*a virtual coffee* & a chippy vintage ladder...

coffee time gals...
but today we are having smoothies whilst balanced on my ladder...

i know it's tuesday...our virtual coffee catch-up...

which you know i loooove....

it's just that the sun has come out in ol'blighty after a morning of rain...

so i'm moving onto smoothies before the school pick-up...

&

i suggest you do the same...

they're strawberry & banana...how good does that sound!

so here's a bottle i made for you...

&

sit yourself up there on numero uno...

ok...hit me with it...how was your week?

i am seeing that so many of you are on summer hols...

here, we are still in the anticipation of...

the sun temps us to hang out in the garden...

to walk to school & to bbq...

{& let me tell you, the english countryside in sunshine is gorgeous!}

then it let's us have it...

before we start taking the *summer* weather for granted...

it buckets down...

this, my lovely friends, is why the english countryside is so flippin' green!

well...this aussie gal is used to summer's of parched grasses...

days spent at the beach & the local pool...

so i'm just taking yet another approaching english summer, with a grain of salt & planning holidays abroad...!,

so now....i've moaned about we've caught up on the english weather...

let me show you what i've been doing when the sun is a-shinning upon us...

this is my so *favourite & best* old ladder...

i found it pretty early on, after our move here from the beaches of sydney...

i do love me a wooden ladder...

in fact, i think i may have swapped it for some bunting i made...

anyhoo...

this ladder was already stamped with some fab writing down the side...

it still had it's original lovely old cotton ropes attached...

&

it had just the right amount of wear & tear that i love...lots!

so...

into the people mover it was thrown, behind the last row of seats...

where i usually hide things from the hubster...

you know just till i can get to them...let him see why we needed an old ladder again...

so...after living with it closed up against the wall in my sewing room for a while...

i took to it with my paintbrush, in the gorgeous sunshine {yep between the rain} & painted it white...

& i left it at that for a good long while...

you've seen it many many times as a perfect prop in my photo's...

i've even actually used it as a ladder!

but it never felt quite finished to me...

till i found these gorgeous french number stencil shapes...!

so...with these in hand...a pot of black paint...& a glass of wine i painted french numbers on my very loved ladder...

& when i stood back i knew she was at last finished...

so...if we were really having a virtual strawberry & banana smoothie together today...

before racing up to school pick-up...

you my lovely bloggy friend, would be sitting up there on numero uno...

balancing atop my favourite old chippy english ladder...

we'd talk about where it may have come from...

who may have used it...

&

i'll let you love it a little...

i'd tell you...that thinking it will one day sit in my australian garden, by the beach back home, makes me smile...

i'd tell you that you could borrow my frenchie stencils if you like...

or that i could bring them over to yours...

&

just maybe...if you serve up smoothies in your garden...

i'd even help you paint a ladder, or an old chippy chair or two...

thanks for the catch-up

for *chewing the fat* sitting atop the ladder

i love our tuesday virtual coffee's

{or smoothies}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

gotta go collect kiddos from school

but if your on hols

go visit *amy* for more virtual chatting 
here


also linking with michelle from {primp} here
&
the inspirational *shabby chic cottage* here


~~~
&
very excitedly i'm throwing this into a big blog party over at 
courtney's *French Country Cottage*
here
head over & check out the mountains of inspiration!!