A few bits & bobs ..................................

Greetings dear friends & readers
Wishing you all a Very Happy Wednesday !!

It has been a bits & bobs kinda week with time spent in the kitchen, the sewing room & the garden.

I called to see my friend Elaine to drop her some bottles of Worm Tea - we had not seen each other for
 quite some time

As I was leaving Elaine presented me with these two decanters telling me she no longer wanted them - lucky me! 
They are what I would call a small/medium size decanter, the tallest one being only 19 cms high.
I knew I didn't need any more for my Laundry Liquid so I decided to make up some bath salts to fill the 
more square shaped decanter

I used this recipe *here* - nice & simple & everything was already in my cupboards 
(not the Wendyl's brand but just basic baking soda)
For the fragrance I used a mix of lavender & rose geranium essential oils, & added a handful of dried lavender

The recipe made up enough to fill the square decanter Plus I managed to fill a glass jar for my present box.
I filled the tall narrow decanter with some liquid body wash that I had already in my bathroom cupboard, then 
tied them with some sparkly twine & bling 
They look great sitting on the end of my bath tub.

While I was in the kitchen I made up a double batch of Miracle Spray
I used the recipe from *here*
My friend Marie had asked me for the recipe so I printed it off & also filled a small bottle for her to try 

I finally finally finished a stitchery I began about two years ago. I kept picking it up on & off but it still seemed 
to take forever to complete.
This is an old Sampler Pattern by Wendy Brigg of Country Friends designs 

The stitchery above was the first one I completed & had framed -  I really wanted the same frame, & was concerned they may discontinue this style as I was taking so long!

They are now hanging on my lounge wall & even though there are several Samplers in this series, I have decided there will only be two done by Julie 😉

My South Island friend Therle very kindly sent me this sweet Golly Cross Stitch two winters ago & I finally got around to getting it framed as well - just gorgeous!


Last week while The Mr rode twilight Moto X, I was tidying & faffing in my lounge.

I decided I would like to add one or two more pomanders to my collection (I have 7).  
A quick look on our buy/sell site Trademe & low & behold - someone was selling a collection of 8 china pomanders for just $15.00 !!
Now I could not possibly leave them there could I ??!!
They arrived just yesterday & I had a lovely time gently washing them all & replacing most of the ribbons - underneath the dust & grime, they came up beautifully 💗

Some time was spent in the Sewing Room finishing off these sweet little fabric Sewing Machines, a pattern from the Tilda Book "Homemade & Happy"

The one above was intended for a gift but I am rather liking it sitting on my sewing room bookcase & feel it
 just might have to stay there!!

My daughter in law sent me this delightful photo of my beautiful wee grandsons - cousins, not brothers. 
Both families had a weekend away & the wee boys had a wonderful time together.

Finally folks, my friend sent me this little verse on Instagram & I loved it ... so very true indeed!

Wishing you all a wonderful rest-of-the-week dear friends,
Take care of yourselves & each other,
With much love & friendship to you all,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0

A Week's Worth of Projects

Greetings dear friends & readers
It has been a productive week here at Threadbear HQ with lots of little finishes.


The needlework cushion cover below, was 50 cents at the St Johns Op Shop last year ... the edges were badly frayed & it needed a clean, a re-sew, a new inner & some TLC 💗

It finally got all this last Monday morning & turned out rather well I thought!

On Tuesday while Sid slept, I pulled this wrought iron set out from under my trees.  I shove it under there when I go to mow & often a week can go by before it gets pulled out again.
The birds has used it for a perch & the family of spiders that had taken up residence in it, had kindly invited 
all their cousins along!
I scrubbed it & hosed it & when it was dry, I gave it two coats of Resene Hot Chilli.  It has been this colour for several years now, originally it was white.
I found 2 testpots of the Hot Chilli colour left over in my cupboard so it worked out perfectly & cost me nothing more than lots of elbow grease.

How wonderful it looks all spruced up & sprayed with Ripcord to deter the spiders ... even my old kettle got a touch up with the remnants of red. 

Speaking of  "Sid Tuesday's"  ... I found it pays Not to leave him unattended with a marmite sandwich for anytime 
or he is rather inclined to paint himself with it !!! 😉

On Wednesday I sat outside on my newly refurbished table & chairs & spent a pleasant couple of hours rubbing lavender stalks into my large enamel bowl 💜

On Thursday - Valentines Day - I picked myself a bunch of roses & put in a lovely crystal vase .  .  .  .  .

