Sorting through some books and came across an ex library item, illustrated throughout by Edward Ardizzone. Looks really lovely displayed with just a simple shell. 

A quiet morning

Sitting here admiring the light as it creates soft morning shadows over the living area. So quiet as it's the first day at secondary school for my youngest.  I hope she's not finding it too hard as it's always a big step making the transition.

Recycling old timber palings

                             

                                   

                                   

                                    

                                      

As you can see, I have been enjoying myself. It was quite easy to do. I simply trimmed the palings to the correct size and using a staple gun , secured them all to a large peice of cardboard. This is then laid on top of the table as is. The weight of the boards insures that the top doesn't slip around . The palings were scrubbed clean, and the result is a lovely , rustic and weathered top, reminiscent of sun bleached wood from the beach. The beauty of this is, if I feel like changing the appearance, , I simply remove the top, to reveal the original.

hot days ahead

Coming home from one of my walks with my daughter, I noticed how this tree has just recently flowered. Such a lovely tree, with pale pink blossoms, the leaves are covered in fine hairs and I have no idea what it is.

Further on down along the pathway fence, the Wonga vine, which is a native to Australia,  is in flower, with lavender, geraniums and pink roses joining in the party. I let them grow untamed, save for a few strays that dare to venture out onto the pedestrians walk.

We are gearing up for a very hot week here in Melbourne, with temperatures soaring to the high 30's low 40's. It won't be pleasant. I may just rest and sew, as I have been doing . Recently while looking amongst my stash of fabrics, I decided to reconstruct an old dated, white lace shirt that just didn't fit right. I simply took apart the sleeves from the front and back and french seamed it, in it's entirety, to form a patchwork.   It looks charming in it's own , imperfect way. I couldn't decide where it looked bettter, so for now it lays across the top of my dressing table.

First day of January 2014 and the rain has set in , which is nice! Have been painting with water colors this afternoon, then brought in some fresh agapanthus and hydrangea from the garden.( before the rain) Our gas heater  has always been annoying to my eyes so knocked up a fence of sorts from old timber palings to obscure it from view..... looks so much better now. 

As mentioned previously, I have been painting a lot with watercolors recently. This book by Edward Ardizzone , who was himself an accomplished water colorist, has always been of inspiration to me. His fresh and loose style many times depicting life by the sea, is so very appealing, and I have a number of his books which I pour over now and then. Sometimes I am lucky enough to pick up an old book going very cheaply at a library sale as was the case with the above book.  

Adios for now.