goodbye to month of May

It has been a lovely month unseasonably warm really.  While out in the garden the other day a drift of sweet perfume had me looking for its source, little violets tricked by the warmth into thinking it is spring maybe,

they didn't look up and see  autumns signature...

While the weather was so sunny we thought a drive to Oreti Beach for a walk would be relaxing and refreshing,

  our wee mini

it's about 45 mins south of us and by the time we arrived a southerly front was closing in ... the walk was a short one!

Oreti Beach is 26 kms long, has very smooth sand and is classed as a road it even has a speed limit!  30 kmph. The famous Bert Munro motorbike race is held here anually.  Its a great surfing, swimming and floundering beach, when its clear Stewart Island looks very close, and you can see across to Riverton.  You can drive, walk, horseride or take your motorbike,right round on the beach to Riverton, we must do that one day.

More beautiful sunrises...

some flower picking....of course!

and some fabric purchasing...very lovely but very naughty!!  Love it though!!

I am so excited to have 3 lovely followers, very unexpected but exciting!!  I am very unsure of the etiquette here but its so lovely to have blog friends.  Thankyou.

Mouton at the beach

Mouton is a girl after my own heart, she loves the beach!

She was just a baby here and still wearing her woollen baby coat for extra warmth,

And like all beach babes she slept very well that night after a long beach walk and lots of sea air.

sheep and donkey friends

I have some lovely friends, not all of them people! 
I love our donkeys, they are not co-operative when I try to photograph them though.

This is Stan, he's a little shy....he loves having his back scratched and likes to back up so we can get his favourite scratchy spot.  We were given him by some farmers that no longer needed him, they had him to stop their bulls fighting.  He is such a gentle sweetie, now he has a peaceful carefree life.

Stan and Jake

We bought Jake when he was just a baby, and a very cute baby at that!  I have tried to put some of his baby photos in this post but have had no luck so will try and put them in a separate post...sometimes I just can't get this computer to do what I want!!  

Jake is probably a little spoilt and does try very hard to claim all the love and attention that is on offer.

The slightly blurred brown donkey on the right is Storm, we bought her when she was a year old, she is very timid and nervous and ever so slightly naughty...she is a little prone to PMS I think....

They are very loyal,  loving pets, they know the sound of our cars and when they hear us arriving home they bray and he haw very loudly!  most welcoming!!!! They call out when they hear the door of the house opening or shutting, they have amazing hearing.

I also love sheep,  we have a bit of a mix, some black Cheviots, which are very beautiful....

This is Margaret and Margaret, the other Margaret isn't in the picture, generously given to me by my friend Margaret!

I am looking forward to having them shorn and spinning their fleeces. 

These are my last seasons lambs, they are Wiltshire crosses, they shed their wool and don't require shearing, the gorgeous, clever and most adorable lamb on the right is Mouton, she is my bottle reared lamb....She is very chic, called Mouton because her first  home was a cardboard carton that had French Country Collections stamped on the side ( French Country is a beautiful gift line in NZ, and I had been a bit naughty and bought some lovelies from them).

Anyway, Mouton is french for sheep.

   Mouton

She does have that elegant sort of sophisticated french look!!!

She is prone to liking her food rather much, and has had her head under the fence and eaten an entire row of young sweetcorn plants belonging to the man of the house...and just last week found the gate to the vege garden wasn't properly latched and had some fresh veges.....

last days of Indian summer..

Something I love about winter is the sunrises, and you don't have to be up extra extra early to catch them!!

There's such a morning chorus going on here, all the birds trying to outsing one another, so its not as peaceful as it may look!
The week has had many sunny days, I am so pleased with my Antique Shades pansies this year.  Usually I plant them out in the garden, but have had very little success with them, always straggly and not many flowers.  This year I potted them up in an old wooden box and they have done so well, I popped in  some Sheep pellets and they seem to be very happy.

a sleepy bumblebee catching some afternoon sun

Found some time to do a little thrifting at lunchtime on Monday...got this outdoor table with Ivy leaves for $10 , will get the paintbrush out and find a spot for it...

Also purchased with great glee, 4 gorgeous plates! Royal doulton, but there is another stamp on the back that says 'made in Australia', thats so interesting, I had no idea that some Doulton was manufactured in Australia.

and a piece of crochet edging, just the one lonesome bit which I think may be a match to the ones I got there a while ago...lucky!!!

Also a dear wee plate with an idyllic cottage scene depicted...I am very attracted to those cottage gardens of long ago.....

There are no Hollyhocks left flowering here but there is a rather magnificent delphinium having a last fling and drawing attention to herself,

loving those blue hues!!!

There has been a wish of many years come true this week, we have had a pump, we have had the urn and the stand with the hole drilled through it for many years but no pond to put it in...this week lovely husband brought home a pond! its in place and working!!!!

It makes the most lovely sploshy  musical sound and it's close to the verandah. We woke this morning to rain drumming on the roof, visions of cosy crafting on a lazy sunday were to be had...now the sun is shining it's warm outside..again... so all that has been put aside, it's a day to get hedging plants to disguise uncottagey black pond, and to buy fish !

The tomatoes are finally at an end...we have pulled out the plants!

