Christmas 2013

A Very Merry Christmas to you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you have a wonderful Christmas enjoying this special day with those you love.
Be safe.

Til next time.

Bron.

 

Almost Christmas.

Well there's another year almost done and dusted and as usual l've barely started the Christmas shopping, l'm never too organised, but this year l've really outdone myself, leaving pretty much the LOT til the last gasp, anyway l'm not too worried.... it'll happen.
l DID sit down and write out some cards this morning and l was thinking it's just as well most people are happy to just send and receive a text message these days, cos that meant there weren't so many to write out.
In some ways l miss all the beautiful cards strung up across the room or mantle though.... and mostly l miss the handwritten letters you'd sometimes find inside, filled with the year's news from the distant relo's.....but, it's a changing world and today l'm not complaining.


A few Frenchy bottles and packaging. The bag looks 30's and the beadwork is amazing as each bead is SO teeny.....maybe four of them would make up the size of a pinhead.

Old millinery flowers and vintage packaging. 

 

 

Florals....can a girl EVER have enough. l made the cream floral dress/nightie by cutting down an old (grannie) nightie and using the excess fabric to make tie straps, if you found a really large one, you might also be able to add a frill round the bottom....It was inspired by the pretty ones Rachel Ashwell sells  here  which l LOVE, but for me it's more creative to give new life to vintage ones. 

  

 

Aren't we so lucky to have blogs to check out all the different ways people decorate their homes at Christmas time, and l think we can all appreciate the time and effort it must take to make it happen.....and if you have young kids either living at home or coming to visit,  it's something they remember for a lifetime. l can still remember having a natural tree in a bucket for many years (that Dad would "find" for us :-) never mind that it frequently leant to one side and quite often toppled over. l can remember the excitement of pulling out the decorations that were saved and reused every year and helping to hang them all.... Higgledy Piggledy of course.

l also clearly remember the year Mum brought home a WHITE tree and the hooha it caused with everyone who saw it. People just couldn't wrap their heads around the idea of a white synthetic tree back in the early 70's, but SHE loved it....that's our Mum....ahead of her time.

  

 

So it's prob'ly not surprising that l too love a white tree.....pink and silver theme going on this year. 

   

Found these unusual vases, like bulbous test tubes all stuck together.

l've been finding a few copper bits and pieces lately.

 

Including this star Christmas tree. 

 

  

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

This is my tree this year, the star at the top is a bit crooked......and it also fell over about 2 hours after l finished decorating it... yep...just like home :-)

 

 

Isn't this just too cute.....jeannedarcliving. 

 

 

Serious love.....pink santa's. Rachel Ashwell (link above). 

 

 

 

Enjoy your weekend. Hope it's a great one. Thanks for stopping by. 

 

Til next time,

 

Bron.

 

 

Loss.

Last week we lost a precious family member,
Loving thoughts and prayers go out to my Sister and the boys,
on the loss of their husband and father....this also to all their extended families.


Everybody loved him
how could you not,
he was an absolute inspiration
when staring death in the face
he remained one of the most
positive and funniest men
you'd ever meet.
He was hugely brave,
he embraced and loved life
in a way that few are able.
He gave from a generous heart.
A personal  and caring friend to all
who knew him.
No-one was exempt from his kindness
He taught us not only how best to live
but also how the best die
The world has lost and
what a loss it is.

  

 

   

   

 

  

  

 

 

 

Pic 4 and the last three are from Homes and Antiques magazine and is the work of stylist

 

Selina Lake

 

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
  A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
  A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
  A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance......
  A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.      Ecclesiastes III

    

Thanks so much for stopping by....l hope this post hasn't made you too sad, but lets face it every one of us has experienced loss in their life, so l'm sure you can relate.

 

Til next time,

 

Bron. 

 

Inspired By Peonies.

Flowers are awesome......they inspire me all the time, not only do l find the garden one of life's joys....the older l get, the more time l seek to spend in it....to experience the cycle of each season and the miracle of nature, knowing (in some small way) l've played a part in it's success or otherwise, can be fulfilling and rewarding when the weather gods are kind, or gut wrenchingly frustrating when they're not:-) but generally the flowers WANT  to bloom and the trees WANT to fruit and the vegetables WANT to produce.... so for the most part it's all good fun.

