Greetings lovely friends & readers
I had a good, but Very busy trip down to Mum's & returned home right as my region went into another Lockdown.
On my second day at Mum's we travelled just over 2 hours away to meet up with two of her brothers. We had lunch at The Herb Farm - a wonderful place just out of Ashhurst with a cafe as well as a shop selling their handmade herbal products.
After lunch we sat in the gardens for awhile & I captured this lovely photo. Mums brother in the middle is nearly 80 & the one on the right hand side is 94. (Mum is 92) These are the only remaining siblings from "the first batch" ... Grandma had bunches of children in batches & she had 11 altogether. The reason they came in batches was because she lost pregnancies in between & then the older batch had to help raise the younger ones.
After lunch we drove to the Cemetery to take flowers to the family graves that are there. It took us 2 hours to get around 5 graves as they were scattered all across the cemetery. Mums sister on the far right died at 5 months old in 1936. I love Cemetery's - when I was young I used to find them spooky but now I find them incredibly peaceful places.
We visited my brother & had afternoon tea. He has finished building his fence which I wrote about in * this Post *
I was lucky enough to visit my dear friend Claire for an hour. We had a quick cuppa & I took a few snaps around her beautiful Home of some of her latest creative endeavours.
I always love Claire's displays & find it makes me feel very inspired.
One of her spare bedrooms above.
A sweet little spring display in her entrance way.
The wool picture above left is a recent completion & hangs on her Sampler wall.
New Coffee Table Vignette on the right.
But the item below really caught my eye & though I tried very hard to sneak it into my bag, I was not successful 😉
(I'm talking about the Dress not the Vodka !!!)
Claire's craft group had taken part in a knitting challenge. Claire had knitted a bodice & then sewn a tulle skirt to attach to it & hung it from a miniature (chalkpainted) hanger. She had knitted the bodice using a long string of tiny fairy lights, so once you turned the wee switch - it lit up!!!
My pic is not doing it justice - it was Stunning!!
Before I left I had to finish a bunting Order for my friend Joy. Her request was for a gender neutral woodland themed nursery. The Mum-to-be loves foxes so this fabric was perfect.
I added the hearts as the Mum-to-be has upholstered a vintage chair in forest green. Miss Pippi very kindly multi-tasked by pressing my fabrics for me whilst doing her morning meditation at the same time !!
When I delivered the bunting to Joy I had ordered 3 of her handmade wooden tags in a lavender theme. Joy had so kindly made me extras as well as some of her other beautiful tags & some new butterfly paper serviettes to use for decoupage.
Blackie did his usual "feral trick" & disappeared while I was away which gave The Mr & I even more grey hair!! He has returned again & is currently tucked up on my (un-made) bed with Madam Pip as we are getting icy spring showers here today.
Thank You all So Much for staying with me through today's lengthy post.
I will be back in a few days with Part 2 as I still have a tiny bit more to share.
With much love & friendship to you All,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x
So lovely that your mum has brothers to grow old with and thank goodness you got the visit in and were home before being stranded the wrong end of the country in another lockdown! Your friend's knitting project is amazing, what imagination! to knit with strings of fairy lights - it's a wonderful idea and makes me think this could go one step further and be the dress of a fairy on a very special Christmas tree! Hope you will have some quiet restful time after your travelling and not be too snowed under with orders to complete. Betty x
ReplyDeleteOh Julie what a great post .
ReplyDeleteI love the story of your family and such a lovely photo of sweet mother and brothers .
Your friends house is wonderful with all the homemade goodies .
Love the baby banner .Thank you for sharing .
Enjoy your day.
Wow! Julie..What an amazing time you had at
ReplyDeleteMums, and seeing her two older brothers,
they ALL look wonderful for there age....
Though l was reading recently about the
average age people live to in New Zealand
and it's 82yrs of age..! :).
I only have my Granddad and Grandma on my
Dads side buried over here, all the others
have been cremated..Though ALL my past
Sicilian family have been buried, my Sicilian
Grandfather was 106..! They all live to a ripe
old age over there! :)
Hope Miss Pippi was'nt to cross with you leaving
her, she does'nt like it, does she, and Blackie,
l think he does his own thing..Bless them! xx
Wednesday..so it's coffee morning, chin~wag with
the ladies, one dog and two pussy~cats for company,
what could be better..! :).
✨ 🍑 ✨ 🍑 ✨ 🍑 ✨ 🍑 ✨ 🍑 ✨ 🍑 ✨ 🍑 ✨
PS...Love that fence...
