New direction - house to home, garden to plate

Now the extension is finished I have been thinking what next with the blog? As many of you know even though an extension or house might have finished being built there is still lots to then do to make a house a home. This is what I am now going to focus on.

I had a good Summer break with the kids and now they are back at school and kinder, I have had a little head space and time to reflect.

A big thing for me is making our house a home, somewhere we feel comfortable, have fun and enjoy. Somewhere family and friends love to visit and spend time with us. The same goes for the garden, we would love a mini oasis in the middle of suburbia.

Over Summer holidays I quickly realised a few things, to have a comfortable home you want it to be cool and shaded. There is lots of  sun about and so was glad we got the solar panels in. For the garden water is obviously a necessity so hence a good size water tank. Other factors will come into play in Winter, so I am looking at sustainability measures to make our house comfortable all year around. This will also help keep the heating / cooling bills down.

The other thing I took in is with a lot of entertaining and the kids being home over the holidays we wasted a lot of fresh food by buying too much and then it spoiling before we ate it. So now I not only want to make a beautiful garden but a productive one. This has started with my bumper crop of cherry tomatoes which the kids, hubby and I not only enjoyed eating but the kids loved planting and picking them too. This also brings up the topic of fun things to do with the kids around the house and garden, another focus for my future posts.

Over Spring and Summer we have been working on our garden and thinking ahead we have started to plant tress that will not only grow to hide the fence and look good but will eventually grow fruit, our mini orchard in the middle of suburbia (see picture below-planting was something Hubby and son enjoyed together). 

So with all this in mind I hope you can join my journey of making my house a home and my garden a productive one. I am also aiming to come up with some great recipes, that use the fresh produce we have grown. I would love it too if you could share ideas with me along the way. So stay tuned for my garden to plate posts.

Earth Hour - a candlelit evening

For Earth Hour last night we decided to make an event of it, had friends over for dinner and had an evening by candle light. Made for some interesting photo effects.

Earth Hour is a fantastic idea for getting people to think about the environment and this year they are calling on people to go beyond the hour.

This we are trying to do with our day to day in our household making sure things are turned off at the switch and only heating rooms when required. We are also looking at sustainability with our build - double glazed windows, rain water tank and solar panels to name a few.

Hope you having a good weekend, our kids really enjoyed the candle light last night.

Tread Lightly upon this World

Freya Art & design

On a visit to the Yarra Valley a while ago I bought this card, not only because I like the design but the message resonates with me.

You may read something else into it but for me it is all about sustainability, something which we are trying to think about when it comes to our renovation, our garden and our everyday life.

With the house we are putting in high rating insulation, double glazed windows, getting a water tank, looking at solar panels, energy efficient lights and more.

For the garden I am currently learning about permaculture principles and how this can work in with the house as well.

With everyday life we try to remember to turn off things at the power point, dry our clothes on the line, put buckets under taps and more.


This design by Freya Art & Design I also bought for the colour, design and because I love the ideas it communicates. I especially love to travel, though haven't done much recently, but can't wait to with my children and explore with them. I also in accordance with the philosophy above, buy carbon credits every time we do to at least try an counteract the impact.