Looking In The Window & Oh Naked Ladies!

I love that February brings us the chance to get a little bit sentimental...

 and share a heart or two, with lovely people.

Warm hearts & a robust sense of good will, lend themselves well to the pleasure found in admiring beautiful things.

Rules lapsed, in our world, mean that these divine mother-of-pearl knives & forks no longer need to be saved for the fish course & company, but can be admired & employed for whatever takes our fancy.

Discovered at the Hospice shop recently, they have found a new happy home, beautifully balanced & snazzy for everyday eating.

Although the heat has been a little much day upon day, it does mean that meals can be simple & colourful & not take a lot of cooking. A small piece of salmon sprinkled well with good salt & weighted in the fridge for 24 hours gives a touch of delicious elegance & ease to summer meals.

This retro fruit stoner has found a revitalised sense of purpose as a capsicum de-seeder & is so useful.

 I quite often stop for plants on the way to work & enjoy the friendly service at Planters on the journey to Havelock North. Colleen is such a treasure...I love her summer planting pizazz in this corner over here.

 I don't know how on earth she finds the time to plant & trim hedges, as well as water & serve us all.

 We had a bit of a strange phone call last week from Catherine from i-site Hastings (the information centre in the middle of town) Apparently someone had pulled out of their slot in the main window & she had seen our cards that we had left there & wondered if we would like to pop our Vintage Picnic things in the spot for a fraction of the usual price...

 we decided that we would!

 Worth a go don't you think?! But kind of weird!

 It's for a whole month!
We can pop back anytime to make additions & adjustments.
We are a provence characterized by all things Art Deco...since we lost so much at the time of the devastating 1931 earthquake. We are not Deco, of course, but I think that our vintage feel compliments the Art Deco display in the front window rather well.

My dear friend Ruth has a daughter's engagement party coming up this weekend. I offered Sharon a loan of what we have for hire..so lovely walking in & finding this rainbow resting on the cake stand. I hope they have a wonderful time!

 We couldn't help but pop back after dark to peer through the window downtown & see what it all looked like. Unfortunately the lights were out but the town clock looked stylish...

 & well illuminated.

The naked ladies have stretched their elegant necks up & up & are flirting out over the footpath just now. I love their pretty pinks & sweet fragrance.

 I thought this swan vase rather lovely. I bought it from one of the hospice shops further south. It only cost $5 & they were kind enough to post it to me.

 This double geranium is called apple blossom.

 There was a wee persons birthday around the corner on Friday.

 She is such a honey & loved the strawberry jelly her mummy had made..colour-free & delicious.

Her Papa took this photo returning home from Central Hawke's Bay last week.
Sunflowers are just so happy & a rare sight on mass like this around here (click on the picture to see all of it).

We watched Eat, Pray, Love again last week.

I do love this movie. Have you ever watched it or perhaps read the book?

More Betsey..

You have to believe in happiness,

It isn't an outward thing;

the spring never makes the song, 

I guess, 

as much as the song makes the spring."

Thank you so much for visiting. 

I hope that there is joy & grace & beauty in you world this week.

If you fancy joining like minds of the op-shopping variety pop in here to Max & you'll find the linky.

I love Max's recent post about mantlepieces...the heart break & the glory in the aftermath of the Canterbury earthquake...& she, with a wee one due in the next week or two!! All the best dear girl!

Much

 ♥♥♥♥♥

Cheerio!!

The time has come to say cheerio..
What a lovely sojourn the Willows have had here this summer.
They stayed just long enough to catch a final celebration in the garden..

for my birthday.
The nostalgic note of an English-style cider called Slack ma Girdle had them in a bit of a dither momentarily,

but they were soon most happy to share this delicious send-off & celebration baked cheesecake with us!

They've enjoyed the companionship of other furry friends (not that Toad is furry you understand, but a friend none-the-less).

And are now, at this very moment, winging their way back home to Pom Pom in Colorado. I am certain that they have missed her terribly & are anxious to be reunited with Mr Badger. In our time of Wind in the Willows immersion I've become rather fond of these illustrations by Inga Moore.

Aren't they lovely...so full to the brim of finest detail.

I am sure that The Three will be quite relieved to return to Pom Pom's & burgeoning spring, it has been a long (well feels long) very hot, especially dry summer here. My brother took this photo of the hills not really very far from home..bone dry & powdery brown.

