And Just Like That ...............................................

Christmas Greetings dear friends & readers💝

And just like that ........ another Christmas has rolled around again!

Goodness ... where did the month go to I wonder!

An electrical storm took out a power line outside our property & once it was repaired we found it had blown our internet, our phone line & our Garage Alarm system.
A week later when our new modem arrived & internet was restored again, I found I had somehow lost my 
blogging mojo

While I was without internet I managed to put the Christmas Tree up & decorate it

Blackie helped me sort out which decorations to hang where 😉

The presents were wrapped, the lights were put up & the 4 legged Fairy was put underneath the tree!

Some Christmas decorating took place in a few areas of the house

But not to the extent I usually go to by any means

Some Christmas Baking has been made & packaged up ready for gifting

Beautiful Baking from my friends Sandy & Joyce

There are only 3 local friends that I exchange Christmas Baking with now ... the list has dwindled as friends have
 moved away.

Early tomorrow I drive to meet my brother to collect Mum who is coming up to spend Christmas with us.
As I have much to share with you, I hope to schedule some more Catch Up Posts for after Christmas.
But today I really just wanted to Thank You All So Very Much for your visits to my blog, the lovely emails & comments you always take the time to leave me
Your kindness means a great deal to me & I enjoy my blog & our interactions so much!

May you & your families have a wonderful festive season & may 2019 bring only good things to us all.
With much love & friendship to you ALL!
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0

P.s ........  I have left the last word to Miss Pippi ......

Flowers, Orders & Treats!

Good Sunday Greetings dear friends & readers

 I have been picking my rose petals every few days to dry for potpourri, & was so pleased I picked myself a vase of beautifully perfumed roses last week as my garden has been buffeted by rain & strong winds all weekend

The white roses are Iceberg  -  I do not know the name of the pink one but it has such a gorgeous old fashioned perfume

This wrought iron chair has sat in my sleepout for a few years now.
I pulled it out a couple of months ago & removed the wooden "seat" part & then it sat untouched until just last week.

A good scrub then a paint with my Resene Amulet bought it up good as new.
I purchased a new coconut fibre basket liner as I had the old wire basket from another project ... I potted up some succulents from the garden & am hopeful as they grow they will spread & cascade nicely down the sides

While I was out on my deck giving everything a good freshen up, I planted up my tatty old suitcase again 

 I usually plant busy lizzies in this but as the girls in the Garden Centre informed me the entire crops nationwide were wiped out with mildew, I decided to try some petunias & lobelia this year

Though I won't get as long a flowering as I do with the busy lizzies, I am sure they will give me a nice show of colour

Ange & Judy both requested two Pinkeeps in Country Colours please. 
These are made from cut down wooden coffee mug trees, with a round baking tin screwed through the centre.

The paint colour is a Resene testpot Persian Red ... this deep plum colour goes nicely with the muted tones 
of wool felt
I embellished with some rusty tin accents.

Still continuing to work my way through my Orders ... a lovely customer who is rather fond of anything in the vintage linen line ordered 6 covered coathangers

I made 5 of these from vintage linen pillowcases & the sixth one (bottom lower right) was made from a vintage linen table runner.

I attach a small lavender bag to the hanger which I fill with my own homegrown dried lavender.

I bagged up & posted off a large Order of both my Citrus & my Cottage Garden Potpourri's ... these are destined for The Farm Shop at Gordonton where they are sold on behalf

While waiting on a car repair last week I wandered along to the Hospice Shop ... this sweet little silver tray came home with me ... a good buff up with Silvo & it totally transformed it

Click on the pic to enlarge it if you would like a closer look!

I have potted up some succulents & baby's tears in some small glass jugs & sat them on my new/old tray

My other treat last week was this dainty Latte Mug which I purchased from The Hummingbird.  It is just the perfect size to fit under my coffee machine & keeps my coffee piping hot ... just how I like it 💙
It was a bit of an added bonus when I turned the mug over to see that it is in fact, Green Gate 💚! 

On a not-so-positive-note my naughty feral cat Blackie went awol for one night & two days last week.
He turned up home as if butter wouldn't melt & then proceeded to sleep for an entire day.  I informed him that my hair didn't need any more reason to go grey & that I was seriously considering fitting a hidden camera on him!!!
He did not take a scrap of notice of One Single Thing I Said !! 😞

Thanks So Much for your visits today dear friends,
Be good & kind to yourselves & to each other this coming week,
With much love & friendship to you all,
Julie & the feral furry ones x0x0x0

The Craft Market

Mid Week Greetings dear friends & readers

Well, I survived the Craft Market - Phew !!

Before I share my photos I just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to you all ... I received So Many comments, emails, instagram & text messages wishing me luck for Saturday ... you are all So Very Kind & your good wishes carried me along on the day.

I have been asked by so many to share photos of my stall so here goes ... in no particular order.
(you can click on the photos to enlarge them if you wish to have a closer peek)

After listening to the rain all night long, the sun came out & so did the crowds of shoppers ... it was wonderful & a really festive atmosphere too.

