strap me in

Now these, with a pair of feet to fill them out, are a mighty pretty shoe of the week. Honestly, who couldn't love mary janes cubed? If I were a wee slip of a lass I'd wear them with long socks, but for moi, a thick pair of patterned tights might be more appropriate. They're by Chloe and I like them mighty fine.

french chic

Hef might be testing my boundaries with his twins, and by featuring the likes of Aubrey O'Day in the pages of the US version (yeah, who?) but look at the French version of Playboy. Lily's gone all 60s in this adorable retro shoot. With her Gidet-esque hair and the carousel pony - I'm smitten. 

green spaces

Apparently men are delivering turf to my courtyard today. I say apparently as they were due here an hour ago... but hey, who's impatient? I've learned not to expect anyone until they're actually standing in my yard, surrounded by absolutely everything they'll need to do the job - and let me tell you, that's pretty rare. That said, my carpenter turned up yesterday, with lots of timber and actually constructed most of the deck for our pavilion at the end of the pool! Excitement!! More timber was delivered this morning, and he and his son turned up on-time and got straight into working.

Matt and I finished painting the last of the fences last night - at 8pm. It nearly killed us, but thanks to Sara's suggestions on holding a paint brush loosely and switching positions often, my hands aren't nearly as sore as they were the day before. The fence looks spectacular. I'll head out later on and take some photos of it now it's a pretty painted lady - it looked so nude and unfinished before. I'm thrilled it's all finally starting to take shape and the end is soooooo close I can taste it.

brush strokes

Ouch. I have blisters on my hands and fingers from painting the fence - but boy, it looks fabulous. We painted 30 square metres of fence yesterday, which is darned impressive, and only have 29 square metres to paint today. Easy peasy. Once the fence is painted we can plant the lilly pillies which are very patiently waiting out the side of the house in a little straight line. Ignored, except for the couple of times a day I hose them down.

I realised yesterday - about 20 square metres into the painting, that I hold a paintbrush in a very silly manner - the same way you'd hold a pen, which makes for a lot of interesting blisters. I think it's because I've always done the cutting in, while hubby takes over the broader brush strokes of rollering. Today I'm going to load my fingers with band-aids - then try to hold my brush in the manner of a grizzled old house painter - grasped firmly in my palm. Wish me luck.

aussie, aussie, aussie

It's Australia Day today, a drizzly, grey Australia Day, but after Saturday's scorcher I shan't be complaining. I was looking for a pretty lamington image to accompany this post and found the prettiest, but now defunct, blog. It was tearoselane.blogspot.com and while the posts were sparse, they were so pretty and inspirational. Check out her cake stand filled with treats and see if your mouth doesn't water. 

I'm off to the backyard to continue painting the paling fence - does it get any more Aussie than that?

better late than never

This morning, as I was waving my father and step-mother off from their three day visit I thought I'd just bend down and pull out a few weeds that were poking through the paving in front of the front steps. Then, while I was there, I weeded a few long bits of grass that had straggled into the front bed. That reminded me that yesterday I'd read it was time to summer prune the roses. And oh, did they need it.

The poor things performed valiantly for us this season, but the couple of scorching days we've had, coupled with nighttime rain, and the fact that I've basically ignored them for the past two months meant they were looking straggly, spotty and altogether unwell. So I went all along the front picket fence and pruned them back by a good third. Now they're just sticks again, but I did give them a big meal of chicken manure and a lovely water, so hopefully they'll get inspired to grow and flower again. I've still got the roses up the side to prune - another day perhaps - although they're not looking anywhere near as sickly as the front ones which are exposed to all natures whims and fancies.

Yesterday was a blisteringly hot 39 degrees with unconscionable humidity - so we hired a ute and shoveled four tons of lawn underlay into our courtyard. Not sure if you've ever been introduced to lawn underlay before, but it has a really, really high percentage of chicken manure in it - so it's dead stinky. However, while the whiff factor is high, and we did nearly kill ourselves working in the heat - the area's now ready for the turf men to come and lay some lovely Sir Walter buffalo in the courtyard. Bliss. We also bought 10 lovely lilly pillies to form a three to four metre high hedge behind us, so the pool shall now be surrounded with a delightful patch of green. With the carpenter starting on Tuesday, and apparently knocking over the pool pavilion in a fortnight, we've just got a spot of painting and planting to do before I've got some lovely backyard shots to share with you.

