The Little Red Wheelbarrow

I have potted up a small succulent garden in the little red wheelbarrow my once-small boy would push happily around full of mulch, soil, weeds and the occasional worm. The memory of him, hands in his tiny gardening gloves, pushing his little barrow around our lawn and from garden bed to garden bed, "helping", warms my heart so. Spending time outside together, in our garden, was a favourite part of our days at home together.

 A succulent garden in a child's wheelbarrow.

As it holds such lovely memories, I kept his little red barrow. I have grown flowers in it previously but recently decided I wanted to make a little feature of it, up in the new garden bed we've been creating where our son's old sandpit used to be. So, with extra drainage holes drilled into the bottom, some potting mix with a little leftover sandpit sand mixed in, and some small succulents gifted to me by a good friend, I planted it up.

Gifted succulents potted up  in the wheelbarrow.

One of the succulents has a pretty flower spike. I love the red in the buds as it matches the red of the wheelbarrow. A couple of the other succulents have tinges of red and pink too which I think, once they grow and fill up the space, will look lovely with the fire-engine red of the wheelbarrow.

Flower buds on one of the succulents.

While he has apparently "lost" his enthusiasm for gardening, in favour of hitting cricket balls and kicking footballs, I still point out things of interest in the garden to my boy. A certain plant flowering or going to seed, the scent of an open bud or a herb, a bird splashing in the birdbath or another creature making its home here. While he may not push his little red wheelbarrow anymore, I know the time I spent with him in the garden planted much within him. 

A little red wheelbarrow that holds succulents as well as memories. I am very glad I kept it and that I will see it often in the garden. 

What memories have you got planted in your garden?

Meg

An Evening Filled with Music

On the balmy Saturday evening just passed, my beautiful boy and I enjoyed an evening of wonderful music. Works by the composer Franz Schubert, with a little Brahms too, filled the beautifully restored Sandgate Town Hall with music and our hearts with joy.

 The piano from which the music plays.

The evening's program. 

Just as he did the last time we saw him, when he played Gerschwin in this hall, the amazing Australian pianist,  Simon Tedeschi, enchanted us again with music and with his incredible talent. Tedeschi first played at the Sydney Opera House when he was 9years old; his hands played those of the young David Helfgott, whom we saw perform here too, in the movie, Shine. I love that he shares something of the composer, and the music when he introduces the pieces he will play, for those pieces and those who imagined them, all have their stories.

 The town hall lit up at night.

 The hall's historic clock tower.

 Fairy lights twinkling in the trees.

The pattern on the hall's beautiful ceiling. 

The lights that hang from the ceiling. 

The old timber and iron seats of the mezzanine where we sit.

We have been to a handful of these concerts now and we make it a special night out. We dress up a little, drive up together and walk arm in arm, along paths lit by twinkling fairy lights in the trees, to the town hall. We sit up on the mezzanine, on the old timber and iron seats, and look out across the expanse of the floor below to the stage. We listen in rapt silence and our clapping joins the enthusiastic applause for the playing and for the music. It's music we love.

You can enjoy a little of Simon Tedeschi's playing piano here, as there is a choice of videos on his website, or listen to a little of Schubert at this YouTube link.  

I always find it hard to describe what I love so much about classical music. It's the mountains and the valleys of pieces, how it describes such a range of emotions from glorious love and elation to the depths of desolate despair and melancholy. And how that's so open to the interpretation of the one who is listening.  I love to close my eyes and just listen. It's a joy my son and I share and I hope he'll long remember our evenings filled with music.

Meg

Hail Storm

Further north, there have been some destructive hailstorms of late. We rarely get hail here but yesterday, as the storm clouds gathered beyond the ridge, the air seemed more dense and the sky heavier and ominous.  

Storm clouds coming over the ridge.

 Gum tree branches silhouetted against the storm's clouds.

As it cleared the ridge, the wind whipped up and heavy rain lashed down. Spectacular lightning split the sky and the booming thunder claps that followed had our poor old Sir Steve dog trying desperately to get in under a bed!  Hail, small balls of ice the size of marbles (and not any bigger thankfully), began peppering our roof and covering our green lawn in a blanket of icy white. The racket as it hit our roof was deafening!

Hail and a mini-river in the backyard.

Marbles of hail.

