Last day of Autumn.

I went outside to pick a bunch of firey autumn leaves just now but the last on my japanese elm are darkening and getting crunchy :(

A small posy was all I managed.
Isn't the little ceramic vase sweet! My gorgeous mother in law brought it back from Japan for me. A bit  matchy-matchy with the maple leaves.... but I LOVE this little arrangement. Thanks Gee. 

We soaked up the last of the sun's rays this week, enjoying afternoon tea on the lawn every day!

I was tempted...

Time to get out the scarves and woolies everyone, Jack Frost is coming to town tomorrow!

Have a lovely weekend, I will....girls weekend! (pics to come)

With Love

Liv xo

Pops of Autumnal colour !

Walking around the garden today, I snapped this little gift. 

'No spring nor summer beauty

hath such grace as I have 

seen in one autumnal face.'

                    ~ John Donne~ 

So true huh?!

I love the annual show Autumn puts on, it is like my paint palette when I am in full swing: colourful, messy and a joy to ponder. 

Chrysanthemums are in full bloom, great pickables for friends and they last in vases forever.

Falling, crunchy leaves of reds, oranges and all in between.

The chillies are finishing, so we harvest them and dry them out ready for our winter curries along with the fragrant coriander which is now filling up our vege patch!

And then a punch of citrus to warn us that winter is looming.

With only two chilli plants my harvest was a lot smaller than this lot, but last week I popped into a Bonsai Nursery and out the front in a makeshift carpark was this delicious and spicy sight! A HUGE  tarpulion  covered in chillies! Not sure what they had to do with Bonsai....but there you go!
Another gorgeous pop of colour.

I hope you enjoy the last bursts of colour before we all bunker down with woolies and marshmallows. 

With Love

Liv xo

Mother's Day here in Australia.

Being a mum is the best thing in the world although it has its challenges. In fact I'd go so far as to say it is the hardest job in the world BAR NONE.

To be a mum you also have to be :

a cook, a chef, a cleaner, a teacher, a psychologist, a doctor, a swimming coach, a lover, a fighter, a mentor, a hairdresser, a singer, a friend, a dictionary, a party planner, a adjudicator and at times a pretend ballerina or motorcross addict......all of this whilst doing up soggy shoelaces (covered in who knows what), reciting your humble definition of a saber-tooth tiger, and mentally preparing yourself for a 2 hours grocery shop with a 2 year old.

But I wouldn't have it any other way.....well perhaps a weekly massage would help!

Mother's Day is special for mums all over the world, and mine was truly that this year.

Breakky, chocolates and a cuppa in bed, handmade gifts and love letters galore, lunch with the extended fam and a moment on my own to do what relaxes me the most...paint another canvas!

I hope you were all spoilt rotten too.

With love

Liv x

Hand painted candles from my son, 10 y .o

Chocies from my love. Well my 2 y.o. has been regifting for 4 days now "mum i have pezent for you" (hoping to score some I'm sure)

A kiss in a box from my little princess, 5 y.o

A bracelet from my son, 9 y.o

Japanese pottery from my love.

.....and a rare free moment to do what I love, uninterrupted!

My love affair with hand written letters.

Does anyone else agree that this art form is becoming extinct?

Whilst the internet has brought the world a whole lot closer, that feeling of receiving an unexpected letter from a friend in the post or a card under my door from one of the kids,  far outweighs the instant gratification of an email. It's a hand written piece of love!

Hand written letters are personal, they are cherished, re read and carried around. Not many people would print out an email and put it under their pillow, but the personal touch of pen to paper is an expression of emotions and a physical reminder of an important relationship.

The only people i receive hand written mail from these days are my inlaws and a dear friend in Brazil. But this week it was the littlies that reminded of the joy of receiving a hand written letter... 4 times!

I found this under my door last week, from my 9 y.o. son!

..."the Pigouts!" ( I'm glad he has recogised this!)

My 5 y.o. daughter and our neighbour have been posting each other letters this week, so cute!

