A Stroll Through The Garden

A beautiful flowery welcome to all you lovely lovelies♥ Here in my little world, summertime is slowly rolling along. Day after perfect day of summer holidays. Days of stitching, days of reading; days of  long, leisurely moments soaking up the sights, sounds and fragrances as I sit or stroll through the garden. The garden is a delight. Though it is hard to beat the flush of spring flowers,  I must say, the summer garden is my favourite. Oh, the explosion of the riot of spring bulbs is amazing, perfect really, especially after what seems like an interminably long winter; it's just that in summer, the flowers seem to blossom forever. The hydrangeas, roses, dahlias and those happiest perennial flowers of all, the cosmos, sashay in the breeze for months on end. Even though there is much to be done in the garden in the summer months, if indeed you keep on top of the arduous of job of  wrestling with the weeds, the summer garden is a place for much contentment and joy.

Many delightful moments this week have been spent in the garden. After very early walks through the countryside with my faithful friend, Maisie, we come home and our feet (and paws) always seem to lead us to the garden. Many a delightful conversation has taken place between me and her.....from  what new flower has popped up overnight, to the  ebullient, high decibel song of love, the bullfrog croaks to his lady love from beneath the lily pad. Mmm....I wonder what amorous goings-on take place from beneath those lily pads. Aah yes......many glorious moments are shared between Maisie and me in those early mornings. I have enthused much about our little summery garden through the years, but instead of me going on and on and on.......how about you see for your sweet self the delights the garden gifts each day. Care for a little stroll in the garden?? Before we take our first step, I must warn you that I have my secateurs in hand to pick many a blossom as we amble along. Our little stroll could take a little while....but I know you won't mind.......will you?? There will be many a vase of flowers to be filled later on.....oh....and I hope you don't mind Maisie tagging along, she is a friendly girl. Besides, she won't really bother you as she will no doubt have her nose in a bush in search of a little critter or two. Shall we go......................

About those flowers I gathered along the way...........goodness me I snipped a few, didn't I. =) There is no cause for alarm, there are thousands and thousands still smiling, sashaying in the garden. I have deposited armfuls of pretty blooms into the very large sink in the very old potting shed. Mmm......the very old, very quaint, little potting shed could do with a bit of gussying up......but that is the story of another post.

Not a lot of quilting happened this week (too much strolling and sitting in the garden) but I did enjoy a little stitching. I fashioned yet another bag. This time it is for a dear friend who has come to Tassie for the weekend to celebrate her niece's wedding. We have been friends for longer than I can remember, so seeing as she is going to be here for a couple of days I thought I would gift her a bag. My friend is the friend I mentioned whose paddocks and garden were burnt in the fires, but blessedly her home still remains standing in all its gorgeousness. So, just to cheer her up a little bit I thought a unique bag might put a smile in her day. This bag is similar to the one I imagined a few weeks ago but I embellished with different ribbons, trims and vintage pieces. After all, we cannot have two bags which are the same out and about town; even if they are being modelled in different states of the country. It just would never do. Why, it is unheard of that I should fashion the same bag twice. =)

'Tis Sunday morning here, which of course means Slow Sunday Stitching. I am going to be travelling in the car for a good part of the day, to meet my friend. As she is at one end of Tassie and I live at the other, we are going to meet up half way and enjoy several hours together. We don't see each other much these days, but when we do get together it is as if we only saw each other yesterday. As me and my good husband meander through hill and dale, I thought I could enjoy a little hexie stitching whilst drinking in the landscape dotted with breathtaking, dancing colour. Do you remember these little blue hexies?? They are going to form part of a chaise lounge I want to tart up. But enough of that, I must be off to meet my lifelong friend. Thank you for popping by my little place and taking a stroll through my garden.  My wish is that I have sprinkled a little beauty into your day♥

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

Linking this week to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching.

