oh my goodness!!

I was so excited to hear that I won the bloggy/birthday giveaway over at 'from little things...', and then when it arrived this morning I actually screamed when I opened the parcel and saw all the gorgeous goodies inside!  What an incredibly generous giveaway, thank you so very much, Mel, everything in here is absolutely perfect & that card, oh well that is just going straight to the pool room (well, we don't actually have a pool room so onto my inspiration/keepsakes board it goes...) - love it!!

this beautiful card with the loveliest message inside...

all this goodness...

the softies book has the most amazing projects,  I can't believe my luck & I can't wait to put all of this to great use!

my creative little people...

I've been trying to get a grip of the great masses of artwork that's churned out around here. They get taped to the bedroom walls or thrown into a basket where no one gets to see & appreciate the beautiful works of my little artists.  So I decided to just pop them  up on the kitchen wall for all to see...

Being a bit of a neat freak, I wasn't sure how well I'd cope with them all just stuck higgledy, pigledy on the wall but I quite like it now that they are all up & the more we add, the better it looks!

As a result, I've been able to streamline the kids bedroom walls so they are a little bit more orderly to satisfy my mad need for neatness...

Pop over to Kootoyoo to for other creative spaces...

brrrr, it's getting cold....

I love winter! I know it's only mid Autumn,which is a beautiful time of year, and as much as I have enjoyed our extra  long summer this year, I am really looking forward to the temperature dropping & being able to layer up!

I adore the smell of open fires, the crisp air & all those delicious winter casseroles (mainly because I'm not a great fan of cooking & I find these one-pot-wonders the easiest & yummiest dishes ever!).  Most of all, I love the the winter woollies, coats, scarves, boots, gumboots...bring it on I say!

a little stool fetish....

I am mildly obsessed with stools.  I don't know what it is really, I just love all the different styles and they really have so many uses around our place.  Over time I have stumbled across all of these at either garage sales or op shops & some have been given to me by older relatives...

Office stools

Bedside stool 

Foot stool (come drawing stool)

Laundry/everywhere stool

Veranda stool

Ok, this is just a spare, but I do love it...

Larger foot stool /dinner table for one

and these patiently awaiting some love & attention...

For more Flea Market Finds visit Sophie...

One last hoorah...maybe...

The weather has been amazing for this time of year.  Gorgeous summery days.  I think we may have just scraped in one last fabulous beach day.  The weather was stunning, the water crystal clear with perfect rolling waves, drawing in the sand...

 'gobbles' - essential head wear for the superhero...

..and then this...

Incredible black storm clouds rolled in & hovered above for a little while before opening up & dumping pouring rain at 3.30, right on cue for school pick up...

Could this finally have been our last summery beach day for the season? I think so. I'm glad were able to enjoy it while it lasted...

A Garage Sale!!

I have been a very busy little bee this week, setting up a garage sale to clear out some stuff that's been clogging up our cupboards.  Here's hoping we get loads of people through & clear the lot!

Fingers Crossed...

A special delivery...

I was so excited to see the postie drop a package into our letter box this morning...

This very special delivery has come all the way from Uganda, a gorgeous handmade bag by Ki Kati. I feel very privileged to have won this in the EcoMILF giveaway recently.  All the products are made using traditional African fabrics & they're truly amazing.  Best of all, 100% of the profits go to the very clever people who make them.  Pop on over to Ki Kati, take a look & support Fair Trade...  

The other side...

I can thankfully say I have almost made it to the other side of a shocking head cold. 

It hasn't been pretty.  While I've been nursing a head that felt the size & weight of a watermelon, some horrible dragon lady inhabited my body & was so miserable & grumpy & awful to everyone else who lives here.  Hubby has taken a very wide berth & I do believe was VERY happy to be back at work yesterday!

 

But now look, the sun is shinning on my airing linen, that horrid dragon lady has moved on & I am all inspired and recharged to get back into the swing of my normal happy life...I'm sure that having hubby back at work after 4 weeks has nothing to do with the clouds lifting, we really had a lovely time..at least the first 3 weeks were fun...