Good-bye

Last week we said farewell to Jason's grandad who died at the age of 87. It is never easy to say good-bye.

Jason wrote a loving tribute to his grandad that he read out to family and friends at the funeral - it was on behalf of the 17 grandchildren who had special memories of a most excellent grandfather.

The recurring theme among the grandchildren was a memory of Grandad's warm laugh and his love of a joke. He was also remembered as a good decent working man and a exemplary role model for his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. How lucky we were to have him in our lives.

Grandad will be greatly missed.

Grandad in his RAAF uniform when he served as a mechanic in WW2

Attack of the Mangoes

This is only a light bombardment

We've been bombarded by the neighbour's mango tree.

Every couple of hours we hear the cacophony of mangoes pummelling the corrugated tin roof of the shed. The evenings are punctuated by the screeching and scurrying noise of possums in the desperate hunt for that sweet orange flesh.

It's a bumper crop. I've been able to rescue a few mangoes for us, but they're the stringy fibrous variety. They are super juicy and sweet though.

We've been paying the kids to pick up the excess which have fallen on the ground while they're on school holidays. By the look on their faces and their general nattering, you would think that we asked them to pick up dead human bodies...Maybe we need to pay them more?

Anyone got a good mango recipe? What would you do with so many mangoes?

Fiddle leaf fig tree club

I'm always late to join the club...fortunately this is a club which is worth waiting for: the fiddle leaf fig tree owner's society.

image source here

Actually there is no such club. I just made that up... but I did receive a fiddle leaf fig tree as a birthday gift from family on the weekend. How very lucky am I?!

image from here

Fiddle leaf fig trees (Ficus Lyrata) are the 'it' plant to have among design and decor circles right now. The plants have been gracing the pages of interiors magazines for many years and in recent times the plants have become more readily available in Australia.

A fellow blogger told me that Big W stocks them in Western Australia. And a few hardware nurseries have been known to stock them too. My plant is from the Cottage Garden Nursery in East Brisbane.

The fiddle leaf fig tree is an evergreen tree which hails from tropical West Africa - its common name is due to its large violin shaped leaves. It is an impressive plant and its glossy leaves are just lovely.

Fiddle leaf fig tree in the front entry verandah

My healthy new plant is a beauty and will reside in the front entry verandah as the room gets a nice amount of sun in the morning. It seems to be doing okay, so far...

Fiddle leaf fig tree in a Marché Moderne  fair trade jute storage basket. (My online shop!)
Available HERE

Marché Moderne vintage and homewares store

I've started a little online store called Marché Moderne which will sell a little bit of mid-century vintage and some personally selected fair trade homewares and accessories.

I'm just dipping my toes into the water of this whole endeavour...so it is just a very conservative beginning of my empire building. Mahahaha!

Tsaikka glasses by Timo Sarpaneva

The prices are not bad either compared to other online sources - Marché Moderne is about bringing affordable design pieces to people like you and me...

If you want to see what is on offer, check it out here. The shop link will also be on my blog sidebar. More stock will be loaded on to the shop over the next little while...Gosh, I hope someone buys something...

Birthdays are fun

It's been a bit quiet around here on the blog because I've had a fun week celebrating my birthday...yay!

The boys thoroughly spoiled me and I've been in heaven with a new Bose music system which replaces an old CD/radio/tape deck I bought when I was in my early 20s...and is still going strong. Loyalty is one of my strongest points...clearly.

The new system can play CDs and has digital radio. It also came with a Bluetooth device which can pick up the tunes from our iPhones and other devices. We're so far behind the times around here...but we're getting there.

I've put the new system in the kitchen as it is quite compact - we can listen to the radio while entertaining and cooking. It's so good. There has definitely been a lack of music in the Sow's Year and 2014 is the year to change that sad fact.

I was also the happy recipient of a toy monkey. He's been swinging all over the house.You have to agree: he's pretty damn cute.

A bottle of Mumm champagne from the kids (actually it was Son #3 who insisted that I get alcohol...and my own wine glass - he's an intuitive soul) was another lovely gift and will  be enjoyed on the weekend with some friends.

Here's to another year of getting older and fun birthdays!