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.........

Summer Roses

Hello lovelies; as it has been a couple of weeks since I last penned a post (where oh where do the days go??),  I thought I would send a little happy colour and fragrance to your wintry world......that is of course to those of you whom are about to step into the dead of Winter. I know, I know, your wintry wonderland is rather beautiful, snow-capped mountains, hot chocolate in front of the fire, perhaps a little woolly knitting/crocheting and all that.....but for those dark, grey and gloomy days......how about a little Aussie colour; how about a feast of gorgeous Summer Roses. As for those of you lovelies who live south of the Equator, you are probably knee deep in roses as well. Never mind, perhaps you would like a bo-peep too. =) 

The roses down here at the bottom of the world have awakened from an ever-so-long, deep sleep and have decided to smile with the happiest of smiles. Ol' Man Sun is beginning to cover us with his warmth and sunny brightness and I must say, the roses are a-glowing! Though we don't have oodles of rose bushes, the roses we do have are blooming in gorgeous hues, and I might add, the most intoxicating of fragrances.

A vision in pinks.

A vision in lemons, oranges and tangerines.

Honestly, a basket filled with roses truly is a vision splendid, not to mention the perfume wafting in the air is divine.

Roses, warm summery days and in a little while my favourite flowers of all time....the beautiful blue Hydrangeas. But for now I will just take time to smell the beautiful Roses. =)

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