The Old and the New

 Its been a mild day today in the hills so we took off for a long drive and I found a couple of sweet finds. A Victorian book  by the same author of a book I picked up on my birthday weekend in October...the gilt is beautiful

 

 

 

Another old bottle to add to my collection

 

 

 

 

A trip to the city Friday to hunt down bargains at the  Freedom sale....new aquamarine cushions

 

 

And my favourite buy there (I saw these 6 months ago at full price) there was 1 left..YAY a glazed and crackled large  apothecary jar ( perfect for my pink roses)

I was totally spoiled this Christmas by my darling husband...what a brave man buying a handbag...a gorgeous watermelon pink tote and tucked inside a bottle of Coco Mademoiselle

 

 A Victorian picture locket with a paste amethyst stone  from about 1900 made by a company Wightman and Hough in Rhode Is, from my Mum

 

 

 

It has my initials engraved under it !!!!

 

 

 

This is an advert I found on the web

 

 

In the garden this week...netting the fruit trees from the parrots, planting vegetable seedlings and my girls are losing there baby feathers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Country Farm Home
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A Quiet Country Christmas

This Christmas feels a bit out of kilter ....a new house in a country town instead of our freshly decorated city home, losing Dad, and awful heatwave ...it reached 111 degrees and all my lovely flowers fried, but Christmas rolls on!

 

 

I finally finished my Rich Irish Christmas Cake. It has about 4 Kilos of fruit which is soaked in whisky and stirred every day for 3 weeks. Baking takes about 4 hours and more whisky poured over while it is still warm. Boy is it heavy!!

 

 

The unbearable heat has turned the hills to gold all around the house

 

 

Early evening from the front porch.

 

 I was a little tense as the temperature soared to 44 (111)

hoping the bushfire sirens wouldn't go off!


A couple of survivors were the Nepetas (catmint)

 

I sprayed our 12 week old girls with water every couple of hours

 

A light thrifting week but I did find this very old soda siphon bottle for a song

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Merry Christmas from my Family to yours

Linking up with :

The Dedicated House

A Living Space
Knick of Time
French Country Cottage
Ivy and Elephants
Common Ground
The Colorado Lady
Shabby Art Boutique
The Thrifty Groove
Chic on a Shoestring
Country Farm Home
My Romantic Home
Sir thrift-a-lot
Rose Vignettes

Rooted in Thyme
My Charmed Home
Blackbird Has Spoken
Elizabeth & Co
 The North End Loft
Finding Fabulous
Lavender Garden Cottage

 

 

 

Summertime in the Hills

I must admit to feeling a little flat this Christmas after losing Dad a couple of weeks ago so this year will be a little quieter in our new house

Love this little find.....very old mercury Christmas balls, marked made in Occupied Japan...and I love the patina

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found this  1960's fan in a country town shop on Friday...love the colour

 

 

 

 

Lots of lights went up in the garden... thank heaven for solar battery packs

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our fruit orchard is loaded with ripening fruit and we have had to net the trees from the flocks of cockatoos

 

 

 

Apples

 

 

Nashi Pears

 

 

Tomatoes

 

 

 

Lettuces and Beans

 

We were given 15 pots of pink and blue Salvias which we dotted around the garden...all free at $15 a pot !!

 

 

 

Outside the back door ....smelling very perfumed...the first of the Gardenias in flower

 

 

.....and a loaded down Star Jasmine

 

 

 

Princess Alexandria of Kent

 

 

some days have been very hot and spoiling the English roses so I pick them and let them dry naturally in a vase

 

 

 

 

 

Dusk

 

From the Library this week

 

Linking up with :

The Dedicated House

A Living Space
Knick of Time
French Country Cottage
Ivy and Elephants
Common Ground
The Colorado Lady
Shabby Art Boutique
The Thrifty Groove
Chic on a Shoestring
Country Farm Home
My Romantic Home
Sir thrift-a-lot
Rose Vignettes

Rooted in Thyme
My Charmed Home
Blackbird Has Spoken
Elizabeth & Co
 The North End Loft
Finding Fabulous
Lavender Garden Cottage

 

 

 

Saturday Thrifting

Thank you  all for the kind thoughts at the loss of my Dad, it was much appreciated.

Yesterday was a big shopping day and I managed to fit in a couple of thrift shops to explore

 

A new Savers opened in the city and I found this 1930's mirror with piecrust bevelled edge for $7.

 I'm going to try and find a couple more in different shapes and put them on my bathroom wall

 

It's been ages since I visited the op shops in the  little country town of Lobethal (which has the largest display of Christmas lights in the Southern Hemisphere) In the CFS Shop I picked up a and some Christmas decorations for 50c

 

 

 

 

 

And in Hosanna's  a pretty tablecloth and an adorable and really ancient faded paper flower wreath..I have 4 now so I guess that makes a collection

 

 

We bought a massive load of fairy lights to cover the eaves and trees in the garden and they should be all up by tonight

This tree is going to have a net of twinkling  fairy lights on it

 

 

 

We dropped off our 2 roosters to the new owner yesterday (sob) and our 4 girls spent their first night together without them. We have found it's a lot harder to be impartial when you hatch your own . It's like giving your children away

 

 

The veg garden is fantastic but we have had to net it all as we have so many parrots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Slowly the Christmas decorations are going up in the house

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's been 3 years since we could put up our pretty Christmas tree and decorate it as my naughty Russian Blue ,Sascha, runs up the trunk and I'm still contemplating giving it another go!!!

 

 

 

 

Sunbathing in the sunlight patches in the sitting room...looking totally innocent

Linking up with :

The Dedicated House

A Living Space
Knick of Time
French Country Cottage
Ivy and Elephants
Common Ground
The Colorado Lady
Shabby Art Boutique
The Thrifty Groove
Chic on a Shoestring
Country Farm Home
My Romantic Home
Sir thrift-a-lot
Rose Vignettes

Rooted in Thyme
My Charmed Home
Blackbird Has Spoken
Elizabeth & Co
 The North End Loft
Finding Fabulous
Lavender Garden Cottage