Dr G.Nome of Toadstool House & the Fairy Hat Shop

Oh there you are! 

Do come in, only mind the flat fairy under the doormat my dears.

Perhaps you're feeling a little stressed or pressured-it's a busy time of year.

I've seen/heard lots of chatter, just lately, about women feeling that they desperately need to slow down, that if they don't stop soon they'll break.

We can break for many reasons.

I wonder why we think that life is more the more we stuff in?

I have felt pressured to get on & write this post, but truly, some things just take their own sweet time

& actually, that's ok.

Wouldn't it be lovely to be able to wander up the garden path to Dr G.Nomes toadstool house whenever we felt stressed, broken or poorly. I feel certain that he would have just the ticket for every little patient.

Fairies, gnomes & pixies are so sweetly fanciful.

Wouldn't you like to help paint this toadstool?

A few months ago I bought a tiny fairy door for a tree from a clever lady who lives out in Havelock North. When I popped out to pick it up, I spied the cutest little set of toadstools in her back garden. She had made them up all by herself to suit a fairy birthday party for her daughter. I am so glad that she was happy to make me some toadstools too. They are made of concrete & very heavy. I can't lift the table on my own & there's not much that I can't move around the garden!  You can find Mandy & her listings of fairies, mushrooms & woodland creatures on Trade Me here.

We made ourselves delicious sandwiches for lunch today & Rob said "let's sit at the toadstool table". We must have looked ridiculous but who cares, right!

If you're small you get to eat fairy mushrooms when you sit there, but shhhh don't tell their mummy!

You also get to do tea party training if you come to Aunty Catherine's house.

The little apron was found first & fits perfectly.

We later raided the dress up box. One brother tried on the clip on earrings, but only for a second-you do understand. Nina chose the little tulle skirt, it wasn't until a long time later that the same helpful chap informed her that we could see her undies from the back...pfff who cares! 

 All kinds of concoctions were made from gathered flowers & plenty of water.
Now why would this one be called a grannybonnet, Aunty Catherine?

 Well how else do you explain?

My dear Sue bought me back a special gift from Cath Kidston London when she returned from her recent travels, a Lucy gift & they're perfect!

Foxgloves flourish in her garden in spring.

Aren't they beautiful!

Can't you just imagine the Fairy Hat Shop set in the midst of these fanciful blooms.
Another wonderful Margaret Tarrant illustration, kindly shared by my lovely friend Barbara at March House Books a week or so ago, from a book entitled "Joan in Flowerland by Margaret Tarrant & Dutton Lewis". The book is still presently for sale. Barbara has a wonderful range of vintage children's books for sale through her online shop in the UK.

I came across this very old board book for 20 cents some months ago.
The illustrations are so delightful. they make me smile & smile!

Oh look who appeared in the garden today...a jolly gnome.

We have been walking around our neighbourhood in search of an urban harvest of elderflowers (only the flowers hanging over the footpath of course!). It's amazing how many bushes there are out there. You barely notice them the rest of the year, but when they bloom, their fragrance is divine & the flowers so lacey & delicate. They make the most deliciously fragrant cordial.

Perhaps these pretty little French glasses will be lovely to drink out of next time my little tutued fairy friend comes to visit. (I found them in The Dog Shop the other day).

On our road trip south we came across a lovely little tennis set that will be handy for Lucy tea according to Rob.

And a cute little honey pot.

But our best buy of-well, all time- has surely got to be this painter's ladder that we grabbed at the school fair in October along with the wheelbarrow, the trestle legs & several other items all for $20!

I have been able to trim all kinds of bushes quite safely using this marvelous contraption.

Thank you so much for coming to visit!

Welcome to my new followers. It is also lovely to know that so many of you pop in unseen.

I am so grateful for your company, your messages & our conversations. Sorry that I didn't get much replying done this last week, but I do so appreciate you taking the time to comment.

