mid November musings....

....I have had a lovely week, a dear friend came down from Auckland and stayed and we had lots of chat and catching up.

"To know someone here or there
with whom you can
feel there is understanding in
spite of distances
or thoughts unexpressed
that can make this
life a garden."

(goethe)

  

Sweet William

Yesterday another friend came and we spent the day together, a little looking through books, some stitching and a little shopping, a walk around the garden , a posy swap .... a perfect day.

 

posy from a friend....cute little bird popped in.

"If instead of a gem,

or even a flower, we

should cast the 

gift of a loving thought

into

the heart 

of a friend,

that would be giving as the angels give."

(G MacDonald

1824-1905)

 

I believe a lot of my friends are ANGELS....

As we were having a day together I made some of my favourite muffins, Lemon Crunch Muffins, very quick and   tasty and also quite ladylike!

Recipe

2 cups self raising flour

three quarters a cup of sugar

put these ingreds in a bowl

in another bowl combine,

75 gr melted butter 1 cup of milk

1 egg

grated rind of 1 large lemon

lightly mix wet and dry ingreds put into muffin tins

bake at 200deg c for 10 mins

while hot and still in tins drizzle over

a quarter cup lemon juice and a quarter of a cup of sugar.

....these muffins keep really well.

Serve on a pretty plate, with lots of laughter, a cup of earl grey tea and happy chat! and a little vase of flowers .....
I was so excited to see my friend forgot to do the photo with all of the above !!!

There has been some crafting this week too, I knitted up a bath mat from a thrifted duvet cover, I do love making these.

 

 

 

and so nice to stand on...especially barefoot...

 

or in soft red shoes!!

....and another little hat... I really have to stop!!

 

When shopping at A Little Bird Told Me (she is on facebook)

my friend gave my friend and I some old music and some little old battered much used hymn books, so delightful, it will be fun doing something with them..

the music will be good for cards etc and the wee books will look lovely tied with string maybe and gracing a little table....

...nice at Christmas.

Behind the leaves beside the path....

....in a hidden nest, more eggs were laid and some little thrushes hatched...

...hungry...

..I watch the mother from the kitchen window and she is so busy.

 

A lot of my |Viburnums are flowering ..this is a very lacy one....

... I love this antiqued one...its blush of pink and almost tarnished looking foliage looks beautiful in silver containers and just as it is ...

 ...in the garden.

 

This shy camellia was hiding away but too pretty not to be noticed.

Another visiting friend who makes the tiniest most exquisite tussie mussies gifted this little sweetie to me this week...

 

....how lucky am I!

 

 I have cut out and got ready to stitch up the Beatrix Potter quilt tops, will go and get on with that in a very soon moment!!!  it is sunny and warm and I have the french doors open, I can hear the fountain, the birds are singing , the donkeys call out every so often, there is a gentle breeze blowing the washing ... there is a faint hint of roses and lavender in the air...a simply simple and lovely day.

have a happy week.

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

..in the vege garden

...it's all happening....

broad beans, beetroot, carrots...

silverbeet, spinach...

 

sweetcorn hopefully going to flower and produce sweet, succulent  corn cobs...

"To own a bit of ground, to scratch it with a hoe, to plant seeds and watch the renewal of life - this is the commonest delight of the race, the most satisfactory thing a man can do."

(Charles D. Warner) 

 

"When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it.

If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant!"

(author unknown)

 The man of the house has been very busy in his patch....we are eating lots of lovely fresh produce.  The tunnelhouse is producing cucumbers, tomatoes, mesculin salad mix and some lemons.  

 

the nasturtiums at the back door are flowering...

..

the ageratum is putting on a pretty blue display.

There has not been a lot of crafting going on this week - had chemo number 9 and was a bit unwell afterwards...however only 3 more treatments of that left to go...then radiotherapy and surgery...we are getting there...

I did finish the sneaky critters x-stitch, and knitted up this much too pretty to use dishcloth, the pattern is from a lovely blog. Homespun Living.

Also made up a batch of Peppermint Cleaner, this smells so good! it's incredibly simple and cheap to make and eliminates a lot of undesirable chemicals that are often in commercial cleaning products.  The recipe is from Wendyll Nissen . The Green Goddess blog.  This lovely lady sells her products and includes the recipes on the labels...I have reused the jar.

 

 

I always feel better after I have 'made' something !  it's that need to create!

 

"In my garden there is a large place for sentiment.

My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams.

The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers,

and the dreams are as beautiful."

(Abram Urban)

Have a happy week.

x