A Trip to the far North (Catch Up #3)

Greetings dear friends & readers & Happy Weekend to you all !! 💚

I met my dear friend Leeanne about 6 years ago through our blogs & we very quickly struck up a rather close friendship 

Each Year Leeanne would tell me "you must come visit me in the far North"

Yes! I would reply ... with the very best of intentions ... but somehow never quite got there.

This year with the closure of my Cottage, I decided it was a priority.

So last week I put on my big girls panties & drove myself 5 hours away to visit my friend in Northland.

This was my room at Leeanne's beautiful Home ... & even though I tried really, really hard ... I did not manage to smuggle the quilt on the far right into my car & bring it home!!

Her Home is a testament to her amazing creativity & is filled with handcrafted treasures everywhere you look ...
 I felt right at home 💜

Simon, Leeanne's cat, who sometimes features on her blog, joined us when we sat by the fire stitching & chatting.  
He blends right in when he sleeps on the giant biscornu Leeanne has made him from vintage wool blankets.

The Country Yard ..... the most beautiful patchwork shop set in stunning grounds

High on my wish list of things to do & see, was to visit this gorgeous Patchwork Shop here
Kerryn, the Owner has been to my Cottage a number of times & I had always wanted to visit her beautiful shop myself

There was so much eye candy everywhere it was hard to take it all in.
(& yes, some purchases definately came away with me)

Early the next morning we drove up the Coast to a beautiful spot Helena Bay Gallery & Cafe

You can just see the coastline in the distance of my photo ... though the air was crisp, we sat outside on the deck & had delicious coffee & cappucino cake

Next door to the cafe is a stunning Gallery filled with local artisans work.
 I always like to bring a small momento home with me, so I purchased the red pottery heart above ... it sits perfectly on my small "heart wall" at Home

Back in the city again, we decided to do a trawl of the local Op Shops because ............ 

well,  just because ............

I gathered a small collection of junk treasures in the Hospice Shop ... some for making into birdfeeders & some for candlemaking

But my "treasure of the day" would have to be this cute little vintage enamel Tala Pastry Cutter set ... complete with all 4 sizes of cutters ... for the princely sum of $5 ! 😊

I knew it would look perfect sitting on my enamel breadbin with some other junk vintage treasures

While sitting stitching/chatting at Leeanne's I worked on this wool felt candle mat ... I had cut it out before I left home.
The pattern is by Barri Sue Gaudet of Bareroots designs

I love how it turned out & LoVe the primitive colours! 

I keep these glass containers for my candle making - they are great for tipping any leftover soy wax into - so I wrapped one with some pip berries & added a tealight
I hope to make some more of these for my Christmas Craft Stall.

And my final completion has been another two cotton dishcloths ... these are made using leftover yarn & are destined for the present box.

Well dear friends ... that's me ... all caught up! 😉
I hope you have a wonderful weekend & the coming week brings you only good things,
Thanks - as always - for your visits to my blog,
with much love & friendship,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0x