London and a day with myself at Hampton Court.

MLP was excited about London. He'd never been before and he had things on his must-see list: The Royal Airforce Museum, Hendon and Prime Meridian, Greenwich. Luckily, my brother was with us and was keen to do boys' days. So, while they did their Boys' Own Adventures, I was able to go off doing girly things for a couple of days. 

Our airbnb apartment was within five minutes walk of Waterloo Station. A fantastic position. We could rail or Tube from Waterloo, walk to South Bank and up to Blackfriars Bridge or across the river to Embankment. Perfect position.

We did lots of the usual.

Big Ben.

Grand Designs Live, Sydney, and being lucky.

2014 is going to go down in the annals of time as Libby's Year of Luck. Admittedly, I have been entering competitions, which previously I have not had the time nor the desire to do. And 2014 has proved to be my year. 

A $50 Masters voucher earlier in the year from tlifecreative on Instagram for making the suggestion to turn an old cable drum into a drinks' trolley. A nice little surprise.

$100 of vouchers from my local shopping centre for filling in a form and dropping it in the barrel. We've dined through a number of Saturday breakfasts on those lovelies.

And then, two tickets to Grand Designs Live, Sydney, because I took the time to write a comment on The Life Creative blog.

Yay! I'm on a roll. Who knows what I'll win next?!? But while the luck is happening, I'm going to keep entering.

So, Grand Designs Live Sydney.

Reproducing a much-loved and much-used jewellery pouch.

My sister-in-law was one of those people who was always making something. For her girls. For her family. For her friends. And, at times, for herself. I have many things which she made me which I use and treasure. One is my much-loved and much-used jewellery pouch. 

Photography … deer, oh dear.

As we cruised down the road in the direction of the Sackville ferry, my sister and her man cried excitedly, "A little deer! Oh, but it's gone." And then there were more. Cute, timid deer. Staring at us. 

Paris … secret passages and hidden treasures..

Who can not love Paris? This was not my first trip to this wondrous city and I am determined to return, yet this time I found some beauty I had not explored before. Yes, we did the icons. MLP's first trip to Europe, you see.

Le Tour Eiffel, lacework and engineering. Yes, we went to the top. Does anyone not go to the top?

Photography … this week.

It's spring. My herbs are flowering. My Ralphter is enjoying the sunshine and I'm trying to green up the lawn. 

Basil

The French train hex.

So we'd been travelling for just over 24 hours and it was time to collect our luggage at Charles de Gaulle and begin our first adventure, joining our canal-boat-owning friends for a few days of leisure and camaraderie. Food, wine, friendship. Just what we needed to alleviate jet lag.

Photography … this week.

A short bush walk in Scheyville Nature Reserve around the Longneck Lagoon surrounded us in the ping of Bell Miners and the whoo-iiiit of Whip Birds. We came across a small red-bellied black snake, but he sensed us first and all I glimpsed was his tail slithering into the reeds.

Bell Miners.

Pre-travel tribulations. And some random photos from our trip.

It was the day before we headed to the Airport Hotel. The house-Ralph sitters had arrived. All was going smoothly … till I decided I should get a last bit of Australian cash to cover our final home-soil expenses.