Hello, how the devil are you all.  Be warned this is a rambling post.

The other day I had to answer some interview questions and I said that one of the things about this old place that is great in the hot summer months is the old Moreton Bay Fig Tree…a huge old thing, where we have a hammock precariously hung …a great spot to swing and read in the cool… 

Later on I was in the garden, which I must say is in need of weeding and a little ahem rough around the edges when I got to digging under the old orange tree…and I thought actually this little gem is a pretty good asset too…

We found this old dear when we had moved into the cottage, all was white, floors were stripped, kitchen and en-suite were in but that was about it… and after the initial zap by a local gardening firm who had to dig in the undergrowth to find the lawn the garden was looking far from good….very bare and very very neglected.

 

It was a hot and dry summer and I thought there was not much hope of ever getting this place looking good…and for sure I quickly threw all my dreams of an English style garden heaving with laden David Austin roses and things that basically need much water swiftly out the window.

But, when the winter came there were a few redeeming features to the garden, first of all after sitting in many a sloping garden we realised that our 'landscaped' (and I use that term very loosely) flat garden was a boon around here. 

And as we worked, interspersed with my whining, we strangely began to come upon the idea that this old place must once have been very much loved….you see, one day clearing the weeds that were thigh high on the right side of the cottage we started to discover the basis of someone's planning…we found a path, we realised that the old blue bench, though particularly hideous had been placed precisely to get the winter sun, the laundry line sitting in the breeze just where the sun hits all year round…and the remnants of what we think was a veggie plot.

…and then we found the tree…it was sort of hidden under weeds, strangled by overhanging stuff from next door and it was full of dead branches, abandoned through years of neglect…at the time it had the odd tiny little green fruit on it which being from a land where ya oranges tend to arrive on an aeroplane and certainly don't grow in your garden, we thought they were limes…

 

So I stripped that thing back…you could almost hear her sigh as I pruned back the old dead wood zapping her back to life.

 

Now she still doesn't give us an abundance of fruit, it is definitely a ratty round the edges orange tree…but to sit up here warmed by the winter sun…it's one of my better discoveries…

Well anyway, after all that I actually came here to talk about vintage plates. 

Really? 

Nooooooooo! 

Yep, knowing that you all sit around breathlessly awaiting the next addition of my treasure hunting escapades I thought I'd get some blue and white and vintage china going on…under that orange tree…in the sun…

Sooo, the blue one with the gold is one of my favourite old vintage pieces though I think I seem to write that everytime I mention a piece of old china on here…I got it while shopping at Anthropologie while overseas *wink *wink (yeah in my dreams, I got it from Salvos).

 

It's a Meakin, of course from the Old Country, the gold gilding mostly faded away now and with a name like Florida Sol, I think it may well have found the right home under that tree.

 

I love these old vintage beauties…stacked up in a tumultuous pile…and believe it or not, do not gasp, I love the ones with all the colour…

…but today's theme, for some reason was blue

…and the other one, a sweet as little platter, no idea where I found it, oh yeah it was Anthropologie,  Johnson Bros, lurving the old painted flower…funnily enough named Moderne…sweetly ironic dontchya think?

Righto I seriously have to get myself outta here

…the BC Boys will shortly be home from swimming about ready to eat the house…

I have a chilli that's been sitting in the slow cooker all day getting spicy…

See you around ladies

 

 

 

p.s. totally off topic, but if any of you have a Black Bean Soup recipe up your sleeve I'd love it (remember I am a slap and dash kinda gal, no fussing…I was thinking about this one, but would love the real mccoy, cheers)

oh and there is a ROCKING GIVEAWAY going on here, check it out

care package winner announced soon

 

vintage table, tablecloths, stool, jugs, sundae dish : thrifted

 vintage china, cutlery  :  thrifted

white glass  :  IKEA