While we stayed safely inside, this little fellow, a Pied Butcher Bird, sought shelter under our verandah. It sat on one of our deck chairs until the storm had passed by and it was safe to fly away again. 

A Butcher Bird sits out the storm.

Our boy had a great time scooping up handfuls of hail once it was safe to venture outside again. It reminded me of the storm we had here when he was much smaller. Hail had covered the trampoline that we had back then and he couldn't wait to get out there and bounce it off! 

Storms like this seem unusual at this time of year. To me, they are more synonymous with the sweltering heat and humidity of our subtropical Summer. I wonder what will be ahead, weather-wise, in the months to come.

What's the weather like where you live?

Meg

For Every Poppy Flower

There's a lot I could write about the Australian War Memorial. The building itself with its beautiful dome, the history of the wars that it tells, the artefacts and the stories behind them ... but, for me, it was the brilliant red columns of poppies, an en masse tribute adorning name after name on the commemorative Roll of Honour, that left me still inside. There are over 102,800 names on the bronze panels that record the names of Australians who have died in war and on operational service. Every name and every single one of those little poppies represents somebody's life...

Name after name after name cover the walls under the arches of the War Memorial's Commemorative Area. They lead you to the tomb of Australia's Unknown Soldier.  Inside, under that magnificent dome,  you will find no names but a sombre quietness in respect to all those who lost their lives to war. 

The Commemorative Area's arches.

The golden mosaic on the dome's ceiling.

In the late of every afternoon, the Last Post ceremony is held in the Commemorative Area. We stood, as the cold deepened and dusk crept in, while our national anthem was played, as wreaths of flowers were laid on the edge of the Pool of Reflection, and while the story of just one of those brave soldiers, whose name is there among so very many others on that honour roll, was told. The silence was broken by the haunting sound of the bagpipes carrying The Pipers Lament, the solemn voice of a soldier reciting The Ode and the lonely call of a bugle signalled the end of the day and the end of so many lives as the The Last Post rang out, up and into a darkening sky.

 The Pool of Reflection.

The Eternal Flame

As we spoke of it later, a visit to the Australian War Memorial is not something enjoyable. It is not that kind of place. It is a place that holds a collective memory. That, I think, is its purpose. To help us to remember, to ensure we do not forget and to be ever mindful of the sacrifices which paid for our own freedom.  As you enter and leave the War Memorial, words from our anthem greet and farewell you ... for we are young and free ... 

Meg

Ripe Raspberries

I know that it should naturally follow, in my first post after our return from holiday, that I share with you all tales and photos of our travels BUT something far more exciting happened here while we were away. Amid the tangles of our passionfruit vine, some very special little fruits have turned a beautiful and edible ruby red.  This gardener's discovery, of ripe native raspberries, saw me shouting out to hubby for the camera with a lot more urgency than I had for any holiday snap. For, the sooner I photographed them, the sooner I could savour them again.

A ruby red & ripe native raspberry. Mmm... 

There is something so special about these little fruity gems.  They have formed and ripened on the two native raspberry bushes I planted quite a while ago now because I wanted to grow raspberries. Raspberries like the ones I remembered picking with my aunt and uncle when I was small. The ones that I could still taste in that memory from long ago.  

Homegrown native raspberries.

Each little berry may be only a tiny morsel but with a power to bring forth memories that took me back to a time and a place I loved. I could see again the edge of the forest from where I had picked native raspberries like these long ago. I could smell the damp, musty leaf litter of that forest too. They tasted just the same as they do in my memory, sweet and tart at the same time! I savoured each little one, sitting right there on the grass next to where I'd picked them. Raspberries and nostalgia growing in my garden. What a treat!

Harvesting memories!

Do you have something growing in your garden that takes you back to a time and a place from long ago? Perhaps, something that sets you to remembering when you first see it bloom or when you catch its scent on the wind or when you taste it again after waiting for what seems an eternity for it to be ready? 

Meg

p.s. I will share some photos from our trip to Melbourne soon. There was so much to see!

Embroidery Inspiration

I have loved stitching since I was a young girl. My Grandmother had an old chest of drawers filled to the brim with her beautiful handiwork. I loved to pull out one heavy drawer at a time and carefully look through all of her delicate linens.  Each piece embroidered with the tiniest of stitches, intricate and so beautiful. 

