Grateful. A Post about Beautiful Things.

It's been a massive few weeks at the Picket Fence House. Spring has well and truly sprung and with it, life has sped up. We've been having a lot of fun in the garden (so fragrant and full of Spring time potential), We have finished a few projects around the house and we have had a mega exciting visitor (More about that later) 

This is my front garden and the arbour Mr Picket Fence welded for me. It has a beautiful climbing rose called La marque growing up it. This year I've planted a Wisteria along side. Looking forward to the show next Spring. Mr Picket Fence told me I couldn't have a Wisteria here as the one I have by the side of the house needs so much maintenance. Lets tell him it self seeded :) I hear they sometimes do that ?

 We have casement windows, I love opening them to let the fragrance of my Roses and the Lilac in the front garden waft in. We are in a coastal area and the roses get black spot. I don't spray because I worry about the chemicals. I hence grow roses with a little black spot... a happy compromise.

This is my Lilac, the first year it has flowered properly. It is a very old variety with a heavenly fragrance. I am going to let it grow rampant. (Like the wisteria !)

 The children's first organic vegetables are ready to be picked :)

And we have a brand new little visitor, called Lucky, living in the kitchen until she is big enough to join the other hen's in the Hen's On Holiday Caravan. We adopted her from a friend, she thinks she's a person not a chicken.

 Mr Picket Fence finally hung My enamel Rowntree's sign in the kitchen. I love him even more today. As you do when husbands do wonderful things, also when they pretend not to notice you planted more Wisteria ;)

 I painted the base of our Oak dining table white. I'm pleased with this, I'm going to cover the seat cushions on the dining room chairs with various cheery oil-cloth fabrics and have mis-matched seating. I'd really like some bench seats here. One day I will make this happen :) I love the communal feeling of a bench seat.

 Token pretty picture, no rhyme or reason just pretty (sorry)

Oh and FINALLY I  painted my circa 1800's front door. I bought this off EBay and it was way too big for the door jamb so I needed to get the hole made bigger. A big job, a worthwhile job.  A job I've been waiting ages to complete. Now my hall is full of light.

This is the back side of.....

 This,
My Antique advertising Window. I've finally had it put in. I am so happy with the way it looks and I think Mr Picket Fence is glad there's nothing else stuffed behind his cupboard. I have many things like this squirrelled away. I am indeed the queen of cupboard stuffing :)

Finally, this is even bigger news. The Picket Fence Fancy family had a visit from the amazingly talented photographer Tim Coulson . This guy blows me away. Completely. He photographs Families, Weddings and People in ordinary life. He and his wife Keshia rank highly in my beautiful people list. We will be on Tim's blog early in November. I'll tell you when, but in the mean time check his blog Tim Coulson Photographer Of The People out  and like his Face book page  to be keep updated with his beautiful work. He took the photo of me above ( shock horror you actually can put a face to "Ava")  and this gorgeous shot below of Mr Picket Fence buying a Milkshake for Baby Picket Fence in a local cafe. I'll show you all of the photo's when he does, and you can really meet the Picket Fence Family. Oh and you should definitely have him visit you. That's a given :)

I am so grateful for all of the above things happening. Flowers, chickens ,antique doors and windows. I am grateful for photographers who do beautiful work and who are lovely to be around. I am also very very grateful to my new and old Picket Fence Followers for dropping by. Your gorgeous emails and comments, your love of colour and family, your joy in vintage treasure, and your friendship are so appreciated . If I haven't gotten back to you yet, I will soon. I'm ticking many things off my list this week. Thank-you emails are one of them. Stay tuned  xx

Shared with Sarah's A Beach Cottage
And Maxabella Loves 

Hen's on Holiday Caravan ... The Girls Move In.