Have a lovely week & do watch out for the flat fairy under the doormat as you leave.

MUCH

♥♥♥♥♥

Sometimes just a little Junk & Disorderly

In the midst of the wonder & volatility of spring we journeyed to Palmerston North last week, driving through relentless torrential rain. Rob had a training day to attend & I had a day to potter around town.
Wednesday dawned dull & bleak & I rummaged in my bag for the warmest cloths that I cold find. Wandering up the road & around the corner into biting winds, I was feeling a tad despondent..not quite the charming little break that I had imagined...when, I passed an old-fashioned style sweet shop with "laugh" hanging on the door..

& a florist with a vase of lily-of-the-valley posies sitting out by the footpath. So, in I went & had the loveliest chat with Jennifer. We made a little deal...I would take a bunch of lily-of-the-valley with me & when I got home I would post her some double violet plants. Sounded perfect to me!

Next day, we made our way to Matt's in Paraparaumu on the Kapiti Coast.
Since it wasn't a terribly long journey we were able to take the time to stop at all the op shops & secondhand places we could find along the way, so we made a detour via Foxton..a small, New Zealand town..

with a jolly good Goldie's Junk & Disorderly antique shop. 

There's a bit of an interesting theme going on in the shop...turns out that there was a bloke called Carl Sim, an infamous forger & talented painter who took great delight, all his life, in painting & replicating other peoples art work. He apparently began his art career in Foxton where he opened an art & antiques store.

He was quite clearly a bit of a likeable rogue & when he eventually & inevitably appeared in court, in the 1980's, at age 65, he was facing 20 counts of forgery (having even changed his name at this point by deed poll to C F Goldie after a genuinely very famous New Zealand artist) even the judge was amused by his antics & instead of sentencing him to 10 years jail he was given a $1000 fine & 200 hours community service.
 Carl himself described the trial as "the loveliest court trial-we laughed the whole time".

He was also ordered to paint the Foxton Council Chambers and four toilet blocks in the town. He emblazoned C F Goldie in several places across his completed work.
  

As it happens, I was enchanted by this mural while we were parked outside the antique shop & took a photo of his work without even knowing a thing about the story. Amazingly, as I have been writing this & doing a little research, I have also discovered that Carl Goldie died 4 days ago on the 21st of October at the age of 89.

Eventually, we made it to Matt's house.

And most fortunately, he makes great coffee.

The fiddler decided to make a "thing" for charging my phone in the car, he succeeded in blowing a fuse...wondered why my radio didn't work anymore!

It was so good to see Fynn...he's 8 & had gone to school when I found his bed just like this.

We met Sarah...she's a lovely, lovely girl.

It was dull & cold & blustery even here. But the sight of this wee family cheered me up immensely.

And then a pukeko strutted through the scene..uh!

The landscape was moody

& heavy & not at all like the spring that we had left behind.

When we arrived home & I saw all my flowers & discovered this jam jar of lily-of-the-valley sitting on my front porch (from my friend Ruth) I burst in to tears..

there was even sunshine still at our house!

We have recently over-sowed new grass seed in this spot.
 It looks like a lovely meadow just now.

Of course, you would generally expect to find your mother up a ladder with a camera in her hands when you call in after work, wouldn't you?!

Dear boy has landed himself a full time orcharding job & cadetship.

Huge amount of personal perseverance involved, overcoming stuff & proving himself this last year.

And it all began with him "knocking" on the door & just asking.

Very proud of him.

So, the thing is...sometimes, if you climb up high enough you get a more objective view of ...well life really.

picking flowers from my garden...often, is such a joy.

It's quite hard to be flexible & adaptable, isn't it?
Hard, but one of the most important character traits to adopt.
One thing is certain, we will forever be facing change as we journey through this life.
Thank you so much for coming back to see me.
I hope that you are able to flow with the change of seasons easily & celebrate the the little things that matter, as they come along.
MUCH

♥♥♥♥♥