I feel so blessed every time a Tui visits my garden..
and even more delighted when I find that he has brought a Bellbird friend along to sing his little heart out with him!
I have made delicious figs in your honour,
They are gently simmered in the juice of an orange, two tablespoons of honey & a vanilla pod for around 45 mins (lid on for first half hour). Then pop them in the oven as low as it will go (or around 75 degrees C) for the day, or overnight.
The result is a little bit different each time..sometimes the figs are very juicy so there is more "sauce"...that becomes sticky & so delicious! There are lots of other variations you could make up like adding cardomom or ginger. These will last for a couple of weeks in the fridge if you hide them well enough! I think I might try putting some figs in the freezer so that we don't have to eat them all now.
Autumn colours take my breath away.
Oh look..the Bellbird returned to the front garden. I have never seen one in town before.
When I popped into The Greendoor, garden centre last week I was greeted at the door by this glorious display.
Isn't that beautiful...in honour of mothers!
This cheery little face has been lovingly handpainted. It must have taken ages!
I love Kate Greenaway...isn't this sweet?
Look at the cat.
A rose for you today..so sweetly scented.
I found this rose elixir tutorial yesterday.
I've made a tiny jar as I only have a few scented roses left.
Of all my 4392 pins on Pinterest the pictures most commented on are of Lily-of-the-valley..so here's a bunch for you. It's especially French. I hope you can smell it.
This is the sweetest little video of a mother & her daughter..a song
Creating a life with soul...
Creating a home with soul...
I feel fairly certain that most of us, most of all, just really want somewhere to belong...a place to call home.
A place that has warmth & love & soul.
If we carried this thought a little closer to our hearts sometimes I think we might discover that our lives were richer & more wonderful than we had realized.
The choices..to live a richer, better life are often so very simple..
and usually they are the things & habits that are done daily.
The heart-warming, body-nourishing, soul-engaging simple things.
Often they are the creative ways. The ways of the past but instead of having to make do & mend as many of our grandmothers did, we can make do & mend & create to make a home with soul.
Creativity & vitality can even extend to every day meals.
I am learning to love breakfast for the first time in my life. In fact I am learning so much about nourishing traditions & nurturing ways this year that my life will not ever be the same again.
I love Good magazine, as you can tell. I love the nostalgic touches & the good old fashioned, down to earth ...let's inspire & pass on knowledge, choices & information.
Foraging is such a richly rewarding past-time. It can be so easily incorporated into everyday kind of exercise, like walking & helps you connect to the place you live, your own neighbourhood & the people who live in it. Just 5 minutes down the road from our place is Pakowhai Country Park. At this time of the year it is so beautiful & such a lovely place to explore.
The Raupare stream runs through the middle of the park & there are lots of open meadow-ish spaces.
Even in a country park people can be loud & vigorous, much like the exuberant dog friends they bring with them, but if you slow down & begin to look around you can find nourishing herbs
and dear little friends.
No-one seemed to notice the enormous old fig tree..
well no-one but the birds who were wildly feasting when we arrived. We collected a huge bag of luscious figs. I'll show you what I did with them next time.
A few days later we took our Kaitiaki (grandson 2) through the "secret way" to the Farmer's Market.
It was left to Pop to carry the heavy things...like this gorgeous Muscque de Provence pumpkin & 4 litres of Village Press olive oil.
These pumpkins are so delicious. Weighing in at 10 kgs I think we might have to share it with the neighbours when we eventually cut it.
Kaitiaki had lunch with us & played at our house for a while. He really liked the little laundry things that I had found for the doll's house.
I was needing a bit of a hand on the walnut front. Thanks to my friend Gaye's suggestion, we now put the shells into paper bags & use them as firestarters.
I am very thankful for my friend Ruth who is also a constant gatherer.
A few weeks ago we went gathering walnuts at the back of her orchard...
& across the creek & over here..
Lovely big walnuts are now drying in my washing baskets & a few hazelnuts too.
