Ouch

They're back. Peonies are in the markets again for an all-too-brief time.

I love them so much it hurts.

Some most excellent flowers

Ooooohmigosh. Can you believe these ridiculous flowers? They're from those creepy pitcher plants that eat flies and stuff.

They're extremely cool, and would be amazing at a crazy jungle-themed event or something, except they smell like stinky armpits. I guess that's what you get for eating bugs all day.

These roses from a friend's garden are also DELIGHTFUL. The colour is amazing. I had to desaturate this photo, if you can believe it, as I didn't want to burn anyone's eyeballs with their actual fluorescence.

Whoopsie

I haven't been posting much lately - I've been distracted, and I'm blaming baby brain.

Please accept my apologies, and a tree peony.



Not into peonies? WIll some blossom do?



Alright, alright, you can have some glittery shoes, too.*

*These shoes are quite awesome, and they only set me back $15. Although when I wear them I invariably end up with a glitter-face to match. Meh, could be worse.

Little help

Do you know what this bush is called?

The flowers are like little fluffy clouds. It's blooming all over the place at the moment. It's purdy.

*ALSO*
if you are in Sydney and at a loose end over the weekend, go to DJs in the city and check out the flower festival. It's freaking beautiful. Run don't walk, it finishes on Sunday.

Springtime

Yeeheee, spring is here! There are some very very nice fleurs around at the mo, and it's just going to get better.



This is a welcome home posy I made for Chrissy's mum. Poor Babs came home today after 2 weeks in hospital recovering from a knee replacement operation. She's been such a battler and definitely deserved some flowers!

Gaaah, the colours. Springtastic, aren't they?

Muscaaaaah-ri

I arrived at the flower markets this morning feeling grouchy. The sheds smelt weird, I stepped in a puddle and my feet got wet, the iris were too small and the baby was apparently practising ultimate fighting manoeuvres in my belly, which was cool but distracting.

Then I spied this last teency bunch of grape hyacinth winking at me, and I snatched it up and it was mine and I was not grumpy anymore!



So I whipped around and did the buying for work in a flash, then picked up a few bunches of white ranunculus for the muscari to nestle in.

Ranunculus are the comfiest of the flowers, if you didn't know.

Purple flowers

Spring is definitely in the air, woohoo! A bunch of little purple flowers are popping up all over the garden to let us know. These violets smell SO GOOD I could walk around all day with a few stuffed up my nose.

Some Italian lavender, pretty and soft and also an olfactory treat.

And sweet peas, the seeds of which I planted on St Pat's day and have been hoping hoping hoping would bloom. They have, and they also smell amazing.

In other news, the bubba seems to be coming along nicely, and I am trying not to eat too many Doritos. God, they are so good.

Purchases, yipee!

Now that the morning sickness has passed, I actually feel like doing stuff again. Cooking, flower stuff, brushing my hair, that kind of thing. Also SEWING!

I ordered a bunch of Amy Butler fat quarters (that's what the size is called...weird) which arrived yesterday. OMIGOSH the colours are amazing.

I think I'll make a patchwork throw thing with them, but I'm procrastinating about starting as there's a good chance I will stuff it up. Must plan carefully, draw up a proper pattern etc. before I go cutting things up willy-nilly.

My other exciting online purchase was these Marc by Marc Jacobs earrings, which I discovered on Oh Joy! They are tiny fricking deer studs, a necessary acquisition in my books.

Lockie hearts sweet peas

I busted Lockie admiring my sweet peas this morning, and so, being stuck at home waiting for The Telstra Man to come and fix all our internet woes, decided to make a little wreath for his head (Lockie, not The Telstra Man).

He really liked it. I was worried that wearing such an accessory might compromise the little guy's masculinity, but he doesn't even lift his leg to pee so I don't think it's a big deal.

Oh, hello.

I woke up thinking about peonies this morning. They are so lovely.

It has been over a month since my last post - very bad. To all my adoring fans (Dad?), I apologise.

I have not been taking pictures. I have not really been interested in very much.

And this is why.

The first trimester has not been a joy, its main features having been unrelenting nausea, crippling exhaustion and spews that just sneak up without warning (tmi?). I will be 14 weeks on Friday so hopefully it is NEARLY OVER.

I promise this will not become a Baby Blog. But I thought I should explain my absence.

Birds on a wire

Are they white pigeons? Are they doves? Are they the same thing? I don't know. Either way, they were arranged very photogenically on their wires.

I can't believe it's winter. It's not that upsetting... only 3 months til spring, and jonquils and poppies are already at the markets. Eeep!

Road trippin'

Last weekend Mum, Chris and I drove 6 hours to Bellingen for my Aunt Gill's 60th birthday party.

We stayed in a pretty rad house with some other people. Very lovely ones. A kookabura visited on Saturday morning - isn't he a super cute guy! He stole Chris' ham and cheese croissant the next day.



We walked across the river to a Growers Market on Sunday. Lots weird things and hippies there, but the weather and the autumn colours were goooorgeous.



Here's a hot tip: If you are ever in Bellingen you MUST visit the Hearthfire Bakery. Seriously yummmmm.

On another note, please forgive my sporadic posting. Should be back to normal in a few weeks!

Again, with the freesias.

