Return from Mums & Still Running .........................

Greetings dear friends & readers. 

Gosh I have hit the ground running since my return from Mum's & have yet to come up for air.

Hence my blog posting And reading & computer time in general, has been virtually non-existent.

Mount Taranaki was wearing a cloak of snow. I have always referred to this maunga as a "she" but have found out it is in fact a "he".

Firstly an apology ... Thank You to you All for the lovely comments you left me on my last post ... I apologise I have not replied but I don't have internet access when at Mum's & I have just not had a chance since my return home.

I needed a comfort stop at Stratford on my way down so I popped into the local Hospice shop & came away with some treasures - all of this for just $25.

The books in St Mary's Op Shop were all on sale for $1 each so I bought these four to read.

There is a new Arts & Crafts Store in Hawera called The Collective ... I popped in there twice & was able to buy some really lovely handmade gifts for Christmas & a Birthday.

I got to visit Joy from The Joy Within when I delivered the large candle order to her ... I just love having a browse around her wonderful shop filled with treasures.

So much eye candy ........

There was a surprise waiting for me in Mum's garage .  .  .  .

.  .  .  .  my sister in law had picked this tea wagon up off the side of the road where someone was placing lots of furniture items "free for the taking"  .... I look forward to revamping this piece.

Mum had given me a large banana box of items to be taken to her local Hospice Shop.  Of course - in my capacity as Steptoe - I rummaged through it all first !!  The two plates (above right) were at the very bottom of the box so these got fished out rather promptly.

I have been washing the weatherboard walls of my house & decided to add to my plate wall this week ... making my total number up to 7.  

Way back at the beginning of September I decided to make a suitcase planter for my lovely friend Jane who turns 50, today to be precise. 

 I found an old suitcase that had been tossed my way by my friend Elaine ... I added the wooden slats, lined it with a black rubbish sack, filled with potting mix & planted it.

Although I forgot to photograph it when first planted, I have diligently been feeding & watering the plants over the past 8 weeks & they have grown prolifically.

(The suitcase already had the stencilling on the lid when I acquired it from Elaine)

I was able to visit with Jane this week & gift her the suitcase planter - I was really pleased with how the petunias had grown but hope the lobelia that is tucked away in there grows soon too.

Jane was thrilled with her planter & cried a teeny bit but she assured me they were happy tears 😂

Blogger appears to have a total mind of its own today dear friends & is merrily changing my font size & the layout of my alignment as it pleases. I have no idea why it is doing this !

Miss Pip did her usual fretting while I was away at Mums, did not eat & lost weight .... which meant Blackie got to eat her food as well as his & put on weight 😐

Thanks So Very Much for your visit today dear friends,

I hope the week is treating you well - be kind to yourselves & to each other.

With much love & friendship to you all,

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x

The Second Reinvention of "The Purple Cupboard"

Greetings dear friends & readers

I am off to my Mum's for a week but wanted to share this post before I go.

Way back in 2016 - almost 4 years to the day - I purchased this purple cupboard from the Church Op Shop for the princely sum of $3 !

You can read my blog post about it * Here * but for those of you who can't be bothered scrolling, here is an old pic of it in all it's purple glory 💜

And here (below) is the first revamp I did on it ... I used it at my Cottage to display the pots of babies tears plants that I used to sell.

Roll forward 4 years & it had sat on my Cottage deck, neglected & forlorn ... home to birds, spiders, rodents & other creatures !!

I hauled it up to my house & gave it a Very long overdue scrub.

You can still see the original purple colour on the back of it here

Then proceeded to paint it in front of the fire on my dining room carpet (Yes - I use splash covers)!!

Once again the colour is Resene "Hot Chilli" - a leftover testpot

Once it was red again I decided to stencil the drawer & then the lower front panel - I was inspired by my red kettle from last week's post as the pop of white seemed to stand out so well on the red.

I lined the drawer with a thick black rubbish bag before planting  ....  my hope is that the impatiens & the lobelia will grow & spill out over the front of the drawer.

Another scratch around under my house unearthed these containers which I also planted with red & white impatiens. 

It was rewarding to use up just what I had on hand & not buy anything except the punnets of plants.

Note to Self ..... Your red chair needs a paint now Julie !!!

I have tucked the pots away in a sheltered spot while I am down at Mum's as we get so many strong winds here during the month of October.

