Struggling to Blog ..................................

 Greetings lovely friends & readers

I have been away down to my Mum's for quite sometime & upon my return I've been struggling to blog.    I received a phone call from the Resthome to say Mum had deteriorated (again) so I drove immediately down there.  Mum has slightly improved but she will not get properly well again now & is very frail.  I knew I needed to sell the family home this year in order to continue paying for Mum's Care so when the neighbours approached me about their daughter buying it, I didn't hesitate.

Thus began the looooong process of sorting & clearing out 60 plus years of stuff.  I have been home a couple of weeks now but will return next week to finish up & stay on for settlement.  

Every time I would sit at my computer to write a blog post - the words just wouldn't come - so I would walk away.  Since my return I have not been idle & have found some creative moments in amongst catching up on everything around here.  While at Mum's I took 5 bootloads to the Hospice Op-Shop.  I have a large vehicle so they were certainly NOT small loads.  Even so, I still bought some treasures home with me ... my Dad's old paintbrush was one of them.  It was hanging on the hook in his shed where he always hung it.  I can still see myself, probably aged about 5 or 6 looking up at it & asking him why he hung that one there?  "Because it's my favourite brush" he said.   I'm sure I've mentioned before that my Dad was a Painter & Paperhanger for all the years that he was my Father.

The "before" on the left ... I stripped it using the Oven Cleaner method that I have seen on YouTube.  It took a couple of applications but eventually got rid of the layers of old paint. I had to sand it a little bit & then I just wiped it with furniture oil.  I used a wire brush to clean the bristles out as much as I could.

I love vintage tools hanging on the wall so I've hung it in my dining room where I can enjoy looking at it.  

Another couple of "before pics".  These wall sconces were in my sleepout ... they were Op-shop purchases from awhile ago, & I decided it was high time to do something with them!!

I cleaned them both before giving each a couple of coats of chalk paint in the colour Pumice.  I also stripped all the wiring out as both of them no longer worked.

I've hung the single one on my dining room wall where it matches some frames I've painted.  I purchased 3 plain candles from The Warehouse & glued lace around the bottoms to "tizzy them up a bit". These sit quite sturdily on the sconce bases although I'm not sure I will be lighting them.

The double one is hanging in my lounge room.  I also rubbed each one with a tiny bit of silver gilding wax just to bring out the detailing in them.  So happy with my wall sconces 💕

If you had told me that I would spend 2 solid days sitting at my work-table making Pokemon toys, I would've told you that you were quite insane!!!  However, that is what I did last week as Cyclone Gabrielle raged around us here.  Fortunately we didn't lose power although the Mr had no power at the farm to milk the cows.  

This is a free pattern from this amazing website.  I showed Sid these free patterns last year & he asked for a black Mew Plush.  When I showed Alec he asked for the same.  

I'd like to say they were enjoyable to make but they certainly did "test my sewing skills".  😉

I used plush fur for the bodies & felt for all the eye details.  Some hand embroidery in parts also.  The feet & hands were all needle sculpted.  

I think the trickiest part was probably the long curly tail ... wiring & stuffing that very nearly sent me over the edge.  But Mew is famous for his long curly tail so I persevered.  

Luckily I had Blackie to talk me through the trickiest bits. 

My two grandsons were absolutely thrilled with their Pokemon toys & Sid has now requested a Gengar Plush 😐

While I was down at Mum's I worried that my veggie garden would dry out but luckily we had plenty of rain.  I am picking courgettes & tomatoes each day & giving lots away.  This is yesterday's pick above.  

And the dishcloth knitting continues as I work my way through all my oddments of cotton yarn. I know * this dishcloth pattern * off by heart now so I can sit & knit it without thinking too much.  I find working on these quite therapeutic in the evenings at Mums when it is so quiet.  

Well there you go - I actually managed a blog post.

And if you stopped by for a visit then Thank You So Much!

I hope to get back to regular blogging soon dear friends, & also to visiting you all over at your blogs again too.

Remember to be kind to yourselves & to each other,

With much love & friendship to you All,

Julie & the furry Ones x0x0x0