A long hot summer has led to cooling creations like this magical Strawberry Cloud Cake that I came across the other day. It is an Annabel Langbein recipe, although I have made my own adaptions as usual! This is just egg white, strawberries, honey & rose water...we were lucky that any even made it into the jars! Go here to find the full recipe.

We have also made a black doris plum version, either way these little pots are a perfect size to freeze individual servings in & the recipe would probably make around 8 of these.

I am hoping to have a chance to use these wonderful gem irons very soon for a tea party. I was so delighted to find them...I have never, ever seen gem irons enameled like this before, so I will take great care of them as they are still in entirely useable condition & I want them to stay that way.

With such settled fine days we have been visiting the market on the Marine Parade in Napier on Sundays. It's lovely to see so many different stall holders & have access to such wonderful fresh produce & cheap, interesting second hand "stuff". On our way home the other day I spotted a public garden full of these unusual pineapple plant flowers, I squatted down to take a photo of them & found  a lovely friend in residence.

Aren't they the most fabulous colour!

This is so weird...taking photos of myself..but I wanted to show you the sweet sundress I found in the Dog Shop the other day. I was so thrilled, as despite people telling me that florals & dresses are all in I hardly ever come across any. It's such a lovely fabric & fully lined. I've had to make a couple of little adjustments best I can but I'm sure my rose brooch will cover up my little tucks at the front well enough.

Here's another of my little Betsy Clark pictures & the Betsy proverb that goes with it. I just remembered that I always loved the darling little shoes in her pictures...they look so comfy too.

A cheerful heart

and smiling face

Pour sunshine in the darkest place.

Thanks so much for visiting.
Have a lovely week my sweet friends & lovely visitors.
Cheerio!!
MUCH

 ♥♥♥♥♥

Innocence and Angels

Hello, Sunshine!

 Did you ever love Betsy Clark's darling little children?
I found two tiny wee books a long time ago & I cherish them still.
So it was with great joy that I spotted "Hello Sunshine..charming & delightful proverbs to warm the heart" on Trade Me just recently.
Every page is adorable!!

I have been visited by Betsy-like innocent angels through the month of January..

Nina's almost three & she is my niece. 

She & her mummy came for afternoon tea one sunny afternoon.

 I was sure that she would love the little kitchen play things I had collected for her from op shops & galas & the markets... & she did.
I found the stove on TM down on the Kapiti Coast, Matthew kindly went & picked it up for me & after a while it made it's way to my back porch.
 "Back in the day" fathers & grandads made such things for children, often secretly as a special gift. I am so glad that this one lives on for yet another generation to love.

 Funny thing was, a few days later....  there was a little knock on the door & hello, here was Talan, come to play.
She lives next door & she will be 5 in about 60 sleeps.
She's taken to popping in a lot..
"Where's the boy?, "she often asks, "you & the boy, you are really nice".
She practices writing her name on the blackboard, scoffs 10 plums at a time

  & cooks carrots for dinner.

 while looking after Lucy.

 Then....
 Last monday, there was another surprise, my dear friend Cheryl came for a rare visit in honour of my birthday..

 so we had a happy afternoon tea in our still sunshiney garden.

 Fortunately, it was on one of Rob's days off.

 Cheryl brought with her, a son & two grandies.

 I knew that they had been out for lunch so we piled the cake stand high with delicious summer fruit.

 And added some fairy mushrooms.

 Bella adored the strawberries.

 We put a bowl on the other table for washing sticky hands.

 And wandered around the garden.
 Bella noticed all the monarch butterflies....so many!
She really wanted to be able to hold one but they aren't all that easy to catch.

 So in light of all that, how perfect was this to arrive in my letterbox, a birthday gift from my mother!?

 Cheryl wrote in her card..."There will always be an Angel in your garden".
Gaye wrote "Lets's make every day a masterpiece"
Yes, let's!

  I found a "grannyism" just for you.

 Would you like a piece of cloud cake? It's delicious!
Truly!
 I'll share the very clever recipe next time.

There's another little poppet called Claudine...I love her mother's story of how she came to name her daughter. If you fancy joining in the Op Shop Show Off link up you can find it over here at Black bird has spoken.

Thanks so much for coming.

MUCH

 ♥♥♥♥♥