Floralicious Delight

Welcome to my little place brimming with floralicious delight. Let me say before I ramble on, an armful of thank you wishes to all you lovely lovelies, for your beautiful thoughts and prayers for the throngs of people who have suffered such loss and sadness these past weeks. The fires still present many problems. It will take a very long time to recover from this disaster, but Australians are a resilient lot. There has always been a community camaraderie here downunder  and when catastrophic events occur such as these bushfires, people pull together and get on with the rebuilding and healing. Indeed, outpourings of generosity and beautiful thoughts from all around the world have touched the hearts of many an Australian.

Here in my little place I have been slowly hand quilting my little quilt which spills over with floralicious delight. As I have sat  slowly stitching I have racked my muddly brain as to what moniker I could call this pretty. It's funny, words more often than not spill out from the dark, cobwebby recesses of my brain-pan, but when it comes to naming a quilt, well, I always seem to run into that metaphorical brick wall. For the life of me I can never think of a name! So, seeing as I am always waxing lyrical about the floralicious delight that dances in the garden that envelopes my little humble abode; and in this quilt.....that is what I am going to name it.......Floralicious Delight!! Duh....Kim!! I know, the obvious always seems to escape me. =)

This last week I have enjoyed many moments of stitching this pretty. I decided upon simple hand quilting as I wanted the fabrics to shine. The hand quilting dances around each pretty hexden flower and the centre hexie of each flower; then I have quilted around the border of every square. I am loving the simple quilting. Sometimes the KISS (keep it simple stupid) method really is the best.

Yesterday my friend, Anne and I (and our husbands) went to a little quilt show held by local quilters. There were some lovely quilts showcased but what stopped me in my tracks was a little stall where fabrics were being sold for a proverbial song. Now, you lovelies in America always seem to be able to acquire fabrics for a reasonable amount, but us poor ol' quilting souls down here at the bottom of the world, pay a king's ransom for a metre of quilting fabric. I happened upon one of the prettiest fabrics I have seen for a very long while. It is called Wild Meadows designed by Chong A Hwang; and is digitally printed. Isn't it amazing!! It is a meadow blossoming with floralicious delight....pansies, daisies, foxgloves, irises, bluebells, lilies, nasturtiums, zinnias, lupins........a right royal, floral extravanganza! I am afraid I caused a few ladies to laugh as I walked out of the door as I repeatedly sighed  "I am in love", as I tightly held my three metres of fabric!  This fabric with the gorgeous flowers in the foreground, to the trees and distant hills that kiss the sky, reminds me of this little patch where I happily live. I have no idea what I will do with it....but for now it makes a pretty backdrop for a few summer blossoms. It truly is a bit tricky to see where the fabric flowers stop and the real blossoms begin. Why the flowers on the fabric look so lifelike I can almost smell them.

It is early Sunday evening here and this afternoon I enjoyed a little stitching by the pond, whilst I sipped a cup of tea, or two. Why, the gladdies are beginning to flower. That is a wee bit exciting! It was a lovely afternoon, sitting in the garden whilst the sun beamed it's happiness and warmth for all to enjoy. I must say it was so very pleasant.

Thank you for popping by my little place overspilling with floralicious delight. My wish is that I have sprinkled a little beauty into your day♥

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

Linking up this week to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching.

2020...A New Year, A New Decade

A beautiful New Year welcome to all you lovely lovelies♥ Auld Lang Syne has wafted softly off into the final moments of 2019 and January has arrived. A brand new year, a brand new decade. Here in Australia it has been a devastating beginning to the year. Catastrophic fires are raging; combusting and consuming everything that lay in their path. Nothing thwarts their progress. So, so many towns have been decimated by raging bush fires. It seems the progress of the summer inferno cannot be stopped....they are just too extreme. Although bush fires in Australia are not new during the summer months, this time there are fires raging in every state. Never has this happened before on this scale.  Fires raging all at one time is unprecedented. This year the fires are bigger spreading in multiple directions, engulfing all before them, wherever they will. What is needed is for the heavens to open up, to cut through the dense, smoky canopy and inundate the country with a deluge of drenching rain. But the forecasters say that is not likely to happen for a while yet. 

