The obsession I never knew I had

I had no idea how much I would have loved gardening, if you asked me a few years ago I would have liked the 'idea' of it, & that would be about it.  I have created gardens before with my hubby without a huge amount of success. I put it down to as I was lacking a green thumb! Also the garden was like a chore at one stage.

Something has changed within me the last 2 years, I LOVE being out there & I am always looking at new things I can plant, & tying to read & learn as much as I can. God bless Better Homes and Garden!! I believe the change is because I am home every day, I really want a gorgeous outdoor living space as I spend a lot of time out there with the kids. Also now the kids are getting that bit older so I can spend time pottering around outside. I have recently just painted 8 terracotta pots that sit around my pool. Absolute back breaking work, but so worth it.

So here are some photos of my ever growing, always developing garden space.
By the way I love flowers.

Garden bed #1. 

Recently I planted large garden bed that behind the pool thanks to a very high retaining wall. I adore cottage gardens, as I love flowers, but my house is not victorian or period style so it would look odd I felt. It's very new & kind of modern outside. Instead I am trying to create a 'modern cottage' style, if there is such a thing as one? Lots of flowers planted as blobs of colour. I am hoping eventually as they grow the spaces between each plan are reduces & it's just a whole colour explosion.

I am also a little fond of garden friends. Above is my owl which was supposed to scare those crappy Indian Minor birds, but is useless. My favourite green hat garden gnome. A funky French gnome holding a baguette & the Eiffel tower. I also have a couple of garden fairies for the kids. No garden can be complete without it's fairies.

I also adore my white hanging baskets which are full of gorgeous colours. I love these but at times forget they are there, & I have lost count the amount of times I have hit my head on the darn things!

I just couldn't resist the coloured lanterns. They are solar powered ones I got from Bunnings, & are divine at night, the kids love them. They give off a little party ambience hehehe.

There is my adorable Charlie Bear, he loves to sit by me when I m out there, & also loves to eat the fresh soil as you can see here, around his nose. Yuk!

I am looking forward to getting out there again soon, it's great being in the fresh air & lots of healthy vitamin D. 

If anyone has any knowledge or super garden secrets, let me know I am all ears.

Painting Pots

One thing I love about January it's quiet & I get to finish those tasks I need to to get done around the house. One of those was painting my very boring terracotta pots, eight of them!
I bought them this way always with the intention of painting them.

It took a long time to decide what colour I wanted. As they were to be placed around the pool, I wanted them to coordinate well. My paving is a dark charcoal, & the pool is turquoise, so I went with those two colours.

So the pots looked balanced colour wise I went with the trusty rule of 1/3 one colour 2/3's the other. I am not really sure who made this rule up, but I know it works. Once the the tape was on I started with the turquoise. Charlotte dropped in many a times to help but I had to eventually do it without her, as slops of paint were going on the paving, which kinds stressed me out!

Once I got the grey painted on I was so relieved, as it became quite back breaking work. I didn't have a table strong enough to to put them on so I could paint at a respectable height, so I was bent over quite a bit. However it was so worth it once hubby popped them on the trolley & wheeled them down for me. We took a trip to my favourite nursery Rivers I bought some delicious Geraniums. I was advised they were green, bright, tough, & hard to kill. Perfect!! So in they went & I am so super happy with the end result.

Has spring sprung early?

It's towards the end of winter here in Melbourne & its been a cold windy one. Some days my jaw has ached from the whipping icy breeze. I do not enjoy it. The last few days its seems to have slowed down, heaven, & feels a touch warmer. This week & next week temperatures are hitting the low 20's!! OMG, it's just fantastic not having to leave the house with scarves & coats, I'm ready to peel some layers.

It's also got me thinking about my garden which is very bland & weedy. Actually it's awful. I am not much of a gardener, I want to be but I am never attentive enough. I plant things & they look lovely & thats kind of it. I don't do it on purpose but I forget to water & weed. Life gets busy. I am forever admiring other peoples gardens, & have a love of flowers & colour in the garden. I am going to make a conscious effort this year of getting out there & doing it.

For a couple of reasons. I need to be active, I am that kind kind of person. The fresh air makes me a nicer person. being inside for to long makes me feel blah. The second is that the kids will spend more time outside if I am there. My yard is not square & flat, it has a couple of different levels & also a pool. I have noticed the kids not spending as much time out there as I think its because I cant see them. It's not so bad now they are getting a bit older, but they do love it when I am out there. My youngest also loves to help which is great, she loves to get her little shovel & spade out. The third & most important is that I want to create a space where I want to be. I want it to be bright & kind of cosy. A place to sit, relax, read, have a drink & enjoy. At the moment it's so far from that.

I am feeling inspired & excited. The biggest, most daunting thing is planning something, & what to plant. Eeeek I can't afford a landscape designer so I will be looking for inspiration,  & pinning ideas left right & centre. On the flip side of this I love to draw flowers, so inspirations should be everywhere for some new summer drawings, even better!!

This is what has caught my eye so far that I have pinned, some images are completely inappropriate as my yard is nothing like that, nevertheless I thought it was beautiful. We all know only an idea can spark anything!!

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I love hanging baskets & have several that need updating, as all life has withered. I thought these were beautiful.

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I love these spheres, there is a few DIY's for them, & would LOVE to have a go. I just think the flowers looks so pretty, almost strategically planted around them. 

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I love the garden bed here how it is all clustered & full of colour. I want a very low line garden bed right near my pool so I cant still see who is swimming in there. Without obstruction.

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I have a bench seat at home that is wooden, with iron work on it. I think it might be fun to repaint it in a fun colour. At the moment thinking a raspberry red, I love this images as it looks so cozy & love the flower pots surrounding it. Quite tranquil.

I think I have a great direction of the kind of style I want. Flowery, fresh, pretty, cosy & full of colour. This is always the easy part, now I have to work out what will grown well here, & what I can purchase that is slightly every green, but flowers in the spring/summer. So much to even think about, thats when I usually head to my local garden nursery & ask the experts. 

Feeling excited about warm weather coming!