The Apprentice

There is a new apprentice working on the decking around the pool...  I so love his choice of workwear.

A new bedside table.

For a while now I have been using a stack of magazines and books as a bedside table and it was starting to irritate me no end each time I entered the bedroom and glanced at my side of the bed!  Clearly, I desperately needed a new bedside table and as we are about to renovate and my bedroom will be completely different once finished, I was reluctant to spend a lot of money on something that might not work in the room post-renovation.  I also didn't want to spend a medium amount of money on a stop gap bedside table that I didn't love.  Instead, I popped into our local Salvos store and picked up this rather ugly bookshelf for $15. 

I gave it a light sand and a new coat of paint and I am delighted with the end result.  After the renovation is complete and once I have found the perfect bedside tables I am going to move it to the future guest bedroom as a new bedside table where it will work perfectly next to my old black wrought iron bed that is currently stored under the house.  Well, I hope it will work anyway!

David Bromley's "Pirate"

For many years I have coveted David Bromley's paintings, in particular the "Childrens Series." My passion for collecting vintage childrens books, in particular first edition Enid Blytons probably led to my love of his artwork.  More recently, since the arrival of my two little pirates I have longed for a Bromley featuring "pirate boy."  Well, my wonderful husband just arrived home from work with a suprise package for me.

I recognised the painting immediately, despite the packaging and burst into tears!  I have long adored it, other bloggers have blogged about it!   I really can't quite believe that it is hanging on our wall!  Thank you to my lovely husband.

Cairns and Palm Cove

Some holiday snaps:

Exploring the parks and gardens of Cairns and Palm Cove has ignited a new gardening obsession...  I now NEED to have a tropical garden in the backyard and around the pool area!  Some of the extraordinary plants we saw:

Arriving home late last night we had a quick dinner at one of our favourite haunts and it was just so good to be home!

The Garden

The garden is just looking marvellous at the moment.  The lawn and the swimming pool are sprinkled all over with Jacaranda petals and just look divine. I used to have issues with Jacarandas, as when I was at university there was a saying: "If you haven't started studying by the time the Jacaranda in the Main Quadrangle blooms, then it is too late!"  I had Archaeology in that corner of the Quadrangle and had to pass the tree a few times a week.  Anxiously I would examine it for any signs of blossoms! University now seems like a lifetime ago and as I live in a house surrounded by four jacaranda trees I have grown to adore them!


The "exam tree" in bloom!  Aaaaaahhhh!!!  Image is from here:

The rest of the garden is looking fabulous as well!  I recently read (I think in House and Garden) that for every $1000 you spend on plants for the garden, the value of the house can increase  by up to $5000!  My planned New Years Resolution preventing future nursery purchases might be unnecessary, I am investing in the property!

Mr Mischief (aka baby Pirate)

When your children are born you imagine that one day with your loving and nurturing care they will grow up to be Noble Prize winning authors, eminent surgeons, you know pillars of society types! Then gradually your ambitions for them start to disentegrate and you realise that all that really matters is that they grow up to be happy and in this one's case... we are doing our best to prevent him from spending some time at Her Majesty's Pleasure.  Yes we have a two year old delinquent Chez Pirate. 

Vandal?  Check!  Indeed, this one has a future career as a graffiti artist.  Most significant crime?  He walked up the hall with a purple crayon and left a line running the length of the hall and the very large, rather expensive painting hanging in the hall?  Yes, went straight over the top of that too. 

Thief? Check!  Twice now we have found him harbouring stolen goods in his pram.  He lunges for anything in reach and then hides whatever takes his fancy.  We now have to search him and the pram before leaving any shops.

Identity theft?  Check! He raided my purse and ran off with the drivers licence.  Who knows what he was planning to use it for?  When we finally found it, he had somehow snapped it in half.  The mind boggles just thinking about it!

Here he is perfecting his break and enter techniques.  Note the collection of tools at his feet:

Hmmmm.

Look what I found!

After dropping the Captain off at pre-school this morning, the baby and I raced around a few of our local op shops and look what I found!

This divine vintage pyrex bowl, which is going to be used to house the rest of my boring and non-vintage pyrex bowls! Four dollars!!!!

And the discovery of the morning, this lovely unchipped, immaculate (and genuine!) Cornishware vase... Five dollars!!!!!  (Flowers from my mother-in-law, thank you Pat!) The stack of books, yes picked all of them up this morning... 50 cents each!  I am so pleased with my mornings shopping!