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Saturday 7 September 2013

Washing an Elephant...

As the days grow longer & the sky turns bluer, quite suddenly, there is an awful lot of cleaning to be done. Lucy was so grubby, poor girl. But I have discovered that she's not so very easy to wash. 
Quite a lot like washing an elephant, I should think.
The lilies have loved our very soggy spring.
So soggy, in fact, that this little slogan is entirely apt:
Funny old things lilies, they love boggy places in the valleys & they love winter- no valleys in my garden- but tucked in against our back wall seems to suit them very well.
It's so nice to have a profusion of flowers...enough to pick & some left in the garden to admire.
Lilies & white swans seem to go together in my mind. Perhaps it's their shared elegance.
White swans & bluebells...even better.
I came across this glorious old chocolate box on Trade Me sometime ago.
For a while there I feared that it might not make it to my door. The young man that sold it to me fell off his bike & ended up in hospital on the day of the sale. It was quite some time before he was able to bike the parcel to the Post Shop to send it on it's way. It certainly must have once contained a family box of chocolates in it's early life! The picture is a Vernon Ward, one I have never come across before.
Rob had some time off last week. It was so nice to be able to eat together each evening (he's normally at work 5 nights a week), catch up on some spring cleaning..
the front porch was covered in yellow pine pollen & dust, so it got a spruce up
& we took a little tour south to hunt down some daffodils...& a white swan or two.
We also watched "An unexpected Journey"
Which was mostly lots of fun, although I would have happily stayed on in the Elvin Kingdom myself.
We had a romantic rondezvous one evening in Lucy,


Lucky for the tiny heater & a rug.
It's still pretty chilly in the evenings.

And then on Father's Day we visited the markets & I made the boy's favourite date scone(s)
& an afternoon tea
in Lucy, of course!




So sorry I didn't manage to reply to many of you last post.
Thank you for your lovely comments..so very much appreciated.
I do wish you a very lovely week in the midst of these gentle seasons.
Thank you so much for visiting.
You can see all the gorgeous daffodils we found just here.
MUCH
♥♥♥♥♥

5 comments:

  1. Hello Catherine, your posts are always so beautiful & I so look forward to them. Yes I can imagine Lucy is rather like washing an elephant. I adore your new chocolate box purchase - goodness that poor boy falling off his bike - I had visions of your box being squashed!!! I think that your porch looks like I could just perhaps sit in there with a good book & let the world go by ... it is so lovely & restful looking. Your scones you made for Rob look most tempting as does the afternoon tea in Lucy ... I have never done butter curls but I do have a pair of old butter patts somewhere to make them with. Yes I think with the warmer weather coming, you will take quite a few of your meals out to Lucy to enjoy. I am popping over to your other post now for a read - two posts, what a treat this week. Much love, Julie x0x0x0

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    1. Hello Julie, thank you so much for your kindly words!
      At least Lucy isn't going to trumpet mud all over herself when I've finished washing her! I had to climb to the top of the ladder on both sides & reach across with the broom to get to the middle.
      It's funny when you don't actually know who you're trading with on TM but we did have a good deal of correspondence at that time. He broke his collar bone, I think. When he finally took the box in to work to pack it up & post it, it was apparently eyed up by many of his colleagues.
      I think that you'll find that butter pats do a slightly different job to a curler. Last time I had a go with them I just got squashed butter everywhere! The curls are fun & easy to make & to spread. We used to make a box full at Port 'O' Call every morning.
      Actually I have taken a pot of tea out to Lucy about 5.30 the last two days & done some more of my crochet for the dolly blanket while sipping hot tea... the sun was setting & day closing..so nice : ) And I didn't need a hottie to keep warm!

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  2. As always a very beautiful & relaxing post - just what I needed this weekend.

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  3. oh catherine, the photograph with the tree house, and the daffodils and the pond-heavenly! we're planning on building claudine a tree house in our old apple tree over the christmas hols, so i love seeing ones for inspiration. how lovely to have lucy as a little hideaway, and such a pretty one. i was excited to see what i think is borage atop you butter curls? i just got a borage plant and i am hoping to plant a little edible flower patch this spring, borgae, marigolds, nasternum (spelling?) just so i can make my salads pretty as well as tasty!
    and the rug on your front porch, love it!
    happy week lovely x

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    Replies
    1. Hello dear one,
      Oh I am so glad about your tree house plans.
      This was such a great tree house, only it was really quite tall which would be a tad scary if someone got a bit bolshy up there
      & started pushing or some such thing! Look forward to see what you come up with.
      Lucy is like having the cutest playhouse that you could ever dream of...just what I need to make life feel a whole lot better.
      Yes, I have a spot down the back where the borage likes to self sow. It’s so cute...little blue stars.
      Now is a perfect time to get your flowers sorted. Remember that it’s calendula that you want for the salads not the other sort of marigolds.
      Also..you can eat violets, the flowers from broadbean & pea plants & wee pansies..like Johnny-jump-ups & even lilac (just learnt about that recently)
      Wait there’s more!..the lovely blue rosemary flowers are tasty just now & thyme flowers are great too.
      Have a great week. Hope you still have power!
      Much love Catherine x0x0x

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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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