Today ...

I am inspired by ... Natalie at Cinderberry Stitches to post an occasional daybook entry to track my year.

Outside my window ... is a lone water lily that I have coerced to bloom in our pond.

I am thankful for ... bloggers who love to see photos of my roses & garden. I always worry that my 'bloom' posts might bore everybody. For those of you who want to see more of my farm garden, I will sort through some photos and put a post together soon.

I am loving ... eating juicy fresh lychees and watching tennis.

I am stitching ... very little!

I am hoping ... to at least turn my sewing machine on today, hoping to put the final white border on this quilt.

I am drooling over ... this gorgeous clam shell quilt that Jean (Linen & Raspberry) is working on.

I am seriously tempted by ... aforementioned Jean's suggestion to join a quilt-a-long to make this quilt by Michelle Yeo:

I am hearing ... the happy chattering of my 8-year-old daughter & her very best friend, who is here for one last sleepover before she moves to Mullumbimby.

I am reading ... more than I have in years, a New Year's resolution! Found a copy of Frank McCourt's 'Angela's Ashes' on my Dad's bookshelf in the holidays. A bittersweet yet funny story of his Irish upbringing. Very enjoyable.

On my mind ... the dreadful tragedy of two young lives taken in a camping accident yesterday. They are ex-students of our school. My heart aches for their families.

From my picture journal ... proof that even grasses can be beautiful (purple fountain grass from my farm garden).

Midsummer roses

Thank you for the warm welcome back - you are all too sweet! I have sure missed blogging & chatting with you.

How cheeky was that seal in yesterday's post?! No, unfortunately I didn't take the photo. No seal or penguin would survive the summer temperatures where I've been!

I have returned from a month at our farm with a 'cocky's suntan' from many hours in the garden. Despite a hot Aussie summer, our garden is coping quite well, and my roses greeted me with their unparalleled beauty yet again. They are so resilient & undemanding. I hope these images from my garden warm your heart, especially those of you in the midst of a snowbound winter!

'Pretty Jessica' by David Austin

'Grimaldi', a Delbard rose

'Mother's Love'

The inimitable 'Double Delight'

'Seduction'

'Jubilee Celebration' by David Austin

Full nodding blooms of Rosa 'Crown Princess Margareta' by David Austin

'Camille Pissarro' by Delbard

'Perfume Perfection'

'Benjamin Britten' by David Austin

'Fame'

I'm back ...

... from a four week break at our farm, away from telephones & computers - so nice for a change! News soon.

Lazy days of summer

A very happy New Year to you. Our January is lazily lolling on by, with lots of tennis, swimming and gardening, late nights playing cards, and sleep-ins. So lovely to draw breath before the school term starts up again.

And lovely to have time to smell the roses ....

... to drink in the heady summer fragrance of orange jessamine ...

... to help the kids with some cute stitching ...

... and to play new games made in the shed with Dad ...

Our 11-year-old son loves to dream up woodworking projects to make with his Dad. The project these holidays was this Mancala board. Apparently, Mancala is one of the oldest of all strategy games, played in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, and now in a little house in country Australia!

I hope you are enjoying your lazy January days as much as we are. Bloom x