Just Dreams....

A vintage wedding dream dress...




...these, will do....




A splendid setting with a dreamy gown...



Laced....



Exquisite....



Ruffled reverie....



Chic ....



Lacy...and...daring...



Bloomers...n....boots...



Fun...




Vintage...



Fairy tale...




Opulent...



Dreamy n different...




Modern Milly...



Souvenir....



Marsha at Splenderosa was kind enough to invite me to the second annual wedding blog party hosted by Stephanie atAngelic Accents. Please wonder over there and have a peek.I promise you will find loads of dreamy beauty. Even though my posts is a bit last minute, with blogger and email troubles, it has been such fun. Thank you both for having me and all the help. You ladies rock! As a new blog kid in "Blog land" I knew nothing of blog parties...what a wonderful surprise...







I hope you did some dreaming....its free and therapeutic...
Although weddings did not feature on my blogging agenda. This got me thinking, along with all the lovely wedding pics that friends have shared on face book...so, I think, I might just be hooked, since I absolutely love looking at photos.

Have a fab and dreamy weekend....

I would love to be regaled by your oohs and aahs, so please leave me a dreamy comment...

V

xxx

Pinterest is where I found these dreamy pics...

The world outside my window....

The world outside my window is....wet, windy and dreary... A typical winters day in Cape Town. Winter seemed to come early this year and I am looking forward to spring. I know, I have a long way to go... My garden is bare and equally dreary. Not only is it in a state of renovation but I am also quite upset that my neighbour  removed a stunning, huge Wild Strelizia which has now left me with a gaping hole in my little suburban universe. The wind comes howling through, I feel exposed, my shade plants that used to grow well is now in full sun and has to be moved. The worst, worst worst thing is that I now have the best view in the world of Mc Donalds!!! Eeeewwwwww!!!! So, to cheer myself up I went and dug out a couple of photos of my garden from last spring and summer.

My favourite colour pansy between lime Helichrysium. A colour combination that I never tire of.

The artichokes grew quite well in that spot and I had many a novice gardener knocking at the door to enquire after the odd flower heads. I am happy to report that the onion weed surrounding the  Giant Agave has been eradicated. Sigh of relief!

Sometimes nature rewards you with the unexpected. This lilac wild lupin popped up in the perfect spot next to the maroon renunculus! Wow! Wish I could duplicate it, but can for the life of me, not find the seed I harvested from this lupin! I just adore the leaves of the lupins and they look spectacular in the early morning with shimmering diamond dew droplets...

Again, just random how the Allysium surrounded the orange bloom of renunculas...

I have an ongoing love affair with beautiful shaped leaves. This is Plectranthus Grandentatis and as you can see looks quite spectacular when the sun catches it.

My Ice Cream bush never dissapoints.

Grey echeveria...

Rosa Scented Dawn

Strobelianthus looks amazing next to ferns..

Well, I feel better already. Nothing like a few blooms make the world a brighter place.

Now for all the wonderful planning...while the weather improves. My head is filled with endless possiblities and plant combinations. Sadly my patch is not large enough for all the ideas in my head. But a girl can dream...

Enjoy your garden.

V

xxx

Anyone that wants to chat further, email me. I have not yet explored any gardening blogs, so if you know a few good ones, please share.

Please leave me your comments. I'd love to hear from you.

All photos are my own

All my bags are packed...

Old trunks and suitcases fascinate me. Especially old well worn, brown leather ones with loads of travel tags all over them.  They are just so full of mystique and always evoke intense curiosity.


Imagine the places they have seen, the travel tales that the can share, the yarns they can spin of getting lost in far flung exotic places. Packed and ready to go find adventure and new discoveries is they way I like them best of all.

You wonder....where are these off to, below? Who owns them and what wonders awaits them?



Lately my interest in these well worn travellers have been related to the "dead" space under my staircase. There is a nook under the stairs that houses all our camping equipment, neatly tucked away behind a bamboo blind. At this stage the stairs are not very inspiring, what with a matchstick ugly wooden railing as my son calls it. Well, I would love to replace it with an elegant wrought iron railing. For the dead space beneath the stairs, I covet a stack of old suitcases such as these.... well worn and full of great character. I kind off like the odd blue one in the middle. Ever noticed how the colour blue lifts out the colour tan. It works every time. The blue one has been placed in the perfect spot between the cream and tan one. And I love the old trunk at the bottom.




or these... not quite what I want, but they suit the setting below.


These are also great.



All well worn and full of character and they have been around the block a few times.. I am very specific about this little suitcase vignette.... On top of my stack I want an old vintage globe....


or perhaps something like this drinks trolley in a globe along side that can be conveniently wheeled out. The colours of both these globes, would look amazing against my ochre walls.


