Christmas Day in Melbourne...

Well if you live in Melbourne you know that the weather on Christmas day is never a sure bet...

We started with 25 degrees and the sun shiny brightly. We travelled the short distance to my sisters where the beautifully set table in the back garden was drenched by a sudden down pour of rain.  The sun came out again and all was well.  We shared a lovely meal with family and friends and as we watched the grey clouds roll over decided it was time to go home and check on our furry family.  We walked in the door as the large rain drops began to fall and then stood and watched as it turned to hail stones...

I stood under the cover of the Laserlite roof over our deck, taking photos as the hail fell and bounced all over the lawn.  Then as the rain and hail began to penetrate my supposed safe place, I took cover inside...

The view from my study looks out over the valley,  the hail appears like snow to cover the front yards of our neighbours and the hill's on the other side cant be seen...

Our back deck quickly became covered in hail...

When the hail eased I ventured out to survey the damage...

The lawn will survive as the hail melts away, however the Laserlite roofing over the deck is not so lucky.  The hail had penetrated alright, we now have added ventilation in the Laserlite roof...

Its amazing how much damage a little ball of frozen water can cause...

These poor leaves have been cut to shreds...

and my poor little lettuces have been pummelled...

We lost a some of the mulch on our front garden, we watched as it was washed down the hill but all in all the damage to the garden was not too bad.  Let's hope that we are over the worst of it!

Merry Christmas and Take Care,

Lanlizzy

Its been a while...

but the garden is looking lush at present and I so love that overgrown look...

Red flowering vine on my decking, beautiful velvety petals (not captured very well I'm afraid)...

Our Giant Bird of Paradise has 3 big beautiful blooms...

It's smaller and more colourful sister looks so pretty against all the green...

The Bromeliads bring a smile to my face with their bright pink leaves...

Our tomatoes are growing nicely...

And I have a new camera that I am having fun playing with in the garden...

I'm not sure what these tiny little bubbles are under the leaves and along the stems of my Virginia creeper but I'm sure they are not good for it!!!

Take Care

Lanlizzy

Our gorgeous girl...

Well it's more than a week since my last post as we have had a few things on our minds and decisions to be made.  Our gorgeous girl Rosie had been diagnosed with cancer a little while ago and after an operation to remove the cancer, we started a course of chemotherapy hoping that she would make a full recovery.   Two weeks ago on a trip to have a chemo treatment another lump was discovered, this time in a lymph node.  We have now started on another type of chemo and will be keeping her in our prayers as usual.

Our gorgeous girl...

In my garden this week...

Maggie decided it was a good place to have a rest...

My red rose is about to bloom...

As is my Bird of Paradise...

The creepers are about to meet!
Creeping Boobialla to the left and Virginia Creeper to the right, create a lovely effect on the sleeper steps...

The tomatoe plants have almost doubled in size since their last photo shoot...

In my creating space this week...

This week I decided I'd give my string quilt a rest and start on something that will grow a little more quickly, so here is what's on my table and design wall at present...



I have been collecting Kaffe Fassett red and pink fabrics for a few months now (since I started patchwork!), but I already have quite a collection and so thought it was time to use them.  This quilt will be for me,  I just love the combination of red and pink together.  I was looking for a pattern that would allow the quilt to grow quickly and also allow me to mix and match lots of fabrics.  I think the disappearing nine patch works well.  Here's how it looks on my design wall ...

I have 52 blocks so far and am not sure how many more I will do, I think I'll just keep going and hopefully I'll know when to stop!

Take Care

Lanizzy

In my creating space this week...

I've been working on my strip quilt this week, it's very time consuming but very therapeutic as well.  I'm loving the colours!

It's just a little messy in here...

I also have some lovely Batiks picked up at a local quilt exhibition recently...

Take Care

Lanlizzy

In my garden this week...

Its spring here and our garden is changing constantly.
The Wisteria has lost most of it's beautiful flowers...

but the Honeysuckle is now in bloom and smelling oh so sweet...

the Bottle Brushes are starting to flower...

and one of our palms has broken out in flower...  Well I presume that's what this mass of buttery yellow is that I have never seen before!

the Little Gem has a solitary bloom...

the Native Frangipani flowers are wilting but still smell divine at night...

and the tomatoes planted just a couple of weeks ago are loving the spring rain and warm days...

Pierre de Ronsard is blooming...

The Virginia Creeper is doing what she does best, creeping at a fast pace...

and the girls are loving the opportunity for us all to spend time in the garden together...

Take Care

Lanlizzy

Lanlizzy's Garden

My garden is a work in progress.  We moved in approximately two and half years ago but it is much larger than we are used to and it's taking a while to get it looking how we would like.  I will post photos of before and in progress regularly so pop back again to see how it's going.

This is the view from an area we call "the Dell"it's the area in which we have spent the most amount of time and is coming along quite nicely.  Well we think so anyway!

Here are some shots of it now...

and here are some before shots...

I hope you've enjoyed this glimpse of my garden.

Take care

Lanlizzy

Welcome to my blog

This is my first blog and it's taken a while to get off the ground.  I've followed many blogs for quite some time now but finally decided to start my own.  I'm a bit of a serial craft hopper and tend to fall passionately in love with a craft, play for a  while and then move on to the next.  At present my passion is quilting, i've just started to teach myself or should I say the internet, magazines and books are my teachers!

I intend to post about many things including my quilting projects, jewellery, garden and my beautiful dogs.
Thank you for stopping by and please leave a comment to let me know your thoughts.

Take Care

Lanlizzy