There's not too many flowers that aren't beautiful in some way, whether they be big and showy like the peony..... or what could be more stunning than a field of tiny wildflowers, or a single snowdrop pushing up from the ground after a Winter of hibernation.

 

Flowers make the heart sing.....they are somehow perfect for every occasion, births, deaths and of course weddings.....and just about every special (and not so special) occasion in between.



 

 

 

 

 

 

Most peonies are herbaceous but there are tree peonies as well, they are native to Asia, North America and Southern Europe, apparently some varieties can be par boiled and made into tea and the petals are sometimes used in salads. (but hey, don't try this at home folks...haha)

They take a few years to become established, but when they do they'll flower for decades.

They can be propagated by root division or sometimes from seed.(thanks wiki)



 

 

Lovely 70's embroidered blouse.

 

Recently l had a go at creating wax flowers. l simply melted a white candle and dipped the flowers into the melted wax. You have to work quickly once you've dipped them in order to separate the petals, l found a pair of tweezers worked well. l was happy with the roses and though the pansies turned out ok, they were the guinea pigs if you get my drift. As you can see the flower colour remains as these photos were taken about a week after they were done.

 

 

 

 

Beautiful handwritten envelope, it contains an equally as lovely handwritten note inside, and pretty celluloid cards that date to about 1910.

 

My front garden with Julia's rose in the foreground and Pierre de Ronsard climbing the arbour hubby built about 10 years ago. The large golden ash trees in the background belong to our next door neighbors' but make the perfect backdrop.

 

Cut leaf weeping Japanese maple, hardy geraniums and the silver foliage and white flowers of Convulvulus.


Hope you've enjoyed sharing in a bit of flower love with me:-) Thanks so much for stopping by and l hope you have a great weekend coming up, doing all the things you enjoy with those you love most.

Til next time.

Bron.


 

Walls, Wallpaper and Wedding Dress.

l'm a big fan of home décor magazines and books....especially mags like Romantic Homes. and Romantic Country where every page is an absolute eyefeast....not for me these articles showing a couple of sticks of furniture and oodles of blank space. l mean, l know lots of people like simple and streamlined, but for me....l want to see LOTS of lovely things in a pic.....you can prob'ly see this in my photos where l try and fill up the spaces and create photos that are (hopefully) visually interesting..... even though l don't live with stuff everywhere all the time.....ok...well maybe just a bit:-)

 

.....and wall spaces offer so much scope for decoration....just like a huge blank canvas. Here l've used washi tape to hang the prints and the teeniest nails for the weightier bits and pieces. I read somewhere that you can push a smidgin of toothpaste into nail holes in walls to hide them, though l've never actually tried it to say if it's true,  and l guess too this would only work on pale walls.

 

l found another vintage wedding dress (60's) to add to my small collection, it was irresistible with it's long train smothered in vintage millinery flowers.

  

 

A Master's hardware store recently opened in our town and they offer free samples of wallpaper. l brought home quite a few thinking l might do a feature wall sometime. They were all so lovely it seemed wasteful not to find a purpose for them, so the matching blue ones now cover my old hatbox. Not quite vintage but hey it will be in 25 years:-) 

 

Found another old sentiment cup, and one of the stall holders at the Sunday market had the little gold crown, so that makes three...... and there begins ANOTHER collection:-)

 

lsn't this rose painting lovely, it's oil on canvas board and cost only 50cents at the opshop....it's unsigned which is a bit of a shame, but whoever  painted it did an awesome job.

   

Roses and lilac in my kitchen window.

 

See post....Afternoon tea time.  

 

Lovin' the mix of vintage florals in this room. maisonboheme. via pinterest.

  

Stunning bathroom wallpaper.Rosemary Bellinger Interiors. via pinterest. 

 

 

Well that's another week almost over....looking forward to a busy weekend, hope yours is awesome, thanks so much for stopping by.
.....and a big happy Halloween to our American friends.

Til next time,

Bron.