rainy days and sundays

7 am: we awoke to the sound and smell of old friend rain. Rubber boots were hastily donned (by my not quite four year old) and a favourite umbrella retrieved. I love that for her rain is an event, a joyful occasion to be celebrated in her own way with a good spell of jumping, stomping and splashing. For me rain is always welcome. Here's hoping for a big wet.

When the rain passed an afternoon of planting bulbs and vegetable seedlings began. I have been collecting bulbs for the last few weeks or so. Buying a handful from the local market with what shopping money is left over. We have a pretty good selection but I have forgotten which ones are which. It will be a lovely surprise when they grow.

What to do

What to do.... I am having some trouble settling on what my next small project should be. Over the weekend I rummaged and sorted through materials, buttons and ribbons all the while piecing together colours, patterns and textures. A small case of craft block I think. Not to worry. I had plenty of fun looking through old and new materials. A ripped dress bought from the op shop when I was 16, a floral swatch a friend gave to me, a beautiful piece of 50's seersucker picked up at a country Salvo's. All treasures happily re-visited.

Available Light

I got a little carried away with this sequence. On the way home this morning I came upon these beautiful leaves spread across the footpath. It had rained during the night and as you can see some of them are beginning to show signs of breakdown. I looked above and momentarily thought about pulling a few fresh ones of the nearest branch but then decided I would rather collect the ones that had fallen. When the clouds cleared and light came brilliantly through the front window, I knew that it was the right time to photograph the leaves using the available light - and my young ones late afternoon snack. The photograph of my young one looking at the rainbow was taken late yesterday afternoon.

All in the family

By my standards it was a big weekend. Cooking with the young ones, catching up with a friend, a Saturday drive to a country school fair and the welcoming of a 7 week old feline who, after some tussling, we named 'Scout'. All were carefully planned activities except for wee Scout. We came across Scout and her 6 siblings behind a stall at the fair. A young girl proudly presided over the 7 warm slumbering bodies and asked eagerly if I would like a hold. I did and that was that, I was completely taken. We paid for her by a donation to the school and took her on the hour or so drive home to join our small menagerie. I am happy to say that she is toilet trained, confident and performs well for her supper. I think that young girl did a beautiful job of nurturing and caring for all of those kittens. success!

Dahlias

A pinch and a punch.... Happily I can not think of a thing that is foolish about April. April is in Autumn and April is a cool two months before the Winter chill. Another great thing about April is that it's when Dahlia flowers open up their fleshy or cactus like petals to flourish in the sun. It was only last Autumn when a good friend brought these incredible flowers to my full attention. Since then they have well and truly been pulled from the 'Nana' garden school of flowers. To qualify this statement, I certainly do not dislike certain flowers it is just that I am really beginning to notice the beauty in some of those that were so commonplace when I was a child. On another trip to the Botanical Gardens on Sunday I turned off my favoured path and came across an impressive Dahlia patch. The colours and varieties were really varied and I could not resist taking a number of photographs. I was also inspired to visually document these from my recent travels to the beautiful Flower Press.