Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!

2012 has been mostly very kind to us and our family.  

I certainly hope it has been for you too.

Any New Year's resolutions? I'm still working on mine!

SALE TIME!

It's SALE time at The White Shed.
Making way for lots of gorgeous new stock coming in the New Year.

Grab yourself a bargain now and shop it here

http://www.thewhiteshed.com.au/sale.html?limit=all 

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas!

 Thank you all for your ongoing support this year as the 'shed' went online only. As I enter my 4th year of trading (really?), I am so excited about the many new products coming as The White Shed continues to grow and evolve!

We are all firing up for Christmas here! The boys are super excited and have asked Father Christmas for a Honda Motorbike. I am pretty sure they have been good enough to get one, but we'll see tomorrow!

The biggest thanks goes to my family for their continued patience and support of my venture and creative outlet.

Enjoy this special time of year with your families and stay safe!

The Season Close

Harvest is nearing completion. It has run relatively smoothly. I think!?

It seems to have flown by. Things have been busy with the boy's school and sporting 

commitments and I have had my busiest ever months in the shed.

Yields seems to be good this year all over the Yorke Peninsula despite not getting

 much of a finish on the crops.

There have been a few fires in the district this year. There was a big fire yesterday about 

70kms South of us. I could see the smoke from our verandah. I always feel 

uneasy on the hot and windy days.

We had one Catastrophic Fire Ban Day declared. On this day some schools in the area close and the school buses don't run.

The boys, especially Tommy are obsessed with farming!

The Reception and Year 1 class at our school has a group who all take their toy tractors, headers and trucks and play 'farms'every lunchtime. A few farmers of the future I think!

Looking forward to spending lots of time with my very tired looking farmer over the next few weeks leading up to Christmas and spoiling him rotten. The boys also cant wait to spend some time with their dad!

Lovely Wedding Magazine

The latest and arguably greatest issue of Lovely Wedding Magazine 

(sister to Adore Home Magazine) is out now!

I was so excited to be a part of this issue writing two of the wedding features.

Some of you may recognise Sally from Once.Daily.Chic

For those of you who loved Courtney's home I featured recently, make sure you flick through to her beautiful South Australian wedding on page 83 it is absolutely 'to die for'! 

photo by http://www.claudioraschella.com/

photo by http://www.claudioraschella.com/

As someone who has always loved writing I was thrilled to be involved in this amazing issue! 

Thanks so much for letting me be a part of it Loni.

Home Beautiful

A while ago I decided I needed a little lift for my tiring blue sofa and wing chairs.

I had these made over 7 years ago before we were even in our new home and although I probably wouldn't choose the same fabrics now they still work really well in this room.

They are getting quite worn but instead of getting them recovered right away I thought

 I 'd give them a lift with some new cushions.

I ordered in this beautiful fabric and had a wonderful local sewer make these up for me, plus a few spares for  the shop.

Kyoto Garden- Cloud

I was delighted when a writer from Home Beautiful Magazine emailed me for a photo of them to go in their latest issue which hit the shelves yesterday.

Home Beautiful Magazine

The are selling quick but there are a few left over here!

Harvest

Nearly ready to be harvested!

Back from an amazing few days in Melbourne for Derby Day (more on that later) and as predicted Harvest started just before I left. Not without its mishaps though.

Just a week in to starting we were hit with a storm and some unwanted rain. 

It even managed to blow this tree over in the yard, narrowly missing my new Pear trees.

We were very lucky not to have had too much rain, so no worry about any damage to crops. Just a rather frustrated farmer who has been slowed up a bit.

I must start refocusing my priorities but I am quite delighted with what the unwanted rain has done for my garden!

Hope you are having a lovely week all.

Giddy up for Derby Day!

Shop this bow Facinator here

Next week I am taking a few days off to head over to Melbourne with my girlfriends to attend Derby Day. I cant wait, although I will miss my boys sooo much.

