A Thing of Beauty...

Hello lovely ones!
My goodness it's June and three days into winter here.
I love turning the page on my Victoriana calendar each month and was delighted to find this rose red joy staring back at me this month's beginning.

Isn't this a sweet idea...but oh dearie me I can't remember which magazine I was sifting through!

I love Jessie Wilcox Smith's illustrations...here is another picture from my library discard treasure book "Best of Friends".

I was growing a tamarillo tree in a pot -you know, one of those times where you buy this tiny little tree & you say to yourself "I'll just pop it in this pot over here until I decide where to plant it?" only the tree put down some happy roots, tucked in the shelter of the lemon tree & now it has some fruit. Not sure if they'll fully ripen now that the frosts have begun to grace our mornings with crispness.

This sweet forget-me-not near by seems to have forgotten itself & popped up a flower just because.

Lots of people complain about leaves.
 Some even wage war on them & the trees around them.
 I love them!
 So much so that I have been dragging them home from round the corner near the park...bag after bag and then a neighbour dropped off a trailer load last week.
 How wonderful!!

I have been scattering them all over the place as mulch, especially down underneath the fruit trees.

I adore the vibrant colours & the pleasing shapes of the flowering cherry tree leaves...

so I tend to leave them be as long as possible so that I can enjoy their lovely display.

Of course, leaves do take themselves off just wherever they please, so in the end there is a lot of raking & sweeping...but it's good for you & keeps you warm. Sometimes a helper is required. (Borrowed cat who crosses the road by herself everyday to visit us!)

The days are shorter (& chillier!) but the light is sometimes amazing & makes the colours so much richer,

especially at days end.

Lured by the sight of two vintage prams outside The Mart in Havelock North the other day I spied this sweet little house, outside on a table. Do you think it's a bird house?

And an unusual bird bath that seemed quite perfect to me..

 for the garden at the front that I have just rejuvenated this last few weeks.

A while back, outside a secondhand shop, I found this sheet music free for the taking.
Oh what a perfect title for a song!
The pegs I thought, a rather clever idea found on Pinterest...very handy for spare threads, especially crochet weight or even bits of wool, I expect.

Very kindly, my mother sent a Victoria magazine in the post just recently.
What a divine picture I found in the first few pages...perfect for the quote from John Keat's poem Endymion.

Isn't this so romantic...Among the Wildflowers.

(If you click the picture you will see it bigger)

Beauty is often fragile & fleeting which is why it must be sort out every day, like this winter flowering iris. I am always amazed by it's audacity, so fragile yet flowering in the chilliest part of the year, happiest under trees or slightly sheltered near the house or other quiet spots.

Out walking this week I was suddenly struck (as I snaffled the fragrant twigs of winter sweet as I passed by) with the realization that there are two different flowers for the same bush...look. Same scent, different form.

I had a special visitor this week..about last Tuesday.
A lovely lady called Kay.
She came to talk to me about my garden.
She wrote a lovely story..here it is..click on it & hopefully you can read it...if you're interested!

One day out op shopping I came across this forlorn little picture...the one with the little girl & the bird.
There just seemed to be something special about it.
It's a little dark for me but I have recently found a place for it on the wall over here.

Then I found it on Pinterest & the artists name.
What was even better, I discovered that Simon Glucklich painted this picture of his little blind daughter listening to the first robin of spring.
The picture is entitled "Spring Song" & painted around 1925.
Isn't that so lovely!

Of course when you have boys come to your house for dinner you never know what you might find in your plug hole! Not sure what pasta animal this might in fact be...any ideas?

I have talked to you about Bright Star before...perhaps my favourite movie ever.

Too beautiful not to mention again...indeed A Thing of Beauty.

Even the movie trailer is wonderful!!

Thanks so much for visiting & your lovely comments...so much appreciated!

I hope your day today, your week is graced with beauty too.

 ♥♥♥♥♥

Fruit Lady Tales

It was my Nan's birthday yesterday.
She would have been 97.
I have been thinking such a lot about my grandparents recently.
Apparently, being flooded with memories is quite common through the menopausal years.
I guess some memories are challenging & others are grounding & reassuring.
Nan & Pa's house was fruit trees & huge vege garden,
 crisp white cotton sheets, eiderdowns & pots of tea.
 Punctual meals; morning & afternoon tea.
 A piano in the front room.
One inch of water in the old claw foot bath.
Jelly dripping, hanging in an old pillowcase over the same bath.
Sand saucers & fairy gardens..moss, emerald green.
Roasts & puddings & the BBC news on the wireless.
Books.

