A Vintage Doll's House and the Yukky Nutters

Thanks so much my friends for your kind thoughts & acknowledgements over the last few days we do so appreciate your caring hearts. ♥

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Last weekend was the St Mary's school Gala just down the road..a bit of a bun fight really...we were all lined up outside the high tennis fences..the white elephant stuff being all laid out on the actual court inside.. and given quite a lecture on appropriate behaviour, before the whistle eventually blew & the gates were opened... there was to be NO pushing, shoving or trampling people in the rush to get in! 

Rob came with me, fortunately..you try tucking a doll's house under your arm & looking at the book stall simultaneously. Yes, I had spotted this doll's house in the distance & since Rob seemed to be in the slip stream he got to it in enough time to have a good look at it & "pegs" it..but oh dear poor darling I quite lost my senses & my manners & left him in the "pegsed" position for some few minutes while I merrily browsed the laden tables. Phew, he forgave me & we got to escape the tennis court with our $5 bargain of a house. And who should come to play that very afternoon but Kaitiaki, who was delighted to have a new venue to line up the cars & fly planes over.

 He & I decided to sit & play in the sunshine together..him with his house & cars & me with a hammer & a basket of walnuts, but it wasn't long before Kai saw that there was an issue & whipped inside to find me a plate for the "yukky nutters"

 Then it was time to swap jobs and tell a few tales..apparently he'd eaten a zebra just that week..yes indeed. In fact, his Dad had cooked it for him! It was brown & white..of course!

Then it got cold & his Mum came & took him home.
During my momentary lapse at the gala I did find a lovely English trug..good length for flower picking too.

I also found this lovely clear pressed glass jug to go with it's coloured friends on the kitchen window sill.

We have been having a go at getting ourselves organized..spring cleaning outside...sheds, the larder, reorganizing & repotting plants & making quite good progress really. The courtyard is looking much better.
 I love the new growth on the buxus.

 On my way down the back to pick this yummy lettuce for our tea

I found solomon's seal

and white wisteria

Everything is so pretty just now...

soft & translucent

and a little magical, these foxgloves really do look like fairy hats..don't you reckon?

I am just so thrilled with this photo...now blow!

Anyway..fixing & cleaning. Rob had been cleverly fashioning some brass brackets to put these shelves up with in the larder, when I came out & found him hanging out the washing! No, no you don't have to do that said I and his reply "I really don't mind, besides it gives me a break from being an engineer & since I can't be a goddess it gives me a chance to be a domestic god"...well what else would you like to do then!!??  

A few odd things have surfaced in the clean out including a large tin of mango puree..so, I made the most delicious pudding using half mango & half Greek yoghurt, a little honey & gelatine & set it in teacups..yum!

In wondering what to do with this silver plate hot water jug I found a new purpose that works quite well.

I wasn't too sure about the colour of this enamel teapot but I think it may have just redeemed itself.

And somewhere along the line I made a Prune & ginger loaf that has been very yummy for days. Tea & loaf in the garden with Moja sort of fare...just for now.

Much

Hope you have a lovely week xx

Goodbye dear friend

Such a sad day..having to take our dear friend Moja to the vet this morning to be "put to sleep". Goodbye dear one, thank you soo much for coming into our lives.

 Frequently perplexed by kindness yet always so grateful for our care he never, ever took us for granted. Wild at heart & perennially shy, Moja was suspicious of affection to the end; yet couldn't believe his luck when it arrived. Having contracted FIV some years ago..it came time for one last act of kindness...

 Abused & discarded by an uncaring neighbour a decade ago, I fell in love with wee "Pretty"when his mother started bringing him & the rest of her little family to our place looking for food ..well look at all those ringlets..I could be excused for thinking him to be a girl now surely..

our Pretty was to be swiftly renamed Moja (meaning number 1 in Swahili..
as there was also Mbele & his brother Tato)

..do not ask me what happened to these two, mother cat & the further litter of 6!!

..it's a long story!
After a family conference back in the day & conceding that David could have cat since a monkey was just not feasible...we were deluged with cats & feline eccentricity for years to come

Sparky even had a curly tail & would sit like this & watch the water go down the plug hole while David  made his lunch!

Moja became my ever present
 companion & garden shadow.


With a personality all his own I think sometimes he fancied himself to be a plant

or something!

He & Charlie..you know our "daily borrowed cat"..became fast friends in the last year

then this week as the blossom swirled & we all faced the inevitable

it was sweetly fitting & comforting that Charlie & his Mum should come & pay their respects this morning

rest now dear boy

Thank you for coming dear friend..funny that's just what he would say..thanks for loving ME...♥ you're welcome Moja..we loved you so much.

 XX

Enchantement!! Bright Star

 Oh what enchantment, what a dream! The most romantic & engaging film I have ever seen. After telling you of my longing to walk in woods of bluebells I almost swooned when in the middle of this absorbing tale there are wondrous scenes set in a field of English bluebells..sigh!

Bright Star is described as "One of the most deeply moving, romantic films in memory"....well certainly in mine.
And, "A delicately created, deeply felt film of both restraint & intensity, visually ravishing & quietly absorbing"
Written & directed by our own New Zealand director Jane Campion, Bright Star is the enthralling story of the first love of renowned English poet John Keats & his Fanny Brawne; inspired by the couples actual love letters & Keats own sublime poetry the film is utterly mesmerizing & elegantly graceful; yet witty & clever too.
I sooo wanted to be able to tell you about this beautiful film because it is so rare & lovely. You'll know by the music & the pictures here if it's something that might appeal to you too. I shall keep it forever & watch it a thousand times.
Here are some more reasons why I just love it...a room full of butterflies..

a girl who sews all her own originally designed cloths by hand!

ahh, a swing in an oak tree...I so want one like this!!

We have an old chair exactly the same. Perhaps, 

I could just cut off it's legs!!

a gorgeous picnic

even a cat for all occasions, including to sit on the sewing & comfort a broken heart

a garden like the Secret Garden, all overgrown & full of wonderment & bees

and a washing line so full on wash day that it makes you swear you'll never complain about your own washing ever again!

& then of course a love so sweet that all else is peripheral

so much beauty it makes your heartache..with joy

This trailer is wonderful all on it's own.

MUCH

XX