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Busy weekend. 

Birthday celebrations on Saturday morning. Dropped J at his afternoon class. Decided that doing so was my lucky roadside-thrift charm. Since it's October and October means jacarandas and jacarandas are perfect, I went for a drive around. I live in my favourite part of my city; filled with beautiful worker's cottages and art deco bungalows and sprawling Queenslanders with sweeping verandahs. It's an old part of the city, so the trees are tall and leafy. The hills allow for the most beautiful views, and the jacarandas were at their purple-puff best this year. 

I ignored the heat and the humidity (it felt like the hot, sticky wind was slapping you in the face with eye-watering sunlight, imagine) and walked along one street while I was waiting for J's class to finish. All of the gardens were full of flowers. Most of them had a jade tree somewhere near the gate. I loved that. I found a secret garden, too, with a perfectly placed frangipani flower at the gate. I love my city.

I also love it extra much when the roadside collections are on. This year I've found a solid expandable maple table (!) and now a couple of old wooden chairs. For zero dollars. Because I basically hate free time and relaxing, I dragged the chairs into my car and headed to the nearest hardware store. Tangerine dipped chairs for all. Actually, just for my apartment, sorry. 

Soon these babies will be denuded of their protective Coles plastic bags (because I am a professional) and be sitting next to their fellow roadside-thrift friend, table. It's an easy process, but I'm pretty lazy relaxed about this sort of thing. Basically, the process is sand, undercoat (don't forget to use primer on bare timber), top coat. Wear a mask and eye goggles. Don't take my advice (except for safety things, do those) and read the instructions and do things the proper way.

A new dining setting for free? Okay.

I also finished some art pieces for my Dad's birthday and he loved them which was great and maybe now I can art for serious. I also went swimming for the first time in years and forgot that my ivory skin immediately reverts back to luscious olive the very second it is exposed to sunlight. I actually thought (for a second, okay?) that the chemicals in the pool dyed my skin.

What?

Don't look at me like that.

I liked swimming, though. I even did a backflip!

Spring beauty

Spring snuck up on me this year. Every day is slightly warmer. The city is hazy and beautiful and there are unfurling feathers of new growth and ripening flowers everywhere. It feels as thought the entire city has been fleetingly carpeted with soft purple. I can't walk under a jacaranda tree without craning my neck upwards in the hope that I'll catch even one tiny, down-soft flower. The fallen flowers bruise quickly, and I always feel like the tree is trying to hide the brown petals with another layer of purple as soon as it can. They're my favourites. It may be warming up, but this sub-tropical city is a nature baby's dream in spring. 

They're worth the wait, honestly. 

I even bought my own bougainvillea plant. He sits by the front door and is beautiful and cheerful whenever I get home. 

As a florist, living here and travelling out to the farm promises a seemingly never ending supply of incredible colours, textures and scents. One has cacti and almost tropical forests and the other, temperate classics. I went completely mental over a wisteria vine. I've never smelt anything so good. 

Except, maybe, for the Toowoomba Flower Festival. Toowoomba is a very, very pretty town. This visit was almost like walking through paintings. Part of the joy of flowers comes from a love of pure naturalness, I think. There's no hatred within a flower. They're an embrace for the eye and a balm for the heart.

Beautiful curiosities.

This is the perfect time of year. For anything. Especially fresh starts. Does your city wake up in Spring?