Happy New Year!

So here is 2012. I hope you all had a wonderful break. I know I feel very rejuvenated :-) Life is still tranquil for us this month so I'm embracing the peace and quiet before everything kicks off again and we're all manically busy.

Our little furry friend had her first Christmas which was very exciting (probably more for us as we gave her a stocking! She also got gifts sent from my other cat who lives with my parents - so sweet. Of course my Mum did this. Our family is very young at heart!) and she's started taking to our window sill although it will be a while yet before we get a view like the one I snapped on the ferry below!

Anyway, wishing you all the best for a very prosperous New Year! xx

Silver sparkles

Only 4 days to go! At least we have a few sparkly decorations up - this year's tree is a twig one :-)

Undecided

I can't decide if I'm feeling autumnal or summery, or perhaps just a bit confused! What is happening to our December? I think it might be time to get those gum boots I've been lusting after or at least add them to my wish list for Christmas...Hmmm :-)

In bloom

And so the obsession with hydrangeas continues! I hope you all had a great weekend. I have a rather busy few days coming up but will be back before you know it. Promise. x

Sail away

So close to the sea and so little time to really make the most of it. In a few days though we will be all hands on deck as we do a little sailing, I'm so excited it has been ages.

Our lady of leisure

This was our little tiger last night...nicely curled up washing herself by my pillow, nice! She is such a cutie at bedtime always wanting lots of cuddles and to know we are there when the light goes out. Bless.

Home life

New Things

Life is always more engaging and exciting when you have a bit of change i.e. new things! Tea towel from my Mum, a little project completed (cleaning out the golden syrup from the tin to make a vase - I've been meaning to do this for ages as we don't really eat the stuff!) and new flowers (anyone know what they're called? They look like hydrangeas) and finally, best of all, our new baby kitty who has already successfully managed (like all cats) to wrap us around her little paw.

Sweet treats

This afternoon was all about basking in sunshine (although in scarf and wooly jumper), sipping tea and eating macaroons - lime kaffir and sugar palm. Yum! Today I'm missing my gorgeous cousin Laura's wedding in Surrey, England so am sending her lots of best wishes for this very special day. I know she will make a beautiful bride and I cannot wait to see the photos!

Right now I'm rugged up on the sofa watching Midsomer Murders (what happened to Downton Abbey?) and about to sink my spoon into a tub (full size of course) of Ben and Jerry's Phish Food - which is without a doubt my favourite. Hmm yes, the health kick resumes tomorrow...

Hope you're having just as sweet a Sunday!

Sunshine

The sun has got his hat on hip, hip, hip, hip hooray!

Okay, we’re in the deepest darkest depths of winter but that doesn’t always mean grey skies and unrelenting rain. Well, not in Australia. We’re very lucky that for the third weekend in row now we’ve been able to enjoy non stop sunshine! Today it’s positively mild when you step outside.

Above are some pretty vintage cards I picked up from Newspaper Taxi (great shop, highly recommend a visit) that made my Sunday, along with a couple of finds which I’ll share with you later this week!

Hope you have a lovely week ahead and some treats planned to keep you going through the harder parts (my secret weapon ;-)). x

p.s. Happy 4th of July to those celebrating!

Muted colours

Our little place,  normally a riot of colour, is a blaze with sunshine at the moment. Almost a fortnight of non stop sunny, cloudless days. Such a joy.

Loving my new natives that 'you know who' bought me when he got back from his trip earlier this week :-) I think I'm going to let them dry out and keep them as dried flowers for that winter feel (as we approach the cold front) - what do you think? To dry or not to dry?

In bloom

My hyacinth has come into bloom and it's such a pretty shade of purply blue. I have now moved it to my dressing table to brighten each morning. I don't know how long it will last but I hope it's a while as I'm really quite taken with it!

That plate of sponge fingers you see is a childhood favourite. My brother and I used to have them as a friendly companion to our ice cream and maple syrup. Last night I had some with a cup of tea and they are now a staple in the biscuit tin! Speaking of my brother, it's his birthday today, happy birthday little bro! :-)

For the love of flowers

Isn't it funny how a beautifully styled room is just not complete without a beautiful stem or bunch of flowers? Whether freshly picked, scooped up from the local florist, quickly snatched while on the food run at the supermarket or carefully selected fakes (like my cream and plum coloured hydrangeas), I don’t think any part of my home would look quite as good without.

