful quilt :)

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  33. Kim - we are kindred spirits! That ancient garden is just my kind of place to wander for hours, or sit on a bench and admire the outcome of years of hard work. Your term "regulated informality" really resonates with me - that is what I am trying to accomplish here in Montana! I can see you are enjoying the banishment of old man Winter - may you continue to be blessed by the heady perfumes of Spring!

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  34. I always love coming here and relaxing as I look at your flowers - both real and fabric. I do love those fabric flowers, they make me want to run to my machine and start sewing. I was thinking there is an awful lot of work that goes into your real flowers as well. I love the bearded iris. I may have to buy some for my garden.

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  35. oh kim, why is your beautiful garden not included in the tour of gardens? it is special in it's own way and your described it perfectly!! when you said you purchased some hydrangeas, i smiled just a little, thinking wow, she already has a lot of hydrangea BUT still i got it. one can never have too many hydrangea!! scones and tea in the garden sounds perfect!!!

    I have never seen lilac?? that deep purple color, they are gorgeous!!

    the last image is gorgeous and so creative, i too clip blooms from my garden to enjoy indoors!!

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  36. Oh I love love love those old gardens! Specially the old trees! Your own garden is quite a work of art too, Kim! Your husband is such an amazing gardener. Your hexie garden continues to grow as well. Enjoy :)

    -Soma

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    1. Thank you for your lovely visit and beautiful comment. Kim Xx

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  38. Just stunning! Your pretty garden should be on that garden tour. Loving all the different hexies you have made. I just love visiting you here to get a peek into your lovely part of the world.

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  39. Gorgeous blooms, Kim! And the squares are not bad either ;-) We are still waiting for proper rain and it is pretty dull and brown here so these beautiful colors really speak to me.
    Amalia
    xo

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  40. The other garden is pretty, but yours has it beat - hands down! So nice to sit and visit with you and enjoy the pretty flowers and stitchery and not have to think about the dreary wintery yuck we have outside at the moment. Tonight it's raining so that should do a number on the snow.

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  41. Thank you for taking the time to post such beautiful pictures. We are having a very brown fall this year, and I get my flower fix from your blog.

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  42. Flowers, flowers, everywhere flowers! I agree...your own garden trumps the other lovely place you visited. Girl, you need to start your own tour! Always such a pleasure to visit you , dear Kim!

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  43. Wow! I love spring in your land! Your hexies are so pretty! We have heaps of snow! LOL!

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  44. Wonderful photos and wonderful flowers. Just amazing. Hugs.

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  45. It must take you hours to prepare each of your blog posts. As usual, your flowers are stunning!

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