 I think I am about 7 in this photo.

My grandmothers name is Estelle & she wore this fur stole on special occasions.

By a circuitous route, the stole made it's way to me.

I found two padded coat hangers in an op shop this week so I covered them with prettiness.

 I have been having a huge clean out of lots of spaces..I feel sure that that's a positive sign.
I have taken bags & bags to the op shop & sold almost 40 bits & pieces on Trade me in the last couple of weeks. In my rummaging I came across this little pinefore. I cut a pattern from one of the teachers at Manaia school, back when I was a school dental nurse there. I was probably about 19 at the time & loved all the same things as I do now.

I'm really pleased with my coat hangers.

 It comes so naturally for me to be a gatherer & a "fruit person".
Yesterday a lady stopped to buy feijoas at our little community stall at the gate. She was having a Chinese sous chef come to stay & she was sure that he would like feijoas..inevitably the taste of lychees came up in our conversation & then I thought oh yes!! Feijoas, a can of lychees, a drizzle of honey & a splash of rosewater, sprinkle with friendly violets & leave to macerate for half an hour...utter heaven!!

After gathering walnuts with Ruth, they have dried quite nicely, so I have sold a bag or two, but for special customers like Audrey & Margaret...two darlings in their 80's I have offered to shell their walnuts for them. Having further conversations about walnuts & feijoas I was given a recipe last week & this is the topping. So simple & so delicious. I have used equal quantities of lightly toasted walnuts, chopped dates (check really carefully for stones) & sunflower seeds, add a tiny pinch of salt & pulse in the food processor until it makes fine crumbs. Wonderful on stewed apple.

 My Pa had a shaving brush just like this.
I don't think his shaving mug had flowers on it though.
 I loved watching him shave in the mornings with a cut throat razor.
I don't think I ever saw him unshaven.

 Nan always wore glasses.
I found these a few years ago in the little antique shop that I worked in for a while.

 I'm glad that I don't need to wear them (yet) as I don't think they suit me very well.
Have you any idea how hard it is to take a photo of yourself??!!

 Now that David has headed off & gone way up north to pick for the mandarin season, Rob has been able to get back in to the larder & finish off the shelves & put back the little green formica table...nearly done.

These Pacific Beauty apples are truly tree ripened & so crunchy.

They like living in the larder.

 I have been doing lots in the garden too & planted these polyanthus into the basket on the old bike in the garden.

 I planted these roses precisely because they flower right on through & in to the winter.

 Duchess de Brabant is such a pretty shell pink.

Scraggly bushes but precious fragrant blooms.

Just did these pots at the front door yesterday.

It's not often that you come across poly's in such a pretty pale pink.

Now that the mandarins have started I have been putting out the box of free fruit for the after school kids again. I saw them coming on Friday & rushed out with any box I could find..later I looked & hoped they didn't think I was trying to play a trick on them.

A scraggly group of neighbourhood boys scuffled past yesterday morning. "Hey, one of them called out to me...could we have some fruit?...your nice, you're the Fruit Lady!"

They looked just like these kids here hanging out the washing.

 The picture's from a school reader printed in 1971.
 Some things never really change.

 Another customer returned yesterday afternoon with a jar of quince paste. I had given her some quinces to take to her daughter in Wellington. Her daughter happened to work in a cafe & was very pleased to have the fruit...so back came a pot of paste for us.
The quinces on the scales are apparently Hong Kong quince...or so they informed me at the SPCA shop where I bought them.

 Standing out on the foot path Jan (quince paste lady) & I couldn't quite believe our eyes at the sight that was coming towards us...3 girls all in blue boiler suits each with heavy yellow rope tied around their waists, all linked to each other & wearing tie on cat hats (yes feline) & odd shoes..carrying a bag..they'd been shopping!

Thanks to Jenny last week I was able to clear up a little confusion. My friend Ruth told me that the rough green things in the trug were osage-oranges but I thought she was being silly & had said ostrich (because they were large & round). They are indeed osage-oranges or hedge-apples, are not edible but if placed under the bed may deter spiders!

