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Wednesday 1 May 2013

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
♥♥♥♥♥

12 comments:

  1. Oh, another eye-feast! The flamingos are fun! Our Birdie used to call them mingos.
    You look very glamorous in your heart sunglasses!
    Oh, please don't feel ghastly! Feel well, friend.
    That IS a lovely, lovely, lovely Sanderson.
    I've been waiting to see Quartet. Maybe I'll watch it this weekend.

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    1. Hi Pom Pom, mingos is a cute name for them.
      Funny about the sunglasses..I was having ago at taking a picture of myself not looking at the camera. I am amazed that it's not out of focus!
      I am trying really, really hard to feel well..one day I will be!
      I hope that you see quartet soon..it is really fun & full of music. I want to see it again already. Much love my friend GK x0x0x

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  2. Hello Catherine, Gosh poor Lucy having Disney characters plastered on her when "she" was Donald !!! Rachel has done an amazing transformation. Glad you are getting to spend some time out in her. Do hope you are soon feeling much improved - I am sure the heart shaped sunglasses will help & I love how they match your pink lippy my friend :-)
    Hasnt it been quite lovely out in the garden lately - makes us appreciate it after the ghastly summer. Also I think the new zip kettle goes perfectly in Lucy. Have a great rest of the week, Love Julie xx

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    1. Hello Julie dear, yes this autumn has been wonderful. It feels so good to be able to work the soil again. I even planted some daffodils this week & I've been transplanting all those eager primulas that seed themselves on the edge of the lawn, hate to miss out on them.
      Nina wore her pink sunglasses today when she came to visit with her mummy..she was fascinated with mine (of course!)
      Lucy is going to have such a nice life now!!
      I'll keep working on the bedding department uncase you ever need a bed for the night...maybe an afternoon nap might be safer for now ; )
      Much love Catherine x0x0x

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  3. Hi Catherine, its nice to see more of your lovely Lucy and flamingo's too! I did have a chuckle at your sleepover attempt.

    Sorry to hear that you have been feeling bad, I hope the sunny days and time with Lucy will help.

    We still haven't got our 2nd caravan back, nor have we attempted to start renovating our other :( One day..one day...

    bye for now, take care, Tam x

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    1. Hi Tam..oh my goodness I have just remembered..all good intentions, I forgot to send an email to your last comment!
      Thanks for your kind thoughts..sunny days & Lucy really do help a lot. Having little rests in Lucy have quite a different quality to them!, that is if you're not yet sleeping there all night!
      As long as you own your caravans the day will eventually come when you get some work done on them. It's nice that all the jobs are quite small, compared to a house. Painting a wall for instance is only a small area. I think I have matched all the paint colours at last..only draw back...small space can mean more dings. We have been so thrilled to find that all the warrant costs, rego etc are way cheaper than owning a car & the insurance wasn't even a lot. Always good to get happy surprises.
      Hope it's been a good week for you.
      Love Catherine x0x0x

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  4. Such a beautiful post with more good things than I can mention!
    I don't comment as often as I should but I do enjoy your blog and want to pass the Very inspiring blogger award on to you. I hope you enjoy getting awards. Barbara

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    1. Hello Barbara, thank you so much for honouring me with such kind thoughts & the award. I have a little plan that I'd like to work on in receiving it. I'll get back to you very soon. Much love catherine x0x0x

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    2. Oh, that sounds exciting! I can't wait to hear more. Barbara xx

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  5. Oh my goodness Catherine what a lovely post.

    I love Lucy, she's a beauty, we also named our makeover caravan Mouse House, not as pretty a name as yours. I love what you have done with the dolly pegs.

    I came over from Barbara's blog for a sticky beak and to say congratulations on the award.

    I don't follow as many blogs these days as I used to but very pleased I found yours to follow, so much to see and read on here:)

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  6. Love to catch up and see what else happened in your corner of the world! Great sunglasses!
    Enjoy a peaceful weekend and God Bless,

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  7. love the glasses, you gnarly-punk garden goddess you!

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So lovely of you to leave a comment. Thank you!! So sorry if you've tried to leave one & it hasn't worked. You are welcome to email me at catherine@sunshinevintage.nz instead, if you'd like to, much love Catherine♥

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