Meet Big Boss

While I was on my week long sabbatical in Windy Harbour, I got stuck into creating lots of stuff...

I say stuff, because I it is all inclusive - it can be anything you want it to be.  As such, it is my very favourite word...

This particular stuff was knitting...

And this particular knitting was tea cosies.

Allow me to introduce you to Big Boss... born in Windy Harbour, July 2012...

This is he, stretched to his full height.

I am holding his head up in this photo, as he has a head swollen with his own importance...

His head naturally lolls over to the side in a deranged manner, but being a control freak, he would be aghast if he knew...

Big Boss will be winging his way over to live with Patricia in a town in New York state shortly... a place called Honeoye Falls... 

... we wish him well in his new adventures...

A Week in Paradise: Windy Harbour Part 5

And in this final post, since I showed you my favourite house...


ad nauseum...


I thought I'd show you my favourite garden.


Bear in mind this garden is left largely unattended so has to fend for itself, in true Aussie fashion...


Tree stump with bird house, and obligatory Xanthorrhoea (commonly known as a Black Boy tree...)

Another bird house near the water tank....

And a large view of the expanse of garden...

Just gorgeous...

A Week in Paradise: Windy Harbour Part 4 still continues...

So, we have looked at trees, stumps, branches...

All riveting stuff...

This time it's all about the gardens of Windy Harbour...

Hanging basket with kerosene lamp...

I loved this "hazard" sign...

Herb and vegetable bath tub...

Still life with afro kettle, shell and rusted random aerosol can...

Artistic as it is...

one might imagine I arranged this scene...

But alas, I did not...

Fishing buoys...

lots of them...

A scarecrow to protect the weeds...

Bird bath....

44 gallon drum fashioned into an outdoor oven...

Even the tomato stakes are rustic...

Trying to dress up a water tank...

Random swan... 

The only form of fence you will find at Windy Harbour...

Protection for a baby plant...

I have saved my favourite garden for last...

in the next post...

A Week in Paradise: Windy Harbour Part 4 continues...

In the last post, I showed you the Windy Harbour trees and environment...

This post looks at the "prettification" of the cottages...

Here the owners have made a driftwood mobile on their porch  from shells collected from the nearby beaches.  You can also see in the mobile sea urchins, sponges, granite tumbled rocks, corals...

In this photo, you can see some pretty mosaic work from old cracked tiles and crockery, with beach glass inserted.  It sits atop an old trough in the yard, useful for washing beach feet...  

An anchor also serves as decoration on the wall...

Loads of old abalone shells serve as a dry wall.  Planks on top are used as a fish cleaning station...

A humble rusted bell with weensy sunflower...

Railing...

Porch decoration...

Fishing buoys are very popular...

And to continue on the fishing theme...

And again, a fish...

This one is on an external solar fuse board...

And even a Banksia nut atop a fishing reel serves as a still life in this scene...

A Week in Paradise: Windy Harbour - Part 4

Exploring Windy Harbour, trusty Nikon in hand, trusty pooch Larry swanning about beside me, I really enjoyed the garden "fancies"...

They really show a desire to incorporate the artistic with the practical.  Most of these fancies are a form of recycling, or upcycling...

Long before the world had heard of it...

I don't think I had ever really "seen" them before, but this time, with nobody to distract me, they really stood out.

So, of course, I documented them...

I start with photos on the theme of trees and wood...

This one is simply a tree stump with a few planks of wood nailed to serve as a bench...

A milk crate serving as a hanging basket for herbs...

Abalone shells wedged into wood connects to a downpipe... 

When it rains it turns into a water feature!

I love that the porch has been shaped to the tree...

And here we have a Banksia tree serving as an interesting light feature...

Tree branches serve here as rails down rough limestone steps...

And random thicknesses and types of wood strung here to make a screen of sorts... since fences are not allowed at the settlement...

A Week in Paradise: Windy Harbour - Part 3

Windy Harbour has a range of styles of cottages these days...


Firstly I want to show you the original forestry workers cottages that date from around the 1930s...


They are all quite neat, and pretty basic.  They're usually painted in mission brown with some sort of contrasting trim.  


Mostly, they are the size of a one car garage, with a little porch added...  


Here are some that are great examples of those type of cottages - they are all still in use at Windy...

Then we have the more modern ones...


The blue one below was originally the size of a one car garage, but now is quite big.  


The original owner, Mr Carney, was an avid fisherman who woke everyday before dawn.  He revelled in talking loudly from the minute he got up.  I know this because my room was nearest to his place. 


Grrrr....


The current owners of Carney's Corner are one of the few that live in Windy... and they are tired of people driving too fast, hence the "speed camera" on the side of the road. 


I've written about this over on one of my other blogs if you are interested...

There are some very inventive and colourful cottages these days...


Firsly, my favourite cottage...  It has a very European style, and most everything around and in the cottage is yellow, blue or white...

And this one - still a sort of mission brown but with purple trims...

and it has the old 70s mustard lounges out the front....

This one is quite plain, but has a flaming red fire hutch of the rust proofing paint...

Then the creative....

which carries over to the garden...

Beautiful cool shades of green...

And then our place...

Part 4 is to follow, and in that post I want to show you all the creative things people have done to beautify and personalise their cottages and environment...