I remain fascinated with embroidery today. I love to look through the piles of old linens in op shops, antique stores and markets. When I hold a piece in my hands, I wonder how old it is and who made it. Occasionally, I will find a piece and bring it home with me, a treasure from yesteryear. Sometimes, I will wash and iron it carefully and use it in our home here to lay out on a table or to sit a vase of flowers or an ornament upon. Sometimes, I will cut out snippets of the embroidery, usually from stained or damaged pieces, and incorporate them somehow into a new project such as a little gift bag or pouch. This gives an unwanted piece new life.

My most precious piece is a set of napkins that my Great Grandmother stitched in what is now very old linen. I love the intricate, cut-out circles. I can't imagine how long it must have taken to do such neat and careful work with her needle and threads. I feel so very lucky to have pieces which connect me to her and which were worked in her hands so many years ago. Do you have a precious handmade treasure that has been passed down to you?

An intricate cut-out circle stitched by my Great Grandmother.

Precious napkins!

The back of my Great Grandmother's embroidered circle.

Although nowhere near as old, some of my favourite stitched pieces are those created by the very talented Melissa Wastney of tiny happy. I simply adore the little flowers, twigs, leaves, dots, dashes and marks that Melissa makes on fabric. I love the nature that she draws with her needle and threads.

 A beautiful project bag made by Melissa Wastney.

Very tiny and happy stitches. ❤ 

Very occasionally, I pick up my own needle and threads and create something with tiny little stitches. (This project bag was the last piece I made using embroidery.) Usually, I find inspiration and ideas from nature or drawings or in the library. On a recent trip to the library, I found several books which I have been reading and looking through again and again since I borrowed them. I'm not sure yet what I want to make but I'm sure I will settle on something soon. In each book there are some wonderful ideas. 

Inspiring embroidery books from the library.

What I loved most about the inspiring book, Rebecca Ringquist's Embroidery Workshop:  A Bend the Rules Primer is her whole approach to stitching. Colourful, layered, textured, different. I love that she's included a photo of the back  of one of her pieces in all its messy fineness in her book. One of her dropcloth samplers would be an ideal project for someone to learn a range of stitches while creating something beautiful from the practice. 

In Nancy Nicholson's book, Modern Folk Embroidery, I love the simple little pincushions that repurpose bottle tops with little pieces of felt and some stitches. Similar bottle top pincushions can be made using the tutorial over at the beautiful blog, Tea Rose Home OR this tutorial over at the Muse of the Morning website. Something useful and pretty from something that would otherwise be thrown away. The folk arty style of the projects in this book really appeal to me. The stitched bird on the front cover reminded me, as soon as I saw it, of the incredibly colourful birds that Julie created with felt, fabric and stitches over on her blog, JulieLou.

For something different, Japanese Paper Embroidery by Atsumi, Minako Chiba and Mari Kamio has me thinking of stitching onto paper and card. Beautiful little projects like greeting cards, notebook covers and little photo frames are included in this book. So many possibilities!

Time for a little stitching is a definite possibility this coming weekend. I hope your weekend holds lots of happy possibilities too.

Meg

Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow

Fragrant flowers, that fade from an intense violet to a softer lavender blue and then to white, are such a sweet  feature of the old-fashioned shrub that I know as the Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow (Brunfelsia) bush. It is the way in which its flowers change colour from day to day that give this shrub its common name.

From violet ...

... to lavender blue ...

 ... & then to white.

The young Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow bush growing in my garden was covered in masses of these blooms after the recent soaking rains we had. It is slower growing and it does need water, especially in the drier months of the year. After flowering, it's important to give it a light prune to encourage new growth and to keep the shrub bushy.

Flowers and raindrops.

My Grandmother grew this shrub in her garden, my Mother grows it still and now I do too. The fragrance of its little flowers brings back memories of the gardens I played in when I was young. It's amazing how fragrance can do that in an instant:

"Smell is a potent wizard 

that transports you across a thousand miles

and all the years you have lived."

                                                                                              ~ Helen Keller

Do you grow fragrant plants in your garden and do they take you back in time too?

Meg

p.s. You need to be aware, if you choose to grow this shrub, that parts of it are poisonous to dogs.