Signs of Spring!

Hello friends,

This is the first time in ages since I have been able to sit down and do a little blog post.  I am finding that it is so much easier to post a photo on Instagram these days. 

I love Springtime when some of my favourite flowers are around. A white camellia I picked yesterday and a bunch of freesias which smell beautiful.

Bluebell, this sweet little dog of ours, seems to take up so much of our time. She will be coming up a year on the 27th of October and how fast this year seems to be going!
Every morning we go for a lovely walk along the beach and she gets to socialise with all the other dogs there.

Also have been doing some work in our daughter Victoria's old bedroom - giving that a makeover and the plasterer has skimmed the walls and will soon be able to paint them.
It has been slow progress but hopefully one day will be finished and I will be able to share some photos.
 

Overlooking Four mile beach at Port Douglas

Back in September, we had a wonderful holiday away in Port Douglas and our son Marcel came along with us. 

Marcel feeding the kangaroos

This crocodile was huge and glad there was a barrier between us

 

 

Stayed in a Balinese style villa and had a lovely swimming pool

It was great to go to tropical Queensland and see lots of sunshine.
Went out to the Great Barrier Reef and spent the day snorkeling around tropical fish and coral which was amazing. Also took a short helicopter ride to view the reef from above which was spectacular.

Also have been working on a new Bear and it has been so long since the last one. I have a friend who is doing a new website for me, so one day will have that up and running.

Have been thinking of you all and look forward to coming over to say hello and see what you are up to.
Blogging friends, are the best and have missed you.
hugs
Carolyn 

Back to Spring time

Arrived back home to see the pretty magnolia blooming in the garden ~ Joy!
Brixton Belle is such a gorgeous shade of bright pink and has large saucer sized flowers, with creamy inners.
It is so great to be safely home, had a wonderful time but I am always happy to be back.
We arrived in Auckland at the unearthly hour of 4 am on Sunday morning and that was a little bit of a shocker after leaving Charles De Gaulle airport from Paris, on Friday morning and  having a lengthy stopover in Doha of over 8 hours. We flew Qatar Airlines and must say that we had a really good flight,  lovely cabin crew and the flight was over 17 hours from Doha to NZ,  watched a few movies to pass the time and ate some good food, a few glasses of champagne and happy to say I managed to get some sleep.

We caught a cab into the City and then had to wait for our first ferry which wasn't until 7am.
To fill in some time my husband went over the road for an egg and bacon muffin and coffee and tired and bleary-eyed, we watched the sun coming up for the new day.

Freesias are the perfect flower to give fragrance to the home, can't get enough of them and especially when I can pick them from the roadside, on my walks

 Bluebells and violets, also love them

Hope you are having a lovely weekend dear friends and look forward to coming to visit you and see what you are up to. 
 Lastly my white camellia is blooming again, so good to come back and see what is in the garden

 Life gives us a fresh bouquet of happy moments every day

Will share a few snapshots with you soon of the holiday
hugs
Carolyn

Time

Where does it go?...
Here we are into August and the days and weeks are rushing by.
Will share a few photos from last week and what I have been up to.

My lovely daughter brought over this gorgeous bunch of freesias, they are so pretty and even with a slight cold can smell their gorgeous fragrance.

Out on my early morning walk, looking down over Palm Beach, the sea looked so calm and peaceful 

Friday family lunch at a little Japanese Restaurant and the food is always delicious and a great way to lead up to the weekend.
Also that my visit to the dentist was all finished and  now have the new crown in place

Love how the free range eggs from the market were packaged in a little cardboard box

Lastly my favourite,  sweet violets I picked from the garden,  the fragrance is gorgeous and standing at the kitchen sink, just got a lot better.
 Feel grateful for what we have now and if you want more, you have to be focused and work on it 
 
I hope you are all having a happy weekend
hugs
Carolyn

Spring is in the air!

This is really my favourite time of the year, with all the spring flowers blooming.
Every morning I go out for my walk,  I love smelling the gorgeous scents around - jasmine and freesias and always pick a little bunch for the vase which makes the house smells gorgeous.

Sorry I have not been around much as I have been trying to get our kitchen back together.

A layer of dust from the tiler and plasterer is everywhere, so have had to clean everything.  It is like Christmas opening boxes to put the kitchen things away. Will share some photos soon.
Look forward to coming over to visit you.

Have a happy week
hugs
Carolyn

Spring is in the air

Spring is a cause for joyful celebration ~ It's finally warming up and it is almost here.
Ahhh! ... it is going out for a walk along the road and been able to pick one of my favourite flower, the freesia. This is such a lovely thing to do at this time of the year.
I love to fill vases with little posies around the house in the bathroom on the kitchen windowsill - wish I could embed this photo with the divine scent

Spring the season for rebirth, renewal and regrowth
Raindrops
Green grass
baby animals and birds 
daffodils

 We have had a lot of rain, but I like that it is making everything grow well in the garden and will share some photos soon. 
The past week has been busy so hence not a lot of blogging going on. Can't believe that October is here - how can that be? 
 the days and months seem to be going so fast!

Do hope you are having a beautiful week, my friends
hugs
Carolyn

Some flowers for the weekend

Flowers make me feel happy and I love seeing them in the  garden and bringing a few into the house to brighten it up.
The little posy was picked from the garden back in Spring and just getting around to sharing it here. I always love the sweet fragrance of freesias... gorgeous and can't get enough of them.