Such a lovely photo of your mum and her brothers. Love your mum's snazzy coat. I too love cemeteries. I love wandering around them and reading all the headstones. Claire's home certainly is packed to the rafters with gorgeousness. That banner is sweet, as are your pretty lavender gift tags.
ReplyDeleteSo wonderful you had to opportunity to visit with your uncles also. My father was 3rd eldest of 12, and only 2 of those
ReplyDeletedied in infancy. But today all my aunts and uncles on both side are gone. I'm just getting older is all, lol. Your brother finished the fence already! It looks very sturdy. Talk about hard work. Of course all the crafty things of your friends just makes me wish I had more ambition in the area. Glad the kitties are home and keeping you company. Lynn and Precious xx
Thanks so much Lynn & Precious. Yes my brother did a wonderful job of the fence & it is strong & sturdy. My friends house is amazing & I always come away feeling so inspired. Happy Thursday to you both. xx
DeleteLooks like a wonderful time with your Mom and Uncles!
ReplyDeleteI also love cemeteries, Julie. We must have visited 8 or 9 old ones on our trip to New England during the summer, and my kids could tell you of the times I dragged them around to old cemeteries in our valley looking for ancestor graves. They are lovely places containing so much history and heartache--but also the peace you mention.
Your brother's fence looks sturdy and beautiful. Love when function is also attractive.
Glad you got to spend a bit of time with your friend. Always refreshing to get a moment with like minded friends.
How sweet of your mom to be with her brothers. People had large families back then and there could be a good decade between brothers and sisters. Out oldest is 13 years older than our baby due to miscarriages and death. She always said her first baby was her little sister, not her son. I love all the creations, so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank You Kim - it was a wonderful outing & special times together. The large family is scattered & we don't get together very often anymore. xx
DeleteSounds like a great trip. I too love cemeterys, I find them fascinating. Especially the difference in styles between areas and countrys. Peaceful too and never crowded! xx
ReplyDeleteHi Julie, wow your mum's brothers look great for their age, I love cemeteries to, love reading the headstones, sometimes a little sad, my dad was the oldest of 11 but there was one brother that died the same year he was born. Lovely seeing Claire's displays, she does an awesome job on her creations, love her displays. Sorry to hear your in lock down, how long for this time, we might be coming out of ours sooner than they think, but not because our numbers are at zero, don't think we will ever have them at that anytime soon, but because vaccinations are high. So take care Julie. Chris xoxoxo
ReplyDeleteHey Julie, sounds like a good trip and lovely for your Mum and brothers to get it together.... so great for them all to have some siblings. Clare's house looks wonderful.....
ReplyDeleteHugz
Lovely photo of your Mum and her brothers Julie, sounds like you were very busy. Your brother has done really well with the fence. Clares house is great, so many lovely things to look at! Ah Blackie must crack it when you are away! Good to see Jiss Pippimis helping there 😁.
ReplyDeleteHow nice that you took your Mom to visit with her brothers.
ReplyDeleteStrangely enough I have always found graveyards to be peaceful places.
God bless.
That was so lovely. You are so lucky to have so many lovely relations. Your two uncles look so young for their age. Are you now unable to visit your mom.
ReplyDeleteI find the predictions for next year just too depressing. Being so creative you will have no chance to get bored. I just adore your cats. I really miss having a pet. I have such wonderful memories of cats and dogs I have had over my life time. Looking forward to part 2 🥰
Your unmade bed is much prettier than my made bed. What a sweet picture of your Mom and Uncles. And your friend is so creative...makes such beautiful things, just like you. So glad Blackie came home. Occassionally our Smokey will disappear and I worry myself sick until he comes strolling home. Your posts are never too long!
ReplyDeleteLovely photo of your Mum and your Uncles, lovely to get together in these strange times. Your brothers wall/fence looks superb. Clares home looks a real treat to visit and that knitted dress is fabulous as are all the other lovely things in the photos.Love all the goodies from Joy.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photo of your Mum and her Brothers. Thank you so much dor sharing Clare's lovely treasures....just gorgeous! Very cute foxy bunting and lovely hearts. Naughty Blackie giving you all a scare xx
ReplyDeleteHow lovely for your mum to catch up with her brothers. I love looking at old cemetaries too. You see some interesting grave stones there. Looks like you had a lovely time visiting. Claire has certainly got some beautiful things.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry my friend it seems I have missed several of your beautiful posts. Life seems to be like a train with no brakes going down hill! Your garden is looking amazing as do ALL your creations. I love to see the games your grandson's have set up with some of your help no doubt. Nice that your Mum has you to take her to see her brothers, no doubt they feel like it was only a few short years ago that they were your grandson's age! Your brother's fence is INCREDIABLE!
ReplyDelete