Project Life - April

Here are my two spreads from April. I love how the first spread has softer pastel hues, and the second has really golden autumn shades. I did a few small touches of journalling to tie it all together.

I need to get May's pictures printed and then it will be time to do June's. I can't believe how quickly the year is passing!

Little things

A few projects from the weekend, when it rained and rained. I found it helpful to have several little things on the go, that way I finished them quickly and felt more satisfied. (You might have noticed, I've well and truly fallen off the wagon with my 12 Unfinished Things project. It's just so much more interesting to start new things!) So, I...

... crocheted some trim for pillowcases. I really enjoyed this project, it was quick and easy and cheap using op shop pillowcases. Choosing the thread colour made me really happy!

... crocheted a pink scalloped trim for the lampshade. A bit of silly fun really, I wanted to bring the hot pink colour scheme into this corner of the room and I didn't feel like getting a whole new lamp shade. The trim is just pinned on at the back so it's easy to change later. Then I brought out the button box and sewed on some random white buttons.

... finished my Project Life spreads for April. Then I organised my May photos on the computer ready to have printed. And before long it will be time to do June...

The word on the snow is that, while it hit many parts of the south island today, it hasn't snowed in Christchurch to my relief. It's still bitterly cold and wet though and as they keep telling us, the worst is yet to come. I'll be putting some extra blankets on the bed tonight! Hope you are all keeping warm and cozy.

Matariki

I put up my Matariki stars this week. I used a branch which blew down from the kauri tree, as it had such a lovely shape to it, and hung it over the mirror. Matariki, or the Maori New Year, marks the time of year when the constellation Matariki (or the Pleiades) becomes visible in the sky. It's seen in the early morning just before dawn, and is sort of like a symbol that the harvest work is done, plenty of food is stored, and now is a good time to celebrate and spend time with your friends and family. That's how I interpret it anyway, and I like to put up my star decorations (there are seven, one for each star in the constellation).  It's also a good reason to catch up with friends and family for a nice meal or even a coffee break.

Anyone else celebrating Matariki this year?

The buzz word on everybody's lips today is snow... yep it's in the forecast again. Christchurch is not supposed to get snow every winter, but for the past two years that's happened. The news reporters are taking great glee in advising that this could be the worst winter storm in 20 years, and isn't that exactly what we need? Yesterday we had heavy rain that flooded a lot of streets and properties (drains are still not working properly due to liquefaction and damage), and of course many houses are still quake damaged. I'm hoping that it won't come to pass as badly as they are predicting, but just in case it does I'm well stocked on food, petrol and extra blankets. Not much else to do but batten down the hatches and wait it out! 

June flowers

I have quite a lot of colour in my garden this June. This is mostly due to a punnet of gaudy rosebud primroses which are now unfurling. Gaudy they may be, but looking around I can see that the garden would be quite dull without them! There are also, of course, the stalwart pansies and calendulas, and the fleeting sensory pleasure of the wintersweet bush. I have a potted erica in a shady corner, and my fairy blush camellias have begun their flowering season.

Indoors, I have a bowl of pink fondant hyacinths, and several small pots of mini flowering cyclamens. (Cyclamens are one of the Good Things about winter, and have saved my sanity on many an occasion.)

As usual I'm linking up to Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day at May Dreams Gardens. Northern hemisphere gardens are looking gorgeous right now, and if you visit this post you'll find links to gardens all around the world.

Wordless Wednesday - the heartfelt edition

A winter-wet bouquet

We had heavy rain all day Monday. I donned raincoat and boots, a basket and secateurs and went foraging for flowers. The pickings are a little slim but I found late roses, carnations, olive leaves and wintersweet. Enough to make this jewel-encrusted posy, and another little bunch of wintersweet for the bathroom counter (and later, my bedside table, so I would have sweet dreams). I also have a bowl of hyacinths unfurling on the hall table. My house is beautiful right now.

Wordless Wednesday

Corners of my home - hot pink for winter

 I wanted to change things up a bit for winter with some warm throws, cushions and a pop of colour. I thought that if I kept throws and cushions neutral yet luxurious - wool, cable knit, etc then I could use grey and hot pink for the accent colours. I haven't really got any of those luxurious knits yet but I made a start on the hot pink! I found some great yarn at Spotlight on special, $4.00 for a really big ball. It was great until I actually started working with it and then I realised why it was so cheap... it was really splitty and not very well spun. However I persevered, mostly because I didn't want to go yarn shopping again (it was quite hard to find just the right colour!) and made the crochet bunting. It was just simple dc all the way so I managed to make the yarn do what I wanted.

I also used it to cross stitch onto this woven fabric. I'm quite happy with how this cushion turned out and it was very quick and easy.

I'm liking the hot pink accents in here now. It really brightens the room up and I sure need that in winter! It almost makes staying inside not that bad.

Wordless Wednesday

On my reading table - Sweet Peas For Summer

Sweet Peas For Summer - how to create a garden in a year by Laetitia Maklouf.

This book is the story of the author's first backyard garden, and how she got it dug and blooming within a year. Having gardened for a decade in pots and on balconies, she had a strong idea of what she wanted in her garden so was able to get stuck in right away. One of her first projects was sowing sweet pea seeds to have flowers for summer.

The book is divided into seasons with a new chapter for each month.  Each chapter starts with a brief write-up of Laetitia's garden that month, then it has a list of tasks to do in your own garden. Then there are various projects, plantings and plant profiles, each illustrated with a gorgeous photo.

Although the book is aimed at beginner gardeners and I'm well past the beginner stage, I still found a lot to like. The easy, chatty style of writing is fun to read and the photos are beautiful. There are lots of projects which inspired me and interesting tidbits of information.

I enjoyed seeing photos of Laetitias garden, and my only quibble would be that there aren't many pictures of the garden as a whole. I would have also liked a garden plan or sketch to give me an idea of where things were in relation to each other.

Having said that, I enjoyed the chatty, friendly style of writing - pretty much like a blog in book form. While I may not be a beginner any more I still enjoy reading about how other people do things, and of course there is always something new to learn. I think everyone from beginners to experienced gardeners will find something to like here.

Isn't this bowl of hellebores lovely? Can't wait for mine to bloom so I can do this! (I'm also going to pin a flower in my hair and plant sarcococca and hang baskets from my apple tree, as soon as it is big enough.)

I'm linking this post to HolleyGarden's monthly book review meme. She has a great archive of book reviews here now, so do take a look!