Chit-chat Wednesday and Song of the Currawong

Currawongs have taken over our garden. They love the big native tea-trees to sit and sing in their melodious voices. They sound like honey in the morning and evening. We're thinking of re-naming Sparrow Chateau (our writing shed) into Currawong Shed as both the Scribe and I love these birds and their singing so much.
Smuchie, our cat, loves the challenge of working out how to kill them but their beaks keep her at a wary distance.
Magpie season has started in our local park. I admire these fierce birds as they strive to protect their young. I can still remember yelling at some man last Summer for throwing birds at a poor Mother Magpie who wanted only to be left in peace with her babies.
We're so lucky in the inner-city to have the amount of native fauna we do and we never take it for granted. To live amongst planes overhead and heavy traffic is compensated by the kookaburras, bats, lorikeets and our singing currawongs.
In other news, the Scribe has spent the last few days in a hyperbaric chamber at the hospital for his latest diving adventures on the weekend. I am jealous as he comes home looking so youthful and refreshed from all that pure oxygen.
And I'm hard at work on a new writing project which is very exciting and I shall talk about soon.
May the rest of your week be filled with all the beauty of the Currawong's song.
Thank you for visiting me. xx

Magnificent, Marvellous, Mighty Monday and Sharks, Yellow Roses and Sophie Dahl

Hello,
I spent the weekend working on a crime short story for the annual Sisters In Crime competition. The sunshine was as glorious and light-filled in Sydney as my story was dark.
Here are some lovely things inspiring me as I start my week.
Vintage-style yellow Rose Wallpaper. This lovely paper was recently in the latest Australian Notebook magazine. I do love yellow roses. I've sent for samples of this one (Eglantine) as I'm planning on papering our laundry area and our outside writing shed (Sparrow Chateau). Regular readers will know we've built an outdoor writing shed in our small terrace backyard. Because I've been working on Poets Cottage, I haven't had a lot of time to decorate it. However, we are going to take down our old Hills Hoist line in the next couple of weeks and install an old-fashioned Granny line to open up the space before Sparrow Chateau, so watch this space. I've also ordered the pink and red floral Eglantine for our bedroom. I do love vintage style floral wallpaper. And this one is so beautiful: olde-worlde but with a modern twist and snap.
The Scribe never fails to inspire me. He recently returned from diving with the Great Whites for a story for his magazine. Here is about to enter the shark cage. He went down with the sharks not once but five times and in very choppy conditions as well. He was safe from the sharks (some who he said were bigger than cars). However, a tuna did take a bite out of his finger.
If you care to see a short footage of one of the sharks, it's on his Blog here.
And I can't wait for Sophie Dahl's Cooking show which is coming to Foxtel on September 20th. I think she is the prettiest woman alive, she has the greatest cheekbones. The show sounds wonderful with its literary references and nostalgic blend. I loved her book, Playing With The Grown-Ups.
I hope your week is filled with old worlde glamour, creative and thrilling adventures.
Thank you for visiting me. xx

wallpaper eglantine image source:

sophie dahl image source

Fabbo Friday and THE BIRTH OF OUR SHED

To build our shed we had to sacrifice one of the large palm trees in our courtyard, a decision we didn't take lightly. I'm a person who finds it difficult to pick flowers; the thought of taking out a tree which we had planted from a teeny pot was anathema to me. I agonized over this for a couple of years and it was one of the reasons we had put off building the shed despite badly needing the space.
We even had an arborist assess the situation. He thought we were mad to worry and bluntly told us to 'pull the bloody thing out, they grow like wildfire here and it's ruining your tea-tree at the top.' We also have the loveliest native tea-tree in our little courtyard, which attracts a lot of bird life. Finally after much weeping, gnashing of teeth and - I'll whisper this bit, 'talking and apologizing to the tree' - we cut it down.
After years of the emotional build-up it was amazing how it was far easier than we had expected. We did manage to save a part of the tree to replant and hopefully he'll live on behind our shed to grow just as big and strong. The tea-tree looks happier already now he's not in a duel with the palm and all is well at Little Brick garden. Here is a photo of Daisy posing on the stumps of the palm.
And - the beginnings of the shed! Yes, it still has to be painted and prettified, but we have electricity and a structure happening. There is a shed.
It's odd how some things in your life assume a massive importance and you worry and fret over them for years and then it turns into nothing. In my experience, it's the things you don't worry about that tend to reach out and grab you by the throat when you least expect it.
We have had a massive few days moving half our house to our beach residence whilst the Scribe's parents are on holidays. We will stay here by the seaside whilst the painting and floorboards are done in Little Brick.
Enjoy your weekend and I hope that it is a creative and restful time for you. xx

Fabbo Friday and BONJOUR SPRING

In Australia we have entered one of the loveliest seasons: Spring. The goddess Persephone is rising and with the maiden comes fresh new life in the form of nature and hopefully new creative ideas for us.

My warmest thanks to all the lovely Bloggers who sent Spring sunshine to me in their comments and support after the events of this week. I have only been Blogging for a short space of time and still have many tweaks and improvements to make to Tale Peddler - it is wonderful to have the support of so many noble, creative and fabbo people from around the globe.

I'm in love with the recent Spring edition of Australian Country Style magazine. The cover, the pretty tea-towel giveaway, Belinda Seper's Southern Highlands cottage and the young Swedish couple Nicklas and Jessica’s gorgeous Swedish cottage made this issue irresistible.

I love the quote of Jessica: "It's an important task we have been given. To be able to manage and take care of such an old cottage is a blessing."

That is exactly how I feel about little Brick and old houses in general.

The other photo is not very exciting, is it? But don't be fooled, gentle reader. That image shows the space where we are at present building in our small courtyard garden. I'll report on the progress as we go. This is the beginning of our lovely shed.

Enjoy your weekend and embrace this time of new beginnings as you let go of what no longer serves you.
Country Style image source: