Media Darhlings!

A special shout-out to 2 lovely long-time Hedgies & Aussie bloggers who have recently been featured in the press. Kerri from Driftwood Interiors has 2 of her exquisite paintings featured in this month's Martha Stewart Living magazine. Of course MOTH has taken the credit here, saying that it is his very up-close & personal relationship with Ms. Stewart through their mutual love of crafting that got Kerri the gig. If you missed his tutorial on gift wrapping go here. You can have one of Kerri's gorgeous paintings at your place by going to her blog & following the links to her etsy store. Kerri, may this be the start of something so big, you need to employ MOTH as your Agent. The thought of him spending most of his time away overseas negotiating media deals for my blogging mates is almost too delicious to bear!

Mabel the cute beagle pictured on the cover of this month's Australian Country Style magazine belongs to Michelle from Hugo and Elsa. CS have run a fabulous feature on Michelle's leap of faith by moving to country Tasmania a few years ago. She & her husband Leo did what so many of us want to do but lack the guts to & they have never looked back. Big hugs to you Michelle, you are a star girl! Do visit Michelle's truly lovely blog, her photography is quite something & her posts on life with Hugo & Elsa, her burgeoning food business & their menagerie is an absolute delight!

SFC Love!

MOTH & I don't agree on too many things (politics, religion, footy team & exterior house colours for a start!), but one thing we are unanimous about is that the Single Fronted Cottage (SFC) is our very favourite architectural style! SFC's abound particuarly in Adelaide & Melbourne, with sandstone & brick being the favoured building material in Adelaide, with Melbourne doing the timber thing, due to plentiful supplies in country Victoria in the 1880's & beyond.

The majority of SFC's were built in the Victorian period (1837-1901), with a small number still being constructed during the Edwardian era (1901-1910). Long & skinny, with all the rooms leading off one side of a lengthy central hallway, the original floorplan was nearly always the same. The front room looking out onto the street was the parlour, then through an archway directly beind the parlour was the main bedroom, with a kitchen at the rear. A semi-detached lean-too often contained the washhouse (laundry) & sometimes a second small bedroom.

Often referred to as 'Workman's Cottages', these small houses were occupied by working & lower middle-class families & are clustered in the suburbs bordering the inner-city such as Parkside, Norwood & Eastwood in Adelaide & Fitzoy, Carlton & Brunswick in Melbourne. Generally, the majority of the cottages didn't have a driveway. The home owners of the time would not have the financial means to own a horse & buggy, so didn't require a way to access stables at the rear of their property.

However, most have rear access from a small laneway running at the back of the house. This existed for the Night Cart driver, who needed to access the outhouse (loo) near the back fence to empty the cisterns.

Over the years, the layout of the SFC's have changed dramatically.

The kitchen & old lean-to's have been demolished & extensions built to house a new kitchen, family room. bathroom, study etc.

This has meant that the amount of rear garden has diminished, so careful planning of the available outdoor space has occurred.

While some SFC's have a verandah & front door almost bordering the street, others have quite a set back, allowing for a substantial front garden area.

With the advent of informal living areas in new rear extensions, in nearly all cases, the master bedroom is now occupying what would have been the front parlour.

This is a wonderful example the typical configuration of the SFC, with a long hallway leading from the front door. Where the step down occurs would have probably been where the previous back door had stood.

Most of where this new extension is built would have originally been rear garden space.

So enjoy the SFC's on this tribute post. Lots of lovely ideas, clever design & use of available space makes my heart skip a beat. Not grandiose, the SFC is just perfect for MOTH & myself at this time of our lives.

Our goal is to live in one prior to our very last address on this earth - The Twilight Home For The Terminally Bewildered Renovator!

Border Crossing

I'm off to wander the quirky laneways of Melbourne for the rest of the week. Ostensibly for work, which I will actually be doing some of.

But also to pay a visit to these 3 characters. Melbourne sons #1, #2 & #3 would have been sprung with a 'surprise' interstate visit from their Mother. I've always found a quick unannounced sortie catches them unprepared, so I can get a more 'honest' appraisal of their current respective situations. But their younger brother Son #4 here in Adelaide used the BBT (Brothers Bush Telegraph) & blabbed to let them know I'm on my way. According to him it appears I have my work cut out for me. I have a couple of relationship issues to sort out, a somewhat impecunious state or 3 to deal with & a 'That's it I'm chucking it all in & moving to Queensland!' drama to diffuse. I'll be back here next week, wish me luck!

Blog Love - Pass It On

Many of you know Jeanne over @ Collage of Life. She's a gorgeous gal, part-American, part-Aussie, part-Kiwi & now, part-Pom. I'm not sure what line of work her husband is in to cause all these inter-country moves, but I have a theory that he's an international counter espionage agent, however I'll leave that to Jeanne to confirm or deny!! Jeanne became a much-loved Hedgie a couple of years ago & I'm so glad she did. I have so enjoyed watching her wonderful blog grow & evolve since her first post. She has the knack of mixing things up perfectly. You can be sure of something different each time you visit her - humorous posts, visually breathtaking posts (from Miss Very Talented Photographer!), empathetic posts, thought-provoking posts, intellectually stimulating posts...... each one a treat.

Jeanne was kind & generous recently in acknowledging those of us who have been with her since the very beginning & are still with her today. She has done this via a Blog Love button - it's a way of saying...I love your blog & thank you for inspiring me.

To be a recipient of Jeanne's Blog Love we need to:

1. Provide the photo and link to our very first post.

2. Share the love and pass it on to whomever we like.

Why the first post?
It is when you took your first step and if you hadn't we would not be reading your words now. Passing on Blog Love is to let others know that we appreciate their friendship & that we love their blog.

This is my first post from Sunday May 18th 2008. It's title was It's Raining!.
And nearly 3 years later, nothing much has changed up here in the misty Adelaide Hills!

Here's what greeted me this morning in our quiet country lane.

The tall trees in our garden looking very grey & mysterious in the early morning mist.

So 665 posts & 9903 comments later, The Hedge is still here. I'm finding it very difficult to pick out a small group of favourites, so to pass this on I'm going to do a Millie-shortcut! Just go to The Hedge's Home Page & look under Fabulous Friends! If you find yourself there its because I appreciate your friendship & love your blog! If you'd like to pick up the Blog Love button & muse about your first post, please do so, I'd be honoured.

For Japan With Love

For Japan With Love

The first ShelterBoxes to arrive in Japan will be heading to the worst affected areas in Japan’s north tomorrow.

Lucia & Lydia's goal of raising $5,500 with the Bloggers Day Of Silence has been met & then some. Current donation amount is $53,071!