With a side of yellow

It’s the happy colour.

So it’s not surprising that it’s linked to sunshine, joy, energy and warmth.

It reflects the most light on the colour spectrum so it’s the first colour we notice.

I love “pops” of yellow.

Like these nine lemons on our kitchen table.

It’s a thing.

A feng Shui thing apparently. 

Nine, because it’s an auspicious number in Feng Shui philosophy and lemons because of how they evoke a sense of brightness and lightness.

Mind you if I need one for cooking ( or most likely Bill! )it gets taken from the pile, which means there’s not nine anymore…..but I don’t mind, my eye still gets drawn to them no matter how many are there.

So many yellows to choose from out there right now. And look at those delightful names. Much more alluring than “yellow”.

Shades of yellow at Marmalade House today…..

Even yellow in my concrete experiment for those of you playing at home. It involved scooping out the insides of some grapefruit and filling the half cups with concrete. Turns out there’s all different kinds of concrete and the one I chose was a complete fail. I’m still going to try again though. You’ll probably work out what they’ll be in the end.

Couldn’t wait to use this little collection of new fabric. Not sure why we have to always buy something new……that’s just how it works!

We lugged five tubs of fabric scraps here when we moved and I unearthed one of them a couple of weeks ago. “Why didn’t you use those?” I hear you saying. 

The perfect start to finding my sewing mojo …. but only after searching high and low for the sewing machine.

Just a cushion.

Just squares.

But it’s a good start.

I’m not the only one who’s been making things though…..

Jack has befriended our regular kookaburra visitor.

 He calls him Duck.

 Lord knows why. 

Amy took this photo of him on one of his frequent visits. 

We installed Merlin ID on our phones. It’s a bird identification site and it’s free.

We've all become a bit obsessed. 

This list showed us which birds were calling in a five minute walk through the Fairy Garden just a few days ago.

Searching for pippies on a Sunday in Winter.

There were enough for the girls and Jack to have a taste.

A wonderful getaway to Wilson’s Prom in the middle of Winter with Claire and Sara.

We asked AI to show us a more “cottagey “ version of our aluminium windows out the front.

Still not sure how we can make this happen but it’s given me something else to think about.

Loved this book. It’s been around for a few years now.

The story and resilience of two sisters during World War 2 in France. I had very little knowledge of what our women did in those frightening conditions. It’s moved to the top of my all time favourites list.

Who would’ve thought that turnips could be so tasty. 

Bill made soup from these sweet, tasty morsels that were dug up in our vegie patch and it was delicious.

So good to see Sue and Graeme again.

More yellow. 

Dulcie’s Delight. Couldn’t resist this .

These three fill our hearts every single day. 

This……..it’s me. 

Have a lovely week everyone.

 Hope you can find some pops of yellow to bring inside to brighten up your rooms….heaven knows we need to find some ways to help us all deal with the news stories flooding our screens right now. 

I’ve just been across the road to pick some more freesias. They grow wild there.

We adore them.

June at Marmalade House ( and a bit of May ).

We’re hunkering down for Winter here at Marmalade House.

 This gorgeous old farmhouse inherited that name because of the abundance of old citrus trees. We also dreamt  that we’d have marmalade jam spilling out of our preserves pantry by now. 

Nah, that hasn’t happened yet ….( neither has the preserves pantry ).

However, I have used these mandarines squished up into a cake after simmering on the stove for an hour. 

Our mandarine tree is a sight to behold. Still some growing time needed for the fruit to get bigger but we’ve already consumed lots of juicy goodness. There’s something very satisfying about pick, peel and eat right where you are standing.

The oranges sadly lack the same sweetness so they often end up on the ground, but I have a plan for some of them. It requires using concrete so I need to gather some supplies. Stay tuned while I dilly dally with that idea. 

The lemon tree.

The grapefruit tree.

On a whim one day, I sliced some of the grapefruit and dried the pieces for decoration. It took way too long in the oven though.

Helen planted a blood orange tree in our citrus grove area. They tasted so sweet and delicious. I’m sure they’ll become a favourite.

Some garden delights over the last couple of months. …proteas, hardenbergia, leucadendrons, pin cushion hakeas, gorgeous grevilleas and a new kangaroo paw.

The Fairy Garden.

More plants.

……and look what happened. 

Scattering seeds can sometimes be a bit hit and miss here so this pretty packet of seeds needed to be sown somewhere that they didn’t get lost.

 They comprise strawflowers, Swan River daisies and everlasting seeds.

Jack….our little organiser and a man of fact.

We celebrated his third birthday in May and built a sandpit/construction site in the backyard.

A Construction  site birthday cake made by Aunty Claire and Aunty Sara was devoured by all and some  piñata  shenanigans from Aunty Alice took place afterwards.

The babies were given some special gifts from Chelsea.

They can both carry on a complete conversation at any given time ( who knew).We adore them.

Out and about….Mmmm, that sounds easy doesn’t it!

We were so excited to have Leesa and Ned come all the way down to visit us a week ago. 

Home.

Bill has been labouring over a new window awning for our back exterior door.

 We’ve had a landing and ramp constructed out there to allow access to the back of the cottage.

 Helen helped him attach it above the door.

I’ve been looking at quilting sites online and becoming inspired to start something new….it must be a Winter thing. Funnily enough, the fabrics I’m drawn to are all a bit citrus-y. Getting my sew and sew mojo back. 

Here’s the cake folks. A bit cracked from getting it out of the tin but the flowers are there to distract you.

From today…..sausages anyone?

 Mind you, I still probably wouldn’t know what day it was!

Keep warm and well everyone.