In the garden with new books!

Melbourne is notorious for it’s “Four seasons in one day”… but after experiencing three of them last week, today was a dose of Summer… which meant that morning coffee-time was spent in the garden.  Yippee!

It looks so cool doesn’t it?  Gotta love those tones…

I recently purchased this hydrangea… I’ve always loved its flower and how it varies its muted tones.  Blue is my ultimate favourite colour.  What’s yours??

I love succulents too… and they’re pretty easy to take cuttings from and grow.  This Jade tree was picked up from my daughter’s school market last year and has come on leaps and bounds.  Is it also called the Money Tree?  I’m not sure… but I know there is a plant that is meant to bring prosperity to a household by keeping it.  I wonder where that story came from?

The pond has come to life as well… they’re a bit hard to see with the sunlight bouncing off their white petals, but there are three water lilies already opened.

The Bird of Paradise next to the pond is having a sticky-beak as to what’s going on, too!

Our small garden was planted with palms when we moved in and now, after nine years, they are so tall.  In the corner is the lemon tree that just keeps on giving… and a newly planted border of camellias that you can’t really see, but I’m looking forward to them flourishing over the years to come.

This basket sits just outside the back door, I picked it up from an op shop last week for just a few dollars and stuck all my cuttings in there.  I don’t know what the succulent is called as a friend gave it to me (she rescued it from her neighbour’s green waste), but it kind of likes to curl and  hang so is difficult to plant in garden borders.  I also stuck a geranium in there (another cutting), but I’m thinking it probably needs a bigger pot and a bit more lovin’.

Here it is again with a mirror I picked up off eBay for just twenty bucks!  This whole set up cost me less than thirty dollars… gosh I love up-cycling!

So after admiring the plants, I sat down to coffee and a flick-through of my latest books!

The first book, My Sewing Room by Robyn Welsh of Country Hart Designs, contains seven projects for you to make as gifts for friends – or for your very own sewing space!  I love the little bird motif that is featured throughout, and the nice easy-reading of the instructions.  Of course, I was like a rabbit caught in the headlights just on the front cover – because of the cute Little Betty sewing machine sat there among Robyn’s lovely designs!  I was fortunate to win this book from one of Robyn’s giveaways on Facebook – but you can check it out here.  While you’re over at Country Hart Designs, go have a swoon over Robyn’s newly-released block of the month.  It’s called A Touch of Spring.  You can see it pictured below on the Two Green Zebras stand at AQM.  (Thank you Robyn for allowing me to use your photo).  The design is as gorgeous as the Tilda fabrics the quilt has been made with!

The second book I perused is a recent from Lynette Anderson, and is called Stitch it for Spring.  It features eight projects in Lynette’s whimsy style and is a real treat for any Lynette-lover!  I purchased my book from here.  The bunnies, owls and birds are soooo cute!

So that’s me for today… I’m currently designing a table runner project and looking through my books of quilt block designs to inspire me.  Do you have any favourite blocks?

Catch you round like a fruit loop!

Vikki xo

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