Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Washing Day at the farm house


We are having such beautiful weather here at the farm house. Yesterday I walked outside and saw Mr FH's work clothes drying on the clothes line. When I came to live here 33 years ago I had this typical Aussie farm house clothes line and I hated it but over the years I realise it is just part of the Aussie farm life. It is a strong wire tied between two trees - nothing special but it really is the best line for drying clothes. The slightest breeze just drifts through the clothes and they are dry in no time.






So my clothes line has stayed and will continue to remain there until I leave the farm.


Suzy

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Wicker Furniture

Wow, I can't believe it's Tuesday already!! I must be getting old as I think that every week. I have just been down to my beach house for the weekend and the weather was perfect!! Not so good for the farmers though but I did enjoy the warm sun on the weekend.





































This week I have set up a little table in our oat crop - as you can see from these photos the crop is only about 5in high when at this time of the season it should be about 3ft high!! Such a shame- there is going to be some very sad stories from many farmers this year but we will be ok. We have our wonderful healthy family so really we can deal with every thing else.



























This is a little wicker table and chairs off my front porch which you can see here.



This is an old quilt I made many years ago out of a pretty panel but I really like the colours in it.





































My cute little bird house matched in with the red, yellow and green tonings.




What a gorgeous sunny morning for a cuppa and a cup cake.





This beautiful green and white cup was the start of this week's table - I received it many years ago (about 16 actually) after my dear old dad died. He sadly died from cancer and here in Australia we have Daffodil Day and The Biggest Morning Tea which are fundraisers for the Cancer Foundation.  





I decided to hold a luncheon for 20 friends who all paid me $20 to attend so I donated the $400 to the Cancer Council in memory of my dad. In appreciation the Council sent me this lovely little cup and saucer.


























Cup cakes in red and white spotted paper really finished off the setting!!



























How cute is this cushion cover - it really is just perfect for a table setting out in the paddock in Australia.

I hope you have enjoyed your cuppa in the Aussie outback....


  























Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Do you love purple?






























I do!  I really, really love purple in the garden. I have lots of it. I also have lots of white and soft buttercup yellow daisies. I think purple is such a happy colour to have around. Funny isn't it that I don't wear a lot of purple though.
































Happy spring day!

                                                                        Suzy


Monday, September 20, 2010

Spring is in the air...





Spring is definitely in the air here in Western Australia - sadly we have had a very dry winter so all those pretty little flowers that love to self-seed in a cottage gardens just haven't happened.
I was shopping last week and found these pretty little butterfly covered plates - just the thing for a spring table!


They really are made in my colours - pinks and greens! I got the four plates all in a lovely pink box for $7.50. I tried my hardest to save the box but it was such a tight fit I couldn't remove the last two plates so I had to attack it with a large knife!!


I thought my silver chargers looked kind of spring like.



For my centre piece I used my cute white cake stand (without the cover) and piled up all the pastelly candles I could find in the house. I know purple isn't really pastel but I needed one a bit higher for the centre so in it went.



I used my craft punch and made tiny little butterflies to sprinkle all over the white cloth.



Even the silver flatware is shining nicely today!



 
What a pretty little pattern my cake stand makes on the cloth. I love this candle with the mauve dried flowers in it- so pretty.





































This lovely birdhouse with the pale green roof matches so nicely with my teapot and creamer and soft green Royal Albert teacup and saucer.



My champagne glasses look a little apricot colour here but they are a very soft pink. I have had these for years but I still love them and use them a lot.




More pretty candles in soft spring colours.



I really like the candles set up high like that. My mind has been starting to think about my Christmas table and I have been wanting something to lift the centre piece up a bit so maybe this could be an opition.



































The candles looked so nice once it had got a bit dark - candle light is just so magical!

