the buds of spring at home...

Our Garden, or lack there of is only new. We started with a blank canvas about 5 months ago when we moved into our first ever brand new home. We have been planning and thinking and planning on how we will lay out the landscape to feature all the thing we desire for our growing little family.

As you have read, the list was, and still is long, but we are working to the time we have spare, & of course to a budget...

We have a few trees & shrubs planted already to try to get some greenery around us & to help with the general layout. It's trickier than you may think.

One of my most favourite trees that we have already planted is the Forest Pansy or Cercis canadensis. It is stunning against all the green of the gum trees & bushland that surrounds us, and I have been eagerly watching it's growth as the months have past and I would love to show you it's beauty so far...

If you like what you see, check out more about it here or over at this wonderful blog I just stumbled upon.

These images are of one of ours, we have 2 planted as feature plants beside some steps up to the higher side of the garden.

Aren't you just loving it??? I think it is my current favourite to date.

Watch this space & I will keep you updated with it's visual beauty!

Grab yourself a cuppa *smile*

MHxx

goodbye winter...

It's not that I don't like Winter, but it's so lovely to be welcoming Spring & it's warmer days & all the prospects of new beginnings that it has to offer...

But before I go jumping the gun and moving onto Spring, we still have approximately 3 hours left, to give thanks and reflect on the wonderment (hmmm word? not sure) of Winter...

So my personal list of absolute gratitude is this;

Thank You for;

• cold crisp days
• a red nose
• numb fingers & toes
• walks along the beach at it's best
• huge swells
• rain
• daffodils
• super cute gumboots
• and colorful umbrellas
• snuggles on the couch with my babes
• outside fires
• and crackling logs
• warm gooey delicious marshmallows
• my lambswool slippers
• delightful knitted vests & jumpers
• scrumptious slow cooked meals
• puddings of all flavours
• puddles
• mud
• long hot baths
• listening to the rain on the tin
• oranges
• inside fires
• snuggles
• snuggles
• and more snuggles
• and all the things I've missed but loved

Now on your way and let Spring do it's thing! We shall be seeing you again next year...

MH xx

dreamer...

I guess I should clarify this first off, to avoid the risk of sounding ungrateful. Yes, we have just built a new home, and it's ever so comfortable, and more than a roof over our heads. But here is the thing, my idea & I do believe that it is fast becoming my darling husbands (I should say DH, , but you know what that could be mistaken for??? and with a wish list so long, we would not want to offend).

Anyway, as I was saying, I dream of a white weatherboard homestead with huge surrounding verandas, a porch swing, rolling pastures looking out onto the ocean, a huge white kitchen & I mean huge, with a porcelain inset sink and lovely chrome old style taps and light fittings, and window seats, and a mudroom, because with 4 children you need that....

There will be fruit trees and cows, sheep, chickens (more than two), and a Veggie patch to die for! It will be white, white, white, did I mention that I like white? We currently have white walls and kitchen now and even just a few white items is hard to keep busy hands off...

I don't quite know the location of our dream home, but I am not thinking snow... so I guess that rules out a few places...

Well now I see no other option than to indulge your visual sense with some pics...

The dreamer xx



I have just stumbled across this and it was love at first sight, you might like to check it out too! http://porchlightinteriors.blogspot.com/2010/03/tea-on-verandah.html

I think that's enough dreaming for now

MamaHick xx

the girls need a new home...

Fluffy & Coco are growing at a huge rate of knots, and they need a new home. I am thinking of something gorgeous & primped and all things chateau, but my husband has other ideas... So the discussion continues. He is thinking wire cage and let them out each day to help fertilise the garden ( I am thinking fertilise the deck, washing, table, chairs, me if I stopped long enough) I love the thought of having them rome, and this is what is currently happening, but they are totally chaos, eating my plants and pooping everywhere.

So my thoughts were something like this...

Nothing flash, just a chicken coupe made by yours truly & darling husband, he is ever so handy, it would be such a waste to let all his wonderful skills go to waste.

I want fruit trees & Veggies, & a Water tank, and to do up the Pirate Ship (pics to come) &, &, &.... oh my, the list goes on & on..

For now, we shall just discuss, but secretly deep down, I know that he always wants to please me.

We will need apples, so there will definitely be an apple tree...

Cabbage, well not the favourite of the kids, but look at this superb sculpture!

Mandarines are a must too, high up on the list...

Oh I am a dreamer... I cannot wait to get stuck into "The Patch".

Watch this space to see how the discussion pans out and for progressive pics.

I am still watching...

I am loving all this sunny sunshine that we have been so blessed with. I am watching too. I can see the early signs of Spring on the trees & I can smell it in the air. I have been closely inspecting the new grass that I am so very impatiently dreaming of walking on barefooted!!! I have been observing our home too to see what we love and where we need to primp!

One thing that I will be glad to be rid of is the nasty coldy fluey bugs that are floating around in the cold Winter air. I love Winter for all it brings don't get me wrong, but I like to feel the warmth of the sun on my bones. I think that perhaps my sad little bubba maybe feeling a little under the weather at the moment, so we have been sharing lots a cuddles (lucky me), I hope it passes soon, so my wonderfully happy boy returns!

