a most magical day

Greetings dear friends & readers

On Saturday my eldest son Aaron got married in my garden - we had a most magical day

The weather gods smiled upon us (though a huge thunderstorm went through the night before taking down 2 large tree branches)

Sarah is a minimalist girl & didn't want any fussiness - though I "sneaked" in an antique chair with a basket of dried rose petals for tossing

It was a beautiful day enjoyed by all ... I have no proper photos yet apart from a few snaps the Mr took for me ...

She put her posy together from flowers out of my garden which was special for us both

Sarah is one of 5 beautiful girls - imagine that . . . 5 daughters??!!

(Sarah is 2nd to eldest - I think this photo is eldest to youngest on the left)

They both chose to have no attendants - Sarahs Mum & myself were the witnesses

me & my two boys . . .  one having a wee nap !!!!

I dont know about you folk, but I just HATE photos of myself !!!

me & my little tiny Mum . . . 

I Love the sign just behind my back end  !!!!!

Now, because I always want my blog to be an honest place &, lets face it, I dont live in a world where everything is all sunshine & roses - I live in the real world, let me just say this.
  The weeks prior to the wedding were not ones I would want to repeat in a hurry. The work load felt huge, often overwhelming,  coupled with the fact that November is my busy season for groups.
The cleaning, weeding & preparation seemed endless & energy levels were low 
I wanted everything to be Oh So Perfect for everyone.

 To tell the truth, most of the time, I just wanted to be in a cave, on Mars,  with my eyes shut tight & my hands over my ears !!!!! 

 So when they both arrived for the wedding, I went around the front to greet them & walk up with my son ...  & I saw in front of me, an actual bride & groom, it suddenly struck me, they are actually getting married ... I promptly burst into tears !!!!!

I thought they both made such a lovely couple, but yes, I am indeed biased  :-)

Sarah is a very lovely girl & will be a wonderful daughter in law

The day just flowed so well & everyone seemed content to sit (in the shade mostly) & relax & enjoy themselves.  We laughed lots ...

It was honestly a truely magical day  :-)

Oh, & I must share with you my new wedding shoes ... made in Spain ... so comfortable to wear & my favourite colour too 

The following day I had a group coming. Wendy from charlotte's web bought her very lovely church ladies out to the garden. Wendy was surprised I would want to host a group the day after the wedding. I confessed to her that I felt it should all still (hopefully) be tidy so it was perfect timing.

Oh it was so nice to just sit for awhile  :-)

We had a lovely afternoon tea in the shade with china teacups - the ladies were in no hurry to rush off which is always the greatest compliment.
Wendy presented me with this delightful gift as a "thank you"

Today, it is back to reality & on with some christmas orders

A large order for angel & golly teatowels & matching oven mitts

There are gaps to fill in the Cottage plus I still have 4 more groups before they finish for the year.

Thanks so much for stopping by & letting me share our special day with you all.

I hope the coming week brings you only good things

The soldier poppies in my garden always remind me of my Dad

Much love/hugs/friendship,

Julie x0x0x

A garden for a Fluffy

Good afternoon dear friends & readers

When I  stand on my cottage deck & look up the length of my section I can see the spot where the fat fluffies grave is.

It always bothered me somewhat, that it was just a patch of lawn with the stones on it made for me by my dear friend Carolyn

It always felt that someone in our lives of such significance should have a more memorable resting spot

I had tossed around the idea for awhile now to make a small garden around the area

When we first moved here a lady from further on out my road would sometimes come & gather fruit off our trees.

It appears the previous owners used to let her & I was more than happy for her to continue as fruit was one of the few things she could digest with no problems 

We developed a kind of disjointed friendship over the years but often she would call in just to see the fat fluffy

So what do ya reckon Mum ???

Over the years I knew not to get offended when she plainly told me "No, I dont want to talk with you today, I have just come for a pat with Nero" -  more often as not... this suited me to a tee

I am hiding today & I am NOT receiving visitors thanks !!!!!!

...though I am not sure the fat fluffy was always receptive to her attention!

So  I came home recently to find a most beautiful handmade card & a granny smith apple tree left on my doorstep ... she had written the words "never will I pass your gate again & not think of him..."

It seemed like the perfect time to mark his resting spot

I couldn't think what flowers to plant until, in the middle of the night it dawned on me - of course, forgetmenots & catmint - yes, he had a fascination with cats, bordering on obsession 

And as he loved to chase the grannysmith apples (he thought they were balls), the tree was just perfect :-)

Not great photos unfortunately but I am hoping when the catmint & white shasta daisies bloom it will be lovely

It has been 6 months now since he passed away.  I still miss him like it was just yesterday. 

  

These have been busy November days & many late nights - some spent on the floor making up batches of potpourri 

There were 2 orders for Hettie Hen Doorstops that were flying out to Australia . . . the customer didnt want me to weight them as she was already very overweight in her luggage . . . 

I usually weight them with a broken brick so these two felt like a feather with nothing in them

Back on the floor again, this time making christmas stockings for the Cottage

These two little sampler needlecases (A Country Friends design) finally got completed & are stock for the Cottage

I managed to fling together a small christmas mantlepiece late last week before a busload arrived . . . the month had kind of slipped away on me as I usually have a christmas display done well before now . . . 

Not really the grand vision that I had back in February for my display this year . . .  but gosh, where did the in-between months go to ???!!!

Sometimes when you rush through your days like a half crazed person (as I do) you dont get to see & appreciate the beauty & the growth in the garden ... I took my camera for a little stroll yesterday to try to capture some of it & share with you . . .

The roses are just coming into full bloom now - mine are a little later this year 

The lavender path leading to the pond has a gentle haze of mauve as the lavenders come into flower

The water lillies are looking beautiful on the pond right now ...

And some of my water iris's are flowering also

"surely you must have a gardener?" a customer asked me last week
"yes" I replied "there are 3 gardeners here...  me, myself, I..."

It is a pretty time in this part of the globe although things have taken a hammering from the strong winds we are experiencing lately
Thanks so very much to you all for popping by  :-)

I am off to "park up" with a cuppa & unpick a dollies dress
Wishing you all a great rest of the week  :-)
much love/hugs/friendship,
Julie x0x0x