a surprise

Some weeks are quiet and uneventful, and thats always good...but this week I had some lovely surprises...a letter from a friend with this little lavender bag...beautiful...

and this rather larger surprise! The man of the house loves most things that have wheels, he had been eyeing up this little retro beauty on his way to work.  At the end of the week she came to live with us...on a squally day weatherwise we took her on her maiden voyage (well with us anyway!) to Fortrose, it is on the Southern Scenic route. The tide was out but we had a lovely time cosy inside. I did some stitching, man of the house did some reading and we drank lots of tea  (the best cups are brewed with the thermette!) and ate homebaked chocolate cake..and felt like we had been on a holiday when we had only spent an afternoon...beside the sea....

 Another surprise was some ripened hips on my rugosa roses which when picked looked cheery in the kitchen beneath a Rosehip water colour I completed before Christmas.

As I have not completed any handcraft projects this week, there a few WIP's though, I thought as I was going to use a sewing bag I had sewn up  before Christmas  I would show a pic of that, Its such a handy looking bag. A Rosalie Quinlan Design called Nellies Sewing Bag, it also has some rosy touches..

all sides are patchworked in the pattern, I did 2 patched sides and 2 where I loved the fabric too much to cut it up...

it has these very handy pockets on the inside.  I made one each for my girls for Christmas in fabrics I thought they would like and had fun putting some sewing notions into the pockets.
The completed project this week was a batch of apricot Jam, and the best bit, apart from the trip to get the fruit, was putting on the lids , a Christmas gift..and so cool..Kath Kidson jam covers, almost too pretty to use, but will make lovely gifts.

Life is full of wonderful surprises and sometimes the small ones are just as good for the soul as the big ones, I saw this little gem at the nursery last week and potted it up in a rusty urn where it can peek in the window at me its so pretty.

Viola Hederacea...the ticket says winter hardy, frost hardy(thats good) and evergreen.

as always it seems to be late when I finish writing a post  so a nice cup of tea and a good book are the order of the evening.

a little bit of this and that

a little bit of sewing,a friend gave me some treasured doilies,they had been stitched by her late Mum and Grandma. I wanted to make something out of some of them that she would be able to use in another way as she said she has a lot and they just live in the linen cupboard. So I selected one I knew she would like, and then had a trip to our wonderful Aladdins" cave of fabric...Kitz n Things  fabric shop! and found some prints that I think look really nice with the beautifully worked rose...

this is one of my very favourite bag patterns, I have made heaps of these dear wee bags and they are just the right size to pop in some stitching, knitting, chrochet, bits and bobs, and with a water proof lining make a good sized toilet bag, its quick and the instructions are very well written. 

I made one for Jill and one for myself...
Saturday we decided we would go on a trip to Roxburgh and get some fruit, we found a wonderful orchard owned and operated by some very special people, they have 'limited spray' fruit, we were very happy to buy some of this fruit to preserve, which with a lesser spray input must be a healthier option. Hobbs Orchard and Fruit Stall, http://www.hobbsorchard.co.nz/ if you would like to check out their fruit. Today we had our 2 preserving tanks going and its all done apart from some that will be turned into jam later this week.

just love when its all done!
We had a picnic morning tea at Pinders Pond just out of Roxburgh, beautiful wee place we have never been to before, some families were camping there it must be fun. Very pretty and peaceful and the water was warm! While we were having our cups of  thermos flask tea and coffee, (complete fire ban in Otago so no thermette!) , a little girl caught her first fish so all very exciting. This is a spot we will be returning to..

cool name...

some history...

water and picnics are a recurring theme in my life...off to historic Lawrence.. and LOL picnic lunch at the pond at Gabriels Gulley..

Popped in to my favourite Lawrence shop, Olei, old and new , and I picked up this piece of wonderfulness, its metal and the tin is attached to a tray on little feet, it has a lid but the hinge is broken...don't mind that..and its got a lovely green patina...love that...fascinating engravings...loving that..and looks great with rowan berries

got another little antique something too...but it has been put away until my birthday sob...it is a while to wait !!

It was a great day out, even picked up some raspberries , unsprayed and freshly picked just right for my breaky this morning.

a little thrifting.....

finished work a little early yesterday and popped round to our local Restore handily located just round the corner...and this is what I got.  A lovely green picnic basket, another handy basket, a broken old lamp which will look great hung in a tree, some braid,bound to come in handy one day, a nautical tin, some embroidered doilies and a beautifully worked supper cloth

the tin will be right at home at the beach

Earlier in the day I received a late Christmas pressie, and it was this very inspirational book with amazing photos. Its called Vintage Flowers by Vic Brotherston, the cover just makes you want to get right into this book and its really beautiful photos make you want to lose yourself in it...

and inside...

just love this blue and white container!!!

and these white foxgloves!

elegant and soothing green and white..

lovely winter inspiration

there are lots of bright and funky ideas too, some with really vivid dahlias which are flowering now...such a visual treat this book! Away to make a cup of tea and do some reading.

stitching

what do you do when you come home from a lovely holiday and find all your cauliflowers have grown to a monstrous size and all come ready at once?...you give some away...you eat lots..and you make pickle...

the recipie I use every year, made all these jars with just one cauli...it also has crushed pineapple, red pepper, green beans, wholecorn, onion etc..and its delicious!
Rain has been falling most of the weekend in lovely ground soaking showers, it is so welcome.  The lawn is turning green again and some of my precious plants are reviving and standing up.
A great time to do some stitching,

 and this wee bird has stitched up amazingly fast...

its a little pincushion pattern called Bluebird, by Blackbird designs.
In between stitches there was some tea drinking and flicking through some favourite books.  One of my all time  special  read and read again coffee table books has to be Velvet Pears by Susan Southam, easy to read and divine pics! and isnt the cover sooooooooooo gorgeous!!!! and for Christmas I was given Amazing Retreats under Nordic Skies, its a Jeanne d'Arc Living book and also just lovely!

just look at those lovely clouds full of rain!

and just a wee jug of daisies, they are the herb Feverfew flowers, to make me smile.
Don't you just love weekends!

sunny holiday days

They say all good things must come to an end...........and its back to work for me tomorrow! Just as well I like my job! After all the Christmas excitement of having our lovely girls home and the handcrafted xmas gifts it was off to the beach to our lovely wee crib for some R and R! The weather has been exceptional!!! really hot days and the sea felt warm. waves to bodyboard in on!! and a drive to a great beach we hadn't been to before, along with a great cup of tea, thanks to our adventure loving Thermette!  The Library at Riverton is a really good one, so lots of happy reading. Some stitching was achieved and the spinning wheel dusted off!

Today it was back home, the Christmas tree and decorations put away for another year...everything looks so bare ! might have to put some fairy lights up somewhere to keep that holiday feeling going!

thermette at Bluecliffs  not far from Tuatapere

plenty of interesting driftwood

a touch of blue in the pantry at  the crib

...glimpse of inviting blue....

every crib, thats the Southland name for beach house, needs a lighthouse!

and another one handstitched and on a pillowcase, luvly pressie from youngest daughter,
little owl and green hat crafted by older daughter!!!

a gorgeous woollie collar and a hat just waiting on cooler days

and a beautiful summer clutch and now its off to bed, the new week is about to start! and this post has taken a while!! its a bit tricky at first, especially when your sailboat fairy lights  float to a place they want to be!