Hello May!

 Ummm Hello May!

Where did my April go?? Did part of your year already feel like this?

April was such an amazing month...  

Amongst a family wedding [Mr Palatial's - sister Kylie & now officially brother in law - Jim, more late]; Birthdays - Mr Palatial's Nana, and Two of my Grandmothers - 92years old and 85years old respectively, a God Daughter's 3rd birthday and our Little 'Is' who turned a feisty 'independent 2!'.

Then we were in the midst for a celebration of life as we farewelled Mr Palatial's Great Grandmother Caroline - whom at 109 years old & 7 months packed out her memorial service with family and many friends over her gorgeously lived life.

A few snaps I have posted from our recent little sojourn to our Nation's capital - Canberra over an extended weekend. These gorgeous park shots were taken at Commonwealth Park - a well known place for stunning deciduous trees of all varieties, sitting on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin - and home to many stunning Black Swans. This park is also home to an annual colour display that was in panning whilst we there 'Floriade'. Our little Is loved playing in the park, running along the crushed granite pathways, into the stone hill tunnel and castle play area, over the bridges and chasing and chased by the water birds!

If you get a chance to pop to Canberra for a little bit it would have to be one of the prettiest times to see it...  

Thank for stopping by Palatial Living... See you soon.

Enjoy,

images - via Sarah Verity - verandah home & graden living solutions, and tumblr .

Autumnal Gardening Glow...

The very hint of Autumn is here [in Sydney - southern hemisphere] milder nights are becoming more frequent, my robe makes more of an appearance in the crisper mornings, I find myself waking early morning a couple of hours before sunrise just to make sure our little 'Is' has the covers pulled up over her.

For gardeners - like 'moi' - it is the best time for some great jobs to get done before the much cooler months descend upon us...  On the weekend I started with trimming plants/ hedging and de-budding, as well as turning the leaves & soil on our yet to be constructed home vegetable & herb raised beds - affectionately known to our neighbours, as 'Zone 1'!Autumn is a great time to rejuvenate a garden for the new season and for next spring.

Take a look at the quick Autumn Gardening checklist [for large or small gardens] below for some good ideas to get done over the next several weekends!

Enjoy,



April is the best month to plant bulbs. Choose plump, fresh bulbs with
no sign of disease and store tulip bulbs in the refrigerator





Transfer fallen leaves to your compost bin.



Here's a quick checklist to get you started early so you plan out your gardening and social claendar - The tips below are an autumn garden task list that will keep your garden flourishing.

• Autumn is the time to make new plants from cuttings. Take 10cm cuttings from hardwood herbs such as rosemary and bay or natives such as banksias, grevillea and coastal rosemary. Remove the lower leaves, dip cuttings into hormone powder and pot in small containers of premium potting mix. Keep just moist and shelter from strong wind and sun.
• Trim hedges before the onset of winter to keep them compact and bushy from ground level.
• Check your lawn and make sure any weeds you sprayed last month are dying. Repeat the treatment if necessary. Aerate the lawn with a garden fork and scatter lime lightly over it. This sweetens the soil after many years of lawn food application. Rejuvenate tired lawns with an autumn feeding to ready them for the onset of cool winter weather.
• Gather fallen leaves, grass clippings, kitchen scraps and shredded prunings, and layer them in a compost bin. Turn periodically with a garden fork to allow air to circulate and feed organisms, and decompose the organic matter quickly. Don‘t overload your compost with one particular ingredient – maintain a mix. See the new Aerobin at garden centres; it makes excellent compost.
• Earthworms are a sign your soil is fertile. When you add organic matter such as leaves and cow manure to your garden soil, you will attract earthworms, so there is no need to add more worms to your garden. The worms you’ve attracted with organic matter will add nutrients from their castings, and make tunnels. Check for borer damage on all deciduous trees, paying attention to the trunk at soil level. It‘s easier to check when trees are dormant and bare.
• Don’t try to cultivate soil beneath large trees; you will only damage the roots. Make planting holes between the roots instead and insert small plants with tiny root systems that establish themselves readily. Bromeliads thrive under trees.
• An old ladder makes a good support for climbing vines such as sweet peas. A splash of paint will give it extra impact in the garden or up against a wall.
• Transfer the leaves that fall on your garden and lawn to the compost bin on a regular basis, otherwise they will smother your plants and grass.
• Don’t rush to prune spent seed heads. They provide a wealth of food for birds that visit the garden. Magnolia fruit attract parrots who feast on their seeds.
• Autumn is rose season, and they look gorgeous at this time of year. Choose the ones you love and order them from your local nursery.
• If you have cymbidium orchids, they should be placed in full sunshine to encourage good flower spikes during winter and spring.
• Divide evergreen perennials. Lift them from the soil, divide at the root and re-plant into well-conditioned soil.
• Start a tradition by planting [red] poppies to commemorate ANZAC day [25th April - Lest We Forget].

Prune  - Give hydrangeas a ruthless pruning.

Disbud (choose one to keep) camellias for bigger flowers.

images via thegiftoflife, homelife.com.au, wikipedia, gardening australia, abc, photography by Andrew Lehmann,

Happy Weekend!

So happy it's Friday and the weekend will be upon us soon! The sky is getting higher here in Sydney as Autumn approaches us soon [in the southern hemisphere] we have equinox on Tuesday 20th and for the state I live in [New South Wales] our extended daylight savings comes to an end Saturday 31st March into Sunday morning.... nearly a farewell to summer and a warm hello to autumn.

