Christmas Decorations at home

I took some of the christmas decorations home to take photo's, big mistake, you move things and there is an impression where it was standing, I am so not into housework, but now I know how much dust there is I cannot put it off any longer, Australia is a very dusty country, you can dust one day and the next day its back again, well thats a waste of time dont you think.

Anyway here are two photo's I took quickly last weekend

This is a photo of Joannes completed journal after doing the talented Judy Wilkenfeld's workshop here in Perth, looks great doesn't it.

Christmas decorating

We have just got in a wonderful line of Christmas decorations from the USA. Dollar was not good mmmh, but everyone is in the same boat. For a long time I have admired the American feather trees so we got a few of these. They are beautiful and made of real goose feathers, make a real statement especially if you don't have the room for a large tree, we got these in the 36" size also a small one 12" which looks lovely in a bowl surrounded bey baubles or a lovely vintage tea cup. We also got two of the silver tinsel trees in 24" and the cutest 8" miniature for those who love to decorate with white and silver. We also got a variety of the lovely cream bottlebrush trees that came in a set of 3, we are also selling them individually, they have strings of pearls wrapped around the tree.

We also got in a lovely range of snow village houses and churches, one has a green bottle brush covered in snow above a small house covered in snow, just look at the bottom to the left. and to the right is the tallest church at just over 12" high, this one is all pale cream with a wreath above the door and bottle brushes each side. The other church at 10" with a silver roof with drifts of snow, dark green bottle brush trees and a steeple. the two village houses are about 6" high white with silver roof, snow and dark green trees. There is also a winters eve village all covered in snow and a couple of miniature reindeer, too cute.The old German Santa with switches completes the picture, these photo's are taken of our shop window arrangements. I have looked longingly in American magazines especially Romantic Homes and Victoria that have featured these Christmas Trees and Churches and Houses for years but have never seen them here in Australia. I also love the romantic white decor and these go perfectly, ever the romantic mmmh. I will take some of these home today and photograph around my home to see how they look and will post them for you to see what they look like in the home.

Gardening

I am fighting the rise in food prices by growing my own vegetables, we got this corrugated container to start our first little plot. Last year I grew a few vegetables and herbs in polystyrene boxes with organic soil, this went quite well. Only problem was I planted the little cherry tomatoes in a pot and my dear hairy friend decided that she liked tomatoes and as they ripened she would pluck them off, I think I got about 2, but I am not giving up, will put some net around the one in above garden, bit of pepper might help to keep that big moist nose out, that sniffs to see when tomato has ripened. I have also lost faith in vegetables in supermarkets, tasteless and no idea how long they have been in storage. My organic vegetables have also got very expensive. Must be good soil the radish and carrot seeds where up within days, must of been old seed carrots as they still haven't appeared. I do like to go out and pick fresh vegetables and herbs for a meal. That is sawdust on the ground, the soil here is not good, constantly needing feeding and dry as a bone.
We also took up the paving and put a new garden separating the gazebo and large pergola, the idea is that the tree and shrubs will grow high and thick enough to form a screen to separate these two areas and provide a cooler backyard. You can see the agapantha's have taken well, these plants are so tough, I have planted a lovely jasmine to climb over the iron archway, that should look and smell good. I do love perfumed plants in my back yard.And this is my wisteria, well it is only its second year, once it grows along this pergola it will look amazing!

Bridgetown

Above this beautiful rose was a rare one we saw, if you breath in you could imagine the perfume.

What a wonderful little town with such a great community spirit, and the shops, a great variety, a wonderful art supplies shop too. Nestled in a valley, with hills both sides, some great cafes and lovely gardens everywhere, they take a pride in their town. They had this wonderful old jail in the main street which we couldn't resist looking through. Only two cells as serious offenders where sent on to Albany or Bunbury.

I don't think there was too many problems with prisoners trying to escape, they would have to be stick thin to get through this narrow opening in the wall with a chain all rusted up.A bolt on the door this size would be pretty hard to pick I would think.

This oven was in the tiniest little room out the back where the Policeman's wife cooked the prisoners meals, no cool feat in West Australian heat of summer. We don't know the meaning of hard work do we. These ovens have become fashionable again they are calling them pizza ovens.

These lovely old worn row of seats have come out of the picture theatre that is no longer around, just outside the little kitchen on the ivy covered veranda. We also took the opportunity to look at some of the lovely gardens open to the public. The lovely mauve wisteria was amazing, I am so envious makes mine look pretty pathetic. Driving along we would see an amazingly blooming bush growing over an old shed, presumably a house once stood there as well, how do they survive through the summer without water.

The gardens at this lovely little cottage nestled into the side of the hill where full of lush greenery.

Ford House, Bridgetown

whoa, I have been so busy I have not had time to update my blog, my apologies to those who take the time to read this blog, when I read some other blogs (don't have much time to do that either) I wonder if anyone finds mine interesting or not.

Joanne and I have been busy making things for craft fairs as well as keeping up with projects for our classes. The girls who do take classes are progressing well with their vintage silk and lace journals, I will include some photo's when we finish, this is a long project and we are taking a break for a little while. At the present we are making some christmas cards using Beryl Taylor techniques and then we will move onto a vintage look canvas.

I did manage to take a week off, or part of the week. John and I spent a week down south, I had a stall at the Westfibre Forum in Bunbury on Sunday and Monday. I would recommend participation at this forum they had excellent tutors and a good variety of classes. The forum was held for a week at the Catholic College just outside Bunbury, great venue. We spent Tuesday to Thursday with eldest daughter Kirsty, husband Peter and grandchildren Jack and Alyssa for a bit of rest and relaxation then went on to Bridgetown where we spent two lovely nights at the beautiful Ford House, the gardens where stunning all the images in this post are taken at this special place beside the river.early morning the river is like a mirror below the two bridges one a road the other a rail.this is the view from our room in the early morning, how relaxing is that, the view of the river is at the back of our room, one could get used to this I think.The roses are just starting to bloom but this beautiful buttery yellow Banksia rose was out in all its full glory.