Finally it's happened! Our Hen's on Holiday Caravan is complete and 5 beautiful Isa Brown Hens have moved into their new home, managed by Aubrey and Clementine our Indian runner ducks . I was waiting to post because I wanted the Liquid Amber tree to be in full leaf for the photographs. It's taken it's time this year and like a watched pot, its kept me waiting. It's not fully green yet...but you will now get the idea. This tree is a wonderful shade tree but it also screens our backyard from the not so pretty flats nearby.

Ahhhh the bunting. I wanted the bunting to sway from the tree like something out of an an Enid Blyton story.

Mr Picket Fence thought this was not possible.
I think he thought I was joking until I dragged his ladder out. He then offered to complete the task.

 I think he thought I might make a big dent in his chicken wire if I fell from the tree. I think we were both kind of pleased he did it for me ;)

So pretty and fresh... I'm a bunting kind of girl......

But I think by now you may have guessed that I'm a cheery , joy loving , bunting kind of Picket Fence Mum.......

Thankfully Mr Picket Fence loves this about me too......hence Bunting xx

I helped ... I  was the cheer squad.......and  I brought tea and biscuits.... see ... I'm a good wife, told you so .. I'm worth bunting ;)

Love it ..... ?

And I'm a humourist ;)

Aubrey was pretty tickled.....as was Clementine.

 Tradesman's entrance.

 The Pansies were a nice touch..... until I found out that chooks eat pansies.....

The girls......

Checked everything out.....

And checked in :)

It is official....The  Hen's on holiday"s  caravan concept is now a reality xx

Sharing With A Beach Cottage

Water~Ski Shelves For Our Picket Fence Boy.

A Rainy day at the Picket Fence House meant that I got to pin down Mr Picket Fence and get some job's done.

 

I'd picked up some sixties water ski's at a garage sale for the neat sum of $2 and had brought them home to the head shaking Mr Picket Fence,we had put them aside because I had no idea what to do with them....( Yes I know.....I'm good like that)  then, some months later  it occurred to me...... they would make grand shelves for our boy, our littlest Picket Fencer was doing without a book shelf in his room and I had a plan.

Imagine the life these lead, many fun times !

Funky stickers

Industrial Vintage.

Patina patina patina......

Some brackets.

Mr Picket Fence measures everything ( he drives me bonkers)  I estimate everything ( I drive him bonkers) That's love xx

 They went up square despite us. I still need another grey bracket...the bottom white one is temporary......It seems ,that in small country town hardware stores, when you want a certain number of things to complete a project, there will always be one less available than what you need.

And this is how they look...

Guess which little boy took all the bears off and used the bottom ski as a launching ramp for his match~box car's.

Oh ..and we had some new arrivals.... I'm dragging out their introduction...it's coming, I promise :)

Linking up to Sarah at A Beach Cottage today 

The Glass Half Full

 The man in the picture above was my Dad. Yes, the guy leaning on the car with his eyes shut ...my complete coolness was obviously inherited  ;~)
Dad passed away two years ago today. I'm not going to dwell on how horribly I miss him... that's a given and I know he wouldn't want me to dwell on that. I am however, going to say he was totally and completely awesome. He taught me about Monet,  Frances Hodgson Burnett , Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe . He taught me which way to plant a daffodil bulb. He taught me how to start an Austin 1500 by banging the starter motor with a wheel brace. He taught me how to make pikelets and the right way to use a shovel. He taught me that imperfection was often beautiful and that forgiveness was an art. Dad believed in "Only good days and better days" and was a "Glass half full" kind of man . He taught me how to love life and live it with passion and always treat people as if they were behaving the way they ought....even when clearly they weren't. Dad taught me by example that sometimes it's kinder to have people believe wrong about you than have the last word. He taught me how to dream and that at the end of the day , it was what I thought about myself that mattered most and not what other people thought or said about me. So much he taught, but I could fill a book and I wont. Thank you for listening.
On the weekend , I took the youngest Picket Fence Children to a place that reminded me of Dad. He loved Spring and rolling gardens, he loved ducks and Prunus blossom. It was a wordless celebration of him. These are the photo's xx

A cheerful post next week :)