There must be a silver "vase" with flowers... as well as a paisley throw or pashima draped elegantly...

Yes to the monogram and the straps! The flowers look so delicate here.




...although.. a Lamp might also work well....




In my search for the perfect "stack" of suitcases I found a few interesting ones. Here are some uses for your old layabout cases and trunks.... chairs ala vintage shabby chic...

How about a bed for your perky pet? The kitties look particularly pleased with their lodgings...had to laugh about the bunk bed idea!

I absolutely adore this back pack... Yes Please!

A Louis Vuitton side Table, no less. I hope she is hiding some Jimmy Choos in there...lol.. I always have to wonder what's in them....



This monotone arrangement is  full of interest and just beautiful.



These beauties  were made for this sun room...

Hmm..


Someone got real crafty and made this chest of drawers. So clever to re use old things like this.



There is just so many ideas to choose from. Some inspired stacks below full of detail.

And the piece de resistance.....

An entire wall of storage!!! looks very mysterious. What is in them I wonder? Maybe a lifetime of memories and souvenirs. You can lock me in here overnight to explore, thank you very much.

Some suitcases are just a thing of beauty ... Paris, most definitely, lets go...there we will most certainly find old suitcases in a brocante or two....

All this just for the boring space beneath my stairs.... It was well worth the journey...

Bon Voyage...

Happy travels and I would love for you to leave me your comments or even a travel tale or two...

V

xxx

or pop me an email

All images from Pininterest

Wisteria Lane....

I have started this blog to share the things I love and quite possibly as therapy for my overactive mind, which is always full of this and that. Many of you will know this feeling... there is always an idea in my head, not always a practical doable one, but always an idea .I admit that often it is a daydream believing idea... but what fun. I also confess to never ever being bored!! Not ever... even when I seem to be staring into space, there is always something hatching in my grey matter!!!...and very often it is in pursuit of the perfect garden... Me, myself and I can literally while away hours, looking for that perfect patch of ground with mountains as my background for the my parterre, a mini Monet garden, a rose patch of antique roses...hmmm the list is never ending, and the three of us keep each other entertained for hours... what bliss. Now, one of my all time favourite plants has to be Wisteria.... to me it is just the most romantic of plants, ever... just have a look at this.... isn't it romantic...and the colour...nature's palette of pleasure...Gardener's also call it "Purple Rain" and you can see why!


Take a closer look at the delicate beauty and the colour....


Here it tumbles spectacularly over an ancient bridge and into Lake Como in Italy...breathtaking, isn't it?


And look at this... part of the architecture...like a postcard...

The image below was the background on my desktop for a while, but I removed it as it was distracting me all the time!!!

 It combines three of my favourite things! Wisteria, a terracotta hued wall ( the perfect colour to show off the lilac wisteria's beauty) and of course the intricate design of the wrought iron gate....total perfection for me. It just satisfies my eye so completely and is fully representative of the beauty of nature meeting man made functional art. Oh, and just that splash of green....hmmm ...perfection!

This beauty's  more botanical name is Wisteria Sinensis. It does better in slightly acid soil. I have one in my garden which seems to struggle a bit. A friend suggested that I give it 100 grams of Magnesium sulphate (Epsom salts) to promote flowering, every three months after the flowers have finished. so hopefully mine will look more like these in the pics. Never the less it gives me much joy. It is currently in the corner of my rose garden and I am thinking of planting Rosa Albertine to supplement it. The pink will look stunning with the lilac!

This one must be ancient... look at the size of that trunk! Wow! Part of the charm is of course, when the ground becomes carpeted in blooms as they drop adding more magic to the already spectacular scene!
500 hundred years of history has passed under it's bloomin watch....no kidding...read more here.





Above is the Wisteria tunnel at Laurel Bank Park, Toowoomba, Australia.

Look at these via




A perfect bunch...more here



It also makes the most amazing bonsai subject...



I also love the shape of the lime green leaves, which shows off the colour of the blooms and the woody trunk and twining branches.


Of course it is a vigorous twining creeper but for the more adventurous gardener who enjoys a challenge it can be grow in a pot with some judicious pruning and care.  It can also be grown as a standard in your lawn and be trained into a graceful umbrella shape with it's cascading fragrant blooms. Which ever way you choose to grow it, you will love it heralding spring with such grace and beauty.

So, there is much to look forward to with the promise of such beauty awaiting us. But first, there is a load to be done with the renovations in my own garden. With the start of winter, now here in Cape Town, I have many plants to move to a new spot....well, just as soon as it stops raining....

Happy planting and pottering...

Any folks in the northern part who has a wisteria in bloom...enjoy!!

Yours in Twigs

V

Pics 1-5 via Pininterest. the others as per links.