Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Good Neighbours, Mums & Op Shop Treasures


Greetings dear friends & readers 
Just trying to squeeze in a post before we wave Goodbye to August . . . I did not mean to be gone for so long !!!

After 16 years of living across the road from me in our rural community, my neighbour is moving to town.
Lea has been a good neighbour ... the kind that is always there if you need them but doesn't live on your doorstep.
Immediately after selling her property, she left on a trip to her homeland of Holland ... she issued an urgent plea for some kiwiana teatowels to take with her as host gifts

 Luckily I had a good stash of brightly coloured teatowels & was able to embellish some for her ... I do love the kiwiana fabrics, especially the native bird ones.
Wrapped in cellophane with some ribbon embellishment, these were ideal as they sat flat in the bottom of her suitcase.

Lea held a Garage Sale two weeks before moving & I was able to lend her a bit of a hand in setting it all up.
She presented me with a stash of unsold junk treasures when it was all over ... these two items below were some of the treasures ...
Lea had made this ceramic casserole dish herself many years ago at a night school class
I decided to plant it with some small succulents I had in my garden .  .  .


In the $2 shop I found tiny wooden mushrooms which I hot glued onto some wooden skewers .... I felt they complimented the mushroom theme

Lea was going to toss this wooden frame with no glass or back - but I grabbed it instead !!
I removed the wire, painted it pale duck egg & then lightly sanded the edges
I screwed a tiny hook inside the frame & added a $2 shop glass tealight holder
I found a scrap of white vintage lace which I dunked in my cold cup of tea !!! 
Then I popped some dried lavender & a scrapbooking butterfly into the jar . . .

These two items are going for sale in my Cottage
(if I ever manage to get it open again that is !!!!)

A surprise package arrived in the mail from Kiwikid Sue - gorgeous doilies & thread - totally unexpected & SO delightful !!
Mum .  .  .
 After Mum had been living with us for a few weeks & she begun getting good food, rest, love, care & the right medication, her health began to improve dramatically.
This improvement in her health, naturally bought with it her desire to return home again.
Mum has lived in the family home for 55 years, it was her greatest wish to return there to live.
I began to make inquiries with the appropriate agencies to see if I could implement this for Mum
The short version of a very long saga is that I have taken Mum home again.
I stayed with her for a week to ensure that all the help I had organised was put in place
Although I came up against some strong opposition within my family, I feel in my heart I have done the right thing




A small highlight of my week down at Mums came about when I took her for a hair appointment
Knowing I would have a 1 1/2 hour window of time available I contacted my friend Carolyn who travelled down to meet up with me
I gave her the choice of us going for a coffee or a meander around the Op Shops . . . thankfully she chose the Op Shops !!!
This little outing with a friend was such a bright spot in what was definately a difficult week . . .

These items above were some of the treasures I found on our jaunt -
the small glasses to use for candlemaking were just 4 for 50c.

The tablecloth above was definately my bargain of the day!
 Huge in size, handmade with dresdens appliqued onto it, in immaculate condition .  .  . & all for the princely sum of $2.50 at the S.P.C.A shop !!

My last bargain to share with you (again at the S.P.C.A shop) was this bag of teeny tiny hexies ... someone had lovingly handstitched all these tiny hexies - 26 of them.
This find made Carolyn & I stop in our tracks & have a bit of a discussion about whether or not our handcraft stash might very well end up someday in an Op Shop ??!! Doesn't bear thinking about !!!

Finally friends, for those of you that asked for the hedgehog instructions in my last post .... as I am unable to get my scanner to work I have photographed it for you - just click on the picture & it will enlarge

If you wish to give your hedgehog some knitting as Miss Pink has in my photo below .  .  .
.  .  . just cast 8 stitches onto a pair of small size needles, knit a small square until you are happy with the size, then slide the piece onto a pair of toothpicks to which you have glued a wooden bead to each end.
No I do not attempt to knit the piece using the toothpicks!!
Please don't hesitate to contact me should you have any difficulty with this pattern.

Antique Pansies planted at Easter time happily flowering away on my deck.
Have a lovely rest-of-the-week dear friends,
Thanks so much for your visit today - I am slowly getting around to visiting you all at your blogs again !
with much love & friendship,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0