Hanging baskets

One of the first things we organise in our gardens or at our entrances is a hanging basket.  These get planted with summer flowers a little before they start to spring in the garden. They are a little artistic expression of who we are. Some choose hardy, long lasting flowers purely for their faithfulness, others choose for the colour. Whatever the reason there is a lot to be said for originality ;) 

Here is a very colourful picture from Lizzie`s logic which is worth checking out as she describes how to make a good basket. http://lizzieslogic.blogspot.com/2010/08/plant-of-week.html

Here are another two charming variations where I could not find the owner of the pictures :(

...and my all time favourites are these green hanging baskets from New Orleans, the picture is taken by Øivind Crompton

I have taken out lasts years fuchsia which likes the cooler side of the house where my front door is. But it has been in a dark cellar for the winter and needs to literally grow back! Fertiliser here we come!

Reminder

Well we are having a cold spell in the evenings and it is tempting to leave some candles burning or leave a heater on just to comfort oneself in the cold. A family in the neighbourhood had an very unfortunate experience. Luckily the flames had been spotted and their neighbours woke them up and got the whole family out in the nick of time! 6 o`clock Sunday morning.

Very disturbing but important to be reminded about how and what we prioritise in our lives and making sure we live safely.

Croak!

My sweeties see beauty not only in flowers but in all of Gods creations! And they show Mom with the same enthusiasm. Even fashionista and preteen Uma :)

Little Lemon Tree

Just got myself a little lemon tree! Besides the wonderful gift of getting organic lemons, lemon tree blooms smell absolutely divine. It has been such a pleasure having it inside. But since the sun has been baking away it was allowed out. We had frost last night and the tree was left outside for the night but has managed just fine! The tree flowers most of the summer and produces lemons all the way to late Autumn. I only take it inside again late Autumn when the frost is permanent.

New family member!

We have adopted yet another pet :) This time a Jack Russel, (we miss our dogs in SA so much!) called Buster. Yuck I hate the name but the kids have taken a liking to it so he shall remain Buster. Yesterday he ran away three times. I think he is finding us boring. He comes from a harem of seven wives so after three years of never being able to relax the owner pitied him and decided to "lend" him to us. That is he needs to be used for another two rounds of puppies and then he is ours. Well as you understand life with us is boring in comparison to his previous lifestyle. But he is a jolly little chap and we are hectically putting up a fence.:)

Beads

I just love beads especially natural looking ones. I have a bunch of what I call teething beads. Tradtionally I think that is what the Zulus used these for. But as you wear them, the colour fades and they get these beautiful shades of blue and sand. My favourite objects need to get shown, so I hung them up next to my lounge curtains :)

What happened to spring?!

The snow melted and we just jolted straight into summer. The warmest April in over a hundred years. Wow I think we deserved that after such a long winter. That also resulted in absolute mayhem at work. But great fun despite it all. Spring is the best season of any flowershop. So many gorgeous seasonal things that you only get this time of year. Despite all the glory I think the violet family remain one of my favourite.