September 11, 2010

We came home to this ....


We arrived home from our short-lived holiday to find that there had been lots of lovely rain, so the back garden looked like this:


The apricot tree in flower, jasmine in all its perfumed glory and the wisteria just starting to open.

The vege garden looked like this:


Lots of ripe passionfruit, and mountains of silverbeet and lettuce.

And we came home to this in the front yard:


Can you smell the freesias?

... and this:


and daisies and diosma:


And in case you think I have a wonderful garden, I don't. 
I have just been selective in showing you the little pockets of prettiness!

Now to the inside, we came home to this:


and this:


and this:


- a fridge and two freezers full of rottenness!!! That's mould and green meat you can see.

Our electricity safety switch had tripped off, presumably in the big storm all our neighbours have told us about.  This meant there was no power to our appliances for about 5 days.  We are SO thankful that we came home early because of our house sale.  We weren't due home for another four weeks - can you imagine what the place would be like after that length of time?????  Needless to say, it took us hours to clean everything out and we're still trying to get rid of the odour in some areas. 
We're thankful for lovely perfumed freesias!!!

Now, so you don't remember all that ugliness,
here are a couple of lovely Gifts of Grace blocks that Linda has completed:




Aren't they gorgeous and don't you love that sweet background fabric?

This post is way too long already, so I'll tell you about my latest published projects next time!

Happy stitching,
Val

21 comments:

BubzRugz said...

Oh my - what a welcome back home!! As you say thank goodness you were back early. I have pockets of prettiness in the garden too - and lots of pockets of weeds! I love this time of year - so much just bursting...
Hugz

Unknown said...

Oh Val how blah to come home to that ! At least the garden is beautiful .

Marsha B said...

Your flowers are just gorgeous. It would be a really special welcome home if it were not for the power outage. I can only imagine! It is good you came home early as it could have been so much worse. Glad to hear it is all cleaned up and hopefully the odor will go away soon. Best of luck with your house sale, hope all goes smoothly.

The blocks are beautiful.

Jess @ Scrappy n Happy said...

That meat is not a pretty sight, actually it is gag worthy!
But aren't the flowers lovely, remember to take cuttings and dig up some bulbs to take with you!

Susan said...

Your garden looks so lovely - even if it is in pockets. Nothing much we can say about the lack of power - how frustrationg for you though.

Sharon said...

Oh! Your flowers are so pretty! How sad that you lost all that meat and food. That happened to us with our huge upright freezer one time and we lost all our meat and it was a horrible stench to try and get rid of. LOTS of baking soda!
I'm going to give your Gifts of Grace BOM a try. I'm rather a novice at stitching and quilting.

Christine M said...

Hi Val, This would be a good time to have a cold. At least then you couldn't smell anything! lol
All your flowers look so lovely. I'd love to have a garden filled with flowers. Regards, Christine

simplestitches said...

Oh Val, what an end to your holiday! Just as well you came home early. Your pockets of prettiness are just that...very pretty...love freesias...
have a wonderful rest of the weekend,
Julz

ozjane said...

I am very envious of that wisteria. I cannot tell you how many I have planted......and watched die or not flower for 16 yrs then die.
But I am not envious of those poor sad fridge freezers. Although if that happened to my freezer at least it would be empty.
I am loving Spring and must go out with camera again today.

Allie said...

Well Val it looks like the garden was saying "welcome home" in a big way - but oh no the fridge! YIKES! Good thing you came home when you did. Bring in some flowers to the kitchen to help with the aromas!

By Hoki Quilts said...

Oh Val it's a case of the good, bad and the darned right ugly. You say yu have been selective when taking photos but hey, you must have put the effort in to start with : )) As for the odour that is hanging around, put a small bowl of Baking Soda on a shelf near the odour and it will absorb it. Really it works, I use this method often also when the dogs are really 'doggy' I even sprinkle BS on my carpets, leave it for a wee while and the vacuum it all up.
Good luck
hugs
Miche'le

Tudy said...

Beautiful flowers. Sorry about the power being off and spoiling everything. Your blocks are lovely.

Teresa said...

I am so sorry about your power outage - that stinks in more way than one. The flowers are beautiful though and at least you had some "prettyness" to balance out the ugly.

Linda in Calif. said...

Yikes! Did you get that smell out yet? I bet you don't want to eat meat for several weeks after this. Oh and your flowers are so lovely - lucky you. Hey those blocks sure look familiar! LOL! I sure love doing them.

Vicki ♥ said...

That would be so disheartening to come home to Val and I hope things go smoothly for you with the sale of your house and I love your new design in Homespun...Its gorgeous!! And on the front cover too...well done :)

Wendyb said...

Oh goodness....He really does move in mysterious ways doesn't He??? I can only imagine what it would be like after another 4 weeks!!!! eeek!
Your 'pockets' are gorgeous!
XXX Wendy :O)

Melody said...

Your garden is so beautiful. You poor thing, how horrid to come home to the results of a power outage.

Sammy said...

The flowers are lovely, sorry about the other stuff.

Love,

-Samya :-)

Vesuviusmama said...

What a contradiction to come home to - beauty inside and ugliness within. But yay to the house being sold!

Cyndi loves to stitch said...

For odors that won't leave due to being closed up try a paper bag of plain charcoal briquets, NOT the treated ones for a quick fire. They absorb odors too.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful garden. And thanks for the next bit of "Consider the Lillies" I have been waiting for it.
I don't have a blog so I must go anonymous.
Have a wonderful day, Margaret