Floral Friday

Spring Delights:

Hi Everyone,
Sorry I have been away for so long but I have been unwell and haven't really felt like doing much at all. I have a procedure tomorrow which should fix everything up so I'll be hale and hearty again and raring to go in my gorgeous spring garden.
Here are some of the flowers which have already popped up.

Firstly are my pink/white bells so pretty and delicate.

This is the tiny little Viburnum. It's flowers have opened even more now and it looks so beautiful. I can't wait until it's a small tree with those lovely horizontal flower bunches.

This one is my Dwarf Red Flowering Peach, tiny but stunning.

Now for my Waratah. This lovely little tree is only a year old and has grown so much AND has 27 flowers on it. I am so thrilled at it's success.

One of the Waratah flowers - WOW

Pretty little Strawberry flowers. This variety is called simply Pink and has these sweet little flowers and the most delicious strawberries I have ever tasted. The fruit is flatish but still quite big.

Here is my Alyogne again. She is even bigger now and is always covered in flowers.

Here is the Lavender 'Avonview' growing along Harry's fence. It has been flowering and growing this whole cold, wet winter and the bees just love it, as do I.

This is the Maroon and White varieties of the Luecospermum 'Daisy' which I planted at the base of my clothesline. It certainly makes hanging out the clothes a pleasure.

And lucky last is a closeup of my clothesline daisies. I just love them. They are so happy and flower for such a long time throughout the year.

Please share with me any floral photos you have of your Spring Garden.

Floral Friday

Let's warm up a bit!

I - am - cold!

So .....
I have scoured my photo album for some pictures to try to warm me up;
This first one is at Yeppoon in Qld. We were just a stone's throw from Great Keppel Island which can be seen through the coconut palms.
This picture always warms me up:Below: On the Golf Course at Yeppoon. There were beautiful old palms, bamboo forests, lakes full of waterlillies and wonderful lush tropical scrub all around this course. It was an absolute delight to zip around it in our buggy. There is DH down there striding across the green.Below: Here I am in the buggy on one of the beautiful fairways. Just take a squiz at all the bunkers on this hole. I lost count! I really wished that I had brought my "What tree is that?" book with me!Now over to the other side of the country and a little trip we did from Perth down to Albany and around Margaret River etc.
We were lucky enough to plan this trip when most of the wildflowers were still flowering.
Below: Here is the state's floral emblem - Stunning! Click on the pic for a closer look.Below: Look at this fabulous show lining one of the coastal roads. I wish my driveway looked this good.Below: Here I am in front of a Giant Tingle Tree. I wanted to pat them and hug them and tell them how magnificent they were!And some more flowers beside the road to Albany.And Grass Trees of course
I hope you have enjoyed this little look at some warm weather plants and vistas.
Please feel free to share with me anything floral, tropical or pictures that simply warm you too look at them:

Winter!

Mmmm ... yes ... Winter in Korumburra!
We have WAY more than our fair share of rain - which, incidentally is the reason I insisted that we move down here! Which, clearly means I should not complain!

BUT:

Every morning we have to greet Harry, our rather exuberant 6 month old Brittany pup. Now Harry has a lovely yard, well potentially lovely. There is plenty of grass in his yard, which surprises me as it is effectively underwater so the yard is rather like a rice paddy.
Harry, bless his little cotton socks, is so happy to see us in the morning and due to his aforementioned exuberance cannot help but jump. Somehow his long lunging legs remind me of a Funnel Web Spider raising her front legs ready to strike. The speed with which this happens always, ALWAYS, takes me by surprise. I try to turn my back but that just means that my back gets two lovely paw prints instead of my front. (Digressing a little, this is exactly what happened to my daughter the other morning. She had two very clear paw prints on the bottom of her t-shirt. I told her it clearly read "Good" on the left buttock and "Morning" on the right one.)
So as my reflexes ain't all they used to be I have resurrected my waterproof 'snow' overpants. It appears as though I was about a size 25 when I got these, perhaps it was the only size they had - you know, the one size fits all lie!
Anyway I just had to share this moment with you. So here I am about to greet young Harry.
One thing I just love about my sodden paddock is that as you walk on it you can hear the water moving through the ground, or along the ground. You can HEAR it trickling all the time. When you jump it sounds like a brush on a cymbal and you can hear the water sort of fizzing as it is radiating away from you like the rings on the surface of a pool when a stone in thrown into it. It never ceases to amaze me. So there I am out there in my soggy paddock just jumping every now and then. Haha the workers on next door's house must really wonder about me!
PS: I have to have a 'procedure' tomorrow so I won't be having Floral Friday this week.

