Daffodils - it must be Spring!

1st September in my neck of the woods
heralds the start of

SPRING

The fruit trees are clothed in glorious blossom
deciduous trees are bursting into leaf
spring bulbs are in bloom
Spring is an awakening
a sign of new life
and new beginnings

After the grey and dreary months of Winter
we welcome the arrival of this new season!

We have turned the corner...
and I am happy to say
"au revoir August" 
until we meet again next year...
God willing!

Wishing you all a happy weekend

I'm joining Trishie for Floral Friday
Nick for Floral Friday Fotos
and
Liz for Fresh Cut Friday


Take care and
be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt

Shane 

Fragrant Winter Stocks

Chilly grey skies call for adding some beauty

inside the house.

So I popped in to my local flower shop

and selected these stocks

they were a little pricey

but as all the well priced daffs and tulips had gone

I decided to spoil myself!

Winter stocks have the most wonderful

perfume too

it is a treat just walking into the living room!

I'm joining Liz for Fresh Cut Friday August

and

Trishie for Floral Friday - Arrangement

Enjoy your weekend everyone

Take care and

be kind to one another.

Take care and

be kind to one another.

Merci à bientôt

Shane 

Flowers on Friday

Today I'm looking back to Spring 2013,

with photos I took of my hydrangeas

for this floral post.

This month Trishie gave us a theme of 

"flower in focus"

As I'm working full time at the mo

I haven't had a spare minute to get out

and photograph winter flowers in the garden....

so it was back to the archives!

This is my fave white hydrangea

"Bridal Bouquet".

It is exquisite in bud

and I'm told it is used in wedding bouquets

hence the name.

However, after the initial 'first flush'

the heads become huge and quite ordinary!

I've decided she is worth keeping

at this stage - but we'll see!

As my townhouse garden is small

I really do need to be much more selective in my plant choices.

I am now quite brave at culling

plants and shrubs that don't make the cut for me,

however, I admit it's difficult.

Another hydrangea I love

but sadly I've lost the original tag

so I can't tell you the name.

It's very pretty and a good picker too!

I'm joining
Sharon for July Garden Party 

Liz for Fresh-Cut Friday

Trishie for Floral Friday

and

Mary for Mosaic Monday

Thank you all for your kind comments.

Only another two weeks of this crazy

full time work.... 

then things will return to normality

and I will be visiting you all again!

Take care and

be kind to one another.

Merci à bientôt

Shane x

Fresh-Cut Friday - June Flowers

 A couple of weeks ago I bought a bunch of tulips

at the supermarket.

Once the blooms opened, I was captivated by the

wonderful colours!

 The red ones with yellow at the base of the cup

were so vibrant and fun - like colourful parrots!

I wonder if they are a strain of the 'parrot tulip'

that Mary of Little Red House has mentioned

before on her blog - I'm not sure, if you can

tell me I would love to know!

The pale creamy white with a cerise stripe

was beautiful too and the perfect foil for the loud red one!

I'm joining Liz for Fresh-Cut Friday

please pop over to her party

for a floral feast!

Thank you Liz for hosting!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 I don't want you to miss out on
Vicki's amazing Giveaway here 
it will be drawn on 21st June!

 She is giving away her Woodland nest above
it even has the little eggs nestled into the soft fibres!
Vicki also called on her talented and artistic friends
to include some of their pieces
to make this a very special Giveaway. 

I would love all of my bloggy pals
to visit Vicki's blog and enter. 

2 Bags Full

I see there are already 204 entries

yours could just be the lucky one!

 BONNE CHANCE!!!

Wishing you all a happy weekend!

Take care and

be kind to one another

  Merci à bientôt

Shane x

Fresh Cut Flowers

My roses are almost finished for the season
 last week I picked the last
little spray of flowers of 'The Fairy'.
She has bloomed her little heart out all summer long
thank you dear Fairy!

The white rose is 'Iceberg'
it does very well in Auckland
and blooms from November to May.
I've got six bushes in one bed
and they have put on a good show for months.

I will prune and feed them in early June
and put them to bed for the winter.

I'm joining Liz for Fresh Cut Friday
and
Mary for Mosaic Monday

Take care and

be kind to one another

  Merci à bientôt

Shane x

 

Fresh Cut Friday April

I survived!!!

After five weeks of waking at 5:30am

then into the shower by six and downstairs

dressed, coiffed strange word I know, funny words pop into the heads of working gals!

and made up by 6:30,

 a plate of porridge and a quick look at your latest posts

by 7am I was out the door, in the car

and on my way to work!

Yikes how did I do it?!!!!!

I'm usually so slow and disorganised

in the mornings - if I can do it anyone can!

I can tell you

it was tiring

we had some pretty average dinners

the house is a mess

but it was fun and I saved some dosh!

No prizes for guessing where I'll be going -

gosh you're a perceptive clever bunch of friends

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've saved my fare for France

and I'm thinking

I would love to wake up on Christmas morning

with three of my most favorite girls

jumping into bed with me for cuddles!

Today I'm joining Liz for her party

Fresh Cut Friday

why don't you grab a bunch of flowers and

come and join us.

I'm also joining Carolyn for
Floral Friday

This is my favorite rose

General Gallieni

she's an old fashioned tea rose that I have shown

you a few times before.

Where I live she flowers for eight months of the year

from early Spring through until late Autumn.

One can't ask more than that from a rose!

I want to thank you all for being such wonderful

blogging buddies, cheering me on and

giving me so much encouragement

while I did my full time stint.

Next week I'll be back to two days a week

easy peasy!!

Please pop over to Susan's blog
Mary Janes's Tearoom
to enter her beautiful Spring Giveaway.
I've just joined her inspiring blog where
she makes creates and makes beautiful knitted
mice, bears, rabbits to name a few.
I know many of my bloggy friends
will want to add this blog to your blog lists too!

 Who could possibly resist Miss Lola Blue!

Wishing you all an enjoyable weekend

doing whatever makes you happy!

 Take care and be kind to each other

   merci à bientôt

♥ Shane ♥

 A birthday card I made from one of these photos.