This one breaks my heart a little. A friends daughter popped this under her door this week. 

sniff sniff

And last but not least, this pearler from my son, 3 sleeps away from the real day!

I don't know about you, but I TRY really hard to hand write christmas and birthday cards every year, and little thank you notes to teachers. It doesn't take much to lift someones spirits.

So this week I'm going to set myself a challenge: to write and post 3 letters:

One each to my mum and mother inlaw for Mother's Day and one to a friend, just because. 

I dare you to take the challenge too!

Liv xo 

New kid on the blog!

Morning peeps!
I have been reading blogs for 8 years now and FINALLY I've decided to take the plunge, and so I am very humbled you popped by, hello to you!
I've blubbered enough about me and why I am writing this blog in 'about', so straight to it!

This first week of term 1 holidays has been busy but wonderful. The dreams I had of sleeps ins and chilling on the couch with a book...are still dreams, but the time together has been just what the doctor ordered.

We have had all four seasons this week. The kids were swimming at the start of the week, then we watched black clouds roll in, the sun poked his head out again briefly, the heavens opened and now the heater is on!

                       

But I was prepared this time! I've made the unprepared mistake before and things went pear-shaped very quickly. Before the hols I stocked up on balsa wood, glue, beads, stickers, cardboard, cake mixes, carrots ( to feed the entire streets horse population), chicken for the yabbi traps, wine and a little bit more wine!
And 8 days in:
We've been to two parties and had a few play dates.

The kids have each made (with their perfectionists mothers annoying "why don't you try it this way instead" kinda help) balsa wood models.
Lulu and her cousins beaded/braided each others hair, but the knots, tangles and frustration that ensued meant no photos were taken.
Cupcakes were baked a plenty!
Fresh water crays and eels were caught in the creek.
The trampoline got a beating, the old swing go a makeover, the veggie patch was gutted and replanted with winter delights and my propagated hydrangeas were finally planted.


Although its been fun, with a little luck this week my dream of a sleep in might come true!

Lulu's project/ castle

Mike's house minus its verandah (still to be finished)

Jimmy's house

Hubby's project

Henry's daily activity!

My project 

Vege patch

How did your holidays pan out?

Liv xo

About me

Hi there!
For 7 years I've conjured up believable excuses to avoid starting a blog, but I've finally run out, and so.....I'm the new kid on the blog!
In short, I'm from Sydney Australia and you may call me Liv!
I'm also one of 5 kids to loving parents who clock up 40 years of marital bliss this year; I've lived in 2 states, 3 major cities and 21 homes; I have visited 11 countries; begun 4 university degrees, finished one (hooray!); married once and only once ( a bloody funny bloke, even if i'm the only one who laughs at his jokes); given birth to 4 beautiful babies (carried 5); I've made and drunk millions of coffees......and I'm not even a "numbers type", I'm the "home-made, crafty type".

My life is simple but it's daily ramblings are lawless, well, that is until hubby comes home and then it resembles something more like ordered chaos with a splash of military discipline (and a lot of laughs).
I am an artist with a Ba in Fine Arts, a thrifter (or as my niece puts it, a scab), a lover of all things handmade and I particularly love to marvel the mundane.

I aim to use this blog as a springboard for my art, a pin board for inspiration and a space to share all that is precious to me and my family.
There is little doubt that we all remember the magic: the overseas trip, the new house, the surprise birthday party, but often we overlook the little things or those precious moments that make up 95% of our days and a lifetime of memories. So I want to marvel and recall the mundane for my kids and hopefully inspire other bloggers to do the same. Other than that I'm not exactly sure what else it is I have to offer the blogosphere, but I do know I have a propensity to talk (a lot) and a big capacity to love and share all that my heart leaps at.
...and I've just discovered that I use far too many '( )', '.....' and '!!!!'     (....sorry!)

I hope you pop by often and enjoy my digression from your and my daily chores.

With love
Liv xo