.  .  .  .  .  & then, because it was the day of Love Pippi left me a wee gift on my slippers that were lying at the door - 
so kind & generous of her 💕😻 !!

On Friday morning Sue came for a visit & bought me a large bunch of dried flowers out of her garden, along with the book all about crystals.
We "traded" as I sent her home with a rather large armful of lavender sprigs & some worm tea!

On Saturday I worked on completing these 3 mini quilt hangers.
My dear friend Leeanne had tossed these orphan quilt blocks at me when I stayed with her last July

I knew I wanted to do something with them & it was coming across these mini wire hangers that inspired me to make 3 little quilts for my sewing room wall

Yesterday - Sunday - I was able to complete this little Cath Kidston pouch.  When I purchased the book Stitch! 
several years ago, this kit came free with the book.
My dear friend Sally kindly did the cross stitch work for me & I just had to sew the pouch up.

I thought the wee cat charm was just perfect as a zipper pull.

Then today,  Monday - with all our citrus fruit falling due to the drought, I made a Citrus Slice in readiness
 for Sid's visit again tomorrow.  He loves his Granny's baking.

Phew - that was a busy-ish week !!
That's the beauty of blogging ... often when you feel you have achieved very little, you look back at your photos 
& find you have in fact, accomplished lots !!
Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead dear friends,
With much love & friendship to you all,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0

Things that make us happy ...............................................

Greetings dear friends & readers

Last week while recovering from some rather major dental surgery along with a pinching nerve in my lower back, 
I decided to take it a little easier & do some things that I enjoy rather than the never-ending list of jobs that constantly goes around in my head

I finished off the Miss Maggie Rabbit that Blackie was so kindly "pressing for me" in my last post

She is a delightful pattern from Alicia Paulson  which I purchased many years quite sometime ago now. 
I always had it in my head to make her up in Liberty fabrics & was thrilled to be able to purchase these from AliceCaroline fabrics

I knitted her little capelet in some knitting cotton that I already had in my stash, but I am thinking now it might look better made up in double knit yarn??

Her boots are all hand stitched in felt ... I enjoyed making her so very much! 😊



No sooner had I finished Miss Maggie than a beautiful package arrived in my mail!

I used the last of my Christmas money from Mum to purchase some gorgeous Greengate goodies from 
Lillians Cottage, who are currently having a summer sale with good discounts!

The next day I sat out on the deck & enjoyed a coffee in my new cup along with a magazine on loan from 
my dear friend Sal.

I had a bit of an idea floating around in my head for an upcycle project

(The Pink Paint is Resene's Pale Rose - a testpot)

The ugly brown veneer tray above was a Hospice purchase ... Sid had been using it to drive his matchbox cars around on & park them underneath but had now moved onto various other "car parks"
I painted it pale pink then lightly distressed the edges.

I had wanted to paint the wooden shelf on the left for quite sometime now  -  I wanted to lighten up some areas of our lounge as we seem to have quite a bit of dark wood, which I find gloomy at times.
 I gave the shelf 3 coats of Newtons Chalk Paint ... Aged White ... in some lights this colour has an ever-so-slightly grey tinge to it, which I love 💗

This pretty pink china above, had been stored away in a cupboard, hidden from sight & gathering dust bunnies.
It had been gifted to me by a dear elderly friend before she went into Resthome care - I loved everything about it, 
the colour, the pattern, the vintagey-ness of it - but I never had anywhere to display it, until now !

I made a sort of tiered arrangement using the shelf, tray + teatowel & napkin from Greengate


I came across this vintage china bowl out in my Cottage - it had previously been used to display soaps for sale

I made up a fresh batch of Cottage Garden potpourri with all the roses I have been drying, & displayed it in the bowl

Really rather ticked pink with my new lightened up corner 💗

Last Tuesday, while Sid slept, I made two veggie quiches using courgettes, tomatoes, spinach & basil from our vegetable garden -   one was for us & the other was for Sid's family.
Next I made an Oaty Ginger Slice before realising I could not eat it due to my dental work, so this was given 
to Alec's family.

