Floral Art Friday

A profusion of blue scabious, peach and maroon roses, purple salvia and grey-green foliage, gathered together in a hand-tied posy.
The mass and myriad of flowers in the garden at the moment reminds me of this joyous song, which is one of the earliest rounds still known, and is estimated to date from around 1260.

Svmer is icumen in,
Lhude sing cuccu!

(Summer is a-coming in,

Loudly sing, Cuckoo!)

Pretty Things

I don't often buy whimsical items (even if thrift-priced) without putting them down, thinking, going back, rethinking ... and usually deciding I don't need the item.

But today I simply saw these, paid and immediately left.

Seems I'm developing a desire for chintz (I know it's always been there, deep down). I think Posy's georgeous photos must be to blame!

Savoury Cornmeal Muffins

Boo wouldn't touch these, while Jumps wolfed them down. Well, you can't please everyone!

Recipe courtesy of a "Family Circle" cookbook I thrifted at the fete for 30c, with a few additions of my own.

Savoury Cornmeal Muffins

(makes 12)

• 11/2 c self-raising flour
• 1 c polenta (cornmeal)
• 1/4 t salt
• 1T chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2t seeded mustard
• 1/2 c creamed corn
• 1/2 c shredded shaved ham
• 1/2 c grated tasty cheese
• 1 c milk
• 2 eggs
• 125g butter, melted and cooled

1. Preheat the oven to 200C
2. Brush muffin tins with melted butter to grease.
3. Mix flour, cornmeal, salt. Stir in cheese, parsley and ham.
4. In a jug whisk milk, creamed corn and mustard. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the mixture in the jug. Add the melted butter.
5. Fold gently; do not overmix.
6. Fill muffin holes three-quarters full. Bake for 25 mins or until muffins are risen and golden.
7. Lift from tin, then cool on a wire rack.

Evening Delight

Boo enjoying the evening sunshine on our field.

Butterflies

A morning browse through bargain stores yielded a large wooden frame and three charming blue watered-silk mounts, perfect for framing these butterfly watercolours.
I dislike seeing insects pinned to a board, interesting as such things can be. So I'm pleased that these give the same effect as pinned specimens, without having harmed anything.

Nature's Artistry

Birds' nests rest on a windowsill at Red Cow Farm.

Quilt Show

Our Sunday morning treat was a 'girls only' visit to a Quilt Show with my mother.
Such a wonderful display! An entire house (in one of the prettiest -- and most plush -- nearby highlands towns) turned into an exhibition centre for the weekend. Every room was draped with glorious quilts -- all very different -- but every one an artwork.
My favourite was this 1930s original ... the fabrics are so distinctively 30s, that it really seems to be a tangible piece of someone's home life.

Afterwards of course we had tea in the beautiful gardens ...

... then a picnic in the park, and (I have to include this!) a surprisingly rest stop with the most picturesque and inaccessable Ladies bathroom I have ever experienced!

An Edible Flower Garden

A quiet evening yielded a mass of pretty, edible flowers. I have a nifty little rubber mould into which I press small dobs of tinted wedding-cake icing, then turn the flowers out and paint the centres with food colouring.

They do look sweet adorning the top of cupcakes and sponges.

Red Cow Farm

It's the season for open gardens, and some of our happiest days are spent rambling through these beautiful places.
Boo and I always take a picnic, and the admission fees are tiny (I'm seldom charged for Boo), so it's a thrify day out. But best of all it offers an excursion that suits us both: he's free to run and explore, while I enjoy seeing how each garden is designed and planted.
Yesterday we set off with friends to visit Red Cow Farm. I went through this garden a year ago in April, so was curious to see the difference wrought by a change of season.
The entrance is charming ...

... and a shaded walk leads to a statue of Pan playing his pipes ...

... and down to the ornamental pond, surrounded by masses of yellow irises.

The garden is designed as a serious of 'rooms', so every corner leads to a completely different view. We passed through a rose garden, vegetable garden, orchard, tennis lawn, azalea garden, bluebells, daffs (just over) and this charming monastery garden ...

Boo and Hayden enjoyed every moment, dashing around to discover ducks, bridges and benches. All three children (including the baby, Amber) were absolutely exhausted and slept the whole way home.

Summer fruits

A perfect picnic offering, these summer fruit skewers (with marshmallows) look as good as they taste -- and are a marvellously healthy treat.

Tulip Time

The borders of tulips were beautiful at the little park where we stopped for a picnic on Friday: in this lovely spot we we drank tea in rosy porcelain cups, ate sandwiches and summer fruit skewers, played ball, and explored the park's summer house and wishing well.

A Granny is ...

... someone who watches Playschool with you, curled up together in a Bob-the-Builder bed with a matching blanket.

