Bo-Ho Tropical Beach Abode.

l think as a parent most of us enjoy watching our children grow and develop their own unique personalities....each child being different from ourselves in many ways, and expressing their style and taste as only THEY can ....so it was a lot of fun to fly up and be with our daughter Bree and her partner Rhys, to stay with them and see the house they recently purchased and join in all their enthusiastic plans for future renovations.
Their house is close to the beach and in a much warmer climate than ours....not quite sub tropical but ALMOST, so the garden has many plants l recognised by sight but had no clue as to their names....a few l DID were palms, frangipani's and philodendrons.
Being an older home (1940's), there's LOTS to be done, hubby managed to sort out a few of the more pressing drainage problems and we all attacked the garden with gusto...(ok a chainsaw:-).


The oleander outside this window had to go, as they're highly poisonous. Bit of a shame though....it looks so pretty.
Two rooms have been completed so far, the study and the main bedroom, eventually the entire house will be painted white.


This is the study completed.... After a week of sanding, scraping and painting and the replacement of locks and lifters, the windows are now fully functional. The room is divided by central shelving, and another desk sits to the other side of it.

The floor tiles in the sunroom will eventually be painted white but in the meantime Bree and l found this tropical bo-ho fabric at Spotlight and created the floor rug by fusing backing to it and then sewing it all together. Hopefully l have some fringing amongst my stash that l can send up to her which she'll sew onto each end.

This is the master bedroom finished.... the walls and ceiling were painted white....l love her bold choice of doona cover, the skull cushion matches perfectly and was a pressie from her brother. 

She loves her skullies....and rosaries...... (and the odd bloom:-)

This is the dining room....the pottery bust is one Bree made at school, which even then shows signs of the tribal bo-ho look she's into...The head dress is a bit broken, which l guess is unsurprising after travelling with her the last ten years and living in at least ten different locations:-)
The shelving usually houses Bree's multi-coloured glass collection but for now is in boxes until this room's completed.

A  glimpse of her small but functional kitchen...only JUST she says... since they installed a dishwasher:-)

Thought you might like to see the awesome cushion Bree crocheted...apparently learnt the weave stitch from a utube video. Wonder if she'd make me one!!

We took a little time for some R&R, and found ourselves an antique fair.
Loved this antique wedding dome.


Wishing you all a warm and sunshiny rest of your week.....thanks so much for dropping by.

Lotsa Hugs,

Bron.

Garden and Glam.

l love to get out in the garden, however l tend to be one of those gardeners that does nothing for ages and then every now and again works themselves into a frenzy trying to catch up on all the weeding they SHOULD have been doing all along:-), so it was good news when the council recently gave everyone in our town a large green bin and began a green waste recycling programme. I've been out in the garden.... pruning the roses, cutting back the perennials and trimming and weeding.... FILLING that FLIP TOP up:-)
Although we still had to take a huge load of green waste to the waystation as we've also had violent winds here which completely blew over one of the large trees in our backyard, luckily nothing/no-one was hurt or destroyed except the poor old tree, we've planted another one in it's place but it looks so teeny and bare....

Even though it was only 1degree this morning l gritted my teeth (it stopped them chattering:) and went to the market, even though l was convinced there'd be nothing there....so was rapt to find a couple of lovely vintage inspired frocks. They're the two white/black ones at the front of the rack.

l wonder if you do this too.....when l get Christmas or Birthday money l usually save it until l come across something a bit special.... Last week l found this French jewellery casket at a local antiques centre.....it cleaned me out, but l loved it and had been after one for ages that wasn't too spendy.

Found this funky boho hangy thing made of coconut shells at a garage sale...l'm SO kicking myself though, because there were two and l left the other one there, as it was missing a couple of bits, however l realise NOW that l really needed the TWO and it's all just a bit TOO late.

Lovely old faded print.

Finally a bit of sunshine....perfect for taking a few pics:-)

Taken from my photo files....See full post here.

Thanks so much for taking the time to pop in here and have a read.....hope you all have a fantastic rest of your week.

Big Hugs.

Bron.

Projects and Prayer Cards.

It must be SO lovely up there in the Northern Hemispere.... soaking up warm Summer days, long evenings, beaches and BBQ's.....Things are a little different HERE, but this morning wasn't quite as freezing as it HAS been, so l figured l'd get out for a mountain bike ride.(mountains definitely NOT included:-) l was exhausted before l even got going just layering up enough to keep warm, and l was wishing l'd just made a cuppa and had a lie down instead...haha..

 Hubby's having a few weeks off at the moment so l'm all out of routine, or at least that's what l'm telling myself, (more likely a wee bit slack:-)....He has the telly on during the day (to watch the Tour De France) and that combined with the roaring fire he keeps going.....well what can you do??:-) 

Found these pink tapered candles on my travels and used them for a mini makeover l had in mind.

There were only three paper angels in the packet so l photocopied another couple to make five....one for each candle. lt was easy as, to cut out and sticky tape an angel and a vintage flower bouquet to each one.