Just yesterday I carefully washed, dried & pressed the Linen Cover on my Sanderson Slipper Chair. 
Please tell me friends ... How do they jolly well know when you have done this & Why do they jolly well think 
you have done it just for them ???!!! 😟

Wishing you all a wonderful week wherever in the World you might be,
Take care of yourselves & each other,
Thanks so much for your visits here today dear friends,
With much love & friendship,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0x

3 Little UpCycles . . . . . . & An Egg Poacher !!

Sunday Greetings dear friends & readers!

Thank You All So Much for your lovely positive comments on my Sewing Room Revamp last week.
And a Very Large Welcome to my new followers!

Feeling so inspired about my freshened-up Sewing Room I actually sent my Sewing Machine & Overlocker away for 
a long-overdue service.
But I have not been idle friends ...... it was a good opportunity to undertake a couple of small upcycle projects

This sweet cane basket was tucked away in my sleepout - it had been gifted to me by my dear friend Claire a couple of years ago but I had done nothing with it.

I gave it a good scrub & a dry in the hot summer sun - it came up beautifully 💗

There were 6 coasters altogether so I stitched 1 of each colour on each side

I had purchased these crochet coasters a few years ago at a Craft Fair but never used them ...... I considered them far too lovely for The Mr to plonk his cup of tea on !! 😉
I carefully stitched them to each side of my basket.

Then I padded the base & lined it with a pretty Tilda Fabric, before adding a tin tag & some voile ribbon

As I have begun knitting dishcloths again this month, it is just perfect for storing my patterns, needles & dishcloth cotton, & can be carted around with me.

Last year I purchased this large oval frame from the Hospice shop, shoved it under our bed & promptly forgot about it!

The frame had a mirror inside which was broken so I removed this along with the backing board.
You can see from the right hand pic, there was a small chunk of the decorative wood missing so I carefully filled this with some polyfilla & did my best to try to sculpt it somewhat!

(The colour is showing up much lighter in this photo than it actually was)

This is the frame with 2 coats of chalkpaint on ... you can hardly see where the gap was ... my arrow is pointing to it.
I am delighted with my new green colour ... it was a new testpot from Newtons Paints called Country Green ...
 I LoVe it 💚

I stapled a length of string across the back & hung some old family photos from it 

It still seemed a bit bare so I dug out these letters I had purchased from the Variety Store when I got the letters for Sid's Suitcase... buy one, get one free so the 2 letters cost me $1.00 !
They were a yucky dull brown so I painted them both & then scuffed them with my sandpaper

I am delighted with my new/old upcycled frame
(by the way - for those that are wondering about the "G" - the Mr's name is Graham)


Each day I have been trying to spend some time outdoors & tame the wilderness that is my garden.
In a particularly messy area, I uncovered these two items, long blown off the deck into the undergrowth.

I scrubbed the terracotta dish to get it clean & carefully washed the cloche, removing the colony of spiders that had taken up residence in its wires.

I used a pale grey Chalky Chic paint for the dish (2 coats)

I found these two vintage enamel mugs in my cupboard so made up a soy candle in one, then popped a baby houseplant in the other

No the nests did NOT come with the eggs in, they are fake, as is the fake bird pinned to the side!

These two birdnests were found in the garden also so it seemed perfect that I make up a little vignette with them all.
 I had originally planned to paint the wire cloche but it looked pretty enough with some fairy lights wound around it.

Last week, on Trademe - I sat up late & won an auction for a vintage aluminium egg poacher for the total sum of $6.00!
The Mr assured me there would be "no other fool sitting up that late bidding on a crusty old thing like that" ... but I wasn't taking any chances !!

I had been feeding chooks for my neighbours again & getting lovely freshly laid eggs daily.

Oh the Joy to poach myself an egg with golden yellow yokes & enjoy it with my homegrown cherry tomatoes & basil ... my favourite dish.

Last night I found this old wire frame under my house & used it to hold up the lillies that were threatening to topple over in my garden

Each night when I water the garden the scent from them is intoxicating . . . tho' I know not everyone likes the scent,
 I adore it!

Well dear friends, thanks so much for your visits today,
I am off to the cool of the dining room fan to work on a felt rabbit I have been handstitching.

While I have been at the computer Blackie has been flattening it giving it's legs a little press for me!! 😊

I hope the coming week is good & kind to you all,
With much love & friendship,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x