how does your garden grow - wordless wednesday.

play along?

september.

my word, it's september already! august seemed to go super fast, but that might be because i didn't do my august post until well into the month...
speaking of, i managed to get the baby blanket done in august (because i'm the slackest cousin it's still folded up and in my lounge room...) but i didn't really get anywhere with the design wall. i still have this pile sitting in the middle of my lounge room floor, waiting for me to have the patience to get out a ruler and centre everything to frame it (it's on my to-do list for today but we'll see...)




well let's look forward to the beautiful month ahead! day 2 and the weather is spectacular, i'm really hoping this is indicative of the weather for the whole month! mainly because my mum came and stayed with me after last weekend and mowed my lawn when i was at work. i swear, this is the best it's ever looked and i fully intend to keep it looking nice! especially because i've just moved the bbq outside, can't wait to get cooking on it!
also planned for this little outdoor space (hopefully this month...), getting some seeds in the soil and getting some veggies growing AND attaching some hanging baskets to the fence. fences are so boring pfft.




i also have a little project planned for inside! i want to get the inside of our drawers painted. i (shoddily) applied black contact to the bottom of each of them when we first moved in and it just looks terrible! a nice white coat of paint or two for each of the interiors and they'll be looking like new!

the sunshine and spring air has got me making crazily long to-do lists :D
what's on your agenda for this month?

now i'm off to the post office to post my (now late) craft swap craftings, will be back tomorrow to share!

greening up.

i was very happy to be able to spend a couple of hours outside on the weekend (before it started raining that is...) i had just a little job in mind, trimming the few bushes that run along the window at the front of our house. this didn't quite go to plan though and i ended up completely ripping one of the bushes out. i figured i never really liked it anyway and my rose could really use the breathing room!


i then weeded and re-mulched the garden bed. luckily, only then did it start to rain, saving me the trouble of watering all that mulch in!
while we're out in the garden,



check out how much my jasmine has grown since this unfortunate incident. it's absolutely covered in flower buds too! i'm beside myself with anticipation and excitement!

something i'm not excited for though...


tidying up my back yard. every year i seem to let it get to a complete mess. i really want to start getting it tidied up before spring though, that way i can be ready and waiting with spring plantings :D
i've got my fingers crossed for some good weather this weekend as my mum is down and well, many hands make light work!

how is your winter garden looking? do you leave it alone for the winter like me? or are you out there keeping it nice and tidy in all seasons?

a goodbye, a thank-you and a selfish gesture.

it was a very sad day for me last friday. you see, my lovely neighbour had sold her house, and friday was the unfortunate settlement day. i was very sad to see her go, as she was the best neighbour you could have, always up for a chat and a fellow crafter!
i made her up a little box as a happy housewarming present (excuse the terrible photo). she's an avid gardener and had mentioned to me that her new place had a garden, but it wasn't particularly exciting...



so in the box i popped some random potted colour pots from bunnings (one of them was lobelia, that was as far as my plant knowledge extended though) and some nice herbs for good measure.
she loved them!

also on friday last week, i received a little envelope in the letterbox. inside it was this bundle of loveliness,


from steph. the rectangle of vintage gorgeousness (with my initial EMBROIDERED on!!), is a tissue holder! sooooooo cute! needless to say i love it, and can't believe steph took the time to make something so beautiful! i'm almost afraid to use it as my bag is a bit like a tip at the moment (always).
thank YOU so much steph!

then yesterday, after work, i popped into the supermarket to get a couple of things, and thanks to a post-mothers day flower sale, managed to pick this up for myself,



for half-price! i'm not particularly into buying cut flowers because of their impermanence, and well your basically giving someone something that they're going to have to watch wither up and die... which makes these perfect for me, not only are there still flowers yet to come out on the plant, they're bulbs so i'll be able to enjoy them every year! huzzah! reusable gift to myself!

so that's what has been happening in these parts, what have you been up to?
did you have a good mother's day? i visited my mum for dinner and surprised her well and good as she didn't know i was coming, i like to think it made her day but i think she was happy to have the family all together having a meal together!

aphids be gone!

i have a peppermint plant. it sits on my windowsill in the kitchen. i bought it at a uni market last year. when i was on the way home from uni that day i realised that this poor little peppermint plant was COVERED in aphids. completely.
i've probably had it for 6 months and it has remained COVERED in aphids as i'm lazy and not so good at following through with any kind of treatment regime. also there was the small fact that i may one day want to ingest some of the peppermint and therefore did not want to fill the little plant with chemical nasties and insecticides.




about a week ago i decided on a way to get rid of the aphids and i even followed through. once a day, i popped the little potted peppermint into my sink, filled up a spray bottle with water and sprayed the absolute bejeezus out of the stalks, undersides of the leaves and any little cheeky flying bugs that emerged too. i've been doing this every day (perhaps i'm learning to follow through?) and i think it's actually starting to have an affect on the aphid population! maybe home made peppermint tea isn't too far around the corner :D

do you have an aphid problem? how do you deal with the little devils?

oh for the love of sunshine.

isn't it a glorious day in melbourne town today?
i spent my morning in my back yard, mowing and trimming and planting and training and generally tidying.



