Oh . . . happy days

 Pardon me, where has the day gone.  Oh I know, I have been sitting out in my hot house chatting with friends and admiring my garden.

 Here is the wonderful creation made mostly from recycled materials. The door is the old front door from my school.

 It was very hard to photograph as it nestles into the garden quite well and is cosy amongst the plants.

 The old window came from Clunes, which is a small town just outside Ballarat.  When I bought it for $10.00 the seller asked me what I was intending to do with it.  When I said I was going to make a hot house, he offered me 2 more windows and a sliding door.

 The planning and the dreaming was all part of the process.

 If you can't find me ever, you know where I might be - yes on my special seat, looking out onto the garden.

 Another bonus was that it has all been paved.  A friend gave me some left over pavers which was just perfect for the bottom of the house.  It has made a wonderful finish inside.

 Can you see the palm my mum bought me.  She said all hot houses needed a palm.

 Here you can see it better, and a red geranium in a pot outside the front door.

 This beautiful rose is called "Dearest"

 . . . and this is the view from my back door.

I LOVE IT!

New Year Begins - Welcome 2016

 2016 will mark 10 years of Blogging.  It's amazing to look back over the Blog Books that I have made, and see all the development in my garden and the wonderful things I have made.  Also some milestones for the children and just a general record of my life.  This will be the year of SOCKS on the knitting machine.  Mum gave me my first lesson on Christmas Day and here is the result.  I bought this lovely wool in Davidson North Carolina -  so they will be my American Socks.  I love them!

 I fiddled around with half square triangles trying all sorts of patterns on the floor of my sewing room.  Eventually I got sick of playing with them and a friend suggested pinwheels, so I did that and quickly sewed them up.

 A couple of blocks were just left as the plain fabric, which wasn't so plain, and I snuck a few squares in when I got tired of making pinwheels. This is the way  I like to do quilting...ie. make it up as you go along.

 Was quite happy with the finished product and got it machine quilted.  Now just have to do the boring binding.

 Had a lovely day out last week with my friendly neighbour to all the fabric outlet shops in Melbourne.  I was quite taken with this picture of a skeleton on a seat with the caption that read: "Waiting for wife in fabric shop"

 On a road trip to Geelong last week, we came across the evidence of the recent bushfire in the area that struck just around Christmas time.

 The highway was closed at the time and you can see why, as it roared straight through.

 It was quite eerie seeing all the devastation and imagining what it had been like for people living in the area.  Some houses were saved and they were just meters away from others that had been completely burnt out.

On a happier note, this big window that I found on ebay last year for $10 was the beginning of my dream to one day have a hot house in my garden.  

Sometimes dreams do come true . . .