Heather's Quilt

I thought you may like to see this gorgeous quilt that my husband's cousin, Heather, made for a family friend. The quilt is big enough for a single bed and has been hand appliqued with blanket stitch.

Heather asked me to quilt it for her and I was just thrilled with the result. She was happy for me to share the finished product on my blog.

All applique was either stippled or stitched. Borders and sashings were loop stippled. Jaxon block was diagonally stitched along the tiny white checkerboard squares (that was the bit that gave me RSI! and forearm cramping and you can't even see it!)

The aeroplane block is quilted with clouds, wind swirls and birds.The train block is quilted with smoke from the chimney, rail tracks, roadside plants, flowers and a water tower.The car block is quilted with clouds, plants and sun rays.The truck block is quilted with trees, hills and roadside plants.Finally the ship block is quilted with stars, calm water and fireworks. This is my favourite block.

Jaxon is a lucky little boy, don't you agree?

Teddy Bear's Picnic

Is there room for Honeysett?

Here is Honeysett being prepared to go to the picnic by Eva (20 months) along with her Pink Pull-along Puppy who yaps happily all the way.
Honeysett is from the Russ Vintage Collection and is quite a large bear.

Uh-oh ... looks like Eva has decided that Honey will have to be warm enough without Eva's hat.

There you go, back where it belongs, thank-you.

"Pardon? What's that you say? Oh yes, quite so, the hat did clash awfully with your lovely red (maroon) bow and you do have a lot more fur on your head than I do. That was most kind and thoughtful of you Honey."
I think we all know where to find Honeysett at the picnic. Just look for the basket with the honey sandwiches. I've got a sneaky suspicion that's where Eva and Pink Puppy will be too.

Melody is hosting the Teddy Bear's Picnic today.
Why not visit her and all the other picnickers at her BLOG

Floral Friday

Daffodils:

Sorry it's actually Saturday but I have had Blogger dramas. But better late than never!

Today I have chosen to honour the beautiful, cheery and humble daffodil.

These pictures are not my own but ones I have borrowed. My daffodils haven't flowered yet, although I do have some Jonquils, but I just can't wait until they do. That is if they are spared by the darned Magpies and my naughty Kanga and Harrry that seem to delight in chewing the buds off.

I hope you like these nicked pics!
Enjoy!
Vive la printemps!

Above: A delightful work or art.

A wood of naturalized daffodils - What a happy place!

King Alfred Daffodils - pure perfection!

Sweet little crocheted pink and white daffodils

Vast open fields of daffodils in Wales

And just a few more:This vintage ladies handkerchief is so pretty with it's pink daffodils!

Are these Iced Cupcakes? So very delicate!

What a perfectly lovely white and orange daffodil with it's pretty pointed outer petals.

Angelic white flowers with wide open trumpets which remind me of water lillies.

I would just love you to join in with any garden delights you would like to share.
Just insert your blog details with Mr Linky below.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

A Grand Old Building

I was prompted by Pieta's comment to Tuesday's Treasures to show you some pictures of one of my favourite Melbourne buildings.
It is the ANZ building in Collins St. It was built in 1883-87 and is of Gothic Style.
Outside it is quite beautiful and inside it looks more like a Cathedral than a bank! Quite amazing.

The above picture was taken around the time of WW1, judging by the presence of motor-cars. It also appears as though there has been a recent fall of snow or very heavy hail. Both events most unusual for Melbourne city.
This is a picture of the beautiful front door to the bank.
"The Pyrmont sandstone façade shows English, French and especially Venetian Gothic influences. Richly decorated cast-iron columns in the banking chamber support a bold, breathtaking ceiling, where the bolt heads and spandrel openings are coated in pure gold leaf and each group of four columns effectively frames a painted panel portraying the arms of the bank or one of its major places of operation." (www.emelbourne.net.au)
The above picture shows the carpet. The colours in the picture are quite washed out the picture above it is much more true to life.

The above picture show the bank in current use with the lamps beside the tellers desks.

And finally the 'Cathedral Room' in the old Stock exchange building behind the main bank room.What an extraordinarily beautiful room. And the floor - pictured below - wouldn't this make a marvelous quilt! The tiling is just beautiful. This was no doubt the biggest surprise and perhaps my favourite part of the building.
If you are interested in the history of this lovely old building take a look HERE.
I hope you have enjoyed this little tour of my favourite Melbourne building.