Golden Queens, Crafting Queens & Archie

We have stepped across the invisible threshold of late summer and into autumn,

 signaled by the bringing home of wrinkled passionfruit & plumply delicious golden queen peaches.

Our land is parched & our gardens desperate for moisture of any sort. The woodland anemones have been tagged by the naked ladies.. 

 and the short round of autumn fairs began on saturday out at St Luke's. 

I could hear a little voice over in the corner behind the counter somewhere & when at last I found the source...there was Archie all fur loved off & real. He had a wonderful time wandering around with me & seeing all the people...oh the conversations he had! 

We've gently removed the Wiggles plaster off his leg.

 No quick yanking here.

 My lovely thermos basket was just $2 & the wonderful tussy mussy is full of tweedia & other summer treasures from someone's garden.

 Oh yes! and my eidy I came across at St Vinny's earlier in the week.

Just no way, no way at all that I could leave it there!

Sitting quite near Archie was this darling book 

"The Fairy That Wouldn't Fly" told & pictured by Pixie O'Harris.

Isn't that just delightful...imagine being called Pixie O'Harris!

Rather reminds me of one Hettie Brown (seamstress, forager, wooly sock wearer)

It was printed in 1945 in Australia.

 A rummage in the bottom of a box produced these buttons for 50c & some short pieces of filet crochet...useful for bag making. The little fairy brooch is for Nina of course.

Great timing...just across the road was a monthly Craft & Design market that dear Keriann had mentioned would be on. Here she is at her Sweet Mary stall you can read a little about here here & see more of here lovely hand made crafts.

Just along a little further we were so delighted to find two like-minded vintage blanket lovers.

Two lovely girls who have moved to the Bay quite recently & who spend every spare minute crafting. What enamored us both instantly, was the amazing range of truly fabulous, up-cycled vintage blankets; blanket stitched, crochet edged, patch-worked with great skill, embellished with hearts, stars & flowers & each one backed with a complementary vintage sheet or other thrifted fabric.

 Talk about creative dedication! 

 The girls are happy to make a commissioned blanket to suit. (We are having a big think about that & an even bigger rummage through the cupboards for materials!)

 Aren't these so sweet..you can also find them here.

 We loved what Fleur was doing over here in this corner with her Little Golden Book Bunting made from old books & New Zealand maps/atlases. 

 We hopped back in the window on Thursday & had a change around & added some cupcakes on one of our cake stands & other vintage things that we have for hire. Such a lovely old building..used to be a department store, back in the day, called Roaches.

  No enquiries as yet, well, other than a lady from Hamilton wanting to know where she could find a tea cosy like the one in the window...time yet & it's great exposure 24/7 for a whole month.

 We even had a musical accompaniment while we fluffed.

 Walking in our park (just around the corner) & through the Chinese Garden we knew it must be almost International Cultures Day..

 when we saw these glorious lanterns had been put up once more.

 We were busy selling fruit yesterday afternoon, but I snuck around the corner for a quick look..

aren't they adorable..all stuck out in the middle of nowhere together!

 I nearly burst out laughing when I saw this sign..but good on them. A Chinese food stall they were selling fruit only: melons, apples & huge nashi pears.

 I loved this scene with all the different cultures & the classic Kiwi retro caravan in the background.

 Looking across the park I saw this gorgeous creature emerge from the flower bed.

In the evenings the lights are so magical & open to the public for the week until 10 o'clock at night.

 They had enchanting music playing too.

I noticed this beautiful feather resting on the maple tree this morning.

I wonder who dropped it & does she miss it?

And this afternoon a boy burst on to my porch while I was taking pictures of plump peaches.

He is extraordinarily fit & about to run in the 47km Triple Peaks Challenge this Saturday. He reckons he'll do it in under 5 hours. All we have to do is turn up with fruit, water, camera & car at the other end!!

Thanks so much for visiting.
Hope yours is a peachy sort of week!!
MUCH

 ♥♥♥♥♥

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens..

these are a few of my favourite things.

