Slow Growing Succulents

So, when I moved to my new place at Narwee, the balcony is so full of sun. I thought it's perfect for growing succulents. So I bought a few of them from thesucculentgarden.com.au.

Initially I put some of them in separate vases to decorate my bathroom, study, etc. But they didn't thrive very well.

So I decided to put them all in one pot in the balcony. They got better after that. Even though they're slow growers. The jelly beans and bear paws are doing extremely well.

This photo was taken when I moved them to one pot in September 2011

And as you can see in the next 2 photos, they're growing and recovering. Photos taken in November 2011:

Succulents in pot: Jelly Beans, Tom Thumbs, Sedum Buritto, Crasulla Spring Time, Bear's Paws, Strings of Pearls << I loveeeee this one, so cute, Rabbit's Ears, there is one big flower like succulent in the middle that I can't remember the name.

At the beginning I was planning to make a succulent wreath for Christmas this year. But, I don't think they're ready yet. Maybe next year :-)

First Christmas in Narwee

I thought, what is the best way to celebrate this special Christmas in my new place? I think knowing me, you all should already guessed, that I’m making my decorations this year. And it’s gonna be big!

So, officially, I started my project on 2^nd November. This is the first Christmas thing that I made this year. It’s a caddy for coasters and the coasters. This is my first time working with plastic canvas and long stitch. I have to say I quite enjoy it. They’re not difficult, they’re fast and they’re pretty.

Before:

After:

(Completed in 6^th Nov 2011)

My One and Only White Rose – Pope John Paul II

When I bought a set of roses last time, I came across this white rose. It’s a relatively new breed and it’s the most fragrant white rose in the world. It’s the winner of

I didn’t have enough pots to plant all the roses initially, so this one had to wait a few weeks until it was planted properly in a correct pot size. So, its growth was a bit delayed. I was worried at the beginning that it might die.

However, as Sydney weather got warmer, the plant grew bigger and 3 rose buds appeared. I was so beyond excited because I couldn’t wait to smell it.

Until I woke up one morning and saw one of the rose bud had opened and then I smelled the flower. I have to say, it was the most wonderful fragrant I’ve ever experienced. It’s not pure rose fragrant, there is something else in it. It’s almost vanilla like smell.

Summer Colour Baby Blanket

A fellow blogger (BabyDolphin) and most importantly a great friend of mine is expecting her first child sometime around Christmas. So I made this baby blanket for her baby shower gift. I always want to try making a baby blanket because I think they’re cute and the colour is usually vibrant, like this one.

This blanket is not hard at all to make and look at the result. I can’t wait to see a baby wrap in it. J

The blanket took me 9 days to make. And it’s so worth it. I especially love the colour combination. Again, Garnstudio is marvellous, I salute their design team. They did a good a job and they keep getting better and better every single year.

I hope the baby loves it  J

(Completed 1^st Nov 2011)

Wild Oats Pattern Pillowcase Numero Uno

A while ago I attempted to knit up a pillow case, well, a front part of a pillowcase that is.

I browsed through my knitting pattern bibles and thought this pattern would be cute for a pillow case. Turned out I had 2 acrylic yarns of white and green, so I started the project that night and managed to knit up 7 rows.

The next day, I found out that I had to start on another project that was more urgent than this pillowcase. And then after that project was completed, I had to start a different one straightaway.

So, as a result, I only managed to really start working on this quite recently. To be honest, the look of an unfinished project hanging around my bedroom makes me quite nervous. Luckily this project is relatively small and once I got the hang of the pattern, things sort of fly really quickly. This one was completed in 4 days.

While I was admiring my new pillowcase, a thought crossed my mind, why not make matching ones in different colours? So, I decided, once I finished up my queued projects - Yes, I have LOTS of queued projects already – I will make time to knit up more of this pillowcase, most likely in white/blue, white/red and white/yellow colour. J

Should I use the same pattern? Or should I experience with different ones for each colour?

(Completed on 22^nd Oct 2011)

Reviving My African Violet (For the second time…)

I don’t know what happened with it?! This is the second time it happened!

I’m going to keep the little baby indoor for a while, the poor thing….

Before:

I can see that it has started to grow back. But, for some reason this keeps happening.

After:

Maybe I have to re-pot it to a bigger pot…

Gardening Update Number 3 - Red Rose A Country Woman

The long awaited red rose.
I bought this plant a few months ago when I moved to the new place.
This one is the tallest of all the roses.
The stems are long and thick, the thorns are proportionally thicker as well.

Just after received, 28th June:

8th Oct 2011:

15th Oct 2011:

17th Oct 2011:

I'm not a big fan of red roses because I think they're quite standard. But this one changed my mind.
It's so special, in terms of the shape of the flower, the size, and the colour.

So, no regrets for buying this rose plant :-)