Trip to Mum's ..................................... (Part 2)

Greetings dear friends & readers

Thank You all So Much for your very kind birthday wishes in my last post.
The day immediately after my Birthday I travelled down to Mum's - I had not been down since January due to the nationwide Lockdown.

Mount Taranaki was wearing her winter coat & it was certainly chilly down there but also fresh & crisp - different to
 the damp air we get here in the Waikato.


The 5 days at Mum's went by in the blink of an eye & was extremely busy with lots packed into it.

Two of Mum's brothers travelled over for lunch & to catch up with her.  We had Dr's appointments & Lab tests to attend. I took Mum to The Possum Factory at Stratford to buy new slippers. We had all the carpets in her house shampooed.   I cleaned out some cupboards & stocked up on groceries as well as doing several crock pot meals to freeze for her.  I got to visit No Op Shops but there was a special appointment that I had on the Saturday that I was really looking forward to.

I begun following The Joy Within on Facebook & Instagram awhile ago & just LoVe what she creates.
When I read that Joy had opened a "She Shed" on her property to sell her goods from I knew I wanted to visit. 
We had corresponded & Joy had ordered some candles from me so it worked out perfectly to deliver them & visit Joy's store.

As well as selling many upcycled items that Joy has painted & embellished, she also sells the paints, transfers & stencils to do your own repurposing.
Alongside this she runs Workshops from the classroom attached to the Store.

We spent a lovely hour chatting,  sharing ideas & drooling over all her beautiful creations.

I purchased some transfers, some tags, a pot of chalk paint & a set of Tiny Homes for myself 😊


Long time readers of my blog will know I get to visit my talented & very creative friend Claire on the odd occasion when I am down at Mum's.   (Incidently Claire & Joy are Sister-in-laws)
Claire had messaged me & said to "pop out for a quick cuppa if you have an hour free"  ... I was so looking forward 
to catching up with her again.
Little did I know she had secretly organised to hold her monthly craft group meeting while I was there ... as I know the other girls it was such a wonderful catch up again & has been 6 years since I last saw them !!

We had a divine afternoon tea (forgot to take any pics unfortunately as was so busy eating) ... & the girls even gave me gorgeous surprise birthday gifts 💕

Claire had made me a bird tree & a matching bird house - she had constructed the tree herself, painted & decoupaged it & then made 6 Tilda birds to hang from the "branches".
I was So spoilt ....  & quite speechless. It was honestly the loveliest afternoon, but all too soon our visit was up & 
it was time for me to head back to Mum's.

I have often posted photos of Claires stunning home over my blogging years - I just adore it so.
I think what I love the most is how she has filled it with her vintage & handcrafted treasures & made it just so special.
I think Claire would do this even if she lived in a hay barn !!!
She just has the unique knack of putting things together that make my heart beat a little bit faster.

The quilt on the right is a recent completion .... vintage linens & Liberty squares ... Just stunning!!!

She always has new projects & quilts completed to show me & I try really, really hard ... but I can never quite manage to get them into my car without her noticing 😉

You can click on the pics to enlarge them if you wish.

Claire has been doing a mini quilt a month, all with a different theme - Love, love them all !!!  💗
The top left one is dedicated to her brother Chris,  who was tragically killed in a car accident in February.

A corner of her kitchen bench above left

The dresser above was dark brown & Claire has recently chalk painted it. 

When I got home again I put together this little vignette with some of my gifts.
Leeanne had made the mini quilt from leftover blocks when she made me the 16 patch quilt in my last post - it fits
 just perfectly on my spindle leg table.

Whenever I go away Miss Pippi frets & hardly eats & spends most of her time tucked right down on my side of the bed.
This was one of the pics The Mr sent through to my phone.

Have a wonderful weekend dear friends !!
Thanks as always, for your visits here today - be kind to yourselves & to each other.
With much love & friendship to you all,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0