Muscari.

Okay, I have to admit it...I'm having a love affair with 

Grape Hyacinths at the moment!

It's been creeping up on me for some time now, probably since last spring 

(my first in England), where they popped up all over the place,

and was sealed last Sunday when I bought two french jam jars full of them...

I keep moving them around the house, singularly and in pairs...
should have bought more!

Just love the little white fringe around the edge of the flower...

Now according to my good friend Wiki...the botanical name is

'Muscari neglectum' 

and they are not strictly a hyacinth but are a member of the 'Lily' family!

Gorgeous!


Linking with Laura for Friday Flower.

Llanerchaeron.

While in Wales last weekend we took the opportunity to visit a local country manor.

Llanerchaeron is a typical eighteenth century Welsh country estate which was owned by the same family for ten generations. Following the death of Mr. J P Ponsonby Lewes in 1989 it was left to the National Trust and over a period of years has been restored.

The original part of the house was designed and extended in 1790 by John Nash. In fact some of  the exterior windows are actually fake to tie in with his typically symmetrical designs.

Upon entering the house we were greeted by many little critters, stuffed and mounted on the wall. This family predominantly engaged in hunting and shooting.

All the cornices were uncovered where necessary and repaired...the detail is amazing. Each room has a different design.

The ceilings in the formal reception rooms are covered with beautiful wallpaper.

The rooms all have a homely feel, not gaudy or opulent.

There were obvious examples of fine silver and furniture...

but the rooms had warmth and character...

and I got the impression that real people had lived here.

A pretty hearth in one of the bedrooms.

The kitchen where the food was cooked but not prepared.

All the game was prepared in the scullery, ready for the cook.

A little laundry to be done...

We ventured outside to find a still working farm...with pigs...no photos too smelly!

Gorgeous outbuildings.

A lovely glimpse into how the Welsh gentry lived.

Bailey's Home and Garden.

On the way home from Wales last Sunday I grabbed the steering wheel and forced my husband to detour off the motorway to visit Bailey's. Now I have wanted to visit ever since I bought their book 'Recycled Home' and more recently 'Simple Home'. Mark and Sally Bailey have based their business around the philosophy of 'Rescue, Repair, Reuse and Rethink'.

They have a complex of old interconnecting farm buildings in the Herefordshire countryside. Whitecross Farm has been lovingly restored and now houses a huge collection of homewares and furnishings, beautifully styled and merchandised.

The lovely old restored buildings with lots of goodies outside...

Including old french crates...

Unfortunately, I was unable to take photos inside...so you will have to make do 

with a peek at the website here.

I did, however, manage to make a few little purchases..remember I did have hubby with me..

A lovely collection of goodies sitting on the Bailey's books including

a clever bottle to make salad dressing, complete with

all the measurements for the various types ie. Greek, French, Caesar etc...

'La bugada' laundry soap...

'Bon appetit' linen tea towel....

Grape hyacinths planted into vintage french jam jars...

Definitely worth a visit! Robx

Link up with Sarah for more Good Life Wednesday stories.

Cymru.

Guess where I have been....

Hint 1...more sheep than you can point a stick at...even more than N.Z.

Hint 2...they love red dragons...it's on their flag...

Hint 3...they have their own language but are in the U.K...

O.K. must be Wales (Cymru) of course and what a beautiful place. The countryside is more rugged than England with bare topped mountains giving way to valleys with babbling rocky streams...

and great food such as Lamb Cawl, which is a vegetable and lamb soup.

The pretty seaside town of Aberaeron is where we stayed...with its pastel cottages and houses dotted along the harbour. The town is located on the Bae Ceredigion (Cardigan Bay) and is a popular holiday destination in the summer time.

It's a peaceful little harbour where the locals are very friendly...

with little boats and yachts, smart or shabby waiting to have their photo taken...

and changeable weather...grey and moody one day...

blue and beautiful the next...

Later in the week I will show you a lovely country house called Llanerchaeron.

Till then...'da boch'
Goodbye.

Friday flower for Aunt Alice.

My Friday flower today is for our dear Aunt, back home in Melbourne. She is 82 and has just set up her first computer and checks my blog out every day.

So these roses are for you Alice, hope you like them. They are sitting in my entry, outside of my bedroom, so I walk by them all day long.

A little bit of much needed colour in my house.


I'm off to Wales in 15 minutes, for the weekend....so there will be lots of photos next week!


Have a great weekend! Robx

Missing my Kids, my Kat and my Kitchen.

Not necessarily in that order...I think I miss my kitchen more than the kat cat...no just joking... but it's close.

You see just before this relocation came up we had just completed a brand new kitchen renovation in our house in Melbourne.

In fact we didn't quite complete the project...we still have tiling to do and the timber floors need to be re-finished. However, knowing our house was about to become 'party central' we decided that those details could wait until we get back.

So every time I go home, after kissing my son and daughter and patting the cat, I then check out the kitchen and give it a loving wipe over.

Lovely new stainless steel appliances...

Custom built cabinets, with a 2-pack satin finish in Dulux 'Napkin White' and Caesarstone benchtops.

 My beautiful Perrin and Rowe tap from 'The English Tapware Co'.

Lots of open shelving to display knick knacks.

However, after we left, the kids decided to do a little decorating....in a more contemporary style...

I think you would call it...hip, bar or nightclub effect...

That's o.k. I can cope (barely)...when I eventually return home with some new goodies it will be totally transformed!

Finding Spring.

The sun was finally out today yesterday, so I went for a stroll, 

camera in hand...looking for a hint of Spring.

I can hear Spring...as the birds are very busy...courting...nesting.

In fact all the birds I spied are in 'pairs'...so cute...they've all hooked up! 

Our robin has a girlfriend so hopefully they will be nesting 

in our front garden again this year.

And, although I haven't spotted him, our resident squirrel has been around

as there are walnut shells all over our garden...he's been digging up his dinner!

But there is a definite lack of colour...yes the buds are swelling on some branches 

and the bulbs are shooting up all over the place...

but in my garden at least...no colour.

So off I went....

...snowdrops...but that's winter...

...beautiful green fields, but no flowers...

...hello, wait a minute...there's one...

...hopeful...a window box...

...half open...

...trying hard..

...in the church grounds...

...finally some purple...

I think another week might do it...stay tuned!