14 June 2010

Loving, NOT Loving: At My House...


Loving the Weather... and the Garden...
It's meant to be Winter here in New Zealand. Ha!  It feels more like spring. We have showery patches, rainbows and sunshine, rainstorms and thunder all in one day. Occasionally the temperature drops and we need to light the fire and snuggle under rugs, sipping tea and listening to the rain. But it's hardly what you'd call wintery, most days.

My garden is confused, so warm is it still.


The Hibiscus thinks it's still summer. The jonquils think it's already spring. Only my poor neglected roses seem to have gotten the message, and stand bare waiting patiently to be pruned.


The rain has worked wonders for my poor dead herb garden. Did I mention that I killed it off in summer by forgetting to water it? I am a gardening saddo. Poor herbies.

They all withered and died: the coriander, the mint, the basil and the chives. But wait... some warm showery weather (which is meant to be winter but isn't really)... and my herb garden has come back to life, all by itself. A miracle! Gotta love that miracle of life.


Loving Home-Made Art
Who needs mass-produced printed art when you have kids who can draw and paint (and do mosaics)??


What better to decorate your walls with than photographs and paintings done by dear friends. I walk around the house and feel the love, enjoy the colour. I feel good knowing that nobody else has art like mine - they are all original and special.

(The framed photo on the left was sent to me by the lovely Cat from Canada; I have another one from her above my computer xxx)







Loving 60-Minute Makeover
I love my DIY programmes and (surprisingly!) so do my kids! There's a British programme which comes on every weekday called 60-Minute Makeover and the kids beg me to let them watch it with me (even the boy!!) Hee hee, love it! We snuggle together and rate the designers, rate their designs, guess whether they'll get all four rooms done in sixty minutes...

Dash sneaks out of bed and comes to cuddle on the couch and watch with me...

I hear Miss Fab in her bedroom moving furniture and blowing the whistle... she writes out a "KEEP ME" sticker and attaches it to her art...


It's given me a great idea for her birthday present.

She's turning six and no longer played with her lilac dolls crib, her candy-red highchair, her giant dolls pram. So last week we gave them away to some friends with young daughters to make space for.... a desk (solid mahogany bought online for $50) Then we'll combine it with... A gorgeous new quilt set (at 50% off!) ...repainted bookshelves, new storage for the dressups... maybe a feature wall??? I am thinking of painting her a Mural on one wall. Maybe with magnetic paint underneath... Haha! I'll let you know how I get on with that one...

A big girls bedroom, with space for creating. Our very own 60-Minute Makeover, just in time for a Rather Fancy Sleepover. Dunno if we'll get it done in 60 Minutes, but we'll have fun doing it :)


Loving Pretty Old Things
My Nana had a stack of old cut glass dishes and retro china. I never realised how gorgeous it all was at the time, and none of it came our way when she passed. Lately I've been grabbing little bits of old glass and china whenever I spot a bargain in the Thrift Shops. This my latest find; it looks so pretty on my dresser with old beads and bits in it.

Here's some embroidery done by my great-grandmother and framed by me. And my china collection... which gets pulled out regularly for afterschool-tea-parties.

My favourite saying: "Don't save the good china for a special occasion; make today a special occasion by using the good china!" Love that saying.


Not Loving: Reality
Dishes piled up, crumbs on the floor, piles of laundry waiting to be done. Sigh. Better get to it.

What are you loving/NOT loving lately??


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15 comments:

Maddy said...

Hi Simoney,

You have such a lovely garden! I bet you're glad you got your herb garden back. I really want to start a herb garden... Any tips??!!

That is a very pretty quilt set you bought your daughter! I love the flowers!

What I'm loving is the fact that it is nearly school holidays. What I'm not loving is the random weather we are having in Australia. I wish it would stay cold!

Maddy.

A Life Less Complicated said...

You have no idea how happy I was to see dishes piled up in your kitchen! The weather lately has been very Spring-like - great down pours followed by warm sunshine and beautiful rainbows - that's what I'm loving.

Not loving - hmmm I can't complain about much although I wish the cleaning fairy would visit more often :D

Jen said...

I have a friend who told me that her daffodils thought Spring had already come
if you ask me it needs to warm up a lot more yet

LOVE your kids art

Anonymous said...

I love-love-love your house! Its way too awesome! As a matter of fact, I am so glad to find your blog! Hope to rop by here again! xoxox

LIESL said...

I was looking through photos from last year. We were in our winter jammies in MAY!!! And out of them by September. I don't get the weather.... And just an idea.... Did you know that you can make your own chalkboard paint IN ANY COLOUR?! There's an awesome tutorial where you paint a shape (eg. a cloud, tree etc) out of homemade chalkboard paint on a wall. One day if we ever own our own home, I plan on doing that. That quilt set is just BEAUTIFUL!

LIESL said...

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/make-custom-color-chalkboard-paint this is the one from Martha Stewart, in case you were interested

One day I'm going to paint a huge pink chalkboard heart for my little girl :)

PaisleyJade said...

I love your posts!

Cracking up because our whole family is addicted to 60 minute makeover too! (the main fan is master 11!!).

I'm loving your nicely painted house (I'm dreaming of the day our ghastly orange bungalow will become a beauty).

I'm loving the knowledge that there is hope for my dead herb garden.

I'm loving the fact that we will get 2 weeks of summer in Israel next month!!

Ooo - and I'm loving the plans for the bedroom makeover!!

emma @ frog, goose and bear said...

just too much going on there - what to comment on.....

those particular herbs only last a year anyway, except for the mint, so i wouldn't feel bad. mine does the same thing every year and always pops back up. i love winter gardening - means no watering, although the weeds also love the rain..... oh well, sometimes they have pretty flowers on them and can be disguised as 'meant to be there' plants....

i LOVE the saying re the best china. our mum had that philosophy re. the best silver cutlery.

i am ashamed to say that your kitchen sink looks tidy compare to mine!

Widge said...

what????!!!! spring!?! try -3 degree mornings down here in North Canterbury!!! It's been absolutely freezing for the last few weeks here brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I have my orange blankie on me now and the fire blazing and I'm still chilly.

OK I'm LOVING your wicked as tea pot!!

Lou said...

Wow, you do have a lot happening there! I am also a sad gardener! and speaking of crazy weather, one of our fruit trees started to blossom again just before winter because of all the lovely weather in Melbourne. It has turned cold now though. Love the art displays. We certainly do have some similar things happening on our blogs and in our houses... Thanks for (coincidently) joining in today. Lou.

Catching the Magic said...

Love your posts x
Not loving the southerly that's blasting the house here in Welly tonight!

Anonymous said...

harumph! Might be springlike where you are but let me tell you, it's cold and wet and wintery down here!! Although I must say my daughter's hibiscus is still flowering, too. And there are paperwhites everywhere!

That pillow with the roses on it - I saw them in the flyer. Do they stick out or is that just an illusion? I was coveting them for my daughter, too!

I like the idea of a Love/Not Loving post. Might try that for tomorrow.

(and my kitchen looks like that, too)

Gail said...

Very cool Simone. My garden no longer knows if it's a garden or not. Sigh!

Anonymous said...

Wow...your home's just beautiful. So welcoming and comfy.
My mother would love your garden btw^^

xoxo

Anonymous said...

loven this post
i also love how bright your kitchen is with the wrap around windows...I don't even notice the dishes and crumbs!!!
Loven Miss's new comforter...so so very fairytale!
haha
about your herb garden...thank God for wonderful resilient nature!
mmmm this post made me feel very happy!

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