these are the people in your neighbourhood.

yesterday was the first offical day of spring, & the weather was suitably glorious. it's supposed to turn to custard tomorrow, however-- typical. all I'm craving is blue skies & endless sunshine, & I really don't think that's too much to ask. AND YET.

we've been in our new home for a little over a month now, & I'm still loving it just as much. we've met several of the neighbours & they're all so nice-- welcoming us to the street, asking us how we're settling in, stopping for a chat, & passing strawberry plants over the fence for our garden. I kind of love that a lot. :)

the still-packed boxes I mentioned a couple of posts back are still to be unpacked, but I have made a start on the gardens-- pulling out weeds, pruning roses & planting the aforementioned strawberries. spring flowers are popping up everywhere, & it's my sworn duty to pluck them from the ground & bring them inside to be displayed in vases, because there's nothing quite like catching a drift of scent from a bunch of gorgeous yellow daffodils or a tiny fistful of violets. ♥

I also tackled a quick little renovation project yesterday, as handy-dandily illustrated in the photo below. this vintage oak cabinet with leadlight panelled doors has shelves inside that are sort of oddly-shaped & badly-spaced, & my sparse & motley assortment of china has never really looked all that fabulous in it. (I suspect it needs bigger, more expensive pieces displayed in it, & not my hodge-podge of op-shop & Sally Army treasures.) I love the cabinet, but it never really looked how I imagined it probably should look....& clearly this was a far more pressing problem than needing to unpack boxes. or cooking dinner. or vacuuming. AHEM. anyway, my solution to it all: sheer panels placed behind the glass in a shimmery silver fabric that has been cut to size. (& that is held in place with strips of tape, because I'm nothing if not resourceful, haha.) the end result is much better to look at, I think.



I really wanted to keep the red paisley-patterned piece of fabric where it is in the first picture (it's actually a gorgeous slippery-silky scarf), but the husband declared it looked odd, so I removed it. ( & have since used it as an accent piece elsewhere, because while he likes to think he's right, he's totally not, hahaHA. odd, schmodd. it's faaaabulous, darling.) anyway, you'll never guess where I've put it. not in a million years.  NEVER.

yup, that's right. I totally draped it over all those boxes still waiting to be unpacked.  :D