Though at times my little place has an umbrella of thick smoke looming above, we are fire-free. There are fires here in Tassie, but thus far not to the extent as being experienced in mainland Australia. Would you believe the smoke from Australian fires has wafted over to New Zealand....unbelievable, really. Regardless of what is happening elsewhere, our little garden is  flowering beautiful surprise after beautiful surprise. There is no lack of water here....one of the reasons why we decided to up-sticks from the cacophonous, concrete jungle of Sydney and deposit all our goods and chattels here, in this little corner of the world. As I sit in the garden, to drink in the beauty before me my mind cannot help but wander to those who have no such place to sit, to gather their terrified thoughts and reflect, and be safe. They are caught up in the grief, confusion and displacement of communities that happens when you lose all that you own. At the moment, all they see is the total destruction of their homes, the loss of their animals, their livelihood; some even the loss of loved ones. Also, the Australia fauna whose habitat is the bush, the sweet koalas, kangaroos.....so many have perished. So, so very sad. I read today that 1/3 of Australia is groaning with fires. Hopefully, the  weather conditions will improve  and the exhausted firefighters and volunteers who are on the ground will be able to stop the fiery 'jaws of hell' progress.

My friend, about whom I wrote my thoughts on what our homes mean to each one of us here, is once again packed ready to evacuate at a moment's notice. My friend didn't rebuild but bought another property. The costs and legislation to rebuild where they were was just too prohibitive. Another life long friend of mine evacuated her home that she and her husband built over forty years ago, a couple of days ago and though fires swept up her road, randomly choosing it's targets, everything.....her beautiful home, sheds, caravan etc etc are still standing. Amazing really!! So, very thankful that she and her family can once again go back to her home and pen many more chapters to her home's story. 

Here at my  little place I have begun my new year with the fashioning of a birthday present for a beautiful friend. She and me enjoy birthdays a few weeks apart. Why, we are 'twins'! Twins that only a mother could tell apart. =) I wanted to fashion something specially for her, so I decided upon a bag. A bag oozing pretty, velvety fabrics,  ruched ribbon flowers, swirls and twirls of ribbons, vintage laces and a vintage butterfly broach. My friend is a gal who loves fashion and always looks as if she has just stepped out of  a fancy boutique, where in fact she has time after time, stepped out of an op shop with some gorgeous pretty peeking from her handbag. You see, my beautiful friend is one of those gals who has an intrinsic ability to throw together an ensemble and look like a million dollars. Every time we meet I love to see what delectable outfit she has thrown together. She never fails to make me smile with the outfit she has concocted.

As I wanted to fashion something especially for her, I decided upon a bag. A bag oozing with pretty velvet fabrics, ruched and swirls and twirls of ribbons, vintage laces, tassel fringing  and a pretty butterfly. So, as I always do I gathered together a smattering of pretties that I could perhaps use....to play with, and then when an eye pleasing arrangement magically happened I pinned each pretty down to the bag and began to hand stitch.

My friend loves her little bag. Soon, she has a wedding to attend and her pretty bag will make it's first public appearance. Oh, and about the dress my beautiful friend will wear; why she has found a to-die-for concoction of a Laura Ashley frock in an op shop. And what did she pay for her one-of-a-kind frock?? $200?? $300?? Why.......she paid the princely sum of $10!! Can you believe it!! I truly do not know how she does it!!

Thank you for popping by my little place♥️ It is a place I hope, that each time you visit throughout this new year, a little beauty may be sprinkled into your day. As I sit here reflecting on these past few days I am reminded, I know not what tomorrow will bring. I know not what this year will bring. I know not what this decade will leave at my bright pink, front door. But this I know, I have God's grace to sustain me each moment of each new day.

If you are so inclined please keep those who are suffering such hardships, sadness and calamitous events, down here at the  bottom of the world, in your thoughts and prayers. There are several more months of summer down here, with no forecast of rain on the horizon. I fear it is going to be a very long, very dry and very hot summer.

Until the next time.......

Linking up this week to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching as it is Sunday and I think I am in the mood to twirl and swirl a few lengths of  luscious ribbon and fashion some pretty flowers and leaves for my next new pretty.