~ our joyful moments - week 13 ~

This week I found some autumn colour and marvelled at the contrast of the warm and cooler hues.

Karin has been working in her greenhouse (I love the sound of that) planting new seeds and tending to her others.


These images are part of a 52 week project called #ourjoyfulmoments.  We share pictures on our blogs and on IG and are linking Sweden and Australia with a little bit of loveliness every week.

♥

~ snippets at the end of March ~

1.  Magical evening light in our garden

2.  It rained this week!  We haven't been as dry as everywhere else but this was very welcome - espeically for the garden.

3.  Test shot #1 with the new camera - our back yard - we've been pruning the raspberries and roses and generally getting it tidy so it can self-care while we're away.

4.  Nutmeg - on the grass before the rain  - hopefully it will all green up again soon.

5.  We were a little late to the looming craze (or glooming as Jack insists on calling it) - but now all 3 have embraced it with passion.  I love how all the kids at school (boys and girls) are equally into it.

6.  Anzacs - they never last long around here - and I always forget how easy they are to make.  What's your go-to treat recipe?

7.  Test shot #2 - lilac at the local park - I'm impressed with how quickly I'm learning the settings on the Fuji but there's still a long way to go.

8.  Farmer's market roses (which smell divine) on the piano - and those cheeky babies.  Every time I notice these photos I  am transported to those hazy days of babyhood and I smile. Every single time.


♥
I'm linking up with Em this week and every week to share the little moments that make life wonderful

~ taking stock - March 2014 ~

Making : lists and more lists of all that has to be done before we leave on our grand adventure
Cooking : chocolate snowballs - I had a tin (and the recipe) sent to me this week by a very generous IG friend (Ondioco - check her feed - her photos are beautiful)
Drinking : lime and soda (those cute cans from Cascade won me over in the supermarket)
Reading: Swedish thrillers by Lars Kepler
Wanting: the perfect handbag to take on our trip
Looking: at the leaves changing colours on the trees
Playing: mail tag with some of my pen pals - how I love having pen pals again
Deciding: we're trying to decide on our name for our family travel blog - any suggestions gratefully received
Wishing: meal times weren't such a battlefield
Enjoying: playing with my new camera
Waiting: for a library book I ordered to come in
Liking: Pilates classes on Tuesday mornings with a bunch of friends - laughing while you work your core is fabulous fun
Wondering: how I lived without my iphone
Loving: how much Jack is loving learning
Pondering: how much internet time my girls should have
Considering: taking myself off facebook altogether
Watching: the Good Wife - so good
Hoping: the irritation in my right eye will clear up soon
Marvelling: at my children's energy levels - wish mine were that high
Needing: a cup of tea
Smelling: basil from the pot on the window sill - still going strong
Wearing: my gym gear out in public way too often
Noticing: that I'm happier when I'm not so busy
Knowing: I should remember this (above)
Thinking: too many thoughts - especially at 3am
Feeling: stronger - I think the pump/power classes are working
Admiring: kind people
Sorting: out more stuff to give to the salvos
Buying: stuff for the trip - new bras, a spare camera battery, locks for the bags...
Getting: anxious about flying after recent events
Bookmarking: recipes I probably won't cook
Disliking: how dark the evenings are getting
Opening: lovely snail mail
Giggling: at them splashing in the bath together
Feeling: the chill in the mornings
Snacking: nectarines - I think they're coming to their end this year and I want to enjoy every last one
Coveting: a new dinner set - I'm over plain white
Wishing: my brother and his partner and baby lived closer
Helping: out at school whenever I can - I love being involved
Hearing: George's Marvellous Medicine on the ipod as Jack is  trying to fall asleep
Remembering: Samuel - a friend's baby who died before being born 5 years ago this week - the love stone was for his grave.


Taking stock is inspired by Pip

♥

~ our joyful moments - week 12 ~

It's now less than 4 weeks until we set off on our grand European adventure - I'm nervous and super excited.  Over the weekend I bought a new camera* for travelling (it will fit in my handbag and takes super pictures) and started re-reading some of the guide books.  I need to read the manual now too.  So much to do

Karin found beautfiul tulips - and as she said - surely you can't have a 52 week project without tulips?! (I definitely agree).

These images are part of a 52 week project called #ourjoyfulmoments.  We share pictures on our blogs and on IG and are linking Sweden and Australia with a little bit of loveliness every week.

♥

*for those who need to know - its a Fuju x100s and I'm on a steep learning curve!

~ this week's snippets ~

1.  My view as I leave pilates every Tuesday morning - Hobart is so pretty on sparkly autumn days. 4 weeks of pilates now and my core and inner thighs still scream at me after each session!

2.  Star anise braised chicken with pickled ginger and lime - a Belinda Jeffery recipe - so good.

3.  I feel so lucky to have stumbled upon the most kind and generous group of women on IG - #thesnailmailcollective group enriches my life via my letterbox and I love it.

4.  Jack's rendition of Mr Pusskins (from the children's book)  - a very guinea-pig like cat if you ask me.

5.  I was in Melbourne for 2 days for a women's health conference this weekend (flew back in tonight) - we found this very cool cafe in the GPO building in the middle of town.  The conference was good but so intense - 18 speakers with short updates on various topics  - and over 1000 GPs.  I got to cuddle my nephew too - that was the highlight.

6.  Playing with watercolours and favourite quotes this week.

7.  Ballerina cosmos in my garden.

Collecting these little moments from our week is a lovely chance to reflect and remember.

