My Bright Field

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Filling the gaps

A month or two ago we moved more of our furniture from our mountains house to our Kandos house.

For example, we moved this old kitchen cabinet which matches the table and chairs I showed last week.

This however has left some gaps at our original home which we want to be furnished when we put it up for sale. Moving things about I was able to make everything look acceptable except for the space left by this cabinet. Then I had a bright idea, my husband had another one down in his workshop which he and his father used for tools and other man junk.

I wrestled it from him, painted over the 1950s green and a lovely new cabinet emerged, perfect for filling the gap and even the glass matches the colour scheme.

There is another wall that is a bit too blank. I am busily doing the quilting on this top that I made 25 years ago to fill that space.

You might have guessed I like old houses and eclectic old furnishings - especially those with memories.

Shadows of the past

Here are three stories from this week that had me thinking of things in the past reflected in my today world.

Bygone trees

At the moment there are lots yellow autumn crocus popping up in my Kandos garden. The ones in the lawn whisper of past trees that they used to circle.

A Father's Patience

This old scrubbed pine kitchen table was in my childhood home and for the past 28 years has been in in our kitchen at Lawson. Whenever brothers and sisters have visited we have enjoyed gathering around the table reminiscing.

Even though we are downsizing it's too special to be discarded so has become our dining table at Kandos and I have been giving the paintwork a spruce up. While painting I noticed the many running repairs done to the two chairs on the left.

It made me think of my Dad fixing chairs on the front verandah and the countless number of times we children were admonished for tipping the chairs because they would break. As the family grew bigger the bench was moved in for we y…

Waves

Waves of grass rather than ocean waves. There is a section of my garden at Rose Orchard Haus that I don't mow because I like to watch the seed heads flowing in the breeze, I have a good view of them from my kitchen window. I just hope they are not serrated tussock or some other nasty grass that we are meant to eradicate. If it is please let me know.

I was thinking of waves because of a book I have been "reading" recently The Shelly Bay Ladies Swimming Circle. I am much more of an inland person than a sea person but I nonetheless enjoyed this book.

Grace (from Perth Daily Photo) commented on a recent post suggesting this book to me so I checked out whether the local library had a copy. It turned out they had an eAudio version which I downloaded.

It is a long time since I listened to a book so it was like a new experience. I find it's a very slow way to "read" but quite relaxing, perfect for travelling on the train or doing some calm housework like bak…

It's showtime

Today I am participating in the City Daily Photo Theme Day on Municipal Buildings

Most country shires are gone, having been amalgamated, Rylstone is now part of Mid-Western Regional Council.

But a couple of doors down the street the annual agricultural show continues, last weekend it was its 82 year.

With the drought and fires it's been a tough year for the farming community but recent rain put a smile on everyone's face. In the pavilion there were the usual crops, flowers, art, craft, fleeces and more.

Show day is a day for celebrating all things country by pulling on your best cowboy boots and hat.

Out in the show ring the horse riding entertains and the wood chips fly.

The kids head down to side show alley and the big boys also have their toys.

It's a great day for hanging around and watching. This year we were joined by personnel from the Australia and Indonesian defence forces who've been helping with the rebuilding effort after the bush fires.

Long may the show…

Weather watch

OK it's another blog post about the weather ... but the transformation with the rain is just too exciting to miss.

After the big rain we have had continuing showers one of which delivered this spectacular light show during my customary sunset watch as Rose Orchard Haus.

And look at what has happened to the grass - remember it has been brown for many many months.

The roses that steadfastly refused to flower all summer have now they burst into life. It's so nice to have them on the hall table again.

And I had given up hope of having any oranges this year because the fruit created by the spring flowering all fell off the tree. Now nature has delighted me with a second flowering.

I said to my husband, all we need now is bees and they turned up too. Talking of bees and orange trees here is:

A book I have read recently

I loved Melissa Ashley's debut novel The Birdman's Wife so was immediately tempted by this new one I saw in the bookshop last week. It is another explora…

Neighbours new and old

One of the delights of living in the country is the variety of animals we get as neighbours.

At Christmas time I was surprised to find this brown hen in our garden at Rose Orchard Haus. She had flown over the fence and would not be persuaded to go back home so stayed for a couple of weeks before choosing to go on another adventure - we don't know where.

This week I heard a rooster crow and looked over the fence to find this new neighbour along with a couple of ducks. Those feather "boots" must make walking difficult.

And here's the other neighbour I love to watch from my kitchen window. I believe her name is Francesca.

And all of these reminded me of the various neighbours at bush block at Whistlers Rest I have shown over the years. I had fun digging through the archive to find some of them.

An assortment of cattle.

A pony

Sheep and goats

And occasional native animals.