Lightening dull corners . . . . . harvesting Vegies

Good Tuesday Evening to you dear friends & readers  
A Special Welcome to all the new friends & readers that have stopped by recently

Sometimes when the Christmas decorations are packed away, the house can seem rather bare & things look a little shabby to me

This time of year I like to make an attempt to lighten things up a little bit & perhaps titivate some dark corners
A vase of freshly picked flowers from the garden will always bring a dull corner to life ...

Red Alstromerias & white Penstemons

I was given a $30 Bunnings Voucher for Christmas so off I trotted to buy myself a new rake to work on shifting my piles of mulch .
While in there I couldn't resist the beautifully healthy maidenhair ferns on sale so my Voucher purchased one of those also

Just perfect to sit in my old red ceramic duck planter .  .  .

.  .  .  & cheer up the fireplace hearth area

My Mums elderly friend Margaret is going voluntarily into Resthome care.
She had been sorting the piles of bits & bobs that 90+ years of acquiring & gathering brings !!
Mum bought me up a large plastic bag of goodies from Margaret.
To be honest, much of it was rubbish unusable but I did find these two vintage brooches & gorgeous old triple string of beads that Margaret had thought I could sell in my Cottage.
I made two little brooch pillows from some brushed velveteen to display the brooches on - & the necklace changed colour after a gentle soak in warm suds

At the very bottom of the plastic bag was this crumpled up piece of fabric that someone had intricately appliqued a Holly Hobbie girl onto.
I LoVeD her.
I decided to frame her using some of the oddments of vintage cotton laces that were in the bag.

Then I made her up into a tightly stuffed pillow - perhaps to sit on a bed or a bedroom chair

I just adore Holly Hobbie - she takes me right back to my childhood.

Well dear friends, all that worm juice/tea has been sure working its magic on my vegetable garden lately
We enjoy garden salads most nights & I have had some late season brassicas ready to pick also

The Mr & I both really love broccoli - it is MY favourite vegetable of all of them really

Though I have more young baby beets growing, I was able to cook up a batch of early ones last week for us to enjoy
The photo below shows just some of what I harvested over the weekend

The Mr is away today & will not arrive home until the wee small hours.
He has travelled to the other side of the Island to collect a (new) 2nd-hand mower to cut hay & silage at the farm.
The house is quiet as the 4 legged ones sleep & I am burning my new Eco Soy Candle - a gift from my Stepdaughter for Christmas
The fragrance is French Vanilla & the house smells rather heavenly ....

The beautifully gift boxed candle came with this little verse inside it . . .
"from birth to death
our entire lives have
a soundtrack written in scent.
One note of a half forgotten fragrance
is enough to place us at the
heart of every moment
we've ever
lived"

How very true ... I think the french vanilla fragrance is taking me back to Mums baking days & coming home from school to the house fragrant with delicious mouth-watering smells.
My Mum used to do the most wonderful baking.

Goodnight from me dear friends & readers
& Goodnight from the furry ones below
Wishing you the sweetest of dreams .  .  .

Thanks SO much for your visits here this late summers evening
with much love & friendship to you All,
Julie, Pippi & Blackie  x0x0x0