I have had a number of posts ready to publish this week and each time the day has passed me by... hence a few catch up posts today - you might have noticed? 

It's been a little crazy in my 'Palatial' world at the moment and I must confess my focus and thoughts have been straying else-where - but not too far away! I promise. Just a few projects that have needed some serious attention! Now I cannot wait for some weekend time with my family - my little girl Isabelle, and husband 'Mr. Palatial', the 'Palatial Poochies' - with time on home renovation projects at our aptly named home 'Bundaleer' [a beautiful indigenous meaning for 'among the trees'] and celebrating my father-in-law's 60th Birthday! Yay!

So here's to your weekend for those of you who have some R&R planned... Thanks again for joining me this week at Palatial Living!

Enjoy!

image via the meet cute, tumblr, crush cul de sac, pretty stuff, sweet montant, isawicameiconquer

Colours of Halloween...

Although I know it's not Autumn [Fall] here in the Southern hemisphere, and we are in beautiful Spring - not to mention - just about to embrace a gorgeous sunny & hot Summer... I can't help but share these Autumnal shades of Halloween - these colours just naturally go with this fun festive time mostly due to their Northern Hemisphere & Harvest time origins, all the same they can't be ignore. So warm, rich, cosy, fun & friendly...here's a palette you can incorporate into your Halloween decorations & settings.

Images from Southern Living

It's Coming Up Pumpkins... Halloween Lead Up.

Halloween - Although it's not as big in Australia as it is in the States & Europe (maybe that southern & northern hemisphere climate thing has something to do with it!). So this week I wanted to celebrate all the fabulous decorating ideas that come with 2 (maybe 3) of my favourite times of the year - Halloween, Autumn [Fall] - even though it's Spring here in Oz, and my Birthday [it falls on Halloween!]...

Here are some amazing pumpkin stencil & carving designs that are a little less traditional, stylish and quirky. Using the pumpkin skin colour as a positive space and the black stencil as the negative space - simplicity reigns when achieving maximum impact for these decorative pieces. Here in Sydney you can find some fantastic stencils at the Stencil Gallery, Glebe to try out on a butternut pumpkin! Enjoy x

Image from Country Living

Falling Hard...

Autumn is one of my most favourite seasons... I have a real fascination with leaves, and I love the the mild sunny days, the coolness in the air in the evening, the amazing jewel colour through the trees, the dappled light, the cosy couch blankets coming out, tea and toast, the faint smell of wood fire in the evening, and all the wonderful scarves & jackets I can start wearing again...!! What are your favourite things about Autumn [Fall]?

Image - Quote from Vi.sual.ize-us & Watercolour by Laura tm

Autumn Leaves... Happy Friday!

The cooler weather [for us in the southern hemisphere] is just around the corner - I have pulled out a few cardis this week for a few brisker mornings.... undoubtedly this is my favourite time of the year - Autumn [my US friends - Fall]... As my birthday falls in end October [Halloween} and I have always wanted to be on the East Coast US maybe upstate NY to see all the leaves turn; having said that we had an amazing time on the West Coast US a couple years back for Halloween - there's nothing like it - the decorations, the spirit, the pumpkins - actually everything with pumpkin, loved it!

So here's to a great Friday & your weekend - for lovely mild mornings & snuggling in, the warm days - dappled light through the turning leaves & picnics in the park, and those delicious cool evenings with your favourite couch blanket and maybe a warm desert! Enjoy. S x

Image from Visualize us

Hello Friday... Welcome Weekend!

What a disjointed week it seems to have been... I am always glad to greet Friday, this week more so!! My home is getting some more attention this weekend, although we live in a reasonably new home [we bought off the plan about 4 years ago and moved in just on 3 years ago] we have just finished building a lovely pergola & putting the roof on last week & with that I have some touch up painting to do on the white timber structure. It's so wonderful to have an outside area protected from the elements but still with the ability to enjoy the garden surrounds. Our pergola was based on a previous one that we had when we lived at Breakfast Point [a gorgeous residential development located in the Inner West, Sydney - with style & influence from Cape Cod Maine / Hamptons coastline].

With that I also have some Autumn gardening - light pruning, spraying for pests with Eco-oil and giving the lawn some attention to eliminate those pesky curl-grubs! Over the past several months in Sydney - we have had a slight 'plague' of white moth [which then lays eggs in the soil - and curl grubs hatch from these eggs]. Curl grubs are the number one killer of beautiful lawn & garden plant root systems.... so if you haven't sprayed with your Eco-oil/ pest oil or Mrs Mac's [for the lawn] best to get to it before the much cooler months are upon us and save your root systems... For some great gardening advice, Saturday mornings from 6am to 9am, I always try to tune into a Sydney radio show 'The Garden Clinc' with Graham, Sandra & Linda Ross and Luke on 2GB, on 873 AM , for interstate and O.S guests - you can stream this program from the net so to listen in- if you cannot get this frequency locally...

Whatever you're up to this weekend - I wish you a wonderful one! Enjoy x

Image from Southern Accents - links & info 'The Garden Clinic'

Welcome to the Weekend....

Welcome to the weekend, Friday is here again [gosh it comes around so quickly] ... the start of March upon us and the cooler weather of Autumn approaching [here in the southern hemisphere] the weekend is set to be beautiful - crisp mornings, warm days followed by cool evenings - what a perfect formula for a late breakfast in the sun, a picnic in the park, a snooze & a read in a hammock, or time tending to the garden....

Happy Friday & Hope you have a Wonderful Weekend. Enjoy x

Image from Southern Accents