Last Orders ...................& a Cat called Bob

Wintery Tuesday Evening Greetings dear friends & readers,

I have been trying to finish up the last of my Orders before I close my Cottage for the Winter period

This coming weekend we celebrate Queen's Birthday Weekend  & I will be closing just after that & reopening again on ................................well I am just not too sure at this stage!!!

Well not quite yet ......................but soon !!!!

After I finished Pru's order she was so delighted she called in again with a request to complete a couple more items for her .................

This beautiful piece above was Aran stitch embroidery that Pru had done many years ago ... she wanted it made into a cushion with a zippered back & a zippered inner as well.

This large crochet piece had been done by Pru's Nana & she asked for it to be backed & made into more of a supper cloth size.

When I made the two runners for Pru, there was still a small collection of doilies remaining so she asked me to make up a flower design with these & stitch onto a 1 mt x 1 mt square cloth that she could use on her dining table.

I was relieved to see the completion of Pru's order as I had endless trouble with the foot of my machine constantly catching in the crochet pieces 

My friend Marie rang me to ask if she could pop out & buy some more mothball sachets.

Upon checking in the Cottage, I realised I had not one single one left .... it was easy enough to quickly run up some muslin bags as I already had some mixture on hand ............

You can find the recipe at the bottom of this post *here* should you wish to make some yourself.


I was lucky enough to win these 2 old sewing machine drawers from a Trademe auction 
(incidently the auction finished at 12.22 pm at night so I sat up til that hour to ensure my $12 bid won, which it did. The Mr assured me I was "the only fool sitting up at that ridiculous hour bidding on a broken drawer anyway !!!!"

I chose to upcycle the one with the base intact first
Two coats of cream wall paint, a quick scuff of the edges, then I lined the base with a remnant of the wallpaper from my last post
I had a plan for this pretty drawer .......................

I am ashamed to admit my lovely cotton laces spend their life languishing in a tangled heap in a plastic supermarket bag tossed in a corner of my sewing room ... I had seen a wonderful idea on Pinterest of winding the lengths onto old wooden clothes pegs
I was certainly NOT short of wooden pegs so I spent a pleasant rainy afternoon ironing all my lace lengths out, then winding then onto some old wooden pegs

What enormous delight I felt in a simple afternoons task !!!!

Thank you for your lovely comments on the Nail Box upcycle in my last post
I chose to use the box as a shelf in my sewing room - it was the perfect size to house my collection of Extra Curricular Magazines, & my jars filled with vintage bakelite buttons
I had purchased these small swing tags to attach to gifts but I loved the vintage prints so much, I couldn't bear to part with them, so I strung them along the shelf as a bunting .............

.................... & my new/old drawer gets to sit alongside my new/old shelf !!

I think it was over at Betty-the-Wood-Fairy's blog blog I first learnt about the book A Street Cat Named Bob

After I had read the book myself, I ordered copies for my son & stepson for Christmas.  I well remember their faces when they opened the parcels ... total disbelief!!  It was my son Kayne who found to courage to say to me "actually Mum I think you might have given us the wrong gifts - this is a kids book?!"  No its not I told them both - read it & let me know what you think.
The books have been read & enjoyed & shared amongst many family members & friends
I was so delighted last week to be able to see the Movie that has come to my small town.  I just loved it & found that even though my eyes filled with tears frequently, I smiled alot of the way through also.
It is the real cat Bob who plays his own part in the movie !!
I encourage you to see it if you get the opportunity - it IS wonderful & just re-affirms my long held belief that our pets come to us for a reason & often-as-not ...... they choose Us !!


Long time readers of my blog will know that Blackie chooses the most unusual sleeping places including the ironing board & wrapped around the sewing machine to name just a couple

His latest sleeping place is stretched out along the back of the T.V. ... this is rather ridiculous really but what is completely pathetic about all this ... is that the Mr & I sit there with the sound almost on mute - trying to lip read the T.V - so as not to disturb His Lordship!!!
You can certainly see why Blackie chose to live in this house!!!

Have a wonderful week dear readers & thanks so much for your visits today,
Be kind to yourselves & to each other,
with much love & friendship
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0