flowers – Wattle and Ash

What’s making me happy: September

September 20, 2021September 20, 2021by wattleandash4 Comments

Well here we are at the three-quarter mark. It’s been a funny old year. At times it’s felt like the ‘before’ with mask-free mingling and interstate holidays, but often, particularly in the last little while, the uncertainty and worry that dominates our COVID era life has been omnipresent.

Still a new season is upon us, and with that brings hope and light. In recent weeks there have been beautiful reunions with friends, great achievements by loved ones and a newfound appreciation of small-talk with strangers.

This is what’s been making me smile this month…

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Local sights, Thoughts

The Bloom Guild

March 15, 2021March 14, 2021by wattleandash2 Comments

Over the last couple of years, Adam and I have been gravitating towards gifting each other ‘experiences’ rather than objects for special occasions. We’ve never been big present people, but love giving each other the ability to go and do something, that we wouldn’t normally do. For my birthday last year, Adam gave membership to the ‘Bloom Guild’ – a flower growing workshop run by Wagga Wagga based Little Triffids Flowers.

I was thrilled with the gift, but knew I’d have to wait a few months to be able to attend my workshop. This weekend past though, I was able to pull on my wellies and potter around a rather spectacular garden…

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Everyday life, home, Life, Local sights, Motherhood, Thoughts

The week that was

November 30, 2020November 29, 2020by wattleandash2 Comments

Somehow December is almost upon us and the end of the year (and what a year it’s been!) is nigh. This last week of November has been one of sickness, celebration, heatwaves and the start of the festive season.

This is the week that was…

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Everyday life, home

Something to share: the supermarket rose makeover

May 30, 2019May 30, 2019by wattleandash2 Comments

It’s no secret that I love having fresh flowers around the house. While it’d be dreamy to have a stunning florist designed bouquet sitting on the kitchen table every week, I know my budget just doesn’t quite stretch that far. Often for me, I’m either picking something out of the garden when it’s in season or treating myself to the occasional purse-friendly bunch from the supermarket.

The other day I stumbled across a video showing how to take one of those $10 bunches of roses you often find while doing your grocery shop and make it something a little more special. Curious, I decided to give it a go…

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Everyday life, home, Local sights, Thoughts

Daily delights

September 13, 2018September 12, 2018by wattleandash4 Comments

Perhaps it’s the warmer sunny days, the clean sheets I snuggled into last night or the fact I’ve got a three day weekend coming up, but life’s felt really cheery this week.

Every few months I like to take some time out to reflect upon the little things that make me smile (here’s my musings from July and February), so to mark the start of spring, I thought I’d share my current daily delights with you…

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Everyday life, home, Local sights

Wattle time

August 16, 2018August 14, 2018by wattleandash7 Comments

I’ve always been a bit of a scavenger. Ever since I was a kid I’d pocket pretty shells, inspect interesting leaves or steal stems from the garden. It’s a habit that I’ve maintained into adulthood and I love taking a wander a somewhere, just to see what I can find.

The Malvern Hills were literally a five minute walk from our house in England and I loved the freedom of having a wander through woodland, often coming home with a pine cone, pebble, or in the spring, wild garlic.

Now the weather’s starting to warm up in Australia, I’ve been spending a little bit more time outdoors and the other day I spotted the first of the wattle starting to bloom… Continue reading “Wattle time” →

Everyday life, home, Thoughts

Signs of spring

August 2, 2018August 1, 2018by wattleandashLeave a Comment

August has only just arrived, but I’m getting the faintest hint of spring in the air. The nights are still chilly, but the sun is sticking around longer and longer each day. Its rays now have that distinct warm weather glow about them, rather than that feeble almost pastel-like patina.

This year’s run of frosty mornings have taken their toll on our little garden and a few plants have fallen victim to the sub-zero temperatures. Others have embraced the cold and are almost ready to declare the arrival of the change in season…

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Travel

The Eden Project

September 28, 2017January 18, 2018by wattleandash2 Comments

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ve probably picked up that I’m a bit of a fan of the outdoors and trees and flowers and just the general beauty of nature.

The Eden Project has been on my ‘England bucket list’ for quite some time now, so I was thrilled when it was decided a day trip would be taken to the site as part of a recent long weekend in Cornwall…

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Local sights, Travel

The flower farm

July 3, 2017January 20, 2018by wattleandash5 Comments

A large field in the English countryside, warm sun, blue sky and blooming flowers five foot tall, as far as the eye can see. That was my Sunday.

A few weeks ago I spotted a post on Facebook about a Worcestershire flower farm that opens its fields to visitors every July.

The owners of the farm harvest its flowers to produce floral ‘confetti’ for weddings and other events, but lets people visit its delphinium and cornflower field before the stems are stripped.

Adam and I made the short journey to Wick, a gorgeous little village just outside of Pershore, for a look…

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Everyday life, Local sights, Travel

Bluebell watch

April 24, 2017January 20, 2018by wattleandash3 Comments

After months of patiently waiting and a few false alarms, I can now accurately report the annual bluebell show has started here in Malvern.

I saw my first glimpse of bluebells en masse over the Easter long weekend when Adam and I went camping in the Cotswolds. It was a pretty magical sight – a sea of tiny purple-blue flowers under a canopy of the sweetest smelling pine trees.