Yay. About to pop a bottle of rosé in the fridge to celebrate.

thinking thrifty

Whenever I read a blog or piece on how to be thrifty I realise how much I just do naturally. Putting myself through uni and living on basically nothing taught me some valuable life lessons, and I'm glad that even when my income's gone up, my spending's still stayed on the frugal side. Of course, I do splurge. A new Chanel nailpolish can do so much for a gal - but I normally only buy one per season. Apart from that - I'm thrift-central.

For a start, if a hem comes down or a button comes off, I sew it back on. Badly, but I'll do it. If a zipper breaks I'd rather pay someone $14 to sew in a new one than buy a new pair of trousers. We do enjoy going out to dinner - but it's rare, and so much more special that way. When I cook it's from fresh ingredients - with the odd sauce from a jar if need be - but my meals come from the ground - not in a box. I always turn the shampoo and conditioner bottles upside down at the end of their life. Then I'll take off the lid, add a few drops of water, shake and get another two washes from them.

We pay our mortgage fortnightly, and pay more than the minimum in order to pay it off quicker. If ever we get an unexpected windfall (pay-rise, tax refund...) that goes straight off the mortgage too. I'll also walk an extra block or two to use my own bank's ATM - I loathe paying the extra $2 you're charged for using another bank's machine - and it can add up too.

I'll also buy big ticket items on sale - or negotiate my butt off for the best possible price and then pay cash to get even more off. My clothes virtually always come from op-shops or sample sales and if I feel the need for a fashion fix I'll buy some cheap beads, a lippy or nail polish in this season's hottest colour.

But I don't do this to feel virtuous - I just do it because it feels right. There's no point in cutting costs and scrimping if it makes you feel deprived and awful - you just need to make cuts in the area where it doesn't matter so you can save enough to spend a little more where it does.

holy sheet

So, I saved up, waited for the sale and bought 1500 thread count white cotton sheets. They're so crisp and look gorgeous on the bed, but, oh, they're loud.

A friend of mine did warn me about this (after I'd bought them!) but I thought he must have just had overly sensitive ears - but no, they're loud.

I think I'm going to have to wash them a few times to soften them up - or learn to sleep like a log. Tossing and turning is annoying enough, without such a noisy soundtrack!

Despite this, once I've fallen asleep I've had some mighty restful nights - and for an occasional insomniac there's nothing sweeter than sleeping through the night.

Ps - not my bedroom in this shot - but spookily similar. I have the same coloured walls and a bay window with a 1920s french cafe table and love heart chairs inset. Instead of a little plate, I have two gorgeous little images of Marie Antoinette I found in an antique store in the most darling of frames on each side of the bay window. I'm thinking I need similar curtains though - how pretty. I also have netting billowing down behind my bed - after all, it's what every princess needs.

simply stunning

Oh. Marion. Dior shoes. That chaise. Her hair. Her face. That frock. The va va voom.

Oh.

a real page turner

Sometimes it's easy to think grandiose and contemplate over-embellishment (or is that just me?)

Whenever we've discussed floor to ceiling bookshelves in the study we've thought mouldings and complexity but this image (from the same house as the kitchen I believe - damn, do the people who live here walk around hugging themselves in delight? I would if this were my home) shows that simple can be stunning.

Imagine...

a touch of green

Next week the carpenter's coming to build the structure at the end of our pool. I'm dreaming on white painted floor boards, white slatted walls, a white roof, my enormous white chandelier - and white furniture. However, to give it a kick, I am loving on this shade of green in these chairs. For cushions perhaps?

