Cane and Able

Last year, when we were still living in our previous house, I spotted a neighbour putting out some weathered old cane chairs for council cleanup. 

I wandered over to chat and saw that even though they needed a lot of TLC they had a really beautiful design and I would be able to make them look fab with some work! So with my neighbour's help I hauled them back to our front verandah...

...where they remained for several months in their unloved condition. Then we moved house and refurbishing chairs was the last thing on my mind in the midst of a busy move. But finally, last month after pondering whether to stain or paint them and much time spent stalking the internet to find the perfect large cushions to fit the seats I finally gave them a makeover!

Voila!

I decided on a dark stain and gloss and am so happy with the result! The large cushions on the base are Scythia floor cushions by Kas Australia. The other cushions are temporary until I find some I love.

I have put the chairs in a lovely little sunroom area beside our kitchen, it looks out on the front deck and gets beautiful light during the day. It's a great spot to curl up in front of the wood stove or to watch the boys while they're playing out on the deck.

Even in a house full of boys...

... a girl's still entitled to a little pink, right?

Sorry, I couldn't resist...

Turkish Delight

Look at the gorgeous bowls and dishes I bought today at Target!!!

Aren't they lovely? I think turquoise and purple look so gorgeous and exotic together. But as I stashed them in my shopping basket something was nagging at the back of my mind, they were familiar somehow. Then when I laid them on my table to photograph them I was getting serious deja vu...

Bingo! I remembered this fab image I had pinned on Pinterest AGES ago...

Image from the ever-fabulous Decor8 blog

Spooky or what? ;-) Pinterest has crawled into my subconscious...

Seriously though, I LOVE them! The pieces pictured above are beautifully hand-crafted in Turkey but I'm still happy with my little "Made in China" collection :-)

Nesting

Wow! I HAVE been a slack blogger so far this year but I am officially back! It's been a busy few months with D starting school, recovering from our big trip and moving house. It always takes a while to find the right place for everything when you move doesn't it? But here's a little corner of our new kitchen that I am 100% happy with :-)

You might recognise my pale blue painted shelves from a previous post on the playroom in our last house, well let's just say that "display" is not a word in my boys' vocabulary and this shelf always ended up lying empty despite my efforts to make it "all nice" so now it has a new home in the kitchen :-)

On the top shelf (left to right) a cute vintage blue flowered canister, Villeroy and Boch "Acapulco" ramekin, retro aqua and white egg cups, red and white dandelion bowls from "Meadows and Byrne" in Ireland, a Nigella Lawson ceramic blue juicer and tiny duck-egg blue tagine, I bought a set of 4 of these in TK Maxx in Ireland, they are so cute for storing spices, salt and pepper :-)

On the next shelf are a pair of birdie bowls, blue and white on top is by Marie Claire from Myer and the bottom bowl is from Target, a set of 4 dessert bowls from Kmart, 2 more of those tiny tagines and a gorgeous pair of turquoise Le Creuset hearts from TK Maxx in Ireland.

On the bottom shelf a set of Jamie Oliver blue fluted bowls, ANOTHER tagine, a tiny orange Le Creuset cast iron casserole, a pair of bowls from Anthropologie and a Fortnum and Mason tea caddy.

Up on the white built in shelves are various vintage "things" (left to right), vintage green Royal Staffordshire plate, Finel teapot, Krups white scales, made in Ireland, specials chalkboard and red Persinware scales, made in Australia.

On the lower shelf (left to right) gorgeous Gien French vintage plate, aqua berry crate from Anthropologie, Nigella Lawson cookie jar, red vintage plate, Nigella Lawson cups and saucers, white rooster platter and pair of Fowler Ware bowls, Made in Australia.

I love the sight of all these little bits and pieces brought together, they get used a lot and I love the mix of old and new. I did a LOT of shopping in Ireland actually, so I foresee a post on that in the near future as well as a heap of photos from our trip, there are just so many it will be a mammoth task going through them all!

Brrrrrrr

After days and days of sticky horrible humidity here in Sydney the temperature has dropped to a paltry 19 degrees Celsius, cold enough to get out my giant Le Creuset casserole and bubble up a big supply of yummy leek and potato soup :)

Tiny Little Man

Well, it's happened. My baby boy has started big school. And yes, maybe my heart is aching just a little bit... and maybe I do miss his company and his chat and cuddles during the day... and maybe I do have to fight the urge to pop into school at lunchtime just to have a peep and make sure my shy little man is OK in the schoolyard.

BUT he seems to have enjoyed his first week, is proud of the work he brings home and is talking about activities and friends.

So if he's happy I'm happy (even if my heart does ache a bit).

Look how smart he looks in his little uniform :-)

Doesn't seem like that long since my 3 little schoolboys were only this size...

Why does time have to go so so fast?