....useful bags...

I had a trip to town last week and needed to get some sewing machine needles and thread.....however....whilst walking through the shop some lovely fabric caught my eye.  I had made a pledge (turns out it's a flexible pledge!!) not to buy any fabric until I've used up most of what I have stashed!!!
Anyway.... "He who hesitates is lost" ran through my mind and so homeward the fabric came!!!

...It's very nostalgic and evokes lovely memories of primary school.  It reminded me of some of the old Childhood Primers .
I am lucky enough to have 2 of the old Primers that my grandad's family used. There were 8 children in the family, the photo only shows 6 of them.

 

The great aunt who gave me the books said that all the children used these books. In this disposable, throwaway world it's hard to comprehend. 

 

When they got too fragile they were covered with fabric, one of my books is covered in a lovely soft plush fabric .

 

 

 

Faded, tattered and well loved by little hands.

 

between the covers lovely little illustrations, some in colour.

 

The pictures are very like the ones on my new fabric.

My husband told me that when they were children they had drawstring bags called  'useful bags', what a cool thing to have!!! I decided I would make some 'useful bags'  with the cute new fabric to put in my "nanna box'

 

I made 4 useful bags , and there is some left over so may make more, they would be useful to put  library books in, books , toys, any thing really!

 

I lined the bags with chirpy green spots, in the background the slate my grandad and family used at school.

Have a happy week.

x

...of this and that....

....another week has fled , a week filled with this and that!

I made jam early one morning, how satisfying watching the apricots, simmering away having it set and put away in jars for the winter. 

 

I had some hours in the garden too which is taking on an autumn feel, bright dahlias and heleniums signalling that cooler days lie ahead.

Dawnings of amber and amethyst eves;

Soft in the south wind the laughter of leaves;

Breath of the poppy and death of the rose,

Midsummer comes and midsummer goes!

Dapple on cheek of the apple and plum;

honey bees droning  a die-away hum'

Swales in a shimmer and dales in a doze, 

Midsummer comes and Midsummer goes!

Darting of dragon-fly, flutter of moth'

Barley in window and wheat in the swath;

Hush-song and thrush-song-the mother bird knows!

Midsummer comes and midsummer goes!

Moonlight and noonlight all glamour and gleam;

Hillside and rillside a thrall to the dream;

Capture the rapture before the days close!

Mid summer comes and midsummer goes!

(Clinton Scollard

1860-1932)

We have been trimming the side shoots off our hazelnut trees in the evenings, its very peaceful down amongst the cool,green with a faint sniff of autumn wafting through.

 

 

 

 

I made the binding for the cot quilts and have been doing the hand stitching every opportunity that I get.

 

  ...while man of the house does a wee bit of fishing.

 

some TV slippers were knitted up as well.

The quilts also had a visit to Frasers beach one very hot and sunny day where we had a cup of tea, walked and relaxed and very exciting watched some little |Hector's dolphins playing in the surf.

The two new ewe lambs I

 got this year have been a delight and very pretty.

 

Katy and Morag

 

We had a trip to Dunedin last week and called at the Hospice shop to do some thrifting, got some delightful finds!!

 

 

 

 

 

this pretty lidded dish was only $2 , I came home and picked big bunches of Oregano and hung them up to dry in the kitchen, they perfume the entire kitchen....mmmm

 

Have a happy week and bee busy

xx

 

 

 

bedroom makeover

Before Thrifty Foxes wedding we did a bit of spruce up in the house, our bedroom needed an update - it was tired looking.   New paint was applied to the walls and a freshen up took place.  I made new curtains out of french linen purchased from Femme De Brocante in Canterbury, I love the soft colours and the way it drapes as it hangs. 
Some old china fitted right in with the scheme.
New lamps, I distressed the bases, painted the shades with the wall paint and glued on some vintage lace.
We painted the bedside cabinets and put on new knobs.
After many years of the wardrobe doors not being painted....they were... and new knobs put on. 
We are very pleased with the result, it is calm and peaceful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a happy week.