PS - how well would you cook if this were your kitchen? I found this on Homes & Gardens.com and think it's achingly pretty.

wave of beautification

Hello my pretties - would you like to come and live on my feet? Wow, I found is quite tough this week finding a shoe I deemed suitable for this spot. I frowned, I 'euwed', I pouted, I frowned,I sighed until I stumbled upon this pair of Prada perfection.

Honestly, some times it seems like the shoe maker's have run out of ideas, particularly when you flick through Caroline Cox's Vintage Shoes book and realised that what we consider avante garde was actually de rigeur in the 1930s. So I was very pleased to see a shoe with all the bits I like, but with a twist - or a wave in this case. Personally, I think it would be hilarious if I were to wear these - the colour and shape of the shoe matching the colour and curls on my head. However, I can only dream. Which I will...

magnificent morsels

Hey, you know how I'm going alcohol-free in February? Do these pink champagne truffles count?

afternoon delights

One of the things I'm most looking forward to, once our back garden is complete, is bringing out our antique french iron furniture. We've got a gorgeous curved bench -similar to this, but in an amazing rusty cream. Plus there's an art deco chair and table set, with the lovehearts naturellement. Picturing them on the green grass in the courtyard makes my heart sing. High tea will taste so much better in such pretty surrounds.

bless

bedtime stories

I was checking out Martha Stewart's site, looking for a little home inspiration when my heart skipped a beat or a thousand. Now, my dream is to have at least one wall in my study lined with floor to ceiling bookshelves {if not all of them...} but oh my, wouldn't this be lovely in the boudoir? As I cannot possibly fall asleep without a chapter or two this has to be a booklover's dream does it not?

things i'm grateful for

Taking time out to count your blessings is quite possibly one of the most productive ways to use your time. 

• Today, I'm grateful that my new life as a freelancer seems to be working out quite well. I'm getting things done, on time and without too much stress. 

• I'm also enjoying spending the last of the school holidays with my gal. Before I know it she'll be headed back for her fifth year of school. 

• I'm grateful for my garden that's still giving to me, despite my not offering much in return. 

• I'm grateful for my body that lets me do pretty much most things that I like to do - and only moans and complains if I try to make it do too much. 

• I'm also grateful for iPhoto - where I can go back and visit the pretty gardens in the Southern Highlands - without the three hour plus drive. We'll be spending this year saving to pay for the backyard - so it's only staycations for us. 

• However, that said, I'm dead grateful for my backyard renovation which is nearly complete and ready to share with you. It's going to look sooooo fabulous, that it'll be worth all the pain.

arctic blast

Another thing I just love about summer is being able to finish off a shower with a frosty cold blast of water. After rinsing off the conditioner there's nothing more refreshing than sealing the cuticles with a final cold rinse. Since doing this I've been able to give one step in my hair care routine the boot. I no longer need to apply shine drops to my hair after the curl cream, cos the cold water scares my hair into shining. And believe me, when you've got curly hair - it takes a lot to make it shine!

daily pretty

Smiling every day is made so much easier with a pretty picture to look at non?

keeping calm, carrying on

It's always far too easy to stress and fuss. Last year I resolved never to answer "How are you?" with "Busy" or "Stressed" because really, aren't we all? As soon as you put the pressure on yourself by admitting that you're stressed, it really only makes sense that you'll compound that stress and feel even worse.

I wrote an article recently on multi-tasking. See, women pride themselves on being able to do it, but really, it just means we're doing a lot of things - not terribly well. So now, I try to do one thing at a time - where it matters. If I'm unloading the dishwasher I can always have a kettle boiling. Then I might wipe down the benches while the tea's drawing - that's a sensible use of time. But reading while you're watching TV, or sorting washing while helping your child with their homework doesn't cut it - it just dilutes the effectiveness of what should be the priority.

There might not be enough time to get everything done in a day - but what about a week? Or a month? How many things on your to-do list are vitally, life-threateningly urgent? 30 - or 3? Refining that to-do list, prioritising and delegating jobs to others can make us so much more productive, happier and satisfied - and chances are, we'll get more done in the end.