Little House

When we first saw our house in Daylesford, almost nine years ago, we loved it for it's charm and sense of history. It's beautiful garden was also hugely appealing and of course we loved the town. We still love all those things and I guess as the years have gone by we have become a part of it all too. Our own family history is now woven into this beautiful place that we live in. Our own kids will have memories of the little town where they grew up and the yellow house where we live. I hope they remember the sunny afternoons in our garden, running under the hose and having dinner under the apple trees.

Talking of little houses..this little timber building was originally an outhouse of sorts, sometimes an extra bedroom, a bungalow and maybe even a laundry. It would have been built around the same time as the main house, about the turn of the century or a little later.

As we are starting some renovations soon we had to decide what to do with Little House as it was in the wrong spot and stopping us from opening up the back of the house. It would have been simple and easy to demolish it but that wasn't high on my list of options. I really love it and wanted to keep it if possible. So we talked to Col who said he could move it with his crane, woo hoo!

You can see above where it stood and the new stumps/supports that it would be moved on to.

This is Col :)

This is Col's crane! Oh how I wish I had been at home the day it was moved..but I had to go to work which I wasn't at all happy about. Luckily Tom took some ace shots of the house being craned into position.

And getting kind of stuck on the top of the garage....

My neighbour, Alison, came home and walked out her back door to see the little house flying through the sky.

Twisting, turning..spinning!

And as she pointed out later, all the while a jar of paint brushes stood happily in the little window sill!            You can just see it if you look hard.

Careful!

Col and the guys did a great job. Wow. I can't believe it really happened. Little House is now happily sitting in it's new spot in the garden, nestled up against the garage.  Today Tom took the front off it to fix some of the bits that were broken in the move, and to make a new, longer window. Then we will be able to see through it from our new kitchen, and out the other window into the garden. The kids are keen to make it a club house but we'll see. I'm just happy that it's still part of the picture, and that it will continue to be treasured and loved.

I wonder what the Steinhauser's would think about what we have done? They were the family who built our main house and it's little sister house. They owned a cordial factory around the corner from where we live. The very first week we moved here a group of  Stteinhauser descendants came by for a visit. One of them told me that he used to sleep in Little House, in a double bed. It took up most of the room so he would have had to practically jump through the door and onto it!
Funny. I wish I could remember all the amazing stories they told us, there were so many and it was a long time ago now.

Do you know the history of your house? I am so fascinated with the stories of our town, and this area. There are endless interesting tales to be told and so many interesting people.  As I always say, everyone has a story.

Which reminds me, in a  roundabout way, this weekend is a special one. The Daylesford/Hepburn region are celebrating our Swiss Italian culture and heritage with the wonderful Swiss Italia Festa! There are lots of great things on to see and do, you should check out their site here. Also our own school fete is happening on Sunday 4th November, and it's going to be so fantastic!! If you have kids and you live locally you really should come along, there will be lots of kid friendly activities, yummy cakes, the spinning wheel and heaps more. Books, clothes, craft, food..fun! It's on at St Michaels School, Smith St, Daylesford from 9 - 3. I'll be helping to run the second hand clothes stall, come and say hi :)

It's such a busy time of year isn't it? Have you got lots of things on too? 

Hope you are getting some sunshine wherever you are,

see you soon lovelies xo

ps: if you haven't entered my giveaway it's not too late! Click here for details xo

Giveaway!

Hello! How are you today? Thank you for the lovely & supportive comments on my last post.

I really, truly appreciated it.

Now on to some fun stuff!

Can you work out the photo theme of this post? It's not that hard..!

Yes..it's Instagram!

Some of these shots were taken while we were in America,

 some are from home,

lots are of people I love,

 and are memories that make me,

smile.. :)

 As you may already know I'm a big fan of Instagram. 

Although I love to use my SLR too,it's just such a easy and fun way to get an instant hit of goodness.

I'm loving the fabulous Instagram community that is so encouraging and friendly.