 You are so kind to me.
 I cannot tell you how grateful I am for your care & love & support.
 Kindness really does matter!
 I have had a much better week this week....thank you!

I came across this little video via Pinterest this week called "Green Beans in the Garden"
Maybe not your style but it's a darling wholesome video..go on have a peek...
& a wonderful week!

Green Beans in the Garden is my family's first music video. My Mom and Sisters all live out in Amish Country in Tennessee, and live a simple, plain life. I'm very proud of them.

 ♥♥♥♥♥

Marigold and Daisy

Like two forlorn but very sweet orphans, Marigold and her sister Daisy, have been washed & fluffed, aired & coaxed, until at last they have settled in & found a home at our house. Some determined care & attention one fine shiny day this last week, did indeed do the trick. I came out one morning to find the Master Fluffer already on the mission of redemption for the day.

Our front porch gets wonderful winter sun..on a sunshiny day.

"I have a plan", declared the master Fluffer,"The girls..what are their names again?" "Daisy & Marigold", I said, "Since they are really quite pretty but they smell a little odd & besides both flowers are in the bouquets on the fabric itself." "Yes, well I have decided that I am going to madly shake Daisy & Marigold on the hour, every hour throughout this sunny day & see if that makes a difference to their demeanor"

Eventually, I wandered off to pick up the milk, return library books & other such important things. Right outside the library I found these sweet prunus blossoms. They routinely flower about now..I think they are "hope flowers"..pretty spring like blossoms that are sent to remind us that no winter really lasts that long after all.

When I got home I found one wee petal in my hair...

During an op shop "exchange" I found this little picture. I really rather bought it for the frame part. I love the heavy glass & scalloped edges & thought that I might pop a pretty rosey picture in to it, but, when I looked again I thought, oh no that actually is very sweet just as it is. A boy & his dog.

Clang, clang, clang there goes the bell again...

Master Fluffer is still on the job!

I found these two big old heart buttons recently..they will be just perfect for something.

I am amazed at how many fruits are orange at this time of the year. They must contain carotene, or some such thing, that we need to boost immunity right about now. We have lots & lots of delicious sweet persimmons. They are yummy & crisp & taste a bit like rock melon. One of their best qualities is that they don't oxidize like most fruit when cut, which means that they don't go brown. So they are great for a cheese board, fruit salad or in the lunch box (well, if I had one, a lunch box that is)

Master Fluffer works mostly afternoon shifts just now..which means he comes home just after 11.30 pm. I made him a pretty snack the other night..not too heavy to go to bed on..

The apples that I get from down St Andrew's road are a help yourself arrangement, with an honesty box & are truly tree ripened & juicy. My Sallies abacus is so helpful for counting bags (when needed) without losing track or having to pick up a pen.

I just love the embroidery on this lovely little afternoon tea cloth that I came across the other day. Best of all the same embroidery is in all four corners.

This kind of scarf could be worn winter or summer..great inspiration. I just love it, made all in lace like this. I am quite impressed that by using the embed button via Pinterest the picture retains all it's links, the source, my Pinterest homepage & Pinterest itself...very clever!

Source: lh3.ggpht.com via Catherine on Pinterest

Well, after all that ringing of bells & fiddling & fluffing the girls have been made "good". I haven't actually taken a long deep sniff but when I have been folding them & handling them there is no whiff at all!

 
Now they really are...

for all kinds of purposes. Come & take a pew...

I just love this thought! I guess that is precisely what the Master Fluffer managed to do. Such a simple thing, no expectation or pressure, just just go forth & make something good.

Source: etsy.com via Catherine on Pinterest

One of the other bonuses, I am finding with Pinterest, is that of discovering new blogs & tutorials via the pinned pictures, that I may never have otherwise come across. At Stone Gable I found a lovely range of homely tutorials like this one for making a vintage linen hand towel in to a pretty pillow.

Source: stonegable.blogspot.com via Catherine on Pinterest

And this one about the care & washing of vintage linen.

Source: stonegable.blogspot.com via Catherine on Pinterest

I came to this blog via this gorgeous picture of pansy shortbread. If you follow the link you will find the recipe & instructions for the pansy bit. Aren't they just divine?!!

Source: stonegable.blogspot.com via Catherine on Pinterest

With lots of sunshiny hugs & persimmony kisses 0X0X0X0X0
MUCH

♥♥♥♥♥