The Ugly Duckling Becomes...

Do you ever have ideas about something, imaginings in your own mind, stories that you somehow created, but then when you actually ask the questions...the right ones, the reality is quite, quite different? Sometimes we do that in judging other people, or situations, like when you hear a snippet of the news headlines & then later you get a hold of the full story & everything changes in the light of the revealed truth. Well the story of Lucy is a little that way. I decided to contact Rachel (who we bought Lucy from) & ask her for a few more details about Lucy's life & origins.

Would you believe it, Rachel bought Lucy from Hamilton (the city where I was born)  

from a man with a penchant for Disney characters.
 Poor old "Donald" had some interesting Donald Duck embellishments plastered on his sides & a colour scheme to match. Fortunately, Rachel was able to see past the venetian blinds & tacky styling & so remove the affronts & creepy bits, adding many of her own sweet touches in the transformation process, so that by the time that this dear old caravan reached us here in Hastings she had made a full metamorphosis from ugly duckling

  to our dear, sweet Lucy...with friends!!

 Aren't they silly!! and oh so pink.
 They are also very Kenyan & Rob is a long way from home so..
we bought ourselves a whole flock & they flew all the way from America, we sold half on Trade Me (& had some lovely encounters in the process) & the rest cost us next to nothing.

You'd never believe how ghastly I have been feeling, much of the time, through these days, but life is for living in between the dumb & ugly & I finally found myself heart shaped sunglasses that were made for adults not children!

Having bought them from a simple listing on Trade me I laughed & laughed when I read the details on the bag they came in..my goth, punk purchase!

I have been sitting in Lucy in the afternoon sun to finish a little hand sewing on her cushions.

I just had to go back to the Mart for this silly wee pink elephant I had seen last week, after I realised that we really did need an ashtray to put the old matches in after lighting candles & tea lights in the evenings.

We had a go at a sleep over. 

I made it to 3 am, but oh dear, the bed was too hard so off I clambered inside & woke in the morning with a very bleary head & sore neck.

I think it may have been a case of the Princess & the Pea.

So we have been keeping a look out for spongy additions to the bedding arrangements.

One of my useful finds was this lovely thick wool rest underlay ($14 at The hospice Shop). It has washed up well & responded beautifully to an airing in the sunshine.

Glorious autumn sunshine & azure blue skies have been so welcome..

perfect weather for outdoor markets, which is where we found this fabulous Zip kettle for Lucy.

For some reason when I saw this plant at Anna's old house I recognised it to be the Thai spice galangal. It belongs to the ginger (zingibar family) & is like a mild ginger. I was permitted to bring some home & found it so easy to grow down under the feijoa tree. Yesterday I discovered it was flowering.

The last of the tomatoes are still ripening & clinging to wizened vines but they still taste delicious. These are called orange past.  Matthew took one home last season & grew 14 plants from seed (this being one of them).

I found this very vintage Sanderson print in the cupboard the other day. Perhaps it might be useful for a rag bag or some such use in Lucy. I love the graphics on these old fabrics.

Our lovely neighbour & friend Margaret mentioned that she had very much enjoyed the movie "Quartet" recently. Oh it truly is wonderful!! Here's the trailer..have a look & see if it might appeal to you too.

Isn't this this the dearest picture..."The Littlest Fairy"

We all need to feel safe & watched over & cared for don't we.

Thanks so much for visiting with me.

I hope that your week holds sweetness & promise of sunshiney days to come.

MUCH

♥♥♥♥♥