Sometimes .............................. when the words won't come ..............................

Weekend Greetings dear friends & readers !

Over the past week & a bit I have sat down at my computer at least once every single day to write a blog post 
but the words just would not come out !

Perhaps I haven't done very much to write about I thought??!!

So I decided to load my photos on & then just make it up as I go along !

I had an order to make a bunting for my friend Vicky, whose daughter Sarah was turning 21

Vicky had No idea what she really wanted, but said Sarah very much loved nature & deer

 

I had an inkling that I had some deer print fabric in my stash & luckily, I was able to find it !

Vicky wanted the guests to be able to write on the back of the bunting flags as a momento of Sarah's 21st party 
 I found a black ultra fine Sharpie pen wrote perfectly on the linen fabric

I travelled to Tirau to meet up with kiwikid Sue .... my friend from Australia who had travelled over with her hubby to sort out her Mum's home.
Sue Very Kindly gifted me a beautiful selection of doilies & linens from her Mum .  .  .

.  .  . along with some gorgeous pieces of crystal which I love to use & not just tuck away in a cupboard
Thank You So Very Much Sue for your kindness & for thinking of me.

The very next day I picked a selection of dahlias from my garden & displayed in one of Sue's Mums Vases

I managed to complete a Tilda Teacup Angel which I had cut out & begun to sew almost a year ago 
quite some time ago now !!

She is so sweet & dainty & sits perfectly in a lovely handpainted cup, an Op Shop find from years ago

While cleaning & sorting out my bookcase I came across this oldish book from Cath Kidston "Patch" - which included the kit to make this dresden plate tote bag

I rang my lovely quilting friend Leeanne & she verbally talked me through the process of English Paper Piecing .  .  .  .  so I think it only fair to say she is to blame for my latest addiction !!

Instead of making it up into a tote bag I am going to make my panel into a cushion

My friend Carolyn & I took my grandson Sid to the swings at Kihikihi & popped into The Hummingbird for takeaway coffees
Some purchases just might have happened to come home with me

The gorgeous vintage frame & a tin of Hummingbird flowers 

And lastly, but by no means least, Miss Pippi reaffirmed her place as resident Princess of the House by taking up sleeping on my beautiful Angel Story Quilt & gorgeous Crabapple Hill cushion, gifted to me by Leeanne

Despite me setting up numerous other tempting sleeping spots around the lounge .... she remains unmoved!
Little Madam!

Thanks for your always welcome visits today dear friends,
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend,
With much love & friendship to you All,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x

A bits & pieces kind of week ............

 Monday Morning Greetings dear friends & readers

My Closing Down Sale has been ticking along nicely & I am so thankful to those that have purchased from me enabling me to reduce my stock considerably

 As I have been selling the stock at 50% off I have not at any time felt sad about this, which makes me feel in my heart this is 100% the right decision for me at this time.

The Mr has been milking the past month while our worker has time off.
Last week I offered to come & help him ...... this was uncharacteristically generous of me but indeed I had a
 method in my madness
Every year The Mr grows Japanese millet at the farm as a supplement feed - some of it gets made into silage & the rest is break fed to the herd.
I knew the herd only had 2 more days left on the millet & I wanted some seed heads to dry  .... I find this is a great filler for the bags of citrus potpourri I make up & sell

Here are the girls enjoying their fresh break of millet while I put up a new electric fence

My photo above shows the seed heads on the plant & then the bunches that I hang to dry at home

The covered area just outside my lounge is nice & dry with good air circulation & the bunches dry really well just here

My dehydrator has been working overtime while I dry trays of oranges off our trees
Although I am no longer selling my citrus potpourri in the Cottage I am supplying this lovely Farm Shop with it

The house smelt delicious this weekend while I bagged up another 20 bags to send over to them 

I took a large handful of the fresh mixture & filled the vintage scales that sit on my kitchen bench for a splash of colour

 Each New Year I begin knitting some new cotton dishcloths for the kitchen & take the older tatty ones as cleaning rags ... this is a tip I learnt from Rhonda's books

I enjoy the repetitiveness of the garter stitch at nights when my eyes are too tired to do anything more intricate

I stitched a simple bookmark on linen to go with my friend Joyce's 70th birthday "chair planter"
The pattern is an early design from Jenny's Stitchery Club ... I hope to stitch up some more bookmarks
 for my present box.

I have been picking & drying this years statice .... usually this would be hung for sale in my Cottage but this year 
I get to keep it for myself !

 I found an old wooden bucket in my sleepout to display the dried bunches in.
It's always a "lucky dip" when I grow statice & this year I didn't get any yellow, but I was equally as happy with the colours that did grow

Now if I can just keep Miss Pippi from re-arranging it all, then all will be well !! 😺

Thanks so much for your visits today dear friends

I hope the coming week is good & kind to you all & that you find some creative time in amongst the busy-ness

With much love & friendship to you all,

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x