Home & Garden

Our neighbour has two big mango trees growing along the other side of our back fence.

He usually cuts the trees back and keeps them neat and tidy, by trimming any over-hanging branches.

But this year, he seems to have let them grow a bit wild.

So much so, I have counted at least 50 little green mangoes, that are hanging and drooping over our fence, into our garden.

In Australia, if you have something growing over the fence into YOUR property, you are allowed to cut it. It’s technically YOURS.

So that means… these mangoes are technically OURS. Right?

The biggest problem is… our back neighbour doesn’t really like us very much. In fact, I don’t think he likes anyone very much. We don’t see him very much. When we do, he can get a bit grouchy. And sometimes he can be unpleasantly bossy. But who knows what situation he’s in.

We try to be friendly. We try to stop our children from screaming and shouting in the backyard when they play. And most of all, we try not to piss him off too much.

Which brings me to the question… Should we steal his mangoes??

Or rather, OUR mangoes??

Hmm. Tricky one.

My kids and I are still tossing around ideas. But it looks like we might… pluck the mangoes when they are ripe, pop them into a fruit box, then walk around the block and deliver them back to him, at his door.

Aren’t we nice? :P

For months, I’ve been trying to find a table lamp for my house, so I can light up a particularly dark corner of my living room.

And at last, I found this very pretty (and well priced) lamp from Freedom – it’s perfect for my little table.

I really like the shape of the lamp, size of the lampshade, the pattern on the base, and how the glaze-wash over the ceramic is messy and puddled a bit here and there.

Oh and it matches my paintings. I painted about 12 abstract landscapes (oil paint on stretched canvas) in 2007, when I was part of a group art exhibition. I managed to sell some, but the rest are not for sale. I can’t part with the remaining few. Instead they are dotted all around my house :)

This painting is actually 1 of 4 square canvases (a quadtych?) inspired by my scuba diving days and swimming in the deep ocean. The sea sponge and driftwood were found objects from our beach holidays. The white vase and tea light holder were gifts. And the silver reindeer figurine is from my Christmas decoration-collection, that I decided not to pack away.

You know, I LOVE flipping through interior design magazines. I sigh at all the stunning rooms and beautiful objects, and I appreciate fine design and craftsmanship… but being a one income family, we simply can’t justify spending thousands (or hundreds!) of dollars on pretty furniture.

So… alas most times I make and restore things myself. I find secondhand furniture and objects (from the tip or thrift shops) , I clean them up, give them a bit of paint, or sand them back to create an antique look that I adore.

And this lamp… is the first homewares item I’ve bought in a loooong time!

My favourite flower in the world is the Blue Iris.

For the first time ever, I planted half a dozen of them in my garden and finally the spring rains and warm sunshine have made them bloom for me.

*So happy!!*

I always thought that if I ever grew beautiful flowers in my garden, that I would cut them and put them into a tall glass vase in my house.

But now that I see them swaying in the breeze surrounded by other flowers, watching how the sun and light falls across their petals, how their colours change throughout the day…

I decided to leave them where they are :)

I found these two chairs by the side of the road! Aren’t they so cute?!

I was cycling home from a morning ride, when I noticed that someone had left a huge pile of broken wood furniture on their front verge for collection by the council. These chairs were hidden amongst the mess.

I came back (with my car) a little later and took these babies home.

They are very old, and made (mostly) of solid wood.

I was dreaming up plans to sand back the layers of paint, fix them up, stain the wood or repaint them from top to bottom.

But first I gave them a good scrub with water and soap… and very quickly I fell in love with their aged vintage look.

I might keep them as they are.

Now,  I just need to find a place to put them.

This is what I have been doing the last few days.

Gardening! Celebrating the arrival of gorgeous weather! It’s nearly spring in Australia!

I have spent *weeks* preparing my garden beds, pulling out weeds, digging out grass, pruning roses, cutting back shrubs, removing old roots, sorting out my compost. I even found an old wooden barrel, emptied it and rolled it over to my front door to use as a flower pot!

There was so much work to do and I enjoyed every, single bit of it.

Today it was time to put in some new plants – the crowning moment!

I let my 3 year old son help choose some bright coloured flowers to start.

I’m planning to put in a lot more plants over the next few weeks. And I’ll be choosing some “water wise” plants too, as Australian summers can be very harsh and it’s not a good idea to have a very high-maintenance garden that needs lots of watering.

We put our flowers in the ground, gave them a good soak, stood back and admired our handiwork.

Ahh to be surrounding by such beautiful, vibrant colours!

Taking pleasure in such a domestic activity, I can feel that I’m on my way to becoming that happy little old lady, having a cup of tea and scones in the shade of her beautiful garden.

Okay, not yet…but one day!