Tuesday Treasures

My treasure today is SPRING!
I just love Spring and I'm sure I'm not alone there.
This morning it was lovely and sunny and not freezing (I couldn't bring myself to say warm, cos it weren't!) ---
So I took to the camera and snapped some garden shots for you to help me celebrate Spring!'

Mint wrapped in Nasturtiums

The Girls - Notice the gate lying against the pen? This is to stop the girls from digging up their north garden. Notice the two pots elevated on bricks on the verandah? That's to stop the girls from muching on my Marjoram and Oregano! Naughty girls

Scratching in the sun. The little plum tree in front of the pen will provide lovely morning shade for the girls as it grows. To the north (right of pic) is another new tree. It is a pink Robinia. It will give the girls lots of shade in the summer and give me the joy of looking at the mass of gorgeous bunches of pink flowers every Spring. I can't wait!

Lots of lovely Lemons

Squillions of Mulberries

Blueberries galore

My glorious Dwarf flowering red peach and a girl busily about her business.

The Waratah - Corroboree - What can I say? Magnificent

A row of assorted lettuce

Tuscan Black Kale - full of antioxidants - Yum

Strawberries in the making

Species Geranium

Lavender - of course!

Pink English Bluebells

White English Bluebells

Bronze daisies

Hydrangea wrapped in Nasturtiums

Johnnies jumping up all over the place.

I hope you have enjoyed this little stroll around my Spring garden.
Please join Melody at The House on the Side of the Hill for more Tuesday Treasures

A Tea Cosy

Hello all. I trust everyone is having a good Monday?
For this past week I have been laid low with Bronchitis. (An activity I would not recommend incidentally.)
Anyway I did a whole lot of not much apart from sleeping, coughing! and finishing this tea-cosy.

Finally, I have beaded and finished my tea cosy.

I love tea-cosies: along with aprons, table-cloths and beautiful china. It's the whole 'sitting down to a proper morning/afternoon tea' - thing. Although, having said that, probably the most common time of day for me to use a tea-cosy is breakfast. I'll make a pot of yummy tea with real tea, you know, leaves not bags. I have discovered a wonderful shop called T2. This place is tea heaven. It has all sorts of wonderful tea blends from black Breakfast teas to Green tea and every herbal concoction you can imagine. AND they have teapots, cups and gorgeous, cute  accessories. I bought myself a mesh ball which eliminates the need for a tea strainer. There are times though when I like to use a tea strainer purely for sentimental reasons.

This is my mother's old tea strainer. It looks a bit 'gungy' with the posh china but I love it. It has wonderful character and OH the stories it must have heard over the years. There were tea parties with my grandmother and her friend Mrs Cohen and her sister in law Aunty Jess - Gossiping gurus! Years later My mother with my aunt and Mum's good friend and work colleague Joan. I can still hear them shrieking with laughter! Good times.

It fits perfectly into one of the dinky little jam/sugar pots where it can drip after use.

So back to breakfast: ... Then I will put it on a tray with a lovely cup and saucer, jug of milk, tiny jam dishes with marmalade, strawberry jam and butter on them and a couple of pieces of toast in the toast rack.
For those who are not acquainted with toast racks they are usually made out of china and hold your toast upright and separate to allow the toast to cool and crisp up a little without going tough or soggy.

An arty pic of the tea cosy and one of my favourite trios.

The new strainer ball - A brilliant invention! It has a rubber 'string' which doesn't get hot.

I take my tray out into the lovely morning sunshine and enjoy the leisurely breakfast of a 'retired' lady. The finishing touch is a lovely table cloth, of course. Ahhh, this is the life!
I feel the call of the tea-leaves! I'm off ...  catch you all later ...