The colour of optimism

Yellow.

Apparently, the human eye processes yellow first.

It's the colour that captures our attention more than any other colour.

Lemon, saffron, ochre, canary, flax, banana, honey, mustard, amber....are all shades of yellow.

It's not surprising that at this time of the year the colour yellow stands out so brightly.

And here, it's the daffodils and wattle that make us think that Spring is not too far away (although you'd never know with the relentless gale force winds we've been having).

Wire surrounds to keep the rabbits out of the Ruby Garden ( mmm, nothing ruby about these though).

We have planted hundreds of daffodils here over the years but there are only a few clumps remaining for some reason. I think the ones around the pond have drowned. On the other hand, there are hundreds of jonquils that have survived and multiplied and they look just as sunny and cheerful. 

A few years ago Bill dug a couple of trenches up in the back paddock for all the bulbs that seemed to have been displaced ( dug up by the birds and rabbits or just dug up ). The patch gets mown over and driven over in every other season, never gets watered or given attention in any way, but come late Winter and those resilient little bulbs start poking through again.

So this year we ( I ) decided to make that patch a special place.

Bill has hammered in some posts in the corners and stretched some ring lock wire ( rescued from Pa's backyard ) around them with a star picket or two knocked in to add a bit of stability. I love how it defines the space already.

I may even dig the weeds out eventually.....who knows!

All the branches we've collected and stored in the old trailer will be threaded randomly through the wire to make a rough stick fence. It will be a work in progress as the sticks and branches become available. Bill keeps telling me it will take forever but I don't mind. I'll tell him we're not leaving this place until the stick fence is complete......and the banksia roses surround the Rose Garden......and the feijoas become a hedge in the orchard. So that's the next ten years covered!

Not a smidge of yellow to be seen in this view though.

Winter in the Rose Garden.

And looking south on one of those bleak days we've been having.

I adore that huge expanse of sky we get to see every single day.

Around the garden path in the rest of the garden...

That delicious waft of daphne at last. There is nothing like it.

Star flowers appearing everywhere....

Hellebores in bloom. It's a pity you've got to stand on your head to see them.

I am really looking forward to finding out what colour this hellebore is.

These are a few so far....

Pots of rosemary....

Keeping the succulents out of the frosts.....

Jonquils and tulips....

Some farmshop flower jars....

We visited Mum and took her to Dimboola last weekend.

Dennis was washing down the walls in Ben's house. They are hoping to sell it.

The kitchen has great charm ( and it's currently yellow)!

Tas was keeping a close eye on me wandering around the farm. The grey colour on the right is the colour that Dennis is using to paint their own house....a huge endeavour.

We returned home a different way this time to visit an old wares/vintage type shop. Only to find this......

Sew and sew

Two new charm packs.

They call this yellow, flax.

These gorgeous vintage plates were for sale at the op shop for $5 each.

The first one has a Royal Winton label and a white splotch which is not actually on it.....must have been the light....( and is a beautiful shade of yellow). The second is a Sunshine J&G Meakin. I'm not sure what the holes are all about but looking closely it appears as though they are meant to be there.

Any thoughts?

I am currently reading ......

The author informs us that it's not a sequel to Wonder but rather, a companion. Wonder is the story of a ten year old boy named Auggie who was born with a rare facial deformity and his experiences at school in year five.

It's a book for  children but I'm loving it. It has recently been made into a movie. 

Thank you Mima. This card is gorgeous. 

The big kids and the littlies.

These two have continued to visit on a regular basis ( except when Amy and Helen stayed the night)..... go figure.

In a book I was reading, their laugh was described as  'a familiar bubbling melody'. We have come to look forward to hearing this bubbling melody every morning.

More to look forward to......

     Visiting the Archibald Prize exhibition at The Geelong Gallery coming up next month. In the past six years there has been a Young Archie competition as well. This year it attracted more than 1400 entries. I love that.

      Picking some buckets full of jonquils/ daffodils for Helen's school for their Daffodil Day on Friday.

       Making a wreath like this out of my jelly roll scraps.

Photo from Pinterest.

Have a lovely week everyone.

I hope you get to see a bit of yellow out there.

Photo from Pinterest.