Sun on the roses

This morning I opened my curtains to a beautiful sight. My backyard is full of roses. They were coated with a thick layer of dew from yesterday's rain which had caught the rays of the rising sun. Each leaf, bud, flower and stem was outlined with a glowing silver edge as the dew and sun combined. No jeweller could ever recreate the brilliance of this morning, even with the most sparkly of diamonds and the sight lifted my heart.

It really was a gorgeous morning. Canberra looks stunning at the moment, with rolling green hills, lush gardens and full lakes. It was beautiful and sunny, with everything glowing green and sparkling clean after the rain. There were a few clouds about, but they only served to create a marbled effect of shadows over the mountains, allowing shafts of sunlight to highlight particularly verdant areas of hillside.

What a glorious way to start the day.

Race that stops the office

The Melbourne Cup. From outside Australia it must seem like madness. An entire city stops for the day, the whole nation stops for the race. It is the day where suddenly everyone has an opinion on horses, where someone who has never been to a track will rave on about form and pedigree. People hold parties, office get togethers, run sweeps, place bets when they never usually go near the TAB, not to mention the hours and money spent on outfits and hats for the event - and it is all for a horse race that is over in a few minutes.

Well even if it is a form of group madness, it is something I love. The tradition of sitting around watching a horse race with my colleagues, usually with some sort of tasty afternoon tea item in hand, is one I cherish.

For the last few years in the ACT we have had a public holiday on Melbourne Cup day. It was moved to a different day this year because in short, it was bad for business and people actually really enjoy the camaraderie of Melbourne Cup in the office. I've really missed Melbourne Cup in the office, so today I had a load of fun, settling down with my colleagues and watching the race. This year I didn't even manage to get a bet on but it still made my heart leap to watch those horses.

I even wore a giant fascinator into the office in the spirit of the day. No one else dressed up, but it sure was fun for me!

I hope you had a great Melbourne Cup day and that it was luck or fashion filled for you.

Lucky black pants

Skirts have been very much on my mind as the last few days of Frocktober drew to a close. I love a swishy skirt, but you know what they say, you can have too much of a good thing.

So today as November arrived, my old faithful black pants (trousers for my UK readers) made a triumphant return! It is a windy day and I could walk along a main road not wondering if the world was getting a view of my underwear. I happily crawled under a desk to fix a cable and generally just spent the day enjoying the freedom.

It makes me endlessly grateful to be living in an age where our clothing choices are just that, a true choice. As a young woman my grandmother went to a fancy dress party as a man, wearing a suit with pants (!!!) and a drawn on moustache and was thought of as very daring. Yes we still have social conventions that relate to clothes, but compared to other times and even today in other countries, we are extremely lucky.

So today I have reveled in the freedom - who knew what joy a pair of black pants could bring?

The Frocktober Finale

So Frocktober is officially over! It has been 31 days of cold ankles, inappropriate work wear and fear of windy days. But it has also been a month filled with the most amazing support.

From the girlfriends who lent me their dresses, to all the kind comments on Facebook, not to mention the donations of money, I just couldn't have imagined how phenomenal this experience would be.

I started Frocktober with the hope that I would raise a bit of money, but as of this morning I had raised over $2,000 for ovarian cancer research. I feel extremely proud that I've been able to do my part but I also feel so loved by those around me, it has just been a brilliant experience.

My productive garden - part 2

I've written before about the joy of my productive garden, how it provides me with fresh ingredients for my cooking. But it also provides stunning ornament for my home.

Look at this vase of roses, fresh from my garden. This week I've also been able to give my Mum a big bunch and the bushes are still covered. There is nothing like having garden fresh flowers in the house to give a room a lift and really announce that the warm weather is here.

Another day, another inappropriate dress

So while yesterday I was getting in touch with my 60's housewife, today I went looking for my inner Greek goddess. Long ago at the start of Frocktober I promised that should I be successful in reaching my goal of $1,000 I would wear a formal gown to work.

Well I reached that milestone by my birthday and ever since the debate has raged over which dress should be worn. Votes were solicited, counted and the tally was in favour of a red goddess number with black sequined collar by Matthew Eager.

It is such a long dress I need to wear very high heels with it which meant I also had to be careful of such things as catching it in the wheels of my desk chair or sweeping past the kitchen where goodness knows what had been spilt on the floor.

Still I had another marvelous day sweeping about the office. There is just something about unusal attire that makes the day enjoyable.

A touch of madness

Today when getting dressed for work I decided to channel Betty Draper. For those not familiar with her, she is the gorgeous wife of Don Draper, the central character in Mad Men.

Small and petite, she has perfectly coiffed hair, full skirts and immaculate makeup.

So I took a simple grey dress, added a voluminous red petticoat (styled to allow a bit peaking out the bottom of my skirt), red shoes and a cardi. I've swished about all day, getting fantastic compliments along the way. It has been lovely, I think I need to channel Betty more often.

The picture is Betty, I'm not quite that polished!