The colour purple

I never showed you my Easter table or how I would have styled it had we been at home this year. In the end I didn't do one (despite all my ideas!) but I did find some fallen flowers to float in a bowls when we were up at North Stradroke island. I have become quite smitten with purple since discovering these little beauties.

Here is my purple hyacinth below which I bought from my florist today, I can't wait to see it grow and open up. It's lovely to be able to buy the same flowers which are out in bloom right now back home in England. And my lavendar is going strong over there on the wooden chest - which I am quite obsessed with at the moment, I just think the wood is so beautiful!

Hope you're all having a great weekend, mine seems to have been packed but I'm having a lovely restful evening now with Mr Cornflake :-)

Silver trays and grey linings

Well I've felt like the sky above me just wants to burst it's cotton wool like grey clouds all over my new trench coat today but I have my large old fashioned umbrella at the standby. I wonder if we'll have a storm tonight...

Must get around to cleaning my silver tray which sits on our wooden chest and keeps staring at me every time I curl up on the sofa. A flea market vintage find,  can you believe my silver tray was once a wedding present...?

Vintage finds

Hello, did you have a nice weekend? Today I thought I'd post some of my latest vintage treasures, including a few of the little glass bottles I was talking about the other day. That little round perfume bottle next to the old Harrods tea tin, I found at the flea markets. It's crystal and the seller only wanted $10 for it. I don't think you can buy anything from the shops for $10 today.

The lovely trunk you can see that everything's on we picked up at the national garage sale that was on last Sunday. It is very beautiful and got many admiring glances when we took it home. It was a complete bargain for $30 and will store our picnic throws and rugs for the time being.

We have lots to organise before Easter and feel like busy bees. Hopefully I will be back before we break up for the holidays. Wishing you a lovely week :-)

Tuesday Treasures

A couple of little treasures that have found their way into our home over recent weeks.

The little gold frame on the left I bought on Etsy as part of a set of four (you may have seen this on the front cover of my Vogue the other week - the print in this one is my favourite). I couldn't resist, they're so pretty and despite all my hunting around flea markets, antique and bric a brac shops and op shops I haven't seen anything like them before.

The ginger jar I bought at my local antique shop (not everything in there is by definition 100 years old, it's mostly full of things from the 70's and 60's and this vase definitely isn't antique but it was a great price and something I've been after for a while).

Now this fresh flowers girl has gone a little faux (in some areas) and these beautiful rich plum coloured hydrangeas are in fact not real, however they do a wonderful job of looking stunning and that's good enough for me! :-)

Today I have joined My Uncommon Slice of Surburbia for Tuesday's Treasures.
Wishing you a treasure filled Tuesday.

Friday Flowers

Pretty flowers have been sitting on my dressing table this week from Mr Cornflake - to cheer me up in the height of my flu. So pretty.

Well, we're frantically packing this morning for our weekend in Brisbane. Looking forward to the break and catching up with his family and friends who live there and am hoping I get time to visit the lovely Simone's shop finally in Bulimba!

Have a lovely weekend, be back later next week! xx

A morning with Vogue

I have the morning to myself and what better way to spend it than with Vogue and the last remaining chocolates we were given recently (luckily for me, Mr Cornflake doesn't have much of a sweet tooth!)

Cannot believe how early it is to be up on a Saturday morning (8.30am) but I'm bursting with energy...I only hope it isn't from the wine we drank last night because that means I'm in for a tired afternoon!

Wishing you a joyous weekend xx

New vintage finds

A few finds from our weekend in the Blue Mountains (which was lovely and so theraputic being back in nature). A gorgeous little vintage perfume bottle with 'Made in England' stamped on the bottom, a cute black cloisonne apple trinket box and a white/off cream jug - which was actually bought new (on sale) from a gift shop. The little round vintage flower painting I bought online a few weeks ago, it is now one of my favourites, so pretty.

Really amazed my roses are still going strong, it's been over a week!

Sparing a thought today for everyone in Japan - I seriously cannot believe that the world is experiencing yet another horrendous natural disaster. If there is a take away thought this week it is that life is fragile and to be cherished every moment of every day.