Bunny time!

Happy Easter to everyone! This Easter is a little bit of a non-event for me.  The hubby has gone fishing for the day, leaving at some ungodly hour this morning. So I've got a day of relaxing, watching some of "my shows" - completely uninterrupted which is sheer bliss, and am having lunch with my Mum & Dad at their neighbours house. Hope the bunny found everyone today.... personally, I prefer my eggs to look pretty like the picture above. 

Mix & Match it...

{ find this and more inspiration here }

This sort of style cannot be ordered bought at a shop or ordered online.... the mix of elements make it so unique and personal and let's face it, I'm always a sucker for a bit of fabric interplay.... in fact, being someone who LOVES fabric so much (and has soooo many, most of which are in a cupboard) I really don't use them enough around my home in an interesting way.... this has inspired me to do just that..... one day.....

How much is that doggy in the picture...

{ the top 2 images were found via elements of style and the last one I couldn't resist including although I can't remember where I found it... sorry x }

Given my love of my four legged babies I have recently turned my attention to incorporating art that captures the little personalities of these beautiful creatures. It seems I'm not alone..... people have been commissioning artworks of their pooches for centuries. I love the beautiful oil paintings in those elaborate and ornate frames. I'm thinking I might start a little collection of art featuring dogs... and of course I'll have to commission one of my own for our gorgeous Gus. He is too divine for words!

Faith

{ stumbled across this image on pinterest last night... it's for a wedding but seemed to fit the bill perfectly}

Patience is not my strong point.  However, it turns out that patience is a key ingredient when making a garden, along with a bit of faith. Over the past few days I have planted some seeds..... Seeds make me very nervous. I never know how far down to put them, do you put them all in the one hole, will they all grow, will any grow??  Being a visual person I think I prefer buying a punnet or a small plant and watching it grow. At least there's some sign of life from the get-go... With a seed you just have to plant, wait and hope for the best...... which I am doing right now. I promise to reveal in the coming weeks whether I have had any success.... in the meantime I am doing my best to have faith in the process of life, and willing my little seeds to grow...... 

A delightful day for a Garden Party!

{ me in the red & white spots and shimmers in black and grey.... hat sisters for the day }

{ a marquee, bunting, pom poms & flowers - all the ingredients for a garden party! }

{ post party enjoying a glass of wine - our friend lesley in front, my dad, shimmers & my mum in hot pink }

{ the wine fitted so perfectly with our floral theme! }

On Wednesday, my Mum and I hosted a Garden Party for my darling bestie Shimmers (who I like to call my sister), as she battles brain cancer for the 2nd time. It was a wonderful day full of love and generosity and tea and we raised $1600 for her. We both said a few words (Shimmers & I) but unfortunately neither one of us could hold back the tears - a little embarassing in front of 40 people!

It really does restore your faith in the goodness of humankind when things like this happen and how kind, generous and supportive people can be - often even strangers. So once again a big thankyou to everyone who gave so generously for our day and to the weather Gods who really turned the sunshine on for us - something that is not a given when you live in this part of the world!

One day....

{ if you feel the need you can trace this image here }

One day I hope that I will be able to step out into my garden and pick a beautiful bunch of flowers like this..... However, I'm learning that the garden is a slow build... it takes time... and I'm impatient. Bunches of flowers like this one don't just happen overnight... the garden is a process. I'm pretty sure it's going to teach me a lesson about life. Something along the lines of good things take time and a lot of tender loving care. Occasionally you'll plant things and expect brilliant blooms only to find that they weren't in fact suited to the soil, position or just didn't happen. Other things will be a wonderful surprise and will blossom to a point that takes your breath away.

Wow, that was deep. Amazing what a picture of a beautiful bunch of roses can do!

Picture Perfect

{ taken by yours truly }

Have I shown this picture before? I can't remember.... It's the front entrance to our house and I stumbled across this piccy in my files the other day and I must say that I was a little bit chuffed at how good it looked! You see, it doesn't seem to look like this every day.... particularly when it's raining and the pooch has run all over those pavers with his muddy feet. Anyhoo, this is photographic evidence that it can look fabo - no retouching required!

We are set for a cracking sunny day today in the Highlands which makes me extremely happy - especially since it's Saturday and I can do with the day what I please! Happy Saturday to all x 

Cute Pooches

{ source of pic is from this little blog that I check out occasionally }

Apart from our pooch, who is the most adorable, divine creature that ever walked this planet, these two little guys are pretty damn cute! Not to mention their gorgeous accessories and don't even get me started on that pink chair with the cream piping. Divine with a capital D. Love it almost as much as I love the fact that it's Friday afternoon and it's almost time for me to clock off from what has been a very hectic work week and enjoy a cheeky glass of vino... xox

We made it!

{ not a picture of us but I would very much like to own that dress! }

Yesterday we celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary..... I know 3 years doesn't really sound like much but for me it is somewhat of a milestone. Given we were married in a Catholic church we were required to attend a marriage preparation course. Sam, not being Catholic was not thrilled at the prospect and in fact turned up the first night wearing a t-shirt with a picture on the front which if you looked closely revealed a bare chested woman - with stars for nipples! I imagine it was a subconscious protest about being forced to attend something he didn't believe in!

Anyhoo, I digress.... I remember the first night of the course them revealing some alarming statistics about the divorce rates in Australia and the one that stuck in my mind was that the majority of marriages that breakdown will do so in the first 3 years. So, we've hit that milestone - not necessarily with flying colours, we've definately had our moments, but in any case it's onward and upward for Mr & Mrs Nott.... Cheers to that!

Too busy to blog....

{ no time to find "the perfect image" for this post so here's 3 of my latest faves from here }

Having a very busy week trying to get things done around the house and garden now that the sun is shining in all it's glory, balanced with paid work which is piling up. I really need to spend the day at the computer but with the weather so perfect the outdoors keep calling me.  Am definately too busy to blog amidst all the craziness but one must take time out to smell the roses, and blog! 

A quickie...

It's Sunday morning and I'm at the computer with my cup of earl grey tea doing a little bit of work prior to spending the day in the garden... I have a full day of "projects" to get through... not sure there's going to be enough hours. Happy Sunday to all x

Sad and Mad with a dose of Gracious....

{ i found it here }

Unfortunately for me there's been a few things happen lately that have made me both sad and mad.... not a good combo as I'm sure you'd agree!! And then this morning I stumbled across this quote and it seemed the perfect piece of advice for the situation I find myself in, and one that has been echoed a few times of late by friends I truly admire and respect....

“Be pretty if you can, be witty if you must, be gracious if it kills you.” -Elsie de Wolfe

Hello Sunshine....

{this image says "sunshine" to me }

{ this pretty much sums up how I felt upon waking up to sunshine this morning } 

{ colours & patterns make a room feel permanently sunny }

It's been raining here for the last 2 weeks.... no seriously, 2 weeks no exaggeration. Everything is wet, messy and generally dreary. So when I awoke this morning to sunshine I jumped out of bed (yes, jumped) feeling like everything was right with the world again. Next I did what one has to do in this part of the world when the sun is shining - I put on a load of washing and started to make a list of all the things I could now do with this change in the weather. 

However, since then (about 3 hours ago), the sun has disappeared under a cloud, the washing is out but doesn't look like drying anytime soon and subsequently my early morning joyousness has slumped a little. Time to take the pooch for a walk (while there's no rain) and wait for that pesky cloud to pass!