Un-inspired, -motivated, -enthusiastic

I have been feeling all these things for the past few days. All these boring un- things. Perhaps brought on by exhaustion? My new meat-free diet? The changing of seasons?



Oh, the camellias are out. That's nice.

I will be back when my *SPARKLE* returns. Tomorrow, or the next day, most likely.

Happy weekend

I'm spending mine enjoying this gorgeous autumn weather, and hanging out with Stephanie Alexander.



Well, not the actual lady, just her kitchen garden book.



It's as though I'm very, very old, but really I'm 26. I can be tricky like that.

That could be arranged

My flower school leftovers often languish in a bucket in the laundry, but not this week. How could anyone let these beauties go to waste?

I fell in love with the hydrangea, then the hydrangea fell in love with the gumnuts, the gumnuts with the lotus pods, the pods with the flax...

The colours, especially in the hydrangea, are breathtaking. Ridiculous. Colours like this make the 3.20am start worth it.

Wash your shoes and hang em on the line

I did, and they smelt like frangipanis afterwards.*

The shoes in question are my Shulongs (comfortable dragon!), in case you're wondering. Definitely the comfiest of all the shoes. I want these ones next.

*That's a lie. Well, I washed them, but they didn't smell like frangipanis. Never did.

The Art of Living: Day 2

Compared to the dog-racing-flower-arranging-egg-displaying-bake-offing-madness that was Saturday, the second day of the festival was pretty chilled out.



The local girls got a chance to show off their dance moves, but were interrupted by a rainbow fairy princess.



My niece Elise visited the face-painting stand. So pretty!



My nephew Kai disappeared early on in the day, but Batman came to the party instead!



And people just hung out on the grass, in the sun with their family and friends, and listened to some really good live music.

The whole weekend left me with a warm fuzzy feeling. Bundeena is a weird and wonderful place.

Winner

As I may have already mentioned, my arrangement won the best flower category at Saturday's Village Fair.

So what if it was the only entry. A ribbon's a ribbon... right?

The Art of Living: Day 1

The Art of Living Festival kicked off last Saturday with the Village Fair.

The day was all about eggs, and the chickens who lay them.

It was about cupakes, and the kids who decorated them and really, really want to eat them.

It was about guinea pigs, and the families who love them. This little lady teared up when her gp didn't win a prize.

Home-grown vegetables, home-cooked cakes and home-made crafty things were also proudly displayed.

Prizes were awarded, some of them to us.

- Lockie came second in the Doggy Dash.

- Daydream's eggs won Most Unusual.

- And my floral arrangement won Best Flowers. I should probably mention that it was the *sole* entry in the category. Nevertheless, I took a ribbon home.

Close-ups

At the risk of sounding massively cheesy, taking pictures of bits and pieces of daily life helps me to appreciate The Beauty in the Little Things. Like the dodgy door handle and paint job on the Bundeena ferry. Someone painted the whole darn ferry with a paintbrush, you know?

The tiny-ness of poppy seeds. I planted these on the weekend and in 6 months time, they're going to be lovely, crinkly poppies, making more tiny seeds of their own. Is that not amazing?

Purple Spanish onion and shiny red mini Romas. So pretty, so delicious.

And Lockie. I don't exactly need pictures to appreciate Lockie ... but he is very photogenic.

I may notice these things fleetingly, but having a visual reminder helps me hang on to the little happy feeling they give me.

el tomate

Eeep! The flowers on our tomato plants are turning into fruit.

What a little beauty. See the old petals hanging off the bottom?

We're worried about fruit fly discovering and destroying the tomatoes, but I don't want to use any nasty chemicals to keep them away.

I read about an old lady with an amazing organic veggie patch who deters fruit fly by draping bits and pieces of old, colourful clothing over the top of her tomatoes. As you can see, I was inspired and have implemented a similar strategy.

Ooooh I hope it works. Home grown veggies definitely taste the best.

David Austin

So I realise I may be coming across as a total rose freak, but I'm not. For serious. And anyway, David Austins aren't like other roses, with layer upon layer of delicate little petals, they smell like roses should.

DAs can be thorny little bastards. They're not giving it up for just anyone, you gotta EARN it!

They have spontaneous little tantrums, each flower dropping all its petals in one go which is far more spectacular than slowly withering away. David Austin roses are such drama queens.