I dream of:: Sugar Coating

Had a blast making the gingerbread house with my sister in law, Sharnel. What a fun thing to do! We made many errors but nothing a bit of candy and icing can't cover. It didn't last long! It took less then 5 minutes for the children to tear the poor thing apart.

I dream of :: The End of Year

Oh it has been a while! I have had to neglect my computer life for the home life. We have been busy with some urgent and stressful family affairs and some dramas with the new house. Now we have Christmas hot on our heels. On with the shopping, decorating, preparing the outdoors (which are so far from finished it makes me want to cry), now the kids are on school holidays. But, that means I can do the little things I have been wanting to do! No more rushing.

I have been getting all my creative juices flowing. I have made a load of Jewellery which has been selling like hot cakes.

www.madeinstone.com

I have bagged my outdoor room, painted and selected the color scheme. The flower/vegetable garden bed is in the process of being built. the wrap around deck is being quoted. the ceiling has been repaired and the upstairs bathroom is in the process of getting a make over! And my baby boy is in the clear! whew! Bring on 2010!!

I dream of :: family

I miss the kids back home. My boys and I just loved being there and sharing the time of a few short weeks with them. Of course in this photo some of them are missing. The three older teens and the three infants. But, just the same, This photo reminds me of all of them. And how much my boys love them as well.

I dream of :: a finished corner to nurture

Still dreaming of finishing our little corner of the yard that my kitchen window looks over. I am loving the idea of a moon garden, all white flowers. Still loving the bubbling water feature plan. I definitely want to fill the corner with dark leafy greens, wispy delicate and bright green fern like maiden hair, Crisp white and black Orchids, bleeding heart, Hostas and Standard white camellias.

Back to real world

Back in Australia, and hit the ground running! I haven't stopped since I landed in the States. As I stayed up every night visiting with family until 3 am. Once I arrived back home, I was out of with flu (most likely it was just exhaustion). School started up 3 days later. I have finally adjusted enough to focus on the fun stuff!

We were planning on doing up the master bath when I left. Upon my return, I was informed that we were doing the gardens first. True to form, I just had to draw up the plans. I have been shopping walls, pavers, plants for a week now. Yes, I am a bit sad to let my big plans for my inner house go. But the yard is where I will be living once the Australian Sun comes out. So bring it on.

Here are the plans I drew up the other night.

We are basically putting in terraces, making gently sloping lawn areas, re-doing the pool surround, clearing out tick infested fern and making a garden we can live in.

Still sold on the "moon garden" idea in the front of the house. More color as we move back to the pool area.

I have a bout 13 Grass trees on the side of the property. I want to create a gravel path that travels through this area planting it out with Australian Natives. Something for the boys to explore in.

I just love poolside seating that offers some shade and comfort. This one is from potterybarn.com

I Dream of :: Bathroom Project

I have officially started planning the master bath! 

 I love the new trend of floating sinks and toilets. A must have in our bathroom.  The space is not very large, the less we have on the floor the better the illusion of space.  Villorey & Boch have a wonderful variety of basins. 

I love the floating glass shower stall as well.  As we will just have a shower in our bathroom, floating seamless glass would keep the room light and open. 

I Dream of :: trendy kitchen items

Isn't this a lovely espresso machine designed by Otto.  It is a stove top design that harkens back to Italy's  Atomic 1940 stove top espresso maker and it is super chic.  I love the curves and that it is stainless steel.  A nice preview of good things to come, you can see it working thru the glass panel at the back.  Otto makes a perfect cup for two.  Keep your eyes open

I love this bloom fruit bowl from Arkturashop.   It shows a softer side to contemporary with a throw back to the lace bowls in the past.  I love it.