And the new and interesting connections I'm making from all over the world and 

the little sneak peeks into other people's lives.

A lovely local friend of mine, Tania, has organised an exhibition of Instagram photo's which opened this weekend, here in Daylesford!  Casa Dolce Casa kicked off at St Mel's last Saturday and runs for a month. I'm so excited to be involved. Tania researched the best way to print up our photo's and came up with the fabulous company Instacanvas. I have been really happy with my prints and also with the service provided by Instacanvas. They were extremely helpful when I had a small issue, the shipping costs were minimal and the quality of the prints is excellent. 

So...I'm really thrilled to be able to offer one of my lovely readers, courtesy of Instacanvas, an Instacanvas print! If your name is picked out of the Dandelion hat you will receive a framed print of one of your favourite Instagram shots! Yay! (You will need to be on Instagram of course, which I'm sure lots of you are already.) The frames come in black or white and look fantastic.

Then all you have to do is ...
(1)  leave a comment telling me about a photo that is special to you. It could be a childhood shot with Santa, a wedding photo, maybe one of you & your Nan, your favourite dog, a travel shot, a bestie photo...whatever you like! & (2) If you are a regular reader let me know that too. (If you read my blog via Face Book just leave a comment there.) Overseas friends are welcome to enter too :)

 I'd also love to know your IG user name so I can come see what's happening in your world, please let me know if you would like a visit. Mine is dandelion66.
Sound good? I'm already picking out some more photo's that I'd like to frame up, there are so many it's hard to choose.

I hope you are having a happy week, this year sure is flying by. Till next time lovely ones xo

Looking forward

I had a really crappy couple of weeks recently. A nasty incident

re opened a dusty old suitcase of memories that had been packed away & marked

DO NOT OPEN.

Life is like that I guess.

Sometimes, when you least expect it, something brings you unstuck.

Anyway, I got through the worst of it and I hope it's made me stronger. I used some tools I've found helpful before when I've been down or feeling anxious. Nothing new or amazing, but some simple things that really did help. Such as: exercising..boy does that help! Now the weather is better it's so much easier and more fun.

And reminding myself of the many things & people I am blessed to have in my life. My family, who make me laugh every day. Who cuddle me and tell me they love me. Who make every day a good day.

Our garden, our home, our friends, our community. I love where we live and the people we share our lives with. I have the BEST friends and I love every one of them.

Ducks and chickens..yes! They are super fabulous and make me happy. They are just the most gorgeous creatures. Here they are on their first tour of the garden. Worms! Bugs! Grass!

Spring time! I'm so grateful for the flowers, the sunny days, and that the worst of the cold and grey is over.

Of course there is so much more that I am lucky to have in my life. But these few things are high on the list.

Looking forward also helped me focus on the future, not the past. I'm excited about our renovations, about the changes.

Today Tom started separating the little house from the main house.

Hopefully by next week it will be ready to be craned into it's new position! Oh god I hope it doesn't fall apart...!

And guess what? I'm looking forward SO much to picking up my beautiful eldest daughter from the airport on Friday! She is flying back from Europe and it's her 20th birthday on Sunday! We are having a birthday tea party for her and the whole family is so excited. It seems such a long time since we saw her.

I'm looking forward to more sunny days, hanging out with friends, making a new quilt & some new bunnies, being in the garden, a trip to Melbourne and the school production this Thursday night.

Finally I'm really, really looking forward to Casa Dolce Casa, an Instagram exhibition which opens this Saturday here in Daylesford!! Five local artist's, including myself, have contributed and the exhibition will run for a month at St Mels Cyclery. If you are in the area do pop in and check it out.

Instagram is so much fun! I love it. Are you on Instagram?

Leave a comment and I'll come find you.

Or you can find me ...dandelion66

How are things in your neck of the woods? Have you had any flat patches lately? I wonder what you do that helps you get back on track. 

Take care lovelies..see you soon xo