Blossom Cottage

African Voilets tended for a friend

Penny, my friend headed off to England for nearly twelve months to look after her mum, she gathered up all her plants and sent them home with me.  Its always a bit nerve-racking tending for someone else's loved bits and pieces!  I am pleased to report that all plants have survived, Penny is back at her house in southern Tasmania and looking forward to receiving them all back shortly..  I went to water the voilets and found that one has sprung into flower.. I must add that this is the second time I have looked after them for a long period of time for Penny.. and when I was given them the first time there was just a single leaf with a few small ones sprouting.  They have certainly "beefed" up since I sat them on the end of our spa bath where they catch the afternoon sun and warmth.

Water a wonderful resource...but...

Well Tasmania hasn't seen so much rain since I think around 1956.. !  Every day it seems to rain and last night it bucketed down again, and blew a gale..there is now so much water coming down the hill above our house that the water flooded out our carport and garage.. not to mention the final mess when drains have had to be dug to carry off the rainwater.  In the 14 years we have lived here, we have never had problems like this with water run off..

Summer in Tasmania

 

Camera & Goodies in the Mail

Camera - mmm somewhere I have LOST my camera, my last place of looking is in the pile of rubble on my scrapping desk, otherwise it has disappeared.  Driving home from work I had a brain-wave maybe in my japara coat pocket at work...nope.... I have a habit of not doing up the zip on my bakpack that I take to work, I had one lucky find when it fell out and I heard a thud and looked back to discover the camera in the carpark.  So maybe this time not so lucky!  No picture posting until I can find it unfortunately or replace it.

And goodie wise -- today I received my gift from www.heroarts.com for a comment I left on their blog a few weeks ago.  It is wonderful, was only supposed to be a poinsettia stamp and poinsettia felt flowers and leaves... Lisa had trouble with the postage rate and contacted me - I asked that she redraw another person, that I didn't want them to pay an excessive postage rate.. customer service found another way to freight my parcel and being that I was understanding, they included a couple of other fabulous goodies... lovely notecards with envelopes, coloured brads and a gorgeous array of colorbox cat's eye inkpads (6). Thankyou..

Winter in Tasmania

It has been extremely cold here, temperatures plummeting overnight and waking to beautiful frosty mornings.  Generally bringing sunshine, we are lucky our house faces north, so we get the sun first up : )

You would have heard of "Footsteps in the Sand" these are "Footsteps in the Frost"!  The other photos were also taken this morning, the view from my front yard is not snow, its just a very heavy frost.

Shopping Humour

This mere male story will make most people smile. 

My husband has become "house husband" while I recover after my stay in hospital - would you believe after 30 years of marriage this was dh's second trip to a supermarket and I may add, probably 20 years since that first visit.

The conversation went --

"Why do you need to go up each aisle?" Because there may just be one item we need in that aisle.

"We seem to have a lot of things in the trolley that we probably don't need?"  Well, we could put your potato crisps and snowballs back..  No further comment made!

But reserving the BEST FOR LAST!  We got to the checkout register and I said, pick up that plastic bar on the side by the cashier..  So dh husband picks up the divider, turns it around, holds it up in the air - the cashier, is trying not to laugh, I got the giggles, one of those laughs that keep gurgling up..  I said you actually put it behind the first customer's groceries on the black belt and then start putting our groceries out.....

Very slowly dh starts to unpack the groceries from the trolley, I am hiding behind the magazine stand as I am still laughing.  (My mum said I should have told dh that he had to point the plastic divider at each grocery item!) And I say you need to unpack them a little faster... dh mutters, "this is really pi......sing me off, the very last time I will be doing this."

 

 

Garden In Autumn

The flowers are lingering even though the days are getting much cooler.. I've taken some snaps around the garden - yes the little jonquil is coming out in flower and we are only in May.  Also some shots which bring home winters fast approach - the leaves are starting to fall and the trees are looking bare.

View

These pictures are from my front yard looking North/North East.  I am taking pictures of bits and pieces to practice using the new camera.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year

Lets hope that everyone has started the New Year in a positive manner, and that it is a year where dreams, wishes and hopes are all fulfilled.

Resolutions seem to fade away and not always work out as planned.  So this year I am taking the simple approach -   I have a few things that I would like to achieve -- so fingers crossed!

The plant pictured is flowering now.. it was entrusted to me by my friend Penny - she left in Spring for England to care for her parents for 6 months.  I am pleased to say it has survived and also bloomed for me at Christmas and is still flowering. 

House and Garden Photos

SPRING PHOTOS of the house and garden.  And the  view from the front yard.