My vegie patch

Living at the back of the post office certainly has its up and downs.

One of the biggest is the fact that I can't garden like I used to at our home in suburban Melbourne.

One thing that husband could see that I was missing was a garden, so in the middle of last year and in the deep throws of winter, he dug up a patch of lawn up and created a vegie patch for me.

When the months got warmer I decided what to plant and I have to say my first foray into growing strawberries has been a mammoth success.

Whilst I probably haven't even had enough yet for a punnet, there is nothing more satisfying than tasting something fresh from the garden.

I've also currently got a second round of butter lettuce, four beautiful tomoto bushes that are bursting with fruit albeit green, leeks, zuchinni, baby egg plant and cucumbers on the go along with parsley, basil, tarragon and thyme.

I've also started to plant pumpkin and watermelon!! I hope that these will grow quick enough for me to enter into the local Dalgety Show!! Fingers crossed!

The vegie patch

How many tomatoes can you see??

Zuchinni, Baby Eggplant & Cucumbers

Yummy Strawberries!

Wonderful White Kitchens

Even though Myy White Homestead is still a little way off from being created - I can't help but look at the internet for inspiring Kitchen ideas.

I love the idea of a full white kitchen - with a few accent colours, maybe lime green, red or black - colours that move effortlessly through fads.

I would also like to have a couple of french doors leading out to a courtyard garden or onto a big expanse of green grass.

Over the last few months of 2010 I got spoilt with alot of new kitchen applicances - namely Ruby the red Kitchenaid mixer and a beautiful food processor with attached blender.

So my kitchen will need to have loads of storage space and I want it to be large enough to include a big family dining table.

The heart of a home is its kitchen and that's where most of us spend our days - making dinner, creating cakes or having a cuppa at the table with friends and family.

This one just lets in soooo much lovely light!

Loving to stove



If I was to win lotto - this would be my ideal kitchen!





Mmmmm - Lime Green - it just makes the Kitchen look fresh!



Scissors & Glue

Thanks to Tina at Rubies Place - I have done a little bit of art and craft over the last couple of days and have come away with Butterflies in a Frame.

I got the paper online at a store called Pretty Paper and the frame is a find from a trip to Freedom.

I was hoping to find an older antique type frame but they seem to be hiding at the moment!!

Whilst it's certainly not award winning or as stunning as Tina's - I'm proud of myself of getting it completed and am going to hang it in the study area of the post office residence.

I've had it standing in the post office today and I have had a few comments - I'm actually thinking that if I could get my hands on a few cheap frames they could make great cheap birthday presents!

I hope you like what I made with scissors and glue :)

Tis French - of course!

I love Louis XV Bodine Arm Chairs - all though I simply call them French chairs.

They simply add a little peice of granduer to any room - you could add one of these little beauties to your laundry and instantly add a bit of glam not to mention a great place to sit after you do your ironing - very Marie Antoinette!

I've been looking at purchasing two of these chairs for quite some time but now living in the back of the post office room is at a premium and there is no way husband would allow me to add more chairs to my growing population of clearance sales purchases.

I envisage that My White Homestead will feature at the very least two of the Louis XV Bodine Arm Chair's - one in our bedroom is a must and another in the formal lounge or as my nanna used to call it "the good room"!

I love ones that feature gorgeous fabric - they then become a style peice to livin up a room - Ive added a few to show you all today!

Photo - from beekeeperscottage.com

My new book

Savvy Chic - is exactly as the title describes.

It's a little book by author Anna Johnson on how shop "cheap" without looking "cheap" if you get my drift.

I've been pouring over the pages and finding out so much.

I especially loved the chapter called "Queen of the Fleas - How to buy beautiful old things".

In the course of my dreamings of My White Homestead my husband is often caught off guard by the things that I bring home from clearance sales - chairs, old glass bottles, etc - the chapter is a great insight into knowing what to leave and what really has great value.

If you love a good "girlie" book that has substance and some useful information that you can acutally use - I would recommend Savvy Chic to all and sundry!!

The brilliant photographic stylings of Jeremy Beasley

WOW - this guy CAN take photos.

The Snowy Mountains and Monaro are surrounded by some very talented photographers and I am lucky to know quite a few of them.

I also like to take (try) arty farty type photos but they never seem to have the same appeal of those that actually know what they are doing - but I keep trying and occasionally I take one that I think is pretty good.

Recently I attended a childhood friends wedding in Canberra and have just seen the wedding photos that were taken by an amazing photographer by the name of Jeremy Beasley.

I was really taken by the photos that he took recently of a wedding near Bunyan.

Think vintage, think cute, think relaxed .

The property you’re imagining is over 100 years old and has amazing gardens with roses propogated from as early as the 1500′s!

The garden and surrounds that are captured by Jeremy inspire me to get out the Sony Cybershot and start taking photos of roadside mailboxes!!

I hope Jeremy doesn't mind, but Ive included just three photos that really captured my imagination and I hope that you enjoy them as much as I do and will for many years to come....

When the heavens open

Its just shocking to see how much destruction can come from the heavens.

I can't but feel completely helpless - watching poor families lose all of their belongings, property and stock as the floods sweep through south east Queensland.

The amount of water that has gone through Toowoomba has to be seen to be believed and I pray for those families who now have missing family members and many prayers for those who have passed away.

Being Australian's we will look after each other - that's what makes us unique - the ability to come together in times of crisis and hardtimes.

I lived in Melbourne during Black Saturday (7 Feb 2009) and it was so amazing to see the amounts of food, clothes, furniture etc come from all over Australia to assist with the rebuiling of people's lives, homes and businesses, and its so wonderful to see that same effort coming again for those affected by the floods.

Lets hope that the rain stops soon....

Our holiday house

A rainy Sunday afternoon is making me think how wonderful it will be at Easter time when we head to the south coast to the seaside town of Currarong.

We are renting a beautifully renovated fishermans cottage where we will be just 50mtrs from the beach and most importanly we can take along the 3 fur children!

I can already smell bacon and eggs cooking in the kitchen and reading the paper all day on the deck whilst enjoying one or two bottles of Sav Blanc.

Eating way too much fresh seafood is never too much or is taking long relaxing walks along the beach.

And sleeping in late a luxury rarely seen now due to post office life!

Ooooo yes - I can feel the sand under my toes and the smell of the ocean - only a few more months to go.......