Sorry, people. There has been A LOT LOT LOT going on, and I haven't really been taking many pictures. I only barely remember to take my head with me when I leave the house, let alone my camera.

This little photo is from last week... I had some freesias left over from Kylie's bouquets, so Chrissy grabbed three stems and plonked them in a jar to put next to the bed for me one night when I was feeling a bit dodgy. They looked so so pretty. I'm all for simplicity lately.

Bondi. *Sigh.*

Well, Saturday was pretty much awesome. We went to Paul and Naoko's place for a BBQ on the balcomoose. I ate soysages. Yes soysages. Chrissy, and the others, surfed. I walked along the promenade with Yvonne and Lockie. We cuddled Gael and Candice's bubba, Lea. The sun shone. It set.



I lived in Bondi for 3 marvellous years, but had forgotten that the cool factor of Bondi locals is off the richter. It is painful to look at.

Don't forget to call your Mum

on Sunday. It's Mother's Day.

It would also be nice if you bought her some flowers, maybe. Skip the ol' rose and lily combo and go for a cute little bunch of tulips and sweet peas instead. Or some garden roses. You know, simple.

Also spare a thought for all the lovely florists on days like these - the markets were an absolute ZOO this morning.

The Wedding.

No sillies, not Kate and Wills' wedding! I'm talking about Kylie and Phil's

It was a lovely, lovely day, and everything went off without a hitch. The bride looked beautiful of course, and the groom and his boys (Chrissy was one!) were very handsome in their suits.



The flowers looked excellent, if I do say so myself. Kyles had white roses, mini roses and freesia (remember?), and strawberry and geranium foliage. Her girls had the same but smaller, and with some pale pink roses. Purdy. I only managed to snap a couple of dodgy pics before I ran out the door.



The reception was super fun, my vegetarian meals were really tasty (I know, right?!) and I woke up with a sore little head on Sunday.

Congrats to Kylie and Phil xxx

Oh boy oh boy oh BOY

Chrissy's BFF is Phil, and Phil's special lady is Kylie. Before I met them, Chris said "Phil and Kylie are perfect together cos they both love to throw a footy and play beach cricket".

He must have been right, because on Saturday Phil and Kylie are getting MARRIED.

And guess who is making the bouquets, buttonholes and corsages? Yep Yours Truly. And guess what will be included in these bouquets, buttonholes and corsages? Yes that's right these very freesias.

More on the flowers, the couple and the big day to come. Eeeep! I love a wedding!

I am... fantastico.

Not me, der-brains, the rooster! He's obviously king of all the chickens.

We took Kai and Liesie to the Easter Show on the weekend. Made me want to be a farmer and have lots of fancy chooks, goats, cows... that kind of thing. The kids were extremely well behaved while we dragged them round all the animal sheds...

"Scuse me Aunty Claire, after this can we do something other than look at animals?"

We packed our own food, probably saved us $60 or more. Kept us away from dagwood dogs.

The floral displays were... disappointing. It's all too old school, man. You guys need to lighten up a little, let the flowers do their own thing.

Sunset, Mum's place

Mum's house faces west and is a bit elevated, which means v. impressive sunset views. The Moroccan light thing looked so awesome at about 5pm yesterday. It's probably made of ***super sparkly magic diamonds***.



Oh and that's Mr. Tim. He also looks magnificent, if slightly out of focus, at dusk.

Beach Pants

My favourite thing to do is take Lockie for a walk on the beach. He looks pretty thoughtful here, but beach-time is usually sUpEr CrAzY tImE!!!



See how he blends into the sandstone on Gunyah? He is a master of disguise. Also please note the flappy ears. They kill me.

The only thing I would rather do than go for a walk with Lockie on the beach is go for a walk with Chris and Lockie on the beach. That's my idea of heaven.

I'm still here

It's just been a very busy week. Working, playing with flowers... more and more they are the same thing, which is tremendous.

I've not taken many photos worth sharing, lately, although the autumn leaves and light have been stunning. Autumn is my fave season, for sure.

Lady bachelor yep that's me

Chrissy has been away for work, leaving Lockie and I with the house to ourselves. I'm too lazy to cook a proper meal just for me, so breakfast, lunch and dinner have revolved around toast and/or poached eggs. For example: toast with avocado, poached eggs on toast, poached eggs on toast with mushies, toast with tomato and goat's fetta, poached eggs on toast with leek etc. etc.

For anyone who is scared of poaching eggies, it's much easier to use fresh ones so my advice to you is to get a chook.



With Chris gone I have also been consuming an inordinate amount of coffee (a crutch?). I make little plunger after little plunger. Maybe not that healthy but better coffee than gin or vodka. I like White Horse coffee. It's very, very good.

Surprisingly matchy

Look at Mr. Gnome, hiding behind the Spanish moss. I think he's a spy. He has a snowy white beard and a shiny red hat, set off nicely by Chrissy's woodchip mulch and our juicy green grass.



And aren't these gardenias lovely. They smell delicious. Why... they are snowy white like Mr. Gnome's beard! And those roses, the same colour as his hat! Some beautiful magnolia foliage (green and brown - !!!) will look splendid in a bunch with these roses.

So, I'm cheerful again. Obv. Gotta stop fighting fatigue with sugar, pretty sure that's what's getting me down.

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.