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

 

 

 

 

A Sad Week

I usually post every weekend but Dad lost his painful battle with cancer a couple of days ago and we have a long interstate trip for his funeral on Monday .

See you next weekend

 

A Lucky Find

Whoo Hoo!!!! At last I found a  marble topped sewing machine table that was a steal.

LOVE IT

 

 

 

We were driving back up to the hills after a long day in the city yesterday and suddenly Mr VL said lets stop and check out the Antique market . When we went in the owner was dragging stuff in from a buy at a retirement village to clean it up before pricing and I saw this and pounced... BARGAIN...SOLD! I saw a beautiful table at a garden nursery 2 weeks ago...it was hundreds of dollars.

This one is a Wertheim Frankfurt and the marble has lovely patina. Sometimes you find something when you least expect it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its been a big week in the garden this week and yesterday Mr VL worked from 8 till 8 pruning ,planting and trimming. He reckons that there is about 5 years neglect with watering and pruning which has a disastrous effect on some of the European trees...anyway I'm not the landscape expert in the family...I just let him have his way

We planted heaps more pink David Austin roses...

 

 

 

 

Plus Crepuscule, Champagner and more Pierre De Ronsard and potted up Hydrangeas and petunias and a beautiful Weeping Japanese Maple 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We put some spotlights in the ground to uplight the 200 year old gum and the golden elm at night

 

 

 

 

 

The lovely little Pinkie roses massed on a fence are starting to fade so I have been picking bunches and drying them in the pantry....they dry to a nice deep colour

 

 

 

 

 

 

The veg garden is doing really well, especially the lettuce, beans and carrots

 

 

 

 

Our hatchlings are now 8 weeks and we have advertised a new home for our 2 boys...

 

 

That's Russell Crowe and Roger Ramjet is the speckled sussex behind him( is it just me or is he looking accusing at me)

 

 

 

 

 

 

This morning I'm going to do nothing but read my new library book!

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