Vintage find - cast iron dog hook

Vintage find - cast iron dog hook, originally uploaded by Baysidemama.

This was a relatively recent market find for me - a woman was selling heaps of these amazing cast iron dog hooks. I decided on one and then when I went back the next week, she'd sold out. A bargain I guess at $5 each. The dog sits on a wall overlooking our back area - a perfect hook for summer beach towels, or in this case, a lantern (also a vintage find)

Red at sunset

Red at sunset, originally uploaded by Baysidemama.

This was the light around here at sunset yesterday. Have a happy weekend.

Lanterns

Lanterns, originally uploaded by Baysidemama.

I haven't taken these down yet - they were for a party but look so lovely and colourful swaying in the breeze. There are so many great shops for paper lanterns and all sorts of wonderful finds in Victoria Street in Richmond - it's worth a look if you're visiting Melbourne.

kangaroo paw

kangaroo paw, originally uploaded by Baysidemama.

I'm a stickler for indigenous plants in gardens however I make an exception for the kangaroo paw. Besides, it's still a native and still provides feed for birds. I find it a remarkably beautiful plant in a very structured, striking way and have spent the last two weekends planting masses of red and pink varieties along our driveway. The garden is coming to life as the weather heats up - walked out the front this morning to find two very adventurous lorikeets literally heads inside our possum box to take a look at the sleeping possums. Luckily they survived without a big gash to their feathered heads.

Mermaid party

Mermaid party, originally uploaded by Baysidemama.

Party season and been alive and well around here and I recently hosted a mermaid themed party. This was great fun as it meant decorating wise, I could move along from the absolute all encompassing pinkness of early girldhood. Blue, green and purple were great fun as a decorating base. We set this little mermaid up on a collection of rocks from the garden and then added green sparkly seaweed. I used balloon, material and bird netting to create an undersea cave and vases filled with water coloured with blue food dye as water tanks.

A new vegie garden begins

Blooms on our orange tree (above)

My new pot of mint

Yes, I know it's been a little while between posts here.

And in keeping with the current fiscal theme of the times, my first return post is a little peak at the beginnings of our vegie and fruit patch. We have one magnificent existing orange tree that produces so much fruit we can't keep up with it - much of it has been sent off to more experienced jam and marmalade makers than I.

But in a bid to stem the ridiculous amounts of money fruit and veg was now costing us, we have started to grow some of our own. First up is a little herb garden, and already mint (see above), rosemary, parsley and basil is growing with wild abandon.

Next up, planting some tomatoes, strawberries and corn (the corn is courtesy of my pre-schooler who loves the idea - not too sure how successful that one will be).