I hope your week is lovely

♥

I'm linking up with Em this week and every week to share the little moments that make life wonderful

~ floral friday - in celebration of Cecile ~

 

 

Cecile is the sweetest of roses - but she does have a tendency to grow a little wildly - even when shamefully neglected (or especially then)

Too wildly for the Doc it appears - he took to her with the pruning shears this week - she is a shadow of her former self.

I salvaged some last buds for a little posy inside - and am loving the peppery scent.


Happy Friday May your weekend be lovely.
♥

~ our joyful moments - week 11 ~

This week I found the last vestiges of summer in my garden (the ballerina cosmos come up from seed and surprise me every year) and Karin enjoyed the last gasps of winter on a skiing trip with friends.

#ourjoyfulmoments is a collaborative project stretching across the world (Tasmania and Sweden) in which we are sharing the little moments that delight us each week.  

 ♥

~ snippets from the week he learned to ride ~

1.  A rogue poppy in our herb garden.  I think it looks remarkably like an Iced Vo-Vo

2.  Until this week J has point-blank refused to even try riding his bike - he loved his scooter and could go so fast that he wouldn't even consider anything else.  Then he got on ... and just rode.  Around and around and around the car park down the road.  Amazing.

3. Name tags for dinner - I'm not sure the names match the pictures. Like, at all :-)

4.  Marbling using shaving cream and food dye.  Lots of fun.  This was a practice run for helping the prep class do it as their art project this week.  That was still fun....but so messy.

5.  Love this little postcard of a tassie devil I found at a cafe this week - he's greeting people at our front door now. 

6.  He calls them slippers.  He's been wearing them all weekend.  There's no logic to 5 year olds (see 2.  above).

7.  Weekend treat platter for morning tea.  They were playing an elaborate game outside involving tents, gardening, wicked witches and evil dragons. 

8.  Sticky date muffins with butterscotch sauce. So good.  We ate them last weekend and then I had to do them again tonight for some friends.   Recipe from here. 

We're definitely on the count-down to our big adventure now.
We leave at Easter for 12 weeks of travelling in Europe (squeeee!)
(though given the kids can't make it through the school trip without bickering I am a little uncertain about how we'll go...)
 


♥

I'm linking up with Emily at the Beetleshack where there are lots of lovely snippets and stills to see x 

~ floral friday - windflowers ~

The windflowers are blooming again
Such joyful, fluttery, whimsical flowers.

They require no attention - I like that - although the white ones I thought I planted have gone missing.  I am quite a neglectful gardener I'm afraid.

Happy Friday
May your weekend be lovely.

♥

~ our joyful moments - week 10 ~

 

I'm cheating a bit this week with a collage - but when I saw the similarity between the snap I took 6 years ago of my children at Port Arthur (in the church with no roof) and the shot I took this week I couldn't resist.  Look how those legs and that hair has grown.  And there's a boy now too :-)

Karin has found the most lush collection of ranunculi I have ever seen - I am so in love with this image  - I would love it on a card for my wall.

These images are part of a 52 week project called #ourjoyfulmoments.  We share pictures on our blogs and on IG and are linking Sweden and Australia with a little bit of loveliness every week.

♥

~ snippets from our week ~

 

 

 

1.  Our tomato plants are finally producing some tomatoes  - very late and in very scant quantities  - but there is nothing nicer than eating your own tomatoes on toast with lots of salt and pepper.

2.  Supermarket herbs in cute pots in our kitchen - the coriander has quickly bolted to seed but the basil is holding up quite well.

3.  She has taken slightly longer than her sister did to find her reading mojo but to find her like this and hear her declare that she loves reading just fills my heart with joy.

4.  Artist in residence hard at work

5.  A calm corner of our room in the afternoon light.

6.  Nutmeg stealing a cuddle on the bed.

7.  Some gorgeous origrami cards of our beautiful nephew have made it onto the fridge this week - can't wait to see him again in 2 weeks.

8.  Hinsby beach this afternoon - I gazed at clouds while they explored the rocks and (gasp!) swam - is that the last swim of the summer?

♥  

I'm linking up with Emily at the Beetleshack where there are lots of lovely snippets and stills to see x 

~ March vignettes ~

{women}

{haft seen - or 7 s}

{harmony}

{something most people don't know about you}

{movies}

{fashion}

{italian}

I am completely addicted to the monthly vignette challenge over on IG (run by Jen from Interiors Addict).

This month's words/themes were tricky - and having started with a random piece of material (I have a stash of material that I have no plans for - what's that about?) and some silvery branches I added a secondary challenge of keeping that  going as my background for the week too.  

I think this month I might need to explain the pictures a little more....for women I used a lovely card I had received recently and then referenced the strong, creative, clever, nuturing women in my life.  Haft seen is Persian tradition of setting a table with 7 things beginning with s - this was a loose interpretation!  Harmony was all about music, green tea, meditation.  Something that people didn't know about me was my medical background - although maybe it wasn't as secret as I thought!  For movies I was lucky enough to use the home movies my dad found a couple of weeks ago - I've never seen them - soon hopefully.  Fashion was my interpretation of what I'm posting and seeing most of on my IG stream - feathers, mail, spoons, origrami, flowers... Italian showed biscotti and espresso - two of my very favourite Italian treats!

The silver branchy stuff held up ok - but I still can't find the same light/white each time!  

I found it hard to choose a favourite this time - maybe movies or Italian?  How about you?


 ♥