Save Our Seeds

Some people just seem to know where they fit in this world...

and off they go 

and just get on with it.

Others (many others) wander a bit, or even a lot, in the figuring out process of where their passion lies or quite which path they are meant to take, in order to find a sense of fulfillment & purpose.

Authenticity is deeply important for some of us.

Being true to ourselves & the values that we personally hold.

It's this quest that has brought Matthew (& Sarah & Fynn) back this way this week as lots of changes begin to unfold in their lives. 

Happily, best friends can be found just across the road.

Little Ezra was thrilled to see his friends again at our house.

  

Drinking coconuts are so much fun to share...

& so delicious!

Once you know that it's quite safe, trolley rides are great too.

There's been a bit of toadstoolery,

dancing

& riding the broomstick going on.

He's such a nice boy, our Fynn.

Lucy is very accommodating.

There are lots more seating options than first expected.

The bottle brush seemed a nice festive touch in the old milk bottle crate.
I can't believe that not a single toadstool has been sneaked, although it is rumoured that Ezra scoffed several "puffballs" when in Pop's company inside.

Some of my crocheted jar covers & their pretty contents have gone off to be sold at Christmas markets (thanks to my friend Wendy). I made some more in cheery colours for Lucy. The camera seems to have been a bit startled by their festiveness, however.

I am so glad that we live in the upside down hemisphere, celebrating the year's end & Christmas with fresh summer fruits...lots of which are very red & delicious.

I have never thought of roasting strawberries before but they are absolutely delicious cooked this way. I sprinkled these sliced berries with coconut sugar, coconut & lemon juice & roasted them for around 20 minutes. All the flavours mingle & condense...so useful & keeps well too.

This glorious, scented rhododendron has been out in all her fine glory over the last few weeks.

Right beside the driveway.

There are still roses at various stages.

I think that Evelyn is very beautiful & she's nicely scented too.

Somewhere in my garden journey I lost track of one of my favourite little annuals Blue Woodruff. After looking everywhere locally, without success, I finally tracked down some seeds in Canada. The people very kindly agreed to post them to me last year, but when I sowed them nothing happened, which was so disappointing. This year, however, I took another approach thanks to dear Julie & sowed the seed according to the moon calendar (I'll tell you more about this next time) & viola in no time at all strong seedlings appeared.

I will be very sure to keep the seeds from this lot for the next season. Such a sweet little plant with the softest powder blue flower.

Seeds are terribly important, so when they are lost or tampered with through time, so very much can be lost which is why we are so grateful to Kay Baxter for her life's work in safekeeping so many of our New Zealand heritage fruit & vegetable seeds. Koanga Institute  is situated about 2 hours north of here. This is where Matthew & Sarah journeyed to during this past week to investigate potential internships & training. This also just happened to coincide with a week of huge challenges & publicity for Koanga, which involved a TVNZ Seven Sharp camera crew filming on the day that they were visiting, so we were all very amused to find the two visitors seen eating lunch in the middle of the news segment.

Seen here.

I have been creating some fun bunting over the last week or two (once again thanks to Julie: My Threadbear Life for her fabulous ideas & inspiration!)

I got a terrible fright when I found feathers on the grass yesterday. I was so sad & quite convinced that Charlie (borrowed cat) had eaten Mabel!! But a few hours later I found her alive & well & foraging for worms on the lawn. Poor little thing has a wonky leg & she can't walk straight, yet undetered & fearless she's bravely out there doing what must be done to feed her baby. I think she's wonderful.

Mabel is rather a kindred spirit you see. I still seem to walk all wonky & cannot fly very well.
 Although I have all that I need (& I am very grateful for that) I have found life very hard of late & the days are often very gray inside my soul. It's a miserable place to be. With a legacy like mine (& Rob's is worse!), the journey to wholeness takes all my strength & determination...every single day. I hold on to the little things & the beauty & hope with all my heart that one day I will be free; free of the imprint of others uncaring & twistedness.
 It takes a long time to rebuild with goodness, but I believe that we are building a legacy together Rob & I, that will endure & restore hope & freedom to the generations.

Thank you so much for visiting & coming to see me. You make all the difference to my world.
MUCH

♥♥♥♥♥

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

♥♥♥♥♥