Ruth has three daughters & they have just set off on the most remarkable journey. They are walking the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, some 800 miles from The Pyrenees mountains to near the coast of Spain. A pilgrimage taken by many through the ages for as many reasons as there are people, but it is said that James (the brother) of John was buried at Camino de Santiago de Compostela & that the Camino trail is the path that his followers took on the way to find his resting place.
I was so glad that I was able to join some friends & see this wonderful movie "The Way" on Wednesday night & even more delighted to find myself sitting beside a veteran pilgrim Barry who had walked the Camino Way some 10 years ago..what an interesting man. I feel very blessed by the encounter and mention the movie because it really is a just wonderful & you just might like it too.
I am so glad that you came to visit...thank you for being here!! And for your lovely comments & conversations. I so appreciate you all!
It was Pop's birthday this week.
We had a wee chat about pressies and stuff and decided that a very nice thing to do to celebrate such an auspicious event would be to have a night away together and even better, we could catch up with our boys from down South. Fynn was graciously released from his classroom for the afternoon and met us here in Palmerston North, oh yes.. along with his father.
He was just telling me that his charming waistcoat had come from the op shop.
It was so exciting to see him..it can seem a very long time in between catch ups when you are 8 years old. We loved the new mural that had been painted on the wall in Barista's.
Palmerston North is a student city after all.
Fynn and I decided to leave "them" to it and walked back through the city together.
Isn't this such a clever concept.
They are all around town.
Just tie up your bike & off you go.
We decided to follow the hand and have a wander through the library.
We'd never seen books made into a plane before
and we loved the mobile and the sunshine.
Who would have thought you could grow bananas in a library??!!
The bells chimed on the clock in the centre of The Square just as we were passing.
We noticed a delightful tui over in this corner.
It was a useful time to exchange all kinds of things. The boys had a boot full of pinecones for us to help light our winter fires. They also bought their new drums with them. At their place there's a music room. Could even be a bit of busking coming on.
Pop is a drummer from way back, so a good Cuban rhythm was just the thing for after dinner entertainment.
Some of us got a wee bit tired.
But the hands kept moving.
Only an hour to get them home again so we'll keep that idea in mind for another time I think.
The next day as we were trying to find the Goodwill shop we accidentally discovered Terrace End Antiques & Collectables.
The sweetest little vintage shop I have ever been into, I have to say. Yasmin has a wonderful selection of all kinds of retro, vintage & antique bits & pieces. She & her lovely shop can be found at 351 Broadway Ave should you feel inclined or be in the right nation to track her down.
I love Vincent Ward pictures, particularly of his ducks & swans but these primroses & violets are just gorgeous.
This is about the time that Pop found the "Sweep Fairy"
in a perfect vintage green..
he's hardly stopped sweeping since we arrived home!
Part of the exchange deal was me picking up this dear little ladder. The seller lives just down the road from Matt & Fynn so that was handy! Trade me is such a wonderful arrangement here in New Zealand. So many things that you'd never find in a second hand shop turn up on Trade me...they really still are all out there.
A perfect platform for shaking out the very dusty, albeit pretty, mosquito net from our bedroom!
Well I am off to watch "Call the Midwife" thanks so much to Betty for telling me about it.
Now before you go, do pop into see Betty the Wood Fairy she has just been hosting The Willows (all 3) & my goodness did they have some fine adventures while in her care.
and a silence in which another voice may speak” Mary Oliver, Thirst
"The spell was broken. My uncle learned to laugh, and I learned to cry. The secret garden is always open now. Open, and awake, and alive. If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden."
Immersed in everyday loveliness..
I adore all things vintage (well, many things.. some are ugly!). My greatest passion is for beautiful vintage fabric, most especially Sanderson. I am a Garden Fairy, a Fruit Person & a Pursuer of Beauty. I love to cook, make, create, grow, nurture, restore & reinvent. I live with my darling (& best friend) in an old cottage on our 1/4 acre Garden of Eden.
I am the mother of three grown up kids & two fab grandsons.
Remember you can click on any of my photos to see them better. Click on any words that are highlighted & that will link you to a new site to give you further information.