The little brown cardboard box came from Mum's and in it were a heap of old prayer cards...l picked out the prettiest to show here.

I've always loved the antique fabric boxes l see in mags and on some of the blogs l visit, so when l came across this plain box yesterday, l decided to have a go at covering it.The hardest part was choosing the right fabric for the look l was after..... this was the closest l had, and it was used inside out, as it looked more faded and vintagey. Spray adhesive was used to attach the fabric to the cardboard.  

l was crushed to get a letter from Harris Publications (who publish The Romantic Country magazine) to say they've gone into liquidation....my favourite mag is NO more.....

Just as well it only takes an hour or so to get to Lily Pond.....'cos there they sell the Jeanne D'Arc Living magazine. l took a trip there last week and since they were all so lovely (and l comfort read).... l bought three issues:-)

Wishing everyone the best of weeks....thanks so much for stopping in here and also for your lovely comments and kind words...

Hugs and Hugs,

Bron.

Winter Solstice.

The shortest day of the year came and went this week and although there wasn't any sun dancing or  chanting to mark the occasion, there was plenty of teeth chattering...yesterday we even had ACTUAL SNOW. It only happens a couple of times a year here, so it was a bit of a novelty watching it fall, out the window.....by the FIRE:-)

Not sure if l was a bit "out there" asking if these gorgeous hydrangeas were for sale, but l spotted them on a bush in the driveway of a house where l was visiting a garage sale, and just HAD to ask. l was so happy when the lady cut them off and GAVE them to me. l especially loved the rusty spots of imperfection on the petals.

Well....the mantle shelf didn't stay the same for long did it :-)....found this lovely old print and just knew it'd be perfect to pop here for a while.

My work room had been a disaster area for years, and l really found it hard trying to create in there, so when l re-organised my cabinets (here) and sorted through all the boxes to find the sewing bits and pieces l needed for the shelves in them, it was the push l needed to redo the entire room. The clutter was removed and sorted, the shelves were painted and the walls washed down. The bench was cut in half and painted white with the paving paint that l also used to paint the concrete floor and all the craft boxes. (There's a before at the end of the post).

No sooner was the room finished and l had this sudden urge to make something:-) l decided on a Jesus cushion made from an old tapestry....tried to make it a bit boho-ish using velvet, fringing and pops of colour.

This is my work room before....very cluttered as you can see and l'd even TIDIED up for the photo:-)


Hope your weekend's warm, sunny and beautiful wherever you are....thanks so much for dropping in here for a visit.

BIG hugs,

Bron.

Queen's Birthday Weekend.

In celebration of the Queen's Birthday it's a long weekend here in Oz, never mind that the Queens ACTUAL Birthday is the 21st of April, who am l to argue about when (and WHY) we celebrate it:-)...l'm really looking forward to it though, as son is driving home from Adelaide (600ks) for a visit, he must have caught me in a weak moment 'cos somehow he got me to agree to cook him a roast tomorrow night....oh and his buddy as well...Eeekkk!! ...hubby said why we don't we just buy Kentucky fried (what's he trying to say:-)....anyway...sounds good to me:-)
A few weeks ago l ordered a new Rachel Ashwell SSC doona cover from ebay and one week later it arrived on my doorstep...I was so excited....It must be fantastic for those of you who live in the States and you can just rock up to any old Target store and buy her lovelies, but none of our Target's stock her lines...wah!!! lt even came in it's own lovely dust bag...l wanted it big and ordered a king but it's totally massive.... more ogre size really:-) ...at least there's plenty to keep us warm.

This is it....covered in lilacs...don't know if you can see l've had to tuck it up at the side so it doesn't fall all the way to the floor.

A couple of changes to the dress form as well, off came the jewellery and l sewed a Frenchy pierrot collar to replace it, cream lace at first, but l dyed it teabag pink....(that's pink with a few teabags thrown in as well:-) l also found another corset which has the patent date of 1937 on the label.

So then l got to thinking about all the different looks l've had in the bedroom since l began my blog (5-ish) years ago....this is one of the first ever pictures of my bedroom that l posted...we then had an old brass bed.

Found this bedhead on ebay and gave it a makeover...redoing the button upholstery myself with a little help from utube.

From last Spring, with all the lovely blossoms.

A damask cover which was dyed a teal blue, l sewed and dyed pillowcases to (kind off) match.

Pink carpet....l know...don't judge me:-)

Our bedroom is my favourite room in the house....l still love the wall colour...Dulux Clay Pipe (1/2), it's been that colour for about 15 years, which has to be some kind of record around here:-) and faces North so it's also the sunniest room. It has a bay window which makes for great views of the front garden....l've planted all my favourites like roses, hydrangeas and camellias right outside for summer and winter blooms.

Wishing you all the best weekend ever....hope it's fantastic whatever you're doing...and thanks heaps for stopping by.

Hugs

Bron.