My Christmas crafts went down a treat ... I am not 100% sure but I don't think there was alot of actual Christmassy crafts at the market

I am pleased I took this photo (above) because shortly after this, a lady tipped her entire cup of hot coffee over this chair!!  I could not quite believe it!!  
I am so thankful that a friend was passing & took the chair squab home with her & immediately soaked it in Napisan for me ... she certainly saved the day !!

I sold completely out of babies tears plants ... I took 12 with me & bought none home 😃

Although this was my best market day sales-wise, I still seemed to have alot of items to bring home with me at the end of the day.

Here I am serving my friend Jenny.

I had a lovely neighbour - my friend Julie from Bo & Co
We have been "neighbours" at this market for 3 or 4 years now & we were both so thankful for the fine weather as we have sat here before in wind & rain & wondered if perhaps we might both be a little bit insane !!

Some random photos of the laneways

You can just feel the people enjoying the sunshine & the clear blue skies

And if you click on the arrow below you can watch a video that a man has composed of the market day.

The very next day (well few days in fact) I felt exhausted ... nothing on my body wanted to function properly & 
I felt so foggy in my head.
BUT ... if I want to finish all my Orders by the end of November then plod on I must . . . . . .

Angela wanted a "Santa Sack" filled with goodies, but weighted really heavily that she could use as a doorstop 
at Christmas
I had this one lovely panel left over that I thought would be ideal.

I filled a large calico bag with fine gravel to sit in the bottom, then some wadding, then made a calico covered cardboard "base" on which to hot glue the toys to.
Angela was delighted with her Santa Sack 😊

My dear friend Sandy had bought a felt Advent Calendar for her grandchildren but wanted "something" smallish to sit in the pocket that could be moved along each day, counting the days til Christmas.
As the calendar had a snowman on top, I suggested making up one of the snowmen I made for the
 Christmas Bags in this post
I sat some heavy books on his tummy to flatten him down a bit so he would fit nicely in the felt pockets.

Sandy has just collected him this afternoon & sent me a photo of him in the pocket 💗

Thank you for staying with me through this photo-heavy post dear readers
I am off for a little lie down & a nap I think ... rather like someone above!
I hope the rest of the week treats you well dear friends,
With much love & friendship,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x

The Final Stretch

Greetings dear friends & readers
I am on the final stretch as I head towards the Craft Fair this coming Saturday.
I will be at Site 31 so please do drop by if you are coming to the Fair, & if possible, please bring fine weather 
with you 😉!!

This final week has been very much about finishing up items, labeling & pricing, packaging ... & also making up the potpourri's that I love to create

Over the weekend it rained & was cold & wintery again ... I lit the fire & informed The Mr there would be no meals eaten at our dining table that day as I commandeered it for my citrus potpourri mixing & making.
The heat from the fire took the lovely citrusy fragrance right through our little house.

I managed to fill 25 bags with the mixture I had made up

My roses have been a little later flowering this year so I have been unsuccessful with air drying the beautiful red Dublin Bay rose I always like to use for my Cottage Garden Potpourri.
As a last resort, I decided to use my dehydrator to dry them ... this took only 2 hours to crisply dry the red rose petals.

I was able to fill 18 bags with the Cottage Garden Potpourri which I was thrilled about. 

Raglans main street is lined with these wonderful Palm Trees

One fine day in the middle of last week, The Mr suggested we take a drive out to Raglan
I did not need persuading as I was, once again, very close to tossing my sewing machine out the window!!!

Raglan is a small Coastal town that, despite becoming increasingly popular,  still retains that quaint old town feel to it.
I LoVe Raglan ... it is a wonderful place to visit & I also enjoy the picturesque drive out there ... it is about an hour from us here.

Even though it was the middle of the day, we always like to buy fish & chips at Raglan - the fish is Sooo fresh & tastes completely different to what we buy back here.
I always cart my tomato sauce with me as I love my fish dipped in tomato sauce.
We ate our lunch on a grassy verge down by the sea & let the wind "blow the cobwebs away"!
It was a great visit & just the distraction I needed to get me motivated again.

My veggie garden has been a constant source of pleasure for me these last couple of months, after being dormant for several winter months.
Every night I pick something & cook for our tea - this broccoli is one of my favourite varieties  (Green Dragon broccoli) 

Two weekends ago - Queens Birthday weekend,  I planted tomatoes, courgettes, several different varieties of lettuce, two pumpkin plants, apple cucumbers, capsicums & basil.

I try to pick a couple of leaves of silverbeet or spinach & toss in with whatever I am cooking most nights

Freshly picked Broccoli & Cabbage above - will be in tonights stir fry dish.

A couple of nights ago, while sitting stitching on the couch, I snapped these photos of the furry ones
I was amazed how in the space of about an hour, they changed positions so much, but still remained tucked up close to one another.
This was especially cute seeing as they had had a fur flying fight about an hour previously! 

Thanks so much for stopping by today dear friends,
I will be back next week to let you all know how the Craft Fair went  
With much love & friendship to you all,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0