OK, so here is the grass progress...................

So this is what 1 week & 6 days is bringing us....

I know that it is bringing me joy!!

I have also captured a few little corners from our home that I love, for one reason or another...

Peace & Warmth

MamaHick xx

Do you see what I see?

OK, so it's not much, but this teensy bit of green is making me one very happy Mama right now.... As much as the kids are loving feeling and wearing this sandy black earth (god love em') my walls and floors are not!! Argggghhhhh.... well it's probably not Arrrrrggghhh worthy, but it kind of driving me a tad nuts! My poor bubba boy had never felt the grass of our yard, and my kids do love the outdoors, so this is not right and must be changed! OK, so I did a little research and discovered what grass we would need, that being one called Emerald Kikuyu, apparently it's tolerant to everything and needs no water once established, so sounds good to me. The picture is the grass seed after 1 week and 4 days, and I promise that I am passionate enough to blog about it's progress... because there is nothing better than watching the grass grow... hmmmm we'll see. So watch this space and see my grass grow! I cannot wait to walk barefoot through the lush green grass and see the kids running and playing in the warm summer sun.... ahhhh day dreaming the night away!
Peace out XO

home sweet home...

After what has seemed like an eternity, our new home is finally complete!! Complete with us that is, and we are loving it here... We are surrounded by cardboard boxes and stuff, you know how we just collect stuff? Well we must have done some collecting at some point, cos I can assure you there is something in these boxes!
We are mostly sorted and the kids are settling in just great, actually it's as though we have always been here with the kids. For me it's kind of surreal, I keep thinking that I will need to go home soon, but no, not so LOVE...
We have so much work to do in the garden, well actually we need to create a garden first!! I will endeavour to get some pics happening and that way, you too can enjoy the progress!! Gotta go, my beautiful new walls await me...
Night Night XO

learning the art of patience...

OK, so it's been a pretty long and tiring journey this whole building a house thing! But it is drawing to a close, and I think that I am finding this part the hardest... In case I forget and it seems like a good idea, I do not want to build again with a volume builder ever again!!!! Owner building all the way from here on in... Well that's if we ever build again ;). Today being the 15th means that we have only have another 15 days of a roof over our heads! Thankfully we do have a caravan and a very nice foreshore here, so that is where we may end up if Metricon does not full their finger out and give us a settlement date... arrrrrrgggggghhhhh Sorry just had to let that out!
The house itself is looking lovely and I am sure that we will be extremely happy living there but we just need to get there... OK so sitting here blogging is probably not going to get anything packed, but just needed to vent! Thanks for listening...
May your day be full of sunshine! XO

home...

Oh me oh my, I do believe that we will only have 29 more sleeps in this house until we should be in our new home!!! Smiling like you would not believe! x

the progression of crestwood...

OK, so with 17 weeks past since we commenced building, we have most of our home complete! Hooray you here me scream!!!!! Well we are at lock up, mostly painted, kitchen in, bathroom cabinetry installed, laundry cabinetry installed and fireplace was done today.... sounding promising to be in within the next 4 weeks one would think, but we are told possibly April??? I guess when you have waited this long, what's another gazillion weeks.. It's looking good, which is nice to say, because choosing a house from small colour samples and swatches is kinda tricky... the internal paint colour is Dulux Stowe White, with Vivid White ceilings and architraves, I guess I am telling you that so that I can always look back here if I ever need to remember... The external paint is Dulux Kahlua Milk and Vivid White, with Boral Brown Terrain brickwork, but I think we will render all the brickwork that is visible from the street??? Windows are aluminium and powder coated in White, roof and gutters are Colorbond Woodland Grey, with Colorbond Surfmist fascia and downpipes... We have Boral Silkwood timber flooring throughout 90% of the house in a timber named Tallowood and we chose rough grade so you can see the flaws that would occur naturally in a tree, it's an Australian hardwood, so we didn't go hacking into some superb rain forest somewhere exotic! It's quite tricky starting from scratch, particularly the landscaping layout... we have chosen where we will concrete and had some quotes, and Cory has drawn some garden layouts that are looking good... I really want somewhere secret and special for the kids to run and hide and play, so I am thinking of growing a hedge and putting a door into another section of the garden so that it creates a bit more interest and allows the kids their own personal space.. I am saying a flying fox would be awesome or a really cool tree house, but we will have to wait and see. It might be a bit of watch this space I think.. well that's it for now... night night

the making of crestwood........

Should I sit here and tell you about the journey of crestwood?, or I just fill you in from here?........ So from here on it is! Well to date we have a site cut and some plumbing and that is about it!! Not sure exactly, but apparently something happened with the cut, and now there is too much fill, so they had to get the engineer to recheck the load bearing wall.... ramble ramble..... They are saying a slab for Friday, but with no tradesman in sight I am thinking not.... I am sure you know how keen we are to have this house, so if we could all just channel Ley Ley and say Come on house, that would be awesome!! Again will get some pics soon