On Golden Pond

My husband has always wanted to create a pond. Though we had a small pond in Sydney it really wasn't anything to write home to mother about. He wanted to create a special place; he wanted to create a BIG POND!!

After moving into our humble abode, it was his mission to put his dream into fruition. But in order for this desire to become a reality he had to extricate trailer load after trailer load of old car parts, debris, junk, concrete slab after concrete slab and whatever else the previous owner decided to bury in the backyard. Why is it that some blokes have a need to cover large expanses of rich fertile soil with junk?? The previous owner seemed to have a penchant for concrete. It seemed his mission in life was to plant concrete everywhere.....yukkity yuk!! The clearing of the miscellany of rubbish  and concrete took my husband a good year to accomplish.

The tragic thing is that the previous owners lived here for forty years!! I can see in my mind's eye the previous owner thinking "mmmm.....what shall I plant here......car parts, concrete, junk.....or will I plant  some glorious green as green trees, sucking up all that yukky carbon dioxide, replacing it with good clean oxygen, so that we might breath a li'l easier?? Perhaps some beauteous flowering rhododendrons, buddleias, or perhaps, exquisite Magnolias?? Now here's a thought (and it is just a fleeting thought)......a gift that keeps on giving....an ever bountiful, producing orchard. ......nah.....I think I'll go with the junk"!!!

As is always the case in this far rural outpost word had got around of my husband's "one day" dream. Our friendly (and very generous), farmer neighbour appeared in his bulldozer one afternoon and declared that today was the day to dig a very, very big hole!! Not wanting to waste any of the farmer's time (farmers don't have a minute to spare) my husband went to supervise the excavation.

Okay........so the bulldozer began to dig, and dig, and dig.......until what stood before us all was an 'olympic' sized cavity for my husband's pond. Farmers love their big boy toys don't they?? Feeling chuffed at his good deed, our farmer waved us goodbye as he and his bulldozer idled rather noisily off into the sunset. The thought did cross my mind if only my husband had a bulldozer, he could've removed the graveyard of rubbish in next to no time. Oh well, not to worry, removing all that heavy junk was cheaper than a gym membership! Alas, there are no photos, as the burrowing into the earth by the earth moving equipment took place before I happened upon the "Land of Blog".

So......my husband began to slowly transform the rather large hole in our backyard into a "golden pond". He covered the bottom and sides with metres and metres of old carpet, then covered the carpet with silage plastic (a generous contribution by the aforementioned farmer) and began to build the sides of the pond with hundreds and hundreds of rocks, which both he and I collected from our friendly and benevolent farmer's rocky outcrop.

My husband begged, borrowed and stole acquired oodles of plants and trees and began to landscape and fill the gaps with bountiful specimens of the plant kingdom; Iris, Poppies, Lilies, Water Lilies, Foxgloves, Daisies, Gladioli, Cosmos, Agapanthus, Ajugas, Dahlias, Daffodils, Jonquils, Lupins, Ixias, Tortured Willows, Chinese Elms, Maples........you name it, he has planted it.  Oh....and I must not forget to mention that Miss Maisie is always on hand to supervise!!

My husband has created an oasis with it's own micro climate happening. He has created an atmospheric area where plants thrive and flower joyously all year round. Each season produces it's own beauty. There is always something to see.....pretty butterflies flitting from flower to flower, dragon flies zipping around and around and lately there has been a frog croaking at high decibels to his lady love. There are times when the croak becomes very ebullient....mmm...a little romance amongst the lily pads! Oh...and there are sizable gold fish playing catch and chase, darting in and out amongst the water lilies and reeds.

I have watched my husband with amazement as little by little he has turned what once was an eyesore into a lovely pond....pure gold......surrounded by vigorous growing plant life. Just a 'few' happy snaps to show the beauty of our li'l paradise!

Beautiful Irises.

Elegant Foxgloves.

Ixias and Water Lilies.

Glorious Dahlias dressed in pretty tutus.

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The beautiful Fruit Salad Plant.

Tall spires of Gladioli.

Miss Maisie can never resist a photo shoot!!

 

Just to think that a little over 3 years ago this space was a monument to the junk god.....but today it is a paradise filled with oodles of  life, happily existing in it's own li'l micro climate, giving much pleasure to whomever sits a while on our swinging seat, to just dream or take a little moment to enjoy a cuppa. 

Yes indeedy, my husband and I can always be found at various times throughout the day, sitting on our swinging seat, enjoying 'his' golden pond!

It's toodles from me.....have a lovely weekend everyone. I intend to steal a few moments to sit and swing, whilst drinking in the bounteous life in, on and around the golden pond!

