my beautiful family

just got this pic from my little sister elise.

taken in tassie a few weeks ago.

the whole family on self timer.

was a fun experience.

i love them to bits!!!!!

top row: ed (brother in law), mum, dad, me, jamie (brother).

front row: alannah (niece), christine (sister), katie (sister in law), finn (nephew), ben (brother), elise (sister), darren (brother), imogen (niece).

'up north' 2

an amazing weekend away with tom, sj, miles, tiffany, bunky and me!

'up north'

i just had the most wonderful weekend exploring 'up north' in western australia.

having only lived in perth just coming up to a year i had never been more than 30km north of perth.

now i can proudly say i've been all the way up to kalbari – at least 500km north of the city.

what an amazing experience.

i really do live in an amazing country.

i miss the mountains and lush green of tassie.

but the wide expanses of this state is kind of growing on me.

*oh and camping – how i have missed you.

starry nights in a swag in such a wonderful thing.

say posted... more pics to come.

bit cuter now

NOT quite there yet... but mel and my pad is jazzed up a fair bit now.

need to get my paints out and get some artwork on the walls.

well, buy some canvases first.

small dilemma (why do i always have to google that word?!) of not being able to put 'holes' in the wall to hang things up.

rental properties grrr...

p.s. how cool is my vase on the dining table! go kmart find!

paint me red

a few of my paintings. (cherry blossom 1 & heliconia)

these are both in pride of place at my sisters house.

come to think about it there are a fair few stored there too.

feel free to get them out and 'use' them sisel.

paintings are a hard thing to move across the country.

hmmmm.... i think i'm addicted to red.

strathlynn

i was a very lucky little girl and got to have lunch on mum's birthday with just her and dad at one of my most favourite places in the world – strathlynn winery on the picturesque banks of the tamar river.

don't you just love the cute little 'cake' the waitress gave mum for her birthday. candle and all.

dear musketeer

thanks you fellow musketeers.

ah the JOY of being able to sit down with my two best friends and have a good ol' chinwag.

you are my lifeline.

this is us at heidi's new house in the most beautiful little spot in glengarry tasmania.

still building so not moved in yet, but we brought up a heater some chicken, coleslaw and fresh buns to mung on – and strawberries and yoghurt for dessert.

oh and a nice drop of wine.

sibling silliness

a few shot of my siblings and my 'little people' (nieces and nephew) from my trip to tassie last week.

a lot of silliness involved of course.

pick the real hair.

oh yes that would be darren the golliwog.

lunch time silliness with my little people.

(imogen and alannah photography)

mini golf – dazza and i are addicted to the competition of it.

it's been a long running feud.

very excited that i beat him this time.

he was not.

LOVE YOU KIDS!

sj special

it makes me laugh – but then again i am easily amused.

these are the invites i designed today for sj's party.

gone with a bit of brown and 'mustard' with sj in some feral 80's bridesmaid getup to enhance the tragic theme.

can't wait for the party.

happy surprise

it was so hard to keep it a secret...

i have just been on a 3 day trip to tasmania for mum's birthday – planned 3 months ago!

it was so lovely to see you all again my beautiful family and friends.

thanks for playing along with the surprise dad.

thanks for the wonderful love 2 musketeers.

thanks for the sun tasmania.

thanks mostly to my mum, who made me feel like the most special person in the world when i walked through the door.

more photos to come...

pic of mummy (ree-ree) and me

matchsticks please

so tired.

11 hours.

1 x 15 minute break.

48 emails in.

52 emails out.

9 jobs worked on.

and that's just the work part of the day.

can I please have some matchsticks to hold my eyes open while i...

• drive home

• do grocery shopping

• vacuum

• write birthday cards

• hang up the washing that's lying neglected in the machine

feeling slightly sorry for myself i know.

pic via here

feeling like blue

ah, what I wouldn't give to be having a nice warm bowl of soup and crusty bread at blue cafe bar in launceston right now.

it's the most ADORABLE cafe.

owned and run by my darling cousin claire and her hubby kip.

the soup kip made last time i was there was about the best soup i've ever had in my life.

it's a bit cold and miserable in perth today.

my feet are chilly and i've been to busy at work all morning to eat.

oh and the logo is my favourite (designed by me. ha ha. i'm very modest)

missed the ball

lemons and sky

ok so it's not really that great – but the garden at our new place sure has character.

i went for a bit of an explore the other evening, while cleaning up my moving boxes.

it is all in desperate need of a clean up, the previous tenant mustn't have looked at it.

it'll get there when I have some spare time.

the cute little garden shed that time forgot.

we have a lemon tree!

saddest looking specimen you'll ever see...

but it does have lemons.

i really love the colour of the shed!

little fence sitting by itself for no reason in a bunch of weeds.

now this is a bush I have never seen.

it smells sweet like jasmine or honeysuckle or something.

one of my favourite smells.

bit ugly but fills the whole back of the yard with its lovely aroma.

wa flora is a totally foreign to me, but I think we have LOTS of frangipani's waiting to bloom.

ikea is the best

i really don't want to spend exuberant amounts of money of furniture for the new pad.

but i do want funky, won't-break-when-i-sit-on-it stuff.

solution = ikea.

went shopping there last night with mel and her parents.

christine, you'll love the new catalogue.

it's online, but I'll send you one with the fabrics I bought you.

got this dining table, bargain $25 chairs, wall unit and RED rug and cushions.

it's all in boxes and half put together in our 'dining room' at the moment.

hello friday night furniture making.

pics via here

family favourites

my brother-in-law ed kicking the footy at a family picnic at hollybank (tasmania) last year.

classic shot – love the soldier pose and the fact I took the photo without his head.

makes me laugh EVERY time i look at it.

another hollybank pic of me and imogen (imi).

she is such a dolly.

cute shot whoever took it.

my little (big) brother darren scaring (and scarring) chris and ed with his lily white legs.

taken at our family get away for mum and dad's 30th wedding anniversary last year.

poor ed is laughing so much he's crying.

mum and dad have a dog called chad.

chad is a little jack russell with an unfortunate overbite on his bottom jaw.

bit of a running family joke to do 'the chad' and take a photo.

even little imi does it.

ah the memories...

darren/daz/dazzler came road trippin' with me when i moved from tassie to perth last year.

this is him (at a gorgeous italian restaurant) eating pink food.

WHAT A GIRL. ha ha.

(was a unbelievable beetroot risotto with quail)

the look on his face is priceless!

heart to heart

another logo i designed for HeartKids for the

western australian annual fundraising ball.