Blooming Beautiful with Botanica Flora

It's no secret that there are some astoundingly creative women in rural australia. Libby Spencer, founder of Botanica Flora in Orange is just such a women. When I heard that Libby and Belinda were organising a floral workshop in the creative collaboration space at Tomolly, I knew that it would be great fun, not to mention insanely beautiful. The first workshop sold out so quickly that they ended up adding another. It was a privilege to be invited to photograph Lib in her element. She teaches floral design with such warmth and wit. We watched with great interest as Libby gave a demonstration on how to make a foam free floral arrangement, then with the help of Lib and her assistant Tess, we all took the plunge and created our own using the stunning spring blooms and foliage that filled the trestle table in the window.

 

The room was bubbling with banter and laughter as the stunning spring sunshine streamed through the great big heritage windows. 

 Belinda put on incredible spread for us to enjoy with a glass of bubbles at the end of the afternoon. Honestly...this woman is a freaking powerhouse. There were three delectable home-baked cakes and a giant cheese platter, served up on beautiful handmade ceramics from ottimade. It was the perfect way to end the workshop.

I cannot recommend these kind of events enough. Its a chance to hang out with a group of fantastic people in an incredible setting and just...create! An afternoon like this does wonders for the soul. Take a look at the Tomolly Workshops page or Botanica Flora's Instagram for future workshops. There's always something interesting on the horizon.

Thank you Bels and Lib...the ripple effect of your creative collaboration is lasting and beautiful.

xx Em

Birthday Brunch amongst the Blooms.

The Husband turned a year older today and we celebrated with a champagne brunch at Tulip Top Gardens.

Crazy gorgeous spring sunshine, bubbles under the blossom trees, tulips in bloom and a brunchy feast rounded off with cake. Happy days!

Happy Birthday Husband. We love you more than cheesecake!

xx Em

Junee

We jumped in the car and headed out into the countryside in search of chocolate and roundhouses yesterday for Harry's 9th (belated) birthday gift. After a couple of hours driving past patchwork quilts of vibrant green and gold, we found what we were looking for in the town of Junee...

...and boy did Junee deliver!

We stopped for a quick morning tea at a local bakery and then it was time to get down to the business of trains in roundhouses. 

The Junee Roundhouse Railway Museum was superb. 

We've done our fair share of railway museums and this one was up there with the best. 

Harry and Jack lost themselves amongst the giants in the roundhouse, ducking in and out of locos and carriages and comparing them to the model versions we have at home.

 The volunteer guides were a goldmine of stories, just great to have a chat to and the HO scale model railway gave Harry some fab inspiration for his own future design.

I love country towns and country towns with beautiful old buildings are perfection.

After a morning of locos and carriages we popped over to the old flour mill which now houses the Junee Licorice & Chocolate Factory. 

It's a foodie's mecca and a popular one at that. We had a totally delicious, lazy lunch in the sunny courtyard of The Millroom, with its live music, grapevines and rustic walls. 

The boys had a play on the jumping castle to burn off some pent up energy while Shan and I had a chat to the resident alpacas. We stocked up on some punchy Raspberry Licorice and belgian chocolate and then decided mid afternoon that, regrettably, it was probably time to head home.

About an hour from home we took a detour off the Hume Highway at Jugiong to grab a coffee at Longtrack Pantry. I've been following these guys on Insta for yonks and finally had the opportunity to experience their incredible coffee and sweet eats. It was heaven! 

The boys had one last play in the nearby park before the last leg of driving, so I snapped a crabapple tree that stood in the playground resplendent in blossom and humming with bees.

Such a delightful day and well worth the drive. 

I love these country adventures!

xx Em