Oh, lucky Boo!

Card making

The chance discovery of several butterfly watercolours I painted years ago brought on a burst of much-postponed card making.

One for Granny and Papa, thanking them for our lovely holiday, another for a little boy's first birthday, and the third a "thinking of you".

I do think that homemade cards are so much nicer and more thoughtful than the bought ones. I also enjoy that they're much less expensive, too.

Meet Daisy the Cow

Boo and I walked along the seaside at Toytown this morning, and were both impressed by Daisy's current finery.

She stands outside the Old Fire Station, which has been transformed into the Community Arts Centre, and she is repainted regularly by local artists. When Daisy comes out, the centre is open.

Flying High

Such a sweet and thrifty idea!

These little planes (bought for $1 each at Sunday's market), are cannily crafted from wooden pegs, painted matchsticks and ice-cream sticks. Tied with a piece of elastic to a stick, they fly through the air with a satisfactory "whooshing" sound.

Boo delightedly played solo with his for ages. However, when his little friend came to play, I gifted one to her with less success -- the two couldn't resist whacking each other almost constantly before said toys were confiscated!

Vanuatu

Vanuatu was glorious; six days of tropical sunshine, lush greenery, swimming, snorkeling, building sandcastles, shopping and lazing.

Boo delighted in everything!

Watching the planes at the airport was the first great excitement ...

... and once onboard he listened to music, played with toys, chatted to everyone, and was generally very good -- but busy! Luckily there were seven of us (Mum, Dad, Jumps, me and my nephews, Axl, Oliver and Nicolaas) to share him around.

Since we had four children, ages 13, 10, 8 and 2 to entertain, we stayed at a plush resort, which had plenty of equipment and activites.

Early each morning Boo and Jumps met up with the nephews in the pool, leaving Mummy, Granny and Papa to sleep and sleep ...

In the afternoons we occasionally pottered into Vila for supplies -- the food was outrageously expensive at the resort, so we lived on French bread, yoghurt, coconuts and pawpaw (no hardship!), bought at the enchanting open-air market.

The water was magic; clear, warm, and still...

... perfect for a little ocean explorer ...

... and teeming with coral and tropical fish (called "Nemos" by Boo).

Could there be any better testament to the success of the holiday than this picture, taken at the airport on the way home?

Sunday, Perfect Sunday

Today we had perfect weather for a spring Sunday ramble through a pretty garden.
"Chinoiserie" is quite young, but beautifully designed, and renowned for its Peonies, one of my favourite flowers. They're so wonderfully blowsy and excessive, it's impossible not to be impressed.

Boo was delighted by the little greenhouse set beside a forest of Chinese parasols, the tiny running stream, and the three chickens (intriguingly named after Archangels) ...

... while the white storybook cottage was a highlight for me ...

On the way home we stopped at a local market for blossom honey, homemade marmalade, huge bags of crisp Fuji and Pink Lady apples (at half the price of those at the supermarket), juicy oranges, lettuce, green beans and spinach.

And when we walked across the park for a picnic lunch, there was a high-school brass band playing. Mum and I drank tea and ate sandwiches under the trees, while Boo bopped along to the tunes.

What more could a Sunday have to offer?

Tropical Blooms

There was tropical colour everywhere in Vanuatu!

Sleeping Beauty

Boo hasn't wanted an afternoon nap for months, but today the sway of the car and post-holiday exhaustion made sleep irresistable. Imagine my surprise when we arrived at the supermarket, and I looked back to find my small boy insensible in the car seat.
What to do?

Line the bottom of a trolley with a thick, comfy coat and stack my shopping all around his sleeping body!
He didn't stir, even when I popped him back into the car seat and we drove home. I only heard a sleepy voice say "Please, milkia!" once he was back in his own soft bed. And then he slept until morning.

Three Little Australians

Lately Boo and I have been fortunate to meet some native Australian animals up close.

At Grandma's we fed a Kookaburra, the largest member of the kingfisher family, which has lovely plumage and a distinctive laugh-like call.
Back home, our garden teems with native birds, including rosellas, cockatoos, magpies, galahs and kookaburras. But most are shy and fly quickly away if you approach them.

This male King parrot, however, perched in a tree just outside the window and chatted animatedly to Boo and I; when we came back from finding him some honey biscuits he was waiting for us on the dryer in the laundry! I think he must have been a caged bird, because he was wonderfully friendly.

Even more of a treat, thisa little echidna crossed the road in front of us as we drove home from a shopping trip. We stopped quickly and watched him waddle into the bush. While there are plenty of echidnas about, we seldom see them. They do have the dearest little faces and leathery brown snouts!

Floral Art Friday

Wildflowers and grasses picked from the side of the road and arranged in a basket (bought for 10c at a fete).