And the hearts go to.........

Oh yes, the hearts. Those prettily embellished, lavender fragrant hearts which are a giveaway for my GYB party post.....remember them?? Here is a photo to help jolt your memory. Today is the day when my significant other, randomly draws out from a very big hat, two lovely ladies' names.

Drum roll please...........Peggy Reed and Ljubinka.......two hearts will soon be winging their way over land and sea, to your li'l corner of the world. Congratulations ladies...but...you are both naughty as you couldn't make up your minds as to which ones tickled your fancy. It seems both of you lovely ladies are enamoured with all of these pretties. Mmmm...decisions....decisions!!

I fear, I cannot choose, so my significant other has chosen his two favourites.......

For the lovely Peggy, he has chosen No. 2......

And...for the lovely Ljubinka, he has chosen No. 8.....

Now of course,  Peggy and Ljubinka, if perchance you prefer any of the other hearts instead of these two, please do let me know.

Peggy......you will need to let me know your address as I am afraid I cannot contact you, as you seem to be a No Reply Blogger.

Thank you to everyone who visited my blog over these last couple of weeks and left such lovely comments. It was a pleasure to 'meet' you and in turn visit your li'l corner of the world and drink in your own imaginative creativity! I look forward to visiting your lovely blogs over and over again and delight in all the goings on in your delightful posts.

AND....thank you to Vicki of '2Bags Full' for all your hard work in hosting this fun party, it was so much fun!

NOW.....besides trying to make life changing decisions as to which lovely lady gets which pretty heart sachet....what else have I been up to this week??

Well..........the 'Kim Sharman School of Stitching Excellence' started again with a flurry of activity and excitement. I had four new students. Yes indeedy, they just keep coming!! It seems I now have a waiting list!! Incredible!!

I have been working on this gorgeous yo-yo quilt that a lady asked me to finish for her grandmother. She wanted me to back it but of course that meant hand stitching it up and down the length of it, through the back, in the middl'e of each yo-yo. As this quilt is approx. 3 metres x 2.5 metres, it took a while.

I find row after row of monotonous hand quilting a wee bit tedious. Also, this quilt was stitched by an older lady, so over time  a lot of the yo-yos have unravelled, which meant  I had to do a lot of extra fixer-uppering before I could send it on home. As much as I love all these gorgeous yo-yos, I must admit I am so, so happy to see the end of this lovely as it had been sitting on my 'to do' pile for a very, very long time. So, so happy.....in fact, deliriously happy.....that my 'Quasimodo', hunch back, bent-like body is doing a happy dance!!

As February is the month of  all things LOVE, I decided to stitch a quick, free hand machine, sketched cushion.

I cut out a simple shape of a house from some pink fabric, stitched it to the hessian and then stitched the words and flowers free hand. No drawings, no tracing, just free hand sketching. So, so easy; so, so quick; and so, so very pink!! But......that suits me perfectly fine as it goes perfectly with my bright pink front door!

It sits alongside my pretty heart, hessian cushion; both resting on a rather antiquated oak settee on the front porch; welcoming all and sundry who enter through our front gate.

I love to sit on the front porch and enjoy a cuppa. It is the prettiest spot, drinking in the Zinnias, Dahlias, Gladioli, Cosmos, Salvias, Anemones and all the other pretty Summer flowers. And of course peeping over the front fence the glorious Hydrangeas. This year these beautiful mop-head, prima donnas,  are bigger and better than ever before! They are quite stunning.....AND.....they live in vases for weeks. Summer in Tassie is burgeoning with floral delight!

Each morning has found me wandering around the garden, picking bounteous bouquets of floralicious delight to spread throughout our home. When it comes to blossoms....'tis my unwavering opinion, more is never enough! I know I have said it before......when I grow up I really, really want to be a florist!!

Colourful and happy Dahlias.

Pretty in Pink, Cosmos.

Beautiful blue, blue Hydrangeas. These flowers really do make my heart sing! Oh, and of course, pretty tea cups and even prettier teapots, have also been known to make my heart go pit-a-pat!!

There is just something about the hue blue, is there not?? Yes indeedy, blue is my favourite hue! What's yours??

So...there you have it; a week filled with teaching, a little stitching and oodles of walks in our lovely garden, gathering bounteous bouquets of blossomy delight.

Sending you all oodles of LOVE and a bouquet of  'pretty as a picture' Hydrangeas to brighten your day!

Until the next time you visit my li'l corner of the world; have the most wonderful weekend, filled with a little LOVE.........'tis toodles from me!

