Canberra's favourite House Rules' contestants, Katie and Alex Middlemiss are filling up their renovated Gundaroo cottage, with the couple welcoming an adorable daughter called Florence.
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She is a little sister for Hallie, now two.
Florence was born on July 31, the couple sharing their joy with followers on Instagram.
Alex, a police officer, and Katie, a midwife and interior decorator, became fan favourites on House Rules last year when their crumbling 1880s cottage was renovated.
"We chose Florence because it means 'blossoming/thriving' but mainly just because we thought it was a beautiful name," Katie said.
"She has both grandmothers' names as her middle names too."
And as a midwife, Katie knows her stuff around births.
"We had her in the Calvary birth center where I was cared for during Hallie's pregnancy too," she said.
"Yes I'd love to give a shoutout to the birth centre midwives! We had a really incredible experience."
HERE'S TO HAYLEY
Congratulations to Canberra's own Hayley Jensen (pictured below left) who is these days concentrating on a country music career, to great success.
Now based in Sydney, Hayley was delighted this week to see her single Breakin' Hearts debut at Number 1 on iTunes Country Singles chart. The song was sitting at Number 3 on Wednesday.
TULIP TOP GARDENS GOES VIRTUAL
First Floriade, now Tulip Top Gardens has had to pull the plug on spring 2020 due to COVID-19.
As late as April, the owners of the gardens, Bill and Pat Rhodin, were hopeful the magnificent gardens, set across four hectares off the Federal Highway, would still be able to open to the public in September.
But the financial cost of social distancing has put paid to that.
"It is with a heavy heart that we announce the NSW Public Health and legal team have advised that Tulip Top Gardens can only open with 20 people at one time. This clearly is not financially sustainable for us, especially with considerable hire expenditure, such as toilet blocks as an example. The gardens are all planted as if we are going ahead," the family posted this week on Facebook.
It would have been their 23rd year of opening the beautiful oasis to the public.
Undaunted, the owners are now planning to put together a virtual tour of the gardens (pictured far right) which they hope their supporters will pay to use.
They are fine-tuning the details but have proposed $20 for a month's digital access to "time lapse videography, sunrises, sunsets, nature on heavy dew and all the gardens' delight".
The family says watch this space for details. We wish them well.
IT'S A WRAP
DESIGN Canberra is seeking vibrant and exciting designs to wrap four BMWs. The winner from each category will have their design applied by ROJO Customs. The cars are supplied by Rolfe Classic BMW.
University students are asked to pitch with an urban design theme, high school students are asked to be inspired by the bush capital, Craft ACT members will have their own section and there is also an open category with the theme Canberra icons - think bus shelters to Lake Burley Griffin.
The winning designs will be exhibited as part of the festival in November.
Submissions are open until Wednesday, September 30. Find out more on the DESIGN Canberra website.