 Elizabeth, the new magnolia tree looks pretty, that we recently planted in the garden  - it has the softest creamy lemon coloured petals and hopefully will grow well.

 With freedom, books, flowers and the moon,
who could not be happy?
 ~Oscar Wilde

Thank you for the kind visits to my blog and the lovely notes you left, with well wishes for our anniversary. I am grateful for my dear friends and the love and kindness you share.
We have another long weekend here, this time it is Waitangi weekend and Monday is a holiday! so happy about that.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend. 
Hugs
Carolyn

Special delivery of flowers

Hello dear friends.

Today, it is a dull, drizzly day here so I thought it a good idea to be able to share some colour and cheer around.  I looked back through some of my old photos and this pretty bunch of freesias will be just the thing.

When you see flowers, your day is brightened.
It's like sunshine
~Marinus

 The weather has not been at all like Spring and in fact I had to wear my overcoat when I went over to the City on Friday. Normally we would be getting around in a summer blouse or dress.

One good thing though,  this sort of weather is good to get some chores done around the home and I am hoping with more free time in the weekend, this will happen.
Will show you what I am working on soon - I am knitting a blanket with huge needles and in a soft cream wool.
Many thanks for the visits to my blog and reading, I am grateful for your kind friendship

Have a lovely weekend
hugs
Carolyn

Five things

This was a great, but busy week and here are a few things which made me happy.

As family is number one in our life we were excited and very happy to go out to the airport on Wednesday and pick up our daughter who has returned from her sojourn in Melbourne.
So there has been lots of catching up over lunches, which has been fun. Here she is modelling one of her outfits she made, on a little photo-shoot a while back.

She knows I love beautiful writing paper and was kind enough to bring home this gorgeous box of Christian Lacroix note paper. 

the purple basil I have growing in a pot in the kitchen made the most delicious salad with fresh vine ripened sweet tomatoes, and buffalo mozzarella

Freesias and bluebells, I have in the kitchen are divine and I love the sweet smell that permeates throughout the house... one of the beautiful signs of Spring

I got a haircut yesterday which is always such a treat  - must say the shampoo and a massage is the best. It was so relaxing and I almost felt like I could have dozed off.
Often it seems though a lot of the times I go to the hairdresser, it rains. With the rain pouring down and the wind blowing, the umbrella was of not much use walking to the car, so rather than the immaculate salon look I walked out with, it was more of the tousled look.

Have a happy weekend and many thanks for stopping by. I look forward to coming over to say hello and to see what you are up to.
hugs
Carolyn

Floral Friday - a flower quote

Spring really does seem to be just around the corner here ... the birds are singing more loudly and the blossom and leaves are appearing on the trees.

This is my favourite time of the year when the garden seems to wake up after winter. Growing along the side of the roads where I go walking, are some pretty pale yellow freesias. I always pick a little posy to bring home and the scent throughout the house is lovely

How does a pansy for example select the ingredients from the soil to get the right colours for the flower?
Now there's a great miracle. I think there's a supreme power behind all of this. I see it in nature.
~ Clyde Tombaugh

As I have said before, pansies are one of my favourite sweet little flowers... love the smiling faces and the soft velvety petals and all the pretty hues they come in.

Can't believe how fast the week has gone - it is Friday already!
I hope your weekend is all you wish and more
hugs
Carolyn

Floral Friday ~ flowers that make me smile

When Trishie gave us the theme for floral Friday, it was to showcase some flowers that make us happy.
I must say I have a little bit of an obsession with fresh flowers,  whether they are picked from the garden, growing wild on the side of the road or even splurging, on a little treat with the grocery budget.

I immediately thought of the freesia and have fond memories ... transported me back to my childhood days when I used to go and stay with my grandparents for some of my school holidays.
Grandma's garden was beautiful and she always grew the soft creamy lemon coloured freesias  and we would go and pick them and bring them indoors to put in a vase ... ahhh! the fragrance was so gorgeous.

Nothing screams Springtime more, than a bunch of bright yellow daffodils - such a cheerful flower as winter is all over with...  Spring is the herald of summer, with warmer and sunnier days ahead.

I couldn't forget the Paris flower shops, they have to be the best and  every time I passed by one, wanted to get out my camera and take a photo ~the French just seem to do flowers so well.

Last but not least, the camellia bushes I have growing ~ these flowers I adore and for about two months they bloom so beautifully in the garden and  always like to bring some of these into the house to show them off.
These are a few of the flowers that make me happy.

Hope you take the time to smell the flowers!
Wishing you a fabulous weekend.
Carolyn 

Hello October

I know I say this so often, but every day,  just seems to go by faster and faster!
Seeing the 2013 diaries and calendars appearing in the book shops it has dawned on me, before we know it, we will be needing them.

The clocks here in New Zealand went forward at the weekend and daylight saving has started.
Always takes a little adjusting,  we still seem to be going to bed the usual time, but it is in the morning when the alarm clock goes off, that is the hard part.
Note to self, go to bed earlier.

I am making the most of the pretty Spring flowers that are still about, the white camellia, lavender and violets are  still looking pretty in the garden.
Wish you could smell the intoxicating scent of the bunch of freesias I picked, ... beautiful.

The weather was perfect on Sunday morning so we ate breakfast out on the deck. With a clear blue sky, the sun was shinning, birds were tweeting in the trees, the air was pure and fresh and it was one of those days that I was thankful for everything.

Find a positive phrase to say every morning and everyday like...

"Life is beautiful"

Do hope that you have a beautiful week
Hugs
Carolyn