There ............................ & Back Again

Greetings lovely friends & readers

I have been away down to my Mum's for a week & have also been home a week - finding the time to blog again has been difficult as it has been a busy time with school holidays.

Mount Taranaki (formerly Mount Egmont)

Whenever I return "home" again this beautiful mountain always takes my breath away as it rises from the mist.

Mum & I went out to my brother & sister-in-laws for afternoon tea. Mum's cat Bubby went to live with them 3 years ago now & she usually hides whenever Mum turns up, but this time she was more than happy to have a pat & a belly rub.

My brother has a 40 acre farm high on a hill with stunning views but in a real wind channel. His first fence blew down in strong winds but he is now erecting this Gabion Cage fence which will be sturdier.

 The amazing thing about this is that my brother is building this all by himself - each stone has to be placed by hand in the wire cages which he erects first & concretes into a base -  my brother only has one arm as he lost his other arm in a motorcycle accident at age 20. He has 15 cages to build & fill to complete the fence.

I had some good luck thrifting this trip - I stopped at Stratford Hospice on my way down & bought these goodies above - I am about half way through the ($1) Lesley Pearce book now & can hardly put it down. 

On the Saturday morning I met my friend Claire in town & we did some thrifting before having a coffee together.  The plates above right were at a ladies market stall & were $2 each & the tiny one was $1.  

I bought the wooden mirror for $10 - I wanted to use the frame of it & the wee salt shaker was 50c & is Old Foley china.

Last week Alec came to stay for some of the school holidays & then Sid joined him on the Tuesday. They made roads with my knitting needles & we built houses, petrol stations & even a McDonalds.

My lounge looked like a bomb had hit it & Pippi hid for an entire day.

 

My friend Gail had gifted me the image above left for my birthday - I loved it & had it in my head that I wanted to mount it on a vintage tray.  I found the one above while down at Mum's for $10.  I always put them through my dishwasher before painting as it removes any grease or residue. I gave it two coats of Chalk Paint in the colour Pumice.

I used baking paper to press into the bottom of the tray to get "a pattern" so I could cut my image out neatly. Then I modpodged it onto the tray & once dry, I sealed it with mod podge also.  I rubbed clear wax over it all & then rubbed dark wax just over the detailing as I felt it gave it a nice antique-y look.

❤  I just LoVe Mother Goose & her babies  ❤

And Yes - that actually IS a cat on my worktable 😉

This vintage teapot above left was a $4 find at Hospice - I gave this two coats of Pumice while I was painting my tray & then applied a Re-design transfer to it along with a tag.  This one will be planted for a birthday gift.

Yesterday I picked the first of my daffodils before the rains came - these were lying on the ground as we have had strong winds this week - but they soon perked up inside & make me feel as though spring is not too far away.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend dear friends - be kind to yourselves & to each other,

Thank You all for stopping by here today,

With much love & friendship to You All,

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x