Thanks goodness for Grandad who is coming over to look after them whilst I am away and Paul is busy reaping our crops (of course harvest is about to start just as I leave).

I have loved looking for outfit inspiration for the day. What I really love about racing fashion is that it is all about classic, sophisticated and elegant style. No tacky mini dresses or boob tubes allowed!

The shoes I will be wearing!

Derby Day traditionally sees women dressed in a Black and White theme. 

Hats on the field; image from The Age

Perfect for me! 

Any Melbourne folk have any tips on where girls in there 30s should go for drinks and dinner?

Around the Garden in Spring

The Irises and Roses are coming out!

There is something quite satisfying about cutting fresh flowers from your own garden. 

 I love this time of year, the irises are out and the roses are well on their way.

There is fresh growth on the hedges and the lawn is greening up.

The hedges have beautiful new green growth!

Looking across to the shearing shed

My healthiest of the Manchurian Pears

Looking across to the footy lawn

Harvey- camera shy!

Our newest area the Rose Garden - still needing to be hedged

The barley crop is ripening ready for harvest

 Harvest is getting pretty close and we are hoping to start in about 2 weeks!

I am rather impatient but this still relatively new garden is finally coming together. To anyone starting a new garden- hang in there it is worth the wait!

Hope you are all having a fabulous week.

PS If anyone has any tips on what to do with irises after they flower please share. I hate how they look after when the leaves die off.

Friday Flowers

I am so lucky to have a beautiful group of friends who make the effort to catch up on a regular basis no matter how busy we all are.

Last Friday they all (one lady was missed as she was sick) came over for lunch with their kiddies to make the most of the last day of the holidays.

Some people may ask 'How do you find the time?' or 'Why do you do that so often?'

Simple really! You have to make the time. 

Let's face it we are all busy. No matter if you work or don't. Life is continually filling up with so many things. 

These beautiful flowers were given to me by one of the ladies, straight out of her garden. 

Lucky me!

Black & White Glamour

The beautiful Living/Dining Area- spot the lovely White Hydrangeas from moi?

  It is no secret I am forever trawling the internet in search of the perfect cottage to have as a 'home away from home' when we stay in Adelaide. 

Although it may be some years before the boys will be off to boarding school,
 (I think I'll be spending a lot of time down there then) I don't think it hurts to do your research.

I was so excited when I found this Black & White Beauty for sale located in Stepney, one of Adelaide's leafy suburbs .

On closer examination I started recognising quite a few of the homewares from my little online shop. After a little investigation I worked out the it belonged to none other than my gorgeous customer Courtney.

Lovely styling by Courtney- one of my best sellers the White Butler Tray.

The second bedroom- I could have easily removed the pink and popped in a bunk bed for the boys.

The stunning kitchen

ohhh that floor!

Glamorous Master Bedroom

Stylish bathroom in black & white of course!

The pretty and functional outdoor area- I could have seen myself sitting out here for breakfast!

Courtney and her lovely husband Justin have done the most superb job renovating this beautiful cottage.
A BIG thank you to Courtney for letting me share this with you. I knew my readers would love it.

Courtney and Justin are leaving South Australia due to a work promotion. I wish them all the best on their new adventures and life interstate. Keep in touch!

School Holidays

Checking the canola crop

Do you love or loathe the holidays?

I LOVE them. 

The best thing is not having to rush off anywhere in the mornings (can you tell I am not a morning person?) and having my boys home.

I actually don't want these holidays to end.

We have just got back from four wonderful days away at the beach with very dear friends and their awesome boys, who just so happen to be my two boy's besties. 

Great mates!

I am not normally a beach person but had the best few days away.

The kids attempted a water ski but the water was a little cold!

The weather has mostly been beautiful which has meant lots of outdoor activities like footy and cricket. We have also been eating outside whenever we can.

Not sure what game this is but Tommy is using the bug net rather unusually!

There has also been some time for a few farm lessons.

Ollie 'driving' around the farm

Hope you are all enjoying the school holidays and having lots of fun too!