A photo a day challenge - Day 1 - Up

I have decided to take up the photo a day challenge created by @fatmumslim for March. Each photo is based on the word / subject of the day.

The first word being up and in this case I am looking up at our new pergola. It has just been put up and hasn't got a roof yet but I am very excited as we are nearly there!

The effects of rain

Now I am generally a real sun person and love blue skies and warm weather but after the few days of heat that Melbourne has had I have loved all the rain over the past 24 hours.

After it has been so hot, the smell of rain, the coolness it brings and the effect it has on the environment is wonderful. Last night as I sat in my kids room while they were going to sleep, I had their window wide open and just listened to the rain and sound of crickets. Very relaxing.

This morning my little boy and I walked my daughter to school and there were puddles everywhere, the Eucalyptus smelt wonderful wet and the birds were all calling out, all because of the Summer rain.

Also yesterday we got our rainwater tank installed so now have another reason to love the rain when it has been so dry.

Today now the rain has stopped the builders are working on putting in a deck down this side and around the tank. This deck will wrap around the house and meet up with the back deck. So I will be sharing lots of deck photos soon.

Adding colour and fun

We as many do, have kept all our walls white in our new rooms to give us a blank canvas. But without decoration it can be a little sterile so slowly starting to add things around the house.

The photo above is the kids playroom, so a room that definitely needs colour and fun. With the kids favourite colours being red and blue (along with being mine too) it was easy to work out the colour scheme.

I have been so looking forward to hanging up bunting and found this in a gorgeous little French homewares store near our house along with the letters.

Of course a kids room also needs a place to hang their artwork.

And I ended up loving these red and white paper balls from Domayne so much that have hung some in the family room.

Hope you are all having a great weekend. It is certainly a hot one here in Melbourne, so good to be spending time inside in the air-conditioning.

G

Bougainvillea a Mediterranean inspiration

I have loved Bougainvillea ever since we saw a lot of it growing on the Amalfi Coast of Italy. The stunning colours against the Mediterranean and the stone houses has always inspired me. So much so that I planted a vine as soon as we bought our house some eight years ago.

Now said vine is hidden down the side of the new extension, so will look at moving, but in the meantime have been bringing it inside.

First day of School memories

First day back at school for my daughter today. She is starting year 1. So to remember the day we took a photo of her next to this blackboard with the intention of now doing it every year.

When she started Prep we naturally took lots of photos at home and in front of the school but was wondering what we could do this year and for the many more to come. I saw a great article with ideas, one of which suggested holding up a small blackboard to record the year and take the same picture each year and watch them grow. So this is my plan, plus to each year take one on the deck and in front of our Maple tree as we did last year.

This blackboard is coming in handy for many occasions and so has a permanent place near our kitchen.