i'm making an attempt to train this ivy plant that's growing through the fence from next door (thanks to my lovely neighbour). i'm trying to get it to grow across the fence rather than down it (and subsequently all over my lawn).
i do so very love beautiful climbing plants :D



i popped the jasmine that i rescued into the ground as well, it can happily climb all over this section of the fence (yeah i don't really like fences, can you tell?).



and my grape vine, that started off as a teeny tiny stick with a few green buds on it (quite literally NO leaves), had completely overgrown the little pot it started in and needed a new home. it should be happy here for the next couple of weeks... then i should have the funds to be able to fill the last of my planter boxes and transfer it into there. then it can climb and grow all over the trestle section (and hide yet more of that blasted fence!!)

now i'm off to fold some washing (yet another reason to love this sunshine, fresh dry washing :D), throw together a curry and maybe, finally, get to actually starting these dresses.

hope you're all enjoying the sunshine :D

grateful for...

this saturday i'm grateful for...




fresh strawberries for breakfast. they're massive AND delicious!



almost fresh strawberries from my garden.



friendly neighbourhood pets. he likes my bag just as much as i do.




and, as much as everyone hates it, i'm grateful for this weather. my plants are LOVING the intermittent rain and shine. some of them have grown double their size and this jasmine here, it's started growing again :D
i rescued it from a construction site, it was being ripped up by a tractor.

maxabella has more things to be grateful for.

ps. don't forget to follow along to be in the running for my giveaway. only 1 followers to go!!!

saturday prettiness.

the weather and my camera refuse to play along today, so i thought i'd share some pictures i took last time i was visiting my parents a little while ago (too long ago if you ask my mum...)



how is everyone fairing as we come to the end of blogtoberfest? exhausted? motivated? happy? disappointed?


i know for one i'm fairly motivated, both for blogging and crafting (though the weather has put me off crocheting heavy woolen blankets at the moment...)
big blogtoberfest wrap up tomorrow i think. oh and i need to get through the list. i've browsed only 15 of the 270 blogs so far, so i know what i'll be doing all afternoon tomorrow after work :D

grateful for...

the weather.
i know everyone hates this crappy, awful weather but today i'm really grateful for it.



if it was sunny and lovely, i'd be wanting to be out in it. weeding and pruning and planting in the garden or just going for a nice long walk.
but instead, the weather is horrible. so i'll listen to lectures for revision and crochet in front of the heater. much more productive for my exam marks :D

there's much more to be grateful for over in maxabella-land.

tuesday treasures.

so my treasure this week isn't something old. it's not something i inherited, or will pass onto anyone i know.
this week my treasure is all about the greenery :D



the seeds that i planted last week, the mystery seeds, have popped out of the dirt.
do they look familiar to anyone? not me ha ha!



and also the basil i planted.

now i consider these treasures because when i see those little green bits popping out of the dirt it makes me RIDICULOUSLY HAPPY!
seriously. i run around the house like a madwoman, singing and dancing my butt off.
i screech at the boyfriend, 'baby, baby, come and LOOK! it's AMAZING!'
he half heartedly has a looks, replies with 'that's great'
and i continue to sing and dance for the rest of the day!

it's something i share with my mum, this excitement for new green things. though she's a little bit more reserved, not so much singing and dancing, just a smile :D

what's your treasure on this fine tuesday? pop in and see clare to play along.

ps. my giveaway is coming to a close VERY quickly and you should enter to be in with a chance. i'm thinking of perhaps having a second prize... so even more chances for winning :D

flea market finds.

oh my goodness, it's been more than a week? where did all that time go to? damn uni, sucking up all my creativity/opshopping time!



i did however manage to get a little flea market-ing done today. i dragged my brother out of bed and to the kongwak market with me (in my mum's car, which is a manual, LOTS of stalling).



it had been a while since i'd been, but it's the same, a literal treasure trove!




so many little stalls and pockets of second-hand vintagey goodies. and some quite lovely food too. there were two young girls playing folk versions of pop songs with guitars that set a lovely tone for the whole event :D i just wish i wasn't so stressed from the driving to enjoy it a bit more ha ha!



they also had a few organic and local produce stalls, some lovely looking vegies and wine!

unfortunately, rent is due VERY soon, and the rent account is still very empty, so apart from a snag in bread, i left the market empty handed.


my flea market find is actually a garden that was down the road a little from the market.



i thought it was a community type garden at first, on second looks though, i think it's actually a little close to the house to be a community garden. i had a sneaky wander through anyway. i figure if you didn't want people wandering through, you'd put up fences right?

more (traditional) flea market finds over at her library adventures.

day of rest.

after working my absolute butt off for the last week and a bit with placement and a million assessment tasks due, i can finally rest.
i only have one last one due on friday but that seems ages away today.
today is a day of rest. well as much rest as i can handle. it'll most likely be a day of cleaning and crocheting. i've had this pattern floating around in my brain and i desperately need to catch it with some wool.


i'll probably do some cooking too. i've recently started getting organic vegie boxes every week from uni. full of lovely seasonal vegetables that i don't actually know how to cook. experimentation time!

and look! see that lovely greeny looking plant up there? well it's a bit of an old picture, here's a new one.


LOOK! it's flowering. i had no idea when we bought it that it was a flowery plant but apparently it is. can't wait for it to flower properly!