With Flowers In Her Hair...

A few days ago, I received an intriguing invitation from my lovely artist friend Susan Brown; an invitation to join her in her dream of creating a magical place of community.

She says.. 

 "When I was envisioning this project at its completion I pictured the beautiful decor, the exquisite music, the various people sitting together laughing and sharing....I invite you to imagine yourself in the Venue I'm creating. Really, can you imagine who you could be in this setting? Could you play? Could you get up and share yourself in this magical place?"

As I read Susan's words I pondered her invitation...do I sing, do I dance, what is there that I have to share?...there was a moment of silence in my head, when nothing at all came to mind & then I looked up & saw this picture...

and I burst in to tears!

I gasped, as I instantly recognised myself.

At the beginning of this year when I set my intention to "bloom" life quickly became very challenging & it just hasn't let up since.

There is some very deep work happening for me.

I have come to realise that I have been locked in the snare of looking in the mirror held by another (it's been that way for 50 years). I've been bound by various shades of guilt & shame that don't belong to me. They never belonged to me. They are all lies. The truth has been banging on the door of my heart, my body shouting in pain..wake up, wake up & then I looked in the mirror of Susan's picture entitled "Eve" & I knew that I would never believe the lies again. 

My new truth is just this:

  "I have the right to be here, to be me. Just as I am."

It's hard to keep going when you feel you'll never get there, but this is my new dream:

You know...

via Pinterest

I have sent for a print of Susan's wonderful Eve & you can see more of her fabulous work at Bohemian Romance on Etsy (unfortunately she lives in the United States).

Several weekends ago..I looked up to see a bride walking by.

That's a little odd, I thought to myself.
And very soon I saw a bus...a bus full of brides, in fact!

Right outside our house!
I couldn't very well go & stand on the street & take photos so I crept out on to the porch & snuck these pictures. A friend solved the riddle later that day...apparently a confirmed single girl was turning 40 & decided it was her best shot at wearing a wedding dress, so she & all her girlfriends (one of them being a neighbour), dressed for the event & then hopped on a bus for a road trip to wellington for the weekend.
All returned the following day, looking a tad worse for wear & no longer very bridal!
The entourage of dad's & husbands turning up to retrieve each one was rather entertaining too...especially the ones with small children in the car!

I had fun making this dear little Cath Kidston tablecloth recently & then sold it on Trade me. I hope it makes someone smile. The lady who bought the duraware was so lovely & brought her husband back to visit Lucy.

Dear Lucy went off to the testing station with "Liley" & Rob last week for her warrant of fitness check up. So peculiar seeing her heading off down the road without me!

The sky is so azure just now as we head in to autumn.
Look, He made me a heart with a lovely long tail....thank you.

I love this Maori family...they have an orchard on a busy road & they sell their fruit so cheaply.

You can help yourself to apples & pears for 50c a kilo just now. Isn't that such a good thing to do!

My best friend & her lovely mum..

came back again...for a week beside the sea.

We went to the Farmer's Market together & then we had a little Lucy morning tea.

It was so nice to see them & a lovely celebration of Lucy being with us for a whole year.

I love my autumn raspberries, they taste the best.

See what I mean about blue! The bog sage (that's not a very nice name is it!) flowers match perfectly, don't you think?

I found these lovely daisy crocheted doilies in Finder's Keepers last week.

Such a clever pattern & so much work.

I also found a few more plastic knitting needles to add to the knitting vase.

Thank you Lucy for being such a blessing!

The red & white striped ticking discovered in Aaron's Emporium looks rather smart.

I thought this thermos picnic basket might be quite handy for transporting the flock.

Yesterday after Rob finished work we went out to Haumoana for a walk & to be by the sea.

Daylight saving finishes here this weekend..

the days will quickly begin to close in again.

But right now, they are still balmy & warm & very, very dry.

Thank you for being so lovely & visiting me.

I hope that you have a wonderful week.

Much love, 

Catherine 

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Such a Colour-full World...

A week or two ago, before the storm called Lusi (glad they didn't spell it the other way) howled through our land, we found we had to be in Napier early one Friday evening to run a little errand. This strip of Art Deco inspired garden, green lawn & Sound Shell has always seemed welcoming & cheery, so we stopped for a small cider & cheese sort of picnic. The sun was still warm & friendly...

& we found some nice people had organised their friend a birthday surprise. We were pleased too..the music was lovely.

The following day we walked just around the corner from home to our dearly beloved & favourite Cornwall Park where my cousin Sally had organised her 14th International Cultures day. The event is always so colourful & full of life. I was enchanted by the Russian stall in particular this year.

The woman had made beautiful cakes.

Don't you love the tummy in the background of this photo!

And this gorgeous shouty heart. Joy!!

I stopped & got a mandi. The henna smelt very strong for hours but I loved it. My lovely Indian neighbour Sumana told me it was called a mandi. I look forward to seeing her wedding photos as apparently she had mandi painted all over both arms. Golly, she'd had to have been very still for quite some time so as not to smudge the wet henna. I didn't do a very good job of letting mine dry.

People are such great participators & volunteers, there were dozens & dozens of happy, willing folk out in force last Saturday manning the stalls at St Luke's Fair in Havelock North. I love Church fairs...they use affordable currency. I bought bags & bags of very old sheep manure that I'll feed to all the roses in the coming months.

There's a lovely retired Dutch man called Peter, who lives just down the road, who has been selling me his figs. They are magnificent! He has netting over the trees so they get to fully ripen without the birds getting in first. They taste like ambrosia. These ones are called Brown Turkey.

Sumana's little daughter knows where to find the "ballet dancers " in my garden now.

And dear Nina is a happy Fruit Lady assistant. 

We can hardly believe that we've had Lucy almost a year.

Don't quinces smell so wonderful.

Did you have a Nana who made quince jelly?

It's nice to just lie in the sunshine sometimes, isn't it.

We finally recieved a Cath Kidston catalogue in the mail last week, after years of asking.

Rob very soon spotted these chaps & rather took a fancy to them.

We've given Lucy a freshen up..

she does so love flowers.

I think we'll have to plan a little tea party to thank her for being such a wonderful friend.

It would be so nice if you could all come too.

And now she's also "safe as houses".

With much love to you all for a happy week,

Catherine, Rob & Lucy.

Thanks so much for popping in!

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