Change

My last post has been up for 19 months & today, on a beautiful warm, sunny Spring day in the Adelaide Hills, it's finally being replaced. This past year has been my toughest & most challenging & although I've attempted to write about what's happened, it's been all too difficult.

In fact it still is, but with the encouragement of some lovely friends, I've been doing a few short posts on my Instagram page. So for the time being, that's where I'll try & rediscover, little by little, my writing voice. There is a short post there about why I've been so quiet, but other stuff too & a rather lot of the delectable Miss Grace & her sweet little brother Henry.

I know that one day, when I feel ready, I'll come back to The Hedge on a regular basis. It was my happy place for a long, long time & I know it will be again. So until that time comes, I'll look forward to seeing you over at my Insta page www.instagram.com/milliestirling

A New Look For The Hedge!

A big bunch of roses to the gorgeous Ellie at Rainy Day Templates for giving The Laurel Hedge a much-needed make-over. I'm slowly finding my way around the new layout & will be adding new features as I go during the coming days. This will include my Blog Roll which requires reloading. I'll be doing this with a glass of something bubbly & much scratching of my head! If I forget to reinstate you, please, please let me know! I hope you're as happy here as I am.

Image: Maxine Brady

Hedge Funds

Trimming both sides of 146.3 metres of Laurel Hedge = LOTS OF HARD WORK! So MOTH & I were thrilled when we discovered tucked away amongst all our other lovely Christmas pressies from the little darlings, a Gift Certificate for a full day's Free-of-Charge hedge trimming. So before Son #2 went back to Melbourne & the others were still on vacation, MOTH & I quickly redeemed our voucher & the above pic is the fabulous result.

In desperate need of a 'hedge cut'!

These couple of jokers actually belong to us - I need to remind myself that when scrubbed up they actually look OK.....

here.....

.....and here!

While his older brothers play the fool, their baby brother gets on with the job.

And finds MOTH's truck a handy ladder.

Along the 2nd street frontage the Hedge is 92 metres long & our small meadow & the Tennis Court are hidden behind it. The boys did a fab job, as the main object of the day is to be very conservative & take just the right amount of growth off, so it still looks lush & green. They certainly achieved that goal & were rewarded with the appropriate cold refreshments at the end of a long, hot day.

A Very Special Blog Guest

Image Mulberry

Your comments following the post on our Guest Room Reno. on Monday were some of the kindest, funniest & best ever! I enjoyed reading every one of them, thank you all so much. MOTH was interested to know what you all thought, & so I did a cut & paste job of the Comments page & showed him, omitting some of your more 'generous' comments for fear that the fame & adulation might go to his head. However, the lovely Lisa's comments really got me thinking:

I mean it...you better be careful...MOTH just might have to start his own design blog. It could be called the MOTH HOUSE or the Dog House...depending on how happy you are at the end of the project. He is a handsome genius with regards to the ceiling fix & storage solution. Bravo to your man designer!

So while I'm off sorting out these silly Drs. who want to diagnose me with something I don't need to know about, I'm throwing caution to the wind & letting MOTH have his own design blog, just for a day, via a Guest Blogger spot here at The Hedge.

While I have a few questions for the man of the moment to answer, what I'd really love is for you to submit yours (by Monday morning please). Anything & everything - don't be shy, now's the time to really see if he can live up to all the hype!

Invisible Threads

Image Notonthehighstreet

Aren't these beautiful & meaningful words to live by. It would be so much easier to just take the golden threads, but how uninteresting life would be without the challenges the coarse ones throw us too! I think we all have one or two friends that fall into that category, you have to work really hard at maintaining the relationship & sometimes you question why you keep persevering. And I think I may have fallen into the coarse thread category myself at times! But in the end if you are able to weave them together & your life's fabric is one of great joy, then fortune has truly smiled on you.

With everything else that's been happening, it was remiss of me not to thank you all for the lovely messages left on last Friday's post. Reading them over the weekend truly made my heart overflow! I really felt as though I'd been out somewhere wonderful, having that metaphorical celebratory drink with everyone! I can certainly manage without my work colleagues, but I would struggle without my dear Hedgies (MOTH's word for all the friends of The Laurel Hedge!)

Untangling the Tinsel

Sarah J. Miller

Scatty Cat

Boxwood

Angel Linens

Creative Flourish


Follie

Cox & Cox


I.B. Laursen

Dee Puddy

Velvet Brown

Oliver & Grace

Mullen & Fitzmaurice Christmas for the Birds

Had such a lovely weekend partying & gardening. We started giving the Laurel Hedge (the real one, not the blog!) its pre-Christmas trim yesterday & a solid 5 hours later, we'd only completed one street frontage! But I feel happy that at least 1/2 is done.

Much to my relief the Christmas spirit arrived at The Hedge this weekend. MOTH aka The Christmas Grouch has waved the chequered flag & I'm decorating - yay! Here's a few little Christmas cuties that have caught my eye.

Start your Wellingtons please!

Image Maison Reve

Image Robin Stubbert

The laurel hedge has been desperately in need of a trim for weeks now & The-Man-of-the-House reckons he's had chainsaw issues! However, crunch time has come & this weekend is it - so we'll need to pull on the Wellies, rug up & get to it (for at least 7 hrs!!)