Home again.....and back to work

Well........I suppose it's back to the grind, if you can call hiding myself in my sunny sewing room, dreaming up and preparing stitching projects for my kiddos; work! Yes, it's back home again after experiencing the most pleasurable couple of weeks taking a voyeuristic journey through cyberspace, visiting many, many gorgeous blogs from all around the world, without having to move my gluteous maximus from the comfort of my rather cushy chair. If you are still in party mode and visiting, wanting to check out my li'l corner of the world, then my GYB party post is here.

Those of you who are new followers of my blog, a very warm welcome; you have truly inspired me with your own imaginative creativity! I look forward to visiting your lovely blogs over and over again and delight in all the goings on in your delightful posts.

But as with all things, parties must come to an end. The lights go out and we make our way back home to everyday normality......(not that life around here could ever be classified as normal). My head is spinning with sooooo many ideas! I do hope the arteries in my brain pan don't explode with all those imaginations!

School starts back this week after a 6 week break (can someone please tell me where that time went) and even though I should be preparing for the kiddos' lessons, I have been tarting up a few denim lovelies to flog at a market. I have had a few days grace before I put head down and derriere up and begin the begin.

But....before I could begin the process of tarting up some lovelies, I had to first visit my favourite op shop to acquire oodles of people's cast off denim garments. I need an oversupply of denim pieces as they can always be used in the kiddos' sewing lessons; and of course the children's pieces that are in great condition can be tarted up so that some other child can wear them for a while longer. I try to squeeze as many denim garments into a shopping bag as possible. The last time I bought 20 pairs of adult and kid's jeans, with a few other things thrown in for $10!! A bargain in anyone's language!

Oh and just to make you really, really pea green.....I squished these  pretties in as well!

 A gorgeous turquoise shrug, a perfectly as new, pure wool cream vest ('tis so, so soft) AND a lovely green and blue cardie with a smattering of beads and a li'l bling.....all my size! Aren't I a lucky gal, especially as I love blue and green sitting happily beside each other! Whomever said "blue and green should not be seen" really had no idea what they were talking about. Honestly, I don't think anyone has worn any of these garments; or if they have, only on the odd occasion.

Every kiddo that bursts through my bright pink door always seems to want to stitch a denim quilt...even the boys; hence my need for a constant supply of denim jeans. I cut out large 10 inch squares and my li'l prodigies stitch them together to make a quilt that they will snuggle under for a very long time. Most of the girls like to embellish their quilts with fabric flowers and butterflies to weave in and out of pockets.

But sometimes (the boys) only want to make a 'plain' quilt and in the case of Alysha, she wanted to make an "all things equestrian" quilt with her Arab filly, Courage smiling through the horseshoe. These quilts were stitched by the girls when they had only been coming to "The Kim Sharman School of Stitching Excellence" for a little while......they were all eight years old! I wrote about these clever girls way back when, here.

Not only do the kiddos fashion quilts from cast off jeans but I use different parts of the jeans in a plethora of projects; the pockets, the waistbands etc. Quite often I buy the jeans just because they have interesting pockets which can be used sometime in the future, down my yellow brick road of creativity.

Tarting up children denim pieces is the best fun as there are no restrictions on what I might add. A snippet of lace, a crochet flower or two, some free hand stitching.....it's carte blanche as to how I can embellish.

I have been playing with a smattering of triflings, making earth shattering decisions what to put where and on what.

This pair of jeans has oodles of patches from another pair of jeans, doilies, broderie anglaise, lace and the odd flower or two...oh...... and of course a pretty button trim. Can you feel the love??

A cute pair of Lee Cooper overalls with a pretty flower and lady bug.

Oodles of pretties on this pair of jeans.

A cute pair of denim shorts with just a few pretties added to them.

I really like this sweet little girl's vest.

With a crochet flower or two here, some lace, perhaps a snippet of a doily there, it will look oh so chic.

I carefully snipped little flowers and arranged them in a visually appealing arrangement and stitched them to the front on one side.

A pocket embellished with crochet flowers and button trim.

A pretty trim and ribbon trailing their way up one side of the vest, around the back of the neckline to the front. Oh........and of course a couple of flowers to finish the look.

I added a pretty doily at the neckline on the back.

Voila.....my new, pretty, upcycled girl's vest!

That's enough upcycling for me. That's enough of playing with crochet pretties, snippets of lace and a few triflings. There's 'work' to be done. I really, really must think about my kiddos' lessons. I really, really must put my head down and gluteous maximus up and begin lesson preparation.

I hope you have a great week, everyone! Toodles.