Sometimes I just love the look of cupcakes..

but actually, don't like to eat them very much!

But where would a tea party be without these gorgeously pretty cakes?

 Brought to life by afternoon sun through prisms, they really do have a profoundly Pollyanna effect, in their sweet glory. I popped in to NewWorld in Havelock on Friday to make a cupcake order for an upcoming tea party & discovered that they had just put out shelves & shelves of pastel coloured treats. I decided on a box of prettiest rose pinks. Tomorrow we will tweek the window "dressing" at the I-site centre...I thought this display would be perfect with a note about our vintage hire offerings.
I borrowed a special drill from my friend Sue recently & Rob ~since he's the master driller of the household~ bravely drilled through my waiting plates. The trick is water on the plate as you drill.
 I'm delighted with the resultant cake stand.

 I thought perhaps a basket of jam jars & covers might be quite colourful in the window too.

If you click on the collage you will be able to see it much better.

 There is man called John at our Farmers' Market...he's been growing fruit for a while now, as his dad did before him & he's really got the method right with his rock melons. They are absolutely delicious.
Apparently you do water, then you don't water & then you spray a seaweed fertiliser at just the right time & all things being well you get magnifcent melons!

 I have discovered that my handy pepper de-seeder is also an excellent strawberry huller!
These were seconds & so cheap!

 At first I thought it was just the heat, but then I realised that the old menopausal ride was still a bit rough. I'm not all that keen on rollercoasters. I found a link the other day to the 35...yip 35 symptoms of menopause. I don't think you'd call many of them fun, nor funny for that matter. I'm also finding that woman don't know much about it all & tend to suffer in silence quite a bit...still! Mind you, there's not always that much that can be done about some of it. Just.. keep going, be honest & brave & cry a lot without apology.
I was deeply relieved when I read this paragraph in a post of Robin's a week or two back.

"Dear Soul Shines,
     It has been a while since I've blogged even though I have had so many inspirational things to share. For the first time in my life I have been "forced" to slow down by my body's metamorphosis through menopause... For me, it has been like being hit by a runaway train that cracked my heart and soul wide open so the world can see me inside out and totally naked. Definitely a time to get real. Real with myself and real with God. I'm almost sure he's gotten tired of me pulling on his shirt sleeve asking so many questions. When I make it through this transformation I will be a very wise woman with even wider open arms to embrace other women in this delicate space. Becoming a sage is worth all the pain. So much love to all of you!"

It's at Magnolia Pearl that I first discovered the healing power of beauty.

Her clothes & creations are so exquisitely feminine, & her love infectious.

I fossicked in my cupboard this morning & found this darling little top (Trade me).

It's very "Pearl"..& makes me feel lovely..& gentle when I wear it.

 The heart pockets are so sweet.

 It has been a wonderful settled summer for the stall holders at the markets.
I found all kinds of treasures today.
Such a darling little basket that I will add to the "little girls" play corner.

 I love this tray. I imagine it's from the '60's...maybe?
The floral bit appears to have been decoupaged using an old wallpaper.

 Pat, one of my friendly stall holders, sold my old gem irons for me & I bought this little teacup & saucer from her & still had the other half of the funds to spare.
The wee book was 50c & is adorable..

 such pretty illustrations.

 Such perfect sentiments.
One wee poppet pouring tea on Tuesday at aunty Catherine's.
I love the curled up toes!

 All that talk of hats sent me looking for some of my afternoon tea hats. And along the way I came across this sumptuous velvet op-shopped bag. I think, next tea party...we'll have to all wear hats.
Hope they fit. And what shall we do about Rob?

My fairy garden is still doing fine..might plant some wee pansies in it in autumn.

I think they're waiting for me here..

via Pinterest

Or could that be up here?

Coming?!!

How in the world did they get all the way up there?!!

via Pinterest

This little clip is so very clever & ever so worth the watch.

Lovely to see you all.

Thank you so much for visiting & your comments, support & love.

See you again soon.

MUCH

♥♥♥♥♥