I love dahlias

Hello peeps, as promised here is a totally self indulgent, over the top colour feast, in the form of the wonderful dahlia!  I hope these pictures warm and cheer all of you how are going through a cold and bleak winter, summer is on it's way!

I think dahlias would have to be in my top five favourite flowers, they are just so flamboyant and in your face, with such beautiful colours, I find myself planting a few more every year just to see what other colours I can find.

Anyway, heres to sharing the dahlia love......

Have a wonderful sunshiny day!

xxxxxxxxxxxx

the one where we throw a party.....

Hello there!

 I have been absent from my blog and the computer in general this past week, and it feels like ages since I last posted, it has been a busy time at our place!

I am turning 40 this week, so we thought we would have a party (you know, any excuse... :) ). 

This did entail a major house clean/declutter/garden makeover, etc, which turned into a huge task!

(Our house is usually quite untidy and messy and I tend to only get it in tip top condition for special occasions) 

 Luckily my fab parents and husband gave me lots of help to get things looking celebratory, and my family and friends came over last night and we had a great night!

Lots of chatting and catching up, eating and drinking, playing pool and some good music, and general funtimes!

............We hung some of these paper ball thingys..... think they will be up till after Christmas and continue with the party atmosphere.....

.........I made some big paper flowers for a colourful party garland..........

........we cracked out the special cups........ and filled them with some yummy drinks.....

.......colourful bendy straws to suck up a margarita or two...........

......received some lovely flowers....

.....and picked these guys from the garden......

(David Austin rose 'Jude the Obscure' - divine!!)

As part of the 'make the house presentable' operation, my dad put my painted papered box on the wall for me and I got a few of my crochet jars into it......

.....and  found my ceramic bottles looked right at home on top.....

The garden is looking a treat too, but I don't have any pictures to show you, maybe a garden post coming soon.

I have a great family and lovely friends and they all made me feel very spoilt and lucky and loved, so it was an excellent way to say goodbye to my 30's and look forward to the next decade of living.

(Although not officially till this week)

Oh, and I got my hair cut again during the week and have gone shocking blonde, so much so that every time I catch my reflection, I get a little surprised shock, I look quite different! 

I haven't had much crafting time recently, and I've missed it!!  I have managed to start a little idea for something Christmassy.  Now that the big do is history, I can get back to other fun things and hopefully have a few finished things to share soon!

Anyway, hope you all have had a great week too, and I am going to try and catch up on the recent bloggy happenings over the next few days.... see you later!

Saturday sugar fix......

Today Andre, Max and I decided to do a bit of cooking. Not just plain baking either, we decided to dip our toes into the wonderful world of lollie making.

.....Spurred on by the recent purchase of this little gem of a cookbook.......

the main ingredient of the whole book being sugar in all its various guises, it's a sweet tooth's dream and a dentists nightmare! I couldn't resist though, it has a recipe for musk sticks, I mean who doesn't want to know how to make your own musk sticks!

Pure Genius!!

.........lollipops were decided on.......

A trip to the cake decorating shop for special supplies (glucose syrup, flavours and colours), and then we were away!

.....And here are the fruits of our labour, yummy and not too bad looking either!

Max has a big hunk of left over lollipop-that-hardened-before-we-could-get-a-stick-into-it wedged firmly in his cheek, hence the cheeky grin.

A special treat for the holidays kiddo, don't think we will be making these everyday!!

Hope you are having a great weekend too!

Awesomeness!

Just had to share a couple of dodgy photos of the incredible Powderfinger!
WHAT A GREAT NIGHT !
It was a fantastic concert and my sister and I had a ball . Those boys really know how to make awesome music and put on a show!