My wee blog space is a happy place for me to be, so we won't talk of bathrooms, builders or and hour and a half at the dentist this week....I will just sign off with some golden afternoon light instead.

anniversaries

I can hardly believe how the weeks fly past...but 30 years happily married....that went fast too!
Lovely husband gave me a beautiful bouquet.....florists seldom receive flowers so its really special when you do, this one include freesias, chrysanthemums, stock, ornamental kale and leucodendrons, the perfume of the stock and freesias is filling the living room. Close friends share the same wedding date so a dinner out was an added treat.  And phone calls from much loved far away daughters made the day complete.

 A Mother's day gift sent from Melbourne arrived this week too, a travelling cup for the caravan, a notebook and some trim from the Typo shop I adore, and a special piece of stitching.

gorgeous!

and as they say 'the week started off so well', however it got decidedly damp both inside and out after a plumbing disaster, a pipe in the hot water cupboard burst while the plumber was doing some bathroom work, rusty water cascaded in large quantities all through the cupboard, soaking all our stored sleeping bags, blankets, clean washing that was airing, spare quilts, special baby clothes of the girls that were stored there, and my bags of dried lavender and lemon verbena!!!   It was all go in the washing department, it was so funny hanging out blankets etc in the pouring rain but there weren't a lot of other options!! Anyway all dried and put away again ready to face another week.

There is a quote that I have written out and hanging on the fridge door, not sure who its by,  but it sums up a lot of feelings,

"when the world wearies and society ceases to please there is always the garden"

so I took myself out to do some leaf raking and admired the graceful and elegant catkins on the Garrya elliptica

and looked into the beautiful spotted throat of the last foxglove of summer in my garden.

And to finish the week off in a peaceful and relaxed way we headed to the beach for a night, a good walk and a cosy open fire, refreshed and restored and ready to face another week.

beautifully crafted blanket by daughter at our crib

I have 'completion'? type hopes and thoughts for the bathroom this week (I have shared these thoughts with the builder) lol...then more hopes of the painter coming and then no more mess for a while.....

,  

a busy week

What a busy week the past one turned out to be, with the build up to Mother's Day at work, an appointment in Queenstown on Wed and work everyday until Sunday! interspersed with builder dust...
Unfortunately the day in Queenstown was not a sunny one, a friend came with me, and the first stop was at the lake in Kingston for a cup of tea.

The scene was hauntingly beautiful, the mist swirled and moved around the peaks, it was reminiscent of the Scottish highlands....I could imagine tartan clad people going about their lives...  or maybe men in kilts emerging to a the call of the bagpipes ......my friend said I must have a powerful imagination!lol
Lunch in Arrowtown,a flask of hot soup and sandwiches
lots of autumn colour and an enchanting little cottage nearby

A walk along the creek bank was a delight of

autumn colours, natures palette is so warm and bright at this time of year, her last fling before the winter.

The haws on the Hawthorns seemed much larger than the ones on the hedges at home, we picked some to put in vases .

The flowering currants were laden with pretty blue berries,

the colours along the way.

Thursday we had a lot of flowers in the shop,

lots of laughs and busyness, it feels good putting together flowers that are going to give others a lot of pleasure.  We have a website now too www.stemsonstandrew.co.nz. The other thing that happened this week was the demise of our ancient computer, so new computer and I am still finding my way about and getting used to the differences. The words Old dogs and new tricks , spring to mind!

Mothers day morning opening parcels is fun, from oldest daughter  a box of treats.

a n exquisitely stitched pillowcase with some of my fav things,

cute wee hedgehog, toadstool, and dragonflies.

Card making papers, little handsewn pouch, and nourishing homemade handcream for rough floristy hands,

delightful vintage linens , some with a nautical theme that I have never seen before, very cute.

And the best view of the bathroom this week

and now its off for a seaside walk and a visit with friends for the afternoon.

Bathroom progress

We have had progress in the bathroom....the addition of a working shower...........oh the sheer and utter bliss !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Its not until something is gone that we realise how much we take it for granted!

The week began with a very cold weather, hail and snow, washing in  buckets in the heaterless laundry was a bracing way to greet the day, hotties and cuddly throws were welcome evening companions

the hottie cover was one made from leftover scraps of fabric from a 'Hottie makeathon'...last winter.  The fabric is Amy Butler flannelette, lined with old woollen blankets, and the hearts filled with lemon verbena and lavender....mmmmmm makes me feel warm just writing about it!! The addition of favourite fluffy blue and white spotted sheets made bed a very cosy place to be.
we are now back to warm days and sunshine,which are wonderful, escaping from inside the house to leave the noise and dust behind.  Couldn't bear to spend the weekend with dust laden furniture so have had a big clean up and put some fresh flowers around, it certainly looks better. Another benefit is feeling satisfied with the housework,( although I fear the dust will be back tomorrow), is that you can sit and do a little stitching with out feeling guilty.  I am loving the new sampler book, unfortunately the projects are 'secret squirrel' at the moment. ( will show them at a later date)

the pretty pale lemon flower is a perennial cosmos which flowers in autumn, so delicate yet completely hardy in whatever the weather throws at it.

besotted with flow blue china...  Have done some tidying in the garden, also some planting of bulbs in pots. some weeding of weeds and became inspired by the Dandelions...

There are some very high expectations flying around this house this week!! in a bathroom sort of way!! I am hoping for long hot baths, smooth floors, lightshades and switches,a mirror...paint maybe a little way off yet, but oh just the anticipation is enough for now.
(such a relief to get to the end of this post! we have very bad gremlins in our computer, actually we think it is just wearying with old age, cantankerously only doing what it wants to and if its not in the mood it just refuses to do anything...must like blogging thankfully hehe)