Winter Rain and Rainbows

Well it rained & rained....

I coughed & coughed..all night long for a week.

I thought it would never stop.

Having retired to the "parlour"..well stumbled down the hall

in the night actually...to save waking Rob 59 times a night..

I woke one morning to...

the light streaming through the curtains & reflecting off the mirrors

no, not quite the crack of dawn..

back in our room the prisms were enchanting

pretty light everywhere

even at my feet

out in the garden receding waters have made temporary pools

what endurance..through all the rain & the cold to 

still emerge with such pristine fragile beauty

walking back from the letter box..
this dear ladybird

kindly flew by & landed on my hand,

while Herbert Stevens pink continued 

to bloom in all his/her?? nodding loveliness.

a good time for a cup of tea thought we

Lady Grey today..loose leaf

later I put my water & light together at

bighugelabs.com

and could hardly believe that I could actually
manage to do it!

And this is was what I made..

Hope you've had a good week

Vintage Inspired Calendar for June and Other Vintage Finds.

www.houseonthehill.co.nz 

I am so loving this inspired & delightful calendar.

One of my lovely finds this last week was in fact this very chic 

vintage pattern & the pretty pink crocheted doily.

I took this photo before turning the page of the calendar : )

It was bit soggy here last week, to say the least, so I found myself

with a little more time inside than usual & since Rob was working

5 afternoons I had a lovely time sorting through my doily hatbox..

one I did a revamp on a little while ago

  some simple decoupage on the lid

only it wasn't long before my hatbox found itself commandeered & repurposed

I was delighted to accidently discover the relocated 

"Habit for Humanity" Op Shop in it's re-opening week. 

They have come in to town & are now just around the

corner from "Connections" our wonderful Hospice shop.

At H for H I found this really interesting afternoon tea cloth.

It has come up really nicely with a good soak.

I am always on the look out for pretty vintage cotton sheets

& thought that I might make some bunting out of the various

stripes & florals.

  I am sure that they would flutter very happily in the breeze

being well used to all that breeziness in a previous life.

I found the stripe on the chair this week.

& these pretties came as a pair : )

ah, but getting the washing dry is a wee bit of a challenge in the rain 

so out came our wooden clothes rack.

Of course Moja thinks it's a hut just for him.

a truly versatile & multi purpose apparatus

it has many uses indeed !

Much love Catherine X

The Charlie Adventures & Walnuts in the Woods

Well, as I am sure you are wondering...the Charlie has perked himself up, come down

off his poison induced, paranoid high & returned to his silly, regular inquisitive self.

So far, he has not nibbled anything deadly this week!

It is really handy that I am here quite a lot & can keep a bit of an eye on the boy...

that way we know what he is up to some of the time at least.

Like when I had arranged these vintage blankets on the bed in the "Parlour" so that I

could take some photos & list them on Trade Me & returned a few minutes 

later to find "himself" all nicely settled in!

My dear friend Ruth is a gatherer too & so we have been gathering nuts in May

..down to the bottom of the plum orchard & over the wee creek 

through the gate & into a wonderland...

so many beautiful trees..quince, crabapples, pinenut, hazelnuts, camelias...

& a majestic stand of walnuts originally planted by this dear gentleman

(a retired judge) 30 years ago.

so nice to share this gathering time with my friend

on the return journey there were chickens roaming free amongst the trees

My old cane washing baskets are fabulous for nut storage. However, we have discovered that we are not the only ones a bit partial to the odd walnut so I have covered mine in their baskets, stacked them & left them on the back porch to dry under the attentively watchful eye of Moja.

He has taken to sleeping, ensconsed on high

most of the day & night.

Ruth has not been so fortunate & has quite a rodent problem..inside & out..

"so why don't I sell some of your walnuts at my gate,

said I, along with the fruit?"

And that is what we've done.

We have all kinds of things out at the wee "shop" just now mandarins, oranges, feijoas, pears, kiwifruit & the loveliest tree ripened apples that I go out & pick

every few days from an orchard down the road.

The family are so kind.They leave some fruit on their trees each year so that people can come & 

pick their own for 80c a kg.

Oops this sign doesn't have the walnuts on it!

The new card table is working brilliantly..

(much better than the box I had with an old suitcase & a brick in it!)

..happily snaffled for a $1 outside St Vinnies the other day. 