Suzy


                                I'm joining:   TuesdayTeaforTwo@ThePlumedPen
                                                   TeacupTesday@Martha'sFavorites
                                                   TeaTimeTuesday@RoseChintzCottage
                                                   TeaCupTuesday@artfulafirmations
                                                   TeaPot&TeaThings@Breathoffreshair
                                                   TabletopTuesday@AStrollThruLife
                                                   TablescapeThursday@BetweenNapsonthePorch
                                                   ShowofyourCottage@TheHouseintheRoses
                                                   MosaicMonday@LittleRedHouse

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Candy striped Tuesday


This week I really needed a cuppa... we spent last weekend helping DNo 1 and her husband and young son shift house! Need I say more?  It is amazing how much 'stuff' we all accumulate. She had only been living in this house for 6 months and I have been at the farm house for 33 years so I hate to think how I could get all of my junk moved.





I bought two of these pretty cups a couple of years ago with the idea of smashing them up and using them for a mosaic but I just can't seem to bring myself to take to them with the hammer.






































Pretty little daisies always make me smile. When everything else in the garden has finished there are always a bunch of daisies to pick.




























Aren't these little sugar hearts just the cutest things? I'm so glad most of my friends don't take sugar so I can just use these for show LOL! I have used a side plate from my collection of Robert Gordon china which you can see here.




Mr FH picked this old stool up one day when he took the rubbish to the tip (on a farm you have to take your own rubbish to the tip!) so he brought it home for me. It was ugly brown and much higher so I sawed the legs off and painted it pink!




What a happy little spring flower - such pretty colours.





I covered my little tea bag tag with pretty paper - I find them very ugly so I always do this when I have friends coming.


Suzy


                                                                TeacupTesday@Martha'sFavorites
                                                             TeaTimeTuesday@RoseChintzCottage
                                                                TeaCupTuesday@artfulafirmations
                                                              TeaPot&TeaThings@Breathoffreshair
                                                                TabletopTuesday@AStrollThruLife
                                                      TablescapeThursday@BetweenNapsonthePorch
                                                              FridayPretties@iloveprettylittlethings
                                                                Show&Tell@MyRomanticHome
                                                           ShowofyourCottage@TheHouseintheRoses




















Monday, September 13, 2010

Time to Paint?

What do you think?  I am getting the urge to paint and redecorate and I'm thinking of painting my bedroom cream (I'm sure I had it cream years ago and now I'm doing a full circle LOL) and having it all in muted cream and white colours.

 
At the moment it is pink and flowery but maybe I'm past that..... You can see just how pink it is here. Son No1 said recently to his father that he could not see how he could sleep in here so that got me thinking..is it time for a change?

 



I have a lovely white bed cover under the quilts which I would keep and the curtains are white so they could stay so really it's just the paint colour and the accessories that would have to be changed.
I'm really warming to this I think. Dangerous really cos when I get something in my mind it can't stop thinking and planning. I would love to paint our bedhead which is pretty old but Mr FH is a bit boring like that..I'll have to work on him.

 


I'm actually not sure how I think I can find time for this but my mind is working overtime...





Suzy





Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Lemoncello

We have had a couple of sunny days now that spring is here - more rain is needed but I'm loving the warmer days.  I had quite a bit of gardening to catch up on (you know, those pots that come home from the nursery and get watered every now and again!!) so today was the day. After I was finished (that's me finished, not the garden!!) I decided it was time for some light refreshments.

 Have you ever had Lemoncello???  You don't know what you are missing...





































I have this beautiful shrub in the corner of the garden (I can't remember it's name) which is flowering madly so I cut off some branches and placed them in this green water pitcher.




Some tangy cheese - this is called Trilogy (it has Summer Herbs, Vintage Cheddar and Sun-dried Tomatoes) along with some crackers and some Pear Paste make quite a tasting plate.




Yum, how good does this look...






































And now for the lemoncello. I made it a while ago and have had it in the fridge. I made the label for the bottle on the computer just to jazz things up a little.







































As you can see the sun is starting to peek through to warm things up a little.





I love purple and green together and when I saw these pretty glasses at Ikea I just had to bring them home with me.




























Please join me for a small drink in the sunshine. I usually add soda water to a small nip of Lemoncello to make a really refreshing long drink.





LEMONCELLO

Peel 8 lemons and infuse peel with 1 ltr of Vodka or Gin (I left mine for about 48 hrs).
Boil together 1 ltr water and 1 kg sugar for 2 minutes.
Strain off lemons and mix liquids together when cool.
Enjoy




Suzy