My scrappy scrap books!!!

I am such a packrat!!  there is so much to love in this world!!! I love books, paper, cards, images...and some of my precious papers I keep in treasure boxes but others I cut and paste into scrap books, letters and cards I love from friends...how could I bear to just throw them away....a bit of glueing was done this past week.  The chemo treatments are making me very tired and this is fun and relaxing to do...just cutting out and arranging in books...

 

nothing is safe, even paper plates get flattened and slathered with glue!!

 

...oh that blue and white china......

 

 ...exquisite card made by a friend...

 

   some bright...

 ..other pages more subtle..  loved using some of the old music a friend gifted me last week...

 

...I like that poetry that touches my heart can be found in these pages....

 

 

 

 

I attach envelopes and the cards and letters are popped in...

 

 ...not all the glueing is lump or crinkle free...but it looks worse in the photo!

 

 

...beautiful words ...

 

a card from a friend with pressed seaweed.

 

 

 

 

I use old diaries etc, I don't always use proper "scrapbooks" as such.

 

 

...sometimes my enthusiasm gets away on me and I over fill them!!  I do like leafing through these and console myself with the thought that my favourite pictures are all together and it's reducing the piles of magazines around the house!!!!

 

 

There are general scrapbooks and themed ones!!! this is a Fairy one...

 

 ...maybe for children?....but one adult at least likes looking through it's pages!!

 

Over the years |I have enjoyed making little books..

 

 

 

This one is made from pages from an old book and stitched together, I used some paper napkins etc in this one that I liked..

 

I don't always do this alone, I have a special friend who sometimes comes and stays over, we chat and laugh and make a huge mess in the hut and have a wonderful time....

 

 

 

 

Have a happy week doing stuff you love.

xx

Rainy days

This week we got some much needed rain!!!  It has topped up our house water tank and given the thirsty garden a much needed refreshing drink....

 

...this was such lovely light between showers...

 

 

...even an ethereal rainbow to add to the garden magic.

The days are very autumnal now we have the living room fire going to keep us cosy in the evenings.

I did think I should have a swim in the sea at the weekend! I did and it was freezing! but very pretty with mountains in the background tipped with snow .  I do think it will be my last sea dunk for the summer.

The man of the house and I had to go into Invercargill during the week so we enjoyed  the Estuary walk while the sun was shining ...there were so many birds,

 

...sometimes we see little Kingfishers but not this time.

 

quite a few black swans.

 

A Blue Heron on a stealth mission!

 

some waddling ducks leaving tracks through the mud!  

 

The walk takes you along a track with native vegetation and views of the estuary then out onto a board walk over the water...I love it!

 

Sunbathing Spoonbills.

 

This morning I ran out of my peppermint cleaning paste so whipped up another batch and for the first time made up some of the spray cleaner....these are very quick to make up with inexpensive , environmentally friendly ingredients and they smell wonderful.

 

...this is the recipe 

 

 

After a lot of domestic exertion, preserving spaghetti with our tomatoes, cleaning windows, cleaning the bathroom and preparing dinner an afternoons painting with a lovely friend was the order of the day!

 

 

 

 

I'm really liking stamping over the painting....

A lovely afternoon.

HOUSEWORK

Dust if you must but wouldn't it be better

to paint a picture or write a letter;

Bake a cake or plant a seed or ponder the 

difference between want and need.

Dust if you must but there's not much

time with rivers to swim and mountains to climb, 

music to hear and books to read

friends to cherish and life to lead.

Dust if you must but the worlds out there

with the sun in your eyes, the wind in

your hair; a flutter of snow, a shower of

rain.

This day will not come around again.

Dust if you must but bear in mind old age 

will come and it's not kind.

And when you go- and go you must you 

yourself will make more dust.

It's not what you gather, but what you 

scatter that tells you what kind of life

you have lived.

(author unknown)

Have a happy week.

x

Painting...

It's been another busy week, early starts at work and hectic days that fly past, and it's home time before you know it.

There's been some painting going on here, a bedroom next to the bathroom had some holes put through the wall accidentally by the builder whilst he was working on the bathroom!!! as he is going to fix them and paint the room for us we felt we should freshen up the ceiling.  Hopefully Mr Builder might come this week as having the house in a state of chaos since April is beginning to be tiring.

I got back to Art class this week and finished a painting of a little cottage at Burkes Pass  ( south Canterbury , the entrance to the Mackenzie country), I have seen this little house a couple of times.

We have an art class exhibition in a couple of weeks so I think I might put this one in.


We have had some lovely sunny days down here, so have been in the garden enjoying the spring flowers.

 

 

 

Found some moments to do some stitching on my Hellebore  cross stitch, ( the pattern is Christmas Rose Sampler by Maria Gossard, Cedar Hill )

 

 

Melbourne daughter is having a birthday soon and the parcel to be posted off needed some special additions, so off to one of my favourite shops 'A Little Bird Told Me', (you can find it on Facebook) this very special shop has so many temptations on offer, some new,  some vintage but all very individual and not mass produced.  So many delights that would be suitable but choices had to made, of course these have to remain a secret at the mo....however...I did pick up a dear wee plate for myself.

 

Saturday was fine so we met up with friends and went floundering at Oreti beach, the sea was freezing!  we had great fun but probably looked a bit crazy in wetsuits with woolly hats on in the surf, we didn't catch anything, all flounders remained swimming free,  so it was off to the Fish and Chip shop for our tea.

Today its cold with a drizzly rain ....perfect for sitting by the fire and stitching.