Whimsical Tea Cosies and Vintage Inspired Calendar: July

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 A couple of weeks ago, I reserved 

this zany book at the library

(essential the reservation.. it's very popular!!)

Ah, I so fell in love with this

so out came my wool & 

my knitting needles

& some more wool was bought,

especially since Spotlight 

had all yarn at 1/2

price for a day or two.

 Then what should I see,

but the

Vicar Calling for Tea 

at Magpie Chic

 Her dear Magpie Chic mum had just made her this : )

however..I find I am still positively crap

at knitting! So in the blink of an eye 

the knitting needles

were sent away in disgrace

and my dear trusty crochet

hooks retrieved for service.

Phew... the book also has 

patterns for crocheted flowers.

Here was a completed rose 

flaunting itself shamelessly

atop a teapot.

Bit of a trick all this wool!

But that looks better!

I (we! Matt gave me a hand) lined this

old suitcase with this lovely old

lavender wallpaper

 so that now the suitcase is upcycled

& the yarn has a new home

Yes! I thought with relief, we can do this after all : )

I made up the body part & lined it with a wee 

piece of lovely old green vintage blanket,

blanket stitched the two together

& attached the roses to the top..

now here's the trick..the instructions were odd

so I made a little blanket platform for the flowers

to sit on & blanket stitched around that edge too

so that eventually I ended up with this!

Vintage button to secure the front

as we don't want to be revealing 

too much cleavage now do we!

I have also been making crocheted

flower brooches but I will have to save

that for another post!

I did however, find this lovely old 

basket at the Sallies recently

It's in very good condition.

Plastic lined but no tears. 

I have a feeling it has quite a bit of age on it.

What do you reckon?

Matariki and New Beginnings

Now is the time here, of Matariki. 

Celebrations of the New Year, new beginnings.

It makes sense really, the time of harvest is complete, 

the days have drawn in. 

  It is winter. The earth draws breath & rests..

so now is the time to take stock for the coming year..an

important time in the Maori calendar in New Zealand,

which has lead me 

to thinking..of community & the gathering together

& strength of women.

As we were walking this week I came across this

extraordinary painting on display in the window 

of the Information Centre

 It speaks to me of wholeness & empowerment through

each season of a woman's life.

 Women who know their own strength

& enable & nurture others.

Women who continue to bloom even in the winter

in spite of the rain.

even in the dark, continuing to be light

(yip we had an unexpected power cut)

warming others, warming themselves

Communities & families are held together by the strength

& love & resourcefulness of women.

All honour to you dear one. 

Thank you for taking the time to be here.

You are just lovely!

Did you know that violets drink from their flowers.

When next you pick a bunch dip their wee heads in a 

glass of water. I had a happy accidental drink from such a

glass after dunking violets once..the fragrance in the water

was astonishing. 

Your sweet violets will last several days longer this way.

I just adore the fragrance of daphne don't you.

This one is a white one but the scent is still 

just as divine. I keep visiting everyday

wanting to hurry it up... open!

Like when I was little & I would squeeze 

the feijoas daily until eventually they were

soft & fell off not from ripeness but from 

bruising!

Women bring so much fragrance, beauty & colour

in to the world. 

You can hardly see my curly kale but it is

the most remarkable mahogany colour.

The teapot just wanted a turn in a picture.

there's an empty section just down the road..today 

I went & rescued some of the camelias.

The pink flowers are roses still 

flowering in my garden..Monsiuer Tillier again.

The jelly I made just yesterday from the last of the

guavas, several crab apples & a japonica apple..

I just love this sweet book

I read this page the other day

& thought I must share it with you.

Click the picture to enlarge if

you're having trouble reading it : )

you are my sunshine...have a wonderful day!

A Mid Winter 21st and the Folding Gene

As I was pondering how to write this post I was thinking
what a wonderful medium blogging is & especially
 the bit about being able to add pictures.

Sometimes when I am pottering through my watch list
on Trade Me & I have read the description of an item
"gorgeous vintage floral fabric" for instance &
there is a pause as the photo loads & a picture is
forming in my head of what I think the fabric is going to look
like & then there it is & often it is nothing at all like
what I had imagined &  then I think,

oh you mean "that"!

well, describing to you the 21st birthday of our David is
a lot like that, words are insufficient!!

I often say to my children "what happens to one person in
a family effects everyone in that family" & it
really is quite true. The good bits & the dumb ones.

It was David's 21st but the gathering together was
about the flavour of a family..this one!

The birthday boy arrived with his lovely Paula

..I think they must have a "school of funny walks"
 in Greymouth

Fortuitously, Matthew arrived on Friday & set to &
made the birthday carrot cake
(recipe to be posted on our kitchen blog any time soon : )

He also kindly brought with him his friendly

sourdough starter & proceeded to make
us all many fragrant loaves of glorious bread

on a wet Saturday morning

Matt doesn't get to see his bread cooking at home,

so he tells me..no window in his oven.

A wee stool was helpful on this occasion

We're not exactly a conventional family so we
simply gathered in different ways over a few days.

Lunch at the Opera Kitchen with Jeff (Grandad).

A dinner with just our family.
Which meant horse rides & play mobile trails

around the kitchen

some people see things a little differently to others!!

and also feel the need to remove the beard for the occasion

of course every really good story requires string

Pressies are interesting when buying

choosing gifts for the chess playing,

violinist who presently works at 

a meat works!!

What I'd really like to know is how
come I missed out on the
"folding gene"? 

Should you ever require a linen
cupboard make over...

Matt found this dear blanket on his journey
here & somehow folds it
just so &

it all looks so much better.
His Dad also has the gene...come to think
of it I don't recall ever seeing David fold anything so
I'm not sure if he has it or not.

I just had to bring out this great old 

coffee perk & give it a turn.

When I bought it on Trade Me I didn't realize it would make coffee for the whole family!

Nice to see everyone. Nice to be just us again.

much

XXX

Vintage Finds and The Very Brave Garden

 I just have to show you the dear little crocheted,  beaded
 jug covers that I found on trade me recently

I always loved the tinkingly sound that they made
 at Nan's house when I was little.

Back at the "Restore" shop I found these
 dear little slippers this week.
Really comfy too : )

At the Salies I came across the loveliest little platter
& for a "song"
I have a cake plate in the same pattern only
it's square

Thinking of hydrangeas I am so impressed with the
 dogged bravery & determination of the garden,
it's persistent joyous denial of winter

 Mutabilis "the butterfly rose" flowers over & 

over again just outside our bedroom window.

On a sunny day, with a little breeze,

the fragrance of sweet peas wafts in on

scented wings.. although probably not

today as it's only 10 degrees!

I took all these shots this week
Monsieur Tillier bottom left, Duchess de Brabant right
Quintessence camelia in the centre &
  Souvenir dun Ami climbs through the cherry tree
 as it continues to lose it's
 leaves in glorious autumn splendour.

I love the light that comes with the low winter sun
I captured this one sunny day last week

I just love this vintage
American chenille bedspread

Moja so kindly offered to pose for me
in the garden on the little white
table amidst the crabapples

another visit to the vet this morning
poor boy has FIV
patched up again for a little while yet we hope