I have been working diligently on a large soy candle order to go down to Hawera with me.

My friend Joy from The Joy Within is taking part in a Christmas House Tour on 28th November - this is a fundraiser for St John's & a group of friends open their homes all decorated for Christmas - Oh what a sight it would be 💗

I have been scouring Op Shops for the past couple of months gathering together a large assortment of vintage glassware to make the candles in.  There was a wonderful array of fragrances including White Musk, Vanilla, Orange/Clove, Pumpkin Spice, Lime/Basil/Mandarin & Christmas Tree.

My house smelt divine to put it mildly 💕

Of all the vintage glass containers this sweet little trinket bowl above was my absolute favorite & I had much difficulty parting with it !!

My winter vegetable garden is finally coming to fruition & I am picking veggies most days - giving away lots & cooking lots too.

I picked this assortment this morning to take down to Mum's & share amongst the family.

I miss these two so much when I go away - but this morning there was a huge fight between them both ... hissing, spitting & Lots of fur flying (mainly ginger !!)           

Now to see them tucked up together (Yes on the good bedspread!!!) 😐 it's hard to believe they were anything but good mates.

Have a lovely rest of the week dear friends,

Thanks So Very Much for your visits here today,

With much love & friendship to you all,

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0

Succulents - (more !!) Painted Pots - & Bunting

Greetings dear friends & readers &  Welcome to October 💗

We hope you are a good month !

Early each autumn I plant these vintage aluminum pots with pansies ... these flower for me right through until the summer months & look so pretty on the old scales out on my deck.

This autumn however, there were no Garden Centres open & no pansies available.  I walked around my garden & pulled succulent cuttings where-ever I could find any ... I was surprised at all the different varieties growing around my section.

I potted them up into my vintage aluminum pots & they have really thrived on the deck area.  When I posted this picture on Instagram a lady commented that they look rather like coral.

Long time readers of my blog will know that I use the area down the far end of my lounge, in front on my French Doors as my "glasshouse" area

I grow all my cuttings & seedlings down here as well as putting anything that is looking a bit sick here & it usually revives & takes off again.

It was time to do something with a lot of the bits I had been resurrecting over the winter months.

Another fossick around under my house & another two pre-loved pots were unearthed & scrubbed ready for painting.

I have been enjoying using this Grey Mist chalk paint so I continued with the theme as well as adding some Re-design transfers from Paint Me Vintage

I especially love the bee pot - despite this being the tattiest pot of them all it has turned out great.

Last night I waxed them & then planted them up this morning.

While I was painting by the fire yesterday I decided to do another coat on this old red kettle as the colour was faded & tatty looking.

The red colour is Resene "Hot Chilli"

A simple stencil in white & I just LoVe how it has freshened it up - the white Impatiens plant is just perfect 💕

Click on the pic to enlarge .... it is incredibly tricky to photograph bunting !!

This pre-printed bunting panel was purchased from Millymac Supplies a few months ago. 

It is a design by Natalie Bird of The Birdhouse designs & was printed on a gorgeous linen - I adore anything 

pre-printed 💙

Slowly over the winter months I have been stitching it & working on a panel when time allows.

Finally last weekend I finished the last (7th) panel.  I was delighted & decided to sew up my bunting adding 3 extra panels to make a total of 10 scallops.

I chose 3 different Tilda fabrics for my extras ... an older range of Tilda prints that I cannot remember the name of.

The "sunny days" panel is repeated at the beginning & the end.

I used some Cottage Garden threads on some of this to give a bit of variation especially when doing the satin stitch.

I had no binding in my stash so just made up a scrappy binding using the leftover Tilda fabrics.

And Yes .... I had some help with the placement of my bunting pennants & also some unwanted help 

with the ironing/flattening of the fabrics !!  😉

On Tuesday I had a visitor for the day ...... Spiderman came to visit for the day & showed me how to jump off my deck from way up high !!!!

It helps if you are wearing Spiderman shorts, cap & undies & also in the way you hold your fingers apparently !!!!  😊

Thanks so very much for your visits today dear friends,

I have had such difficulty with the new blogger writing today's post - it changes the font size & placement at least every single paragraph & has a complete mind of it's own !!

I am off to hunt out that chocolate bar I keep hidden in my Sewing Room purely for Emergency Purposes !!!

With much love & friendship to you All,

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0