I have a dear customer with a dickie leg & a limited income so we 

decided to do a bit of barter..her relish for walnuts & apples

..perfect idea

I just had to pop the sweet persimmons in there too as I had just picked them

& they are such a gorgeous colour.

It has quite suddenly become very chilly the last day or two so 

I had a rummage

& found the crocheted hat that I made last year

I still rather like it so might have to find the pattern I used & create another one

Now, back to that jolly old Charlie..on Tuesday I had been out at work gardening & on returning home some 5 hours later discovered that the front door was wide open

..oh oh so I rushed inside & saw that my camera was still sitting on the table & the computer was still in residence & then found this!!

"somebody" had a push of that door, found it was only snipped shut & there we go...

walk right in & now I think I'll just have a nice little sleep just up here! 

Of course dear thicky Moja was left out the back guarding the walnuts,

entirely unaware that he too could have spent the day inside..phew! no harm done : )

Much love to you all xxxx

Speaking of Him & of Roses in the Rain

Around & around.. I come again to this tight space. There are many things in this life beyond our control, my brain being one of them. With creativity comes sensitivity, with historical displacement comes the struggle to find my place in the world & sometimes 

the unbearable weight of depression.

This morning I feel powerless & overwhelmed (for a number of reasons)..

I have just delivered an urgent note to all of our immediate neighbours as

Margaret's precious "Charlie" has been repeatedly poisoned by toxins unknown

& we are desperate to find the source. 

Charlie really is extraordinary!!

I will often find him at our house making himself quite at home 'cos his "Mum" isn't at his place!

On my journey of leaflets in the rain

I found loveliness on the front fence..valliant Souvenir de Mal Maison

I am reminded in my place of powerlessness that I am not in control He is..

No, that's not how
I see Him really

My father dropped off some more "stuff" this week..he thinks that I might know what to do with it!

One of those things was our very old family Bible that I have never actually seen before.

All our names have been carefully recorded in the front by my grandfather

It even has pictures!

I quite like this one of "the lunatic breaking the chains"  

And beautiful lettering.

Ah & a simple message...we must guard against indifference..turning

our faces away from caring. "He" is all about the heart.

My love & hugs to you all. Thanks for being here.

The Memory Keeper & A Granddaughter

I have recently been reading a book with the intriguing title of:
"The Memory Keepers Daughter" & in the process of reading this fascinating story I got to thinking that as women, especially as mothers, we have the chance to become "Memory Keepers". There are so many things that happen in this life that no one at all would know about if someone didn't record events & experiences & journeys of families. That is probably why story telling is so important in many cultures. Stories & tales are passed down from one generation to another... that is just the way of things..& some of us have very poor memories & imaginations which is where photos come in.
This all brings me to Felicia, Rob's mother. It is her birthday today.

Happy Birthday Felicia we hope you have a really lovely day!

Thank you for doing such a fine job as the "taker & keeper of the photos"

Without your faithfully creative eye on the job we would never have

remembered what we looked like back in 1980

 when we lived in Manaia in Taranaki

Or how sweet little Anna was & just how many friends she had back then or.. a million other things!

I have often admired Felicia through the years for her brave & fearless approach to learning new skills..even now, joining the family on Facebook, mastering her own interesting computer & making the transition from film to digital photography even in her 80's (am I allowed to say that?!!) She recently made this fabulous voucher card for Rob which I am in awe of

A good sense of humour is also very useful when recording the life of a family!

We have been to see

Gaylene Prestons

"Home by Christmas"

..wonderful story telling.

Resourcefulness is good too..I found a voucher through Ezibuy..2 for 1 to this very movie : ) for last week.

Now, it's quite interesting because everywhere that I turn just lately I seem to come across a sweet 16 year old girl called Jasmine who is doing a fabulous job of connecting people & enjoying her friends & family..

Just this week Jasmine posted this photo on Facebook (below)

of herself & her cousin Matthew

(our Matthew who is now almost 25!)

I imagine that a common Nanna took this photo of two cousins.

Well done Jasmine!!!...keep being a "Memory Keeper"

..every family needs a good one..tag!

And just to finish this post..

I bet you haven't seen this particularly special photo of Nanna

.. dressed in this seasons high fashion weed bag

kindly supplied by the Auckland City Council ; )

Love Catherine x