My Bright Field

They say that every cloud has a silver lining but of course that is simply not true physically nor metaphorically. Hence I was pleased to see a cloud that really did have a silver lining this week.   Sunsets in Autumn are usually beautiful, especially as they coincide with my daily 'quiet time'.  My breath is often taken away when I look up from reading or writing to see how the sky has transformed in just a matter of minutes.

  This weekend I was in the mountains wrapping up various things related to our move and decided to have lunch at the Wayzgoose Cafe at Leura.  I notice it is now known as the Wayzgoose Diner and has moved from country heritage to 1950s diner.    This had me thinking how furnishing styles change. My own style is eclectic which means anything goes. We have pieces collected from family members ranging from the 1900s to more modern times but we seemed to have missed out the 1950s and 60s.  This is because our parents furnished their homes in the 1940s and we didn't set up house until the 1970s.   Do your furnishings and tastes lean towards a particular decade?

  Some months ago Sandra from Static and Silence  emailed asking if I was ever going to come back to this blog. I responded "Yes, some day soon".  'Some day' has arrived because our lovely Blue Mountains home passed onto new owners this week.   This means I now have one less home and garden to look after and hence time to renew acquaintance with my blog and blog friends.   The past year was interesting. Due to COVID restrictions, we were locked-out of our regional country home for three months! This gave us the time we needed to finalise the clean up and get the mountains home ready for sale. Just before we were locked-out I planned and planted a new vegetable garden.  This summer (being unusually wet) it's been a source of much delight and many fresh vegetables.  Fresh vegetables have come in handy because right now we are locked-in, having caught COVID this past week.  We were only mildly ill and now quite well with plenty of food to see our way through to the e

 I hope you all are having a lovely Christmas season.  In the time between Christmas and New Year I usually spend some time reflecting on the year that was and my plans for the year to come - not that planning is ever a perfect science because we never really know what is around the corner. In comparison to this time last year it is lovely to see green grass, blue skies with lots of clouds, our trees laden with fruit and some limited success in our vege garden. In this strange year I achieved many things around the house from restoring furniture to renovating. I read several good books but I also wasted much too much time on my screens. It all started with checking "Fires Near Me". This was too quickly followed by the virus which had me addicted to the horrible soap opera - checking the numbers, learning the rules and the suspense of the border wars. I was lured into binge watching TV series. And social media grabbed its chunk too. I knew for sure something had to change last

For the past week or so we have been on a pre Christmas Sweet Wayfaring trip through the Riverina and outback NSW.  It has been on my bucket list to drive the Kidman Way for a while.  We have previously done the 'ends' but not the 'middle' section from Griffith to Cobar so that was our destination this year. As is always the case when I am on new roads I keep my eye out for more Royal Hotels to add to my collection  and was rewarded with two on this trip. Royal Hotel, Mirrool This  beauty is in the tiny town of Mirrool which is not much more than the pub, a couple of houses, a small church and the ubiquitous wheat silos beside a railway siding. To get there we traveled through vast acres of grain country where this year's bumper harvest was in the process of being gathered.  Next we passed through the Riverina which has huge vineyards and orchards where irrigation makes the dry landscape flourish.  It is just astounding the scale of agriculture in this region. To r

At Christmas there is never a more perfect time for a home to have a fireplace, a place to hang the Christmas stockings. I keep things simple with my decorations, however Rose Orchard Haus has unusual niches in some of its walls.   At Christmas time I change things around a little and give the objects on display a Christmas theme. A little Christmas bird seems to have snuck into this one. And nature is not to be outdone in joining the fun.  At Whistlers Rest, our bush block, I thought I had seen every plant and flower there was until I saw this among the cypresses this week.  It's as if it has grown its own Christmas baubles. And at Burnbrae Garden the dogwood has its Christmas stars in flower. Have you put up Christmas decorations in your home? Does your garden have any special Christmas plants?