Fleur-ishness

Just a little further along from the Rose Street shops in Armadale, if you follow your nose you will find the sweetest, freshest blooms at 'Fleur' - a gorgeous florist with a white backdrop that lets the flowers shine - compliments of the wonderful Fleur McHarg. If only I lived within walking distance, I'd buy my blooms there every week...

[All images from Fleur]

Adorable flowers

Quite a few bloggers seem to post 'Friday Flowers', so just for this week I thought I'd join in the fun.

Lots of beautiful flowers, leaves and succulents from fabulous Melbourne/Mornington Peninsula based floral designer Kate Main of 'Soil'...

I hope your weekend is filled with lots of laughter, sunshine and flowers.

(All images: Soil)

Tulips on the table

Tulips on my scrubbed-up little 'roadside find' table...perilously close to touching the time-worn surface...providing transient natural loveliness that's a joy to look at every time I pass them by...

The perfect antidote to a busy week.

Pinched and a pop of colour

See these flowers...I must confess that I pinched them - out on my daily walk with the dog there was a feast of colourful flowers hanging over neighbourhood fences. I just couldn't help myself. Lilac, rhododendron, blossom and geranium: a beautiful spring bounty...

And, a new 'pop' of colour for my bathroom. I usually veer towards neutral colours but when it came time to buy some new towels for the bathroom last week I surprised even myself by choosing a strong green colour. I think it adds a nice lift to the otherwise neutral bathroom...

Where have I been?

A couple of weeks after I arrived home from Washington, my husband and son and I took off for a holiday in Thailand for a few weeks. Bliss! But it seems like an eon ago and I'm already itching for another holiday (obviously I'm greedy with a capital G). I've been back a couple of weeks but I've been so busy with work I've barely been able to scratch myself, hence the lack of posting. But I'm back on deck now and looking forward to getting back into the swing of posting.

Washington was work, work, work and not much else (but a great job & lovely people to work with), and Thailand was so very, very relaxing coming off the back of the U.S. trip.  The highlight of the trip for me was a visit to the flower market in Chiang Mai and I thought I'd share just a few of  the snaps I took to savour the memory - it was a riot of colour and scents...

Flowers to celebrate Spring

Oh yes, I'm jumping for joy, Winter is officially over in Australia!  The 1st of September and Spring is now here (in name at least). I'm beginning to thaw out already.

To celebrate I thought I'd just post some pretty pictures of flowers. That's all - no more, no less.

(Images: 1-5 - Country Living; 6 - Debi Treloar; 7 - John Gruen; 8-10 - Marie Claire)

Flowering quince

Yesterday I picked some flowering quince from my front garden to sit on my dining table alongside a vase of protea and a sweet little cactus wrapped with some paper & string...

It's nice to bring this lovely flower inside and enjoy it while it lasts.

Favorite Flowers: Peonies

I'll admit that I took a floriculture class for 2 years in elementary school (shout out to my teacher Ms. Valentine) and came away with a love for all things floral.  My absolute favorite flowers are peonies especially in shades of pink.  I think that they are so exquisite because of the fact that they are delicate and lady-like.

Flower addict

I adore fresh flowers and my house is never without a bunch or two. I bought some flowers for the house to help freshen it up for when the book club lunch girls came for lunch on Saturday. I thought I'd take some pictures of the flowers I have in the house today and share them with you (please be mindful of the fact that it's very dark, stormy and overcast here in Melbourne today so some of the pictures look a bit dark and dull).

On the front verandah (i.e. the parking spot for shoes, skateboards & bicycles etc.) I have some lovely white polyanthus planted in some terracotta pots...
Upon entering the house, on the little filing cabinet next to the front door I have some very sweet, scented Erlicheer...

On my bedroom window sill I have some lavender from my mother-in-law's garden (which is almost dried now)...

On my bedroom dresser I have some bright yellow leucadendron (not sure if that's how you spell it??)...

Back in the hallway, I have some lovely pinky red proteas in one of my favourite jugs...

On my desk I have a little vase of hellebores that I picked from my front garden...

On a table in my living area I have some beautiful long-lasting pinky purple kale with some oyster plant leaves...

On the kitchen island bench I have a tall vase of leucadendron with spear grass (this pic doesn't do them justice as they are really a bright sunny yellow colour)...

Sitting on the bench below my bookshelves is a beautiful mixed bunch of daffodils that Lori, one of the book club girls, gave me yesterday. They look like tiny little bits of sunshine captured in a vase...

On the bookshelves down the other end of the living area I have a vase of rosemary that was given to me by another one of the bookclub girls, Lou. It smells incredible....

And finally, though not flowers, this is flower-related. Yesterday my lovely sister Jacky (who is a founding member of our book club) gave me this amazing book...

And it was so beautifully wrapped I just had to show you how it looked. So precious, I didn't want to open it!! The quote on the front is from the book we read for book club, i.e. Maryanne Shaffer's 'The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society'. We all enjoyed the book and the conversation around the table was lively.