I know nothing . . .

I would just like it to be known that I know nothing about the hole that has been dug under the cherry blossom tree  . . .   mustve been those aliens that landed in the night  . . . (again)!!

from Mr Wolf (in a bit of trouble)
x x x  

Phoebe & Midge

A friend came for a cuppa in late January and bought another lady with her.
  I noticed the other lady was carrying a large carry bag and wondered what was in it??  After awhile she opened the bag with the words "you make bears don't you??"   . . .    I opened my mouth to explain that I no longer make bears, havent done one for years and no longer enjoy making them  . . .    and suddenly heard myself saying "oh yes thats fine ! ! ! " -   it was one of those moments when you suddenly think "who on earth said that ???"  when you realise it was actually you who said it!!!!    and so I was forced persuaded to make Phoebe and Midge.

Midge came together fairly well but was such a hairy fur to sew and in the end I think he should've been called Midget as he is only 7  inches tall & required hours of picking fur out of seams/brushing/trimming etc   (someone in the house said he looks like a hedgehog!!)

Phoebe was quite a bit more work but a lovely mohair fur to work with.  I decided to adorn her with an old doiley for her collar and tie some lace from my vintage stash as a headband for her -  here she is (above)  coming together slowly . . . 

So today was the day I told myself she had to be finished as I have other orders I need to be getting onto plus some more doiley doll bodies cut out waiting to be stuffed and dressed . . . 
(a task I really enjoy doing)
Here is the finished Phoebe ready to go to her new home  . . . 
Hope that you like her  . . . 

 Hope that the lady likes her also . . . 
Have a lovely weekend out there folks  -  daylight saving ends here in New Zealand this Saturday night so we shall have lighter mornings and much darker evenings here . . . winter is not far away :-(
cheerio for now,
Julie x x x

                                  

A morning with a friend

One of the best things about opening my cottage has been the friendships I have made and the like-minded people I have met along the way.  One of these people is Pauline, my friend who owns and operates the business Infused with Nature,     http://www.infusedwithnature.co.nz/     making and selling her wonderful handmade products from the calendula she grows on their farm at Arohena (about half an hour out from me). Pauline & I became friends when I began selling some of her products at Threadbear Cottage.
 When she invited me out this morning for a cuppa and to harvest some calendula before it all finishes for the season,  I didnt need much persuading.

Upon arrival at Paulines we had morning tea out on her patio as it was such a lovely crisp clear autumn day - she had made the most delicious home-made bread with (homemade) strawberry jam and blueberry muffins!!!  The smell was so enticing.  (no pics sorry . . .  too busy eating !!  :-)

Pauline grows rows of calendula in the area behind her house and we set about picking a basketful of the glorious orange and yellow heads ...
She uses the calendula in most of her products by making an infused oil from the flower heads and also by drying and using the flowers or their petals in her range of soaps. Calendula has the most amazing healing properties & my 83 year old Mum swears by her calendula ointment for all manner of things!!!
 I have used the calendula heads before in my citrus potpourri and find it retains its beautiful colour and doesn't fade like alot of other flowers do.

Here I have taken a pic of her wonderful purpose built workroom where she makes her products and also has a display area for people to come and purchase.  (her work area is to the right of this photo & looks out over the farm - the most amazing views ) . . .

I truly had the most enjoyable morning and when I got home I had this wonderful basket of flower heads to dry -  I was tempted to just keep them just sitting in their basket to enjoy but knew they would soon wilt and be unusable . . .        so  . . .    with a little help from a fluffy four-legged friend, I set to work laying them out in my dehydrator  . . .

 of course this was very tiring work and so   (certain folk among us)    had to have a bit of a lie down and a rest after supervising that I had laid them out all correctly  . . .

Fast forward to 6 hours later and I have the most glorious basketful of dried flower heads to use in my next batch of citrus potpourri  . . .

I am so thankful to have a friend like Pauline - go look at her website for a full range of her products - absolutely beautiful handmade products that are all natural and all so good for your skin - click here for the link . . .  http://www.infusedwithnature.co.nz/     
Hope that works okay folks as am still learning my way around this . . .   :-) 

When I make my next batch of citrus potpourri I shall remember to show you the calendula flowers used in it in all their wonderful colour :-)
Til next time, cheerio for now,
Julie & Mr Wolf    x x x   (rather tired from helping Mum)

Let me introduce you to . . . . .

Good morning friends, let me introduce you to one of my dearest friends in the whole wide world . . .

Hello there . . . .




His name is Nero,  but he is also known as Mr Wolf, or fat fluffy or sometimes just fluffy !!!!
He is a long-haired German Shepherd , he is 13 years old now and is both my most wonderful companion and friend, and a big fat pain sometimes all rolled into one!!!!! :-)   He helps me with the gardening (mostly by standing on the plants!!) and also supervises all my craft work and as you can see he leads quite a stressful life most of the time . . . .

Here he is above asleep on his favourite pink cat blanket - when he gets into a deep sleep he pokes his pink tongue out and often has "twitchy" dreams.  I must confess to a bit of an obsession with taking photos of him like this as the girl in the Photo Centre pointed out to me when I was constantly going in there to get them developed !!!!!  She also told me "your dog should have his own facebook page - my flatmates cat does!!!"

So I came home and asked him and he said definately NO - he would have too many friend requests!!!

Well friends I thought I should introduce you to Nero today as he is a big part of my life here at Threadbear Cottage and often gets way more compliments from the visitors than I do!!!!  And you will no doubt see him make appearances quite often here on my blog.  Hope you are all having a wonderful week out there and I shall be back soon with some crafting I have been working on.
Cheerio for now,      Love Julie & Mr Wolf x x x

the birth of my blog . . .

Hello there and welcome to my new blog !!!  :-)
This is to be a journal of my life here at Threadbear Cottage.  I hope you will follow me on this journey as I share with you my comings and goings and also the things I create and the things I wish to LEARN to create!!
And please bear with me as I learn my way around blogland.  (& the mistakes I make along the way)!!