Sunday, January 26, 2014

some potted colour

This week has gone by very fast and I thought without much to show for it, but a friend and I have been working on a project together, it is a gift so still a secret, that was 2 full days this week and a few more hours too.


Potted up some Antique Pansy plants and some varigated geranium plants for pots on the verandah in the autumn and winter.






I love putting plants in pots and having them close through the harder weather of winter.

I bought some of the white and green geranium plants a couple of years ago and really enjoyed the look of them in blue and white pots and also just in the old terracotta pots so was very happy to get some more.


...bright mixed colour from the garden....this big lemony perennial daisy is new to me and I love it, it looks great in the border and great inside too...





...the weather has been cool with a lot of wet days, hail too sometimes! so the garden has an autumnal feel creeping in ....I  found these 2 unfinished coathanger covers and completed them ...they echo the hues in the flowers....






The cot covers returned home from the quilter, this afternoon was spent making the binding and stitching it on, just have to buy a wee bit of fabric to go round 2 green quilts, and do the hand stitching. 


The inclement winds blew this mossy nest out of a tree...it's beautifully put together.


 




A lovely warm sunny day yesterday saw us hook up the caravan, pack up the afternoon tea cups and off we went to the beach...the tide was out ....we had a lovely time relaxing in the sun.








This week, back for more chemo, more secret crafting, hand stitching little quilt bindings, some gardening.....  I love the start of a new week so many possibilities ahead!!!

Have a happy week
xx





 


Friday, January 17, 2014

....the rain can stop now....

...a few short weeks ago we had a long patch of  hot dry weather, the soil was very dry and a lot of my plants were wilting and fading ...they had gone past the soaking up and basking in the sunshine phase!  We rely on rainwater tanks for the house and paddocks so there is only what I can carry that goes to the garden so a few precious plants get a little help and the remainder have to just fight it out.

Anyway...there came some beautiful rain and refreshing cool days where I was so excited, there were little pools and drops of moisture in the most unlikely places.....



...even the cabbages were twinkling...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



....suspended droplets on the Fennel....


...the poppy heads had collected some little pools.
 










....



....the garden was washed clean and dust free....

but now the rain can stop....it's been a couple of weeks of very unsummery weather...we now have wind....and as it seems to be every day and night without abating I got out one of my favourite childrens books....


and thought I should just enjoy the weather ..




I love dandelion clocks...even though they are the seed heads that tend to grow into pesky weeds....although having said that I love their flowers too, especially in wild places not in the middle of a precious primrose or other treasure......

A very fine dandelion clock has popped up in my mint container, sheltered from the weather and isn't he magnificent....




I found a little poem in an old Enid Blyton book, its really about thistle down but I think it applies just as much to this wee fellow

Thistledown, you're out to-day,
Little stars of silver grey,
In the air ashine, 
Silkier than a spider's thread
or down upon a baby's head,
Delicate and fine.

Here and there you lightly blow,
Careless quite of where you go,
With the breeze for friend,
Adventuring boldly while you may,
Gaily floating on your way
Till your journeys end.

Then, oh, thistledown , be wary,
Lest a little sharp-eyed fairy
Catch you where you lie,
She'll fill her cushions with your down
Or sew you on her silken gown,
And then, alas, you'll die !

 

...33 years ago we were given this gorgeous paperweight as a wedding gift...I love and treasure it still....





We have been in Dunedin again this week for my chemo treatment so not a lot of crafting, however it was good to get out the sewing machine and have more fun with wool and old blankets, after enjoying making the hottie covers so much thought I might make some knee rug size comforters.


...I don't have a pattern so I just go ad-lib then look forward to the embellishing!


...and I love the upcycling factor, 


...plus the warmth of the wool while you are working with it.

Another poem from the same wee book.

Foxgloves

Once on a time, so the legends tell
There lived a pixy called Peronel,
For whose white hands little gloves were sewn,
The tiniest gloves for her alone.
Many were made that she did not wear,
and these were strung on a green stalk near;
There they hung in a graceful row, 
And that's how the folks'gloves came to grow!
There's a spell in each little glove, 'tis said,
So pluck one now, ere the magic is fled,
Slip it over your finger and say,
'May the wish I'm wishing come true this day!



The Hydrangeas are coming into flower, it's lovely seeing them again...

 ....keeping me company in the kitchen.




Have a lovely week doing things that make you happy.

xx
 
 
 

 ..



 
 

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

post Christmas crafting

There hasn't been a lot of time for crafting lately.  Thrifty Fox and her new husband Mr Fox were flying home today, so yesterday we felt we needed a project...a  good ' get into it and do something new to you'  sort of project.

A couple of Christmases ago I bought a book by Poppy Treffry and hadn't tried out any of her techniques...the book is so pretty I have browsed through it a lot ...but that doesn't get things made .!!

So out came the wool blankets, the fabric scraps, the wool felting needles etc and away we went.
Thrifty Fox did the most amazing wool felted blanket, but you will have to pop over to her blog to take a peep.





...first of all if you want to have fun...you have to have a very big mess to start with....



...then you get right into it....


I cut out Foxglove shapes and zig-zagged round the edges , it looked a bit dull as I used the same woollen blanket to do the flowers so brightened it up with some wool felting which pinged the colours out a bit....


...found the writing tricky....


Thrifty Fox made 2 covers too, rainclouds and bunting with bees.



...bluebells for me next...


...could be addictive...


away to make a cup of tea now before maybe some more stitching and snipping...something birdy?....

I am hooked!!!! its so much fun using up old blanket and fabric scraps, the pleasure of combining them and embellishing them.
Feel great now I have made something again.

have a happy week.



 

...a little touch of Christmas

...a wedding and Christmas in the same week has been so much fun, the excitement of both has worn us out a bit though!!






Christmas wrapping spying!!




...finally everything wrapped and under the tree....

we had a great time, we had a friend staying so it was all the better!  We gave and received presents and we all loved what we got, we had a tasty Christmas dinner and ate way too much, we had a wonderful Christmas day.
 



Christmas has a magic about it that can't be described in words.....

 



A pre wedding garden tea party..

  Thrifty Foxes bridesmaids put on a lovely afternoon tea party for her,  we had lots of fun.



inside action....


...outside action.....


...inside 


....outside....



...inside...candied pansies for garnishes.


...lemon muffins...and of course there had to be cucumber sandwiches amongst other ladylike delicacies









the tent was very vintage and quite snug as the rain we wanted had come...and cleared away but left a nip in the breeze....


... we all wore tea party hats and had tea party chats....




... it was a lovely afternoon.









Have a happy week.