Before, During & After ........................................

Greetings lovely friends & readers

Welcome to another shiny new month ... May !!

Image from "scraps of us" blog

I have been away down to see my Mum again & returned just in time last week as the road was closed due to another big slip.

- Before -

 Thank you all for your sweet kind comments in my last post about my new seating area with Mum's mohair blanket/new cushions.  I had hardly hit Publish on my post when I walked into the room to discover a certain 4-legged Princess had tossed the cushions on the floor & decided the mohair rug was quite cosy for Her Royal Highness thank you very much!!

I usually try not to light our fire until the month of May.  This year however (in late April) I came inside from gardening one afternoon & decided it was jolly well freezing in my house ... so I pulled my pinecones out & lit it promptly.  It never takes the ginger one long to find the heat.  It will burn now until October as our seasons have changed so much & our springs can be very cold & wet.

Before I headed down to see Mum I had some birthday gifts to make.  I wanted to make candles for my friend Carolyn & also my sister in law.  The crystal glassware was out of Mum's china cabinet so I thought it would be special to make candles to gift to my sister in law in these.  The fragrances are Orange, cinnamon & clove, & smelt wonderful.

In our first Lockdown of 2020 I purchased a punnet of Zinnia Dahlia plants that were not much bigger than my smallest fingernail.  I lovingly nurtured them along until they grew large enough to plant out in my garden.  They grew into the most stunning flowers & each year I remember to collect the heads so I can save the seeds for the following year.  I had pressed some of the flower heads under heavy books so I made up some fancy seed packets to gift to my friend Carolyn, whom I visited on the way down to see Mum.  

Prior to my trip away The Mr came home with this wooden mirror he had picked up in his travels for $20.  It had obviously come off a stand as it had brackets on each side.  Before painting I glued on some efex rubber mouldings to try & tizzy it up a bit.

As you can see I originally started off painting it my usual Vintage White colour but then changed my mind & decided to try a new-to-me colour ... "Linen".  

I loved the finished colour but decided the scrolls needed something to make them "pop".  After the numerous YouTube videos I watch I thought some white wax might be the answer ... problem was I had No white wax.

I decided to make my own version simply by mixing a tablespoon of clear wax with some white chalk paint & stirring well.  It did the trick wonderfully for the small area I wanted it for.  I find if you clear wax the scrolls first, then whatever you apply afterwards will always wipe off easily if you don't like it.  

Love, love my new (old) mirror & the colour is a gorgeous mix of brown & grey undertones, just like the raw linen I am stitching on at present.  

- During -

My brother & sister in law decided to go away for a few days to celebrate her 65th birthday.  I offered to house sit for them & look after their animals as it gave me a chance to visit Mum & also free accomodation now Mum's house has sold.  I had planned to take lots of photos but my time away was just so busy that I barely picked up my phone. 

Each evening I lit the fire & their elderly (deaf) dog Bella comes in at night & sleeps by it.  I had hoped to stitch but the cat in my lap was originally Mum's cat Bubby & she rather liked my lap.  

View from the bottom of the driveway ... & then from the top - out to an oil rig at sea.

My brother owns 40 acres & their house sits way up on the top of a hill with amazing views in every direction (but also lots of wind). 

Longtime readers of my blog will remember the fence my brother built by hand in this post & also in this post - my brother only has one arm after a motorbike accident when he was young. 

He has now built himself a Hothouse - it had to be built really strong to withstand the winds that they get up on the hill.  It was incredible & filled with a large variety of plants already even though he is just getting it underway.   

 

While I was away my lovely friend Claire invited me to a Pink Ribbon morning tea - this is a fundraiser for Breast Cancer that they hold each May.  We had the most delicious cooked breakfast ... & while at the Venue I took some raffle tickets & managed to win a prize.

This lovely wooden bread board & a set of 4 wooden coasters.  

- After - 

Once home again I got Sid to decorate 2 of the coasters - one each for his parents.  He did a lovely job of them & I sprayed each one with 3 coats of clear matt varnish to make them wipeable.  I'll get Alec to decorate the other 2 for his parents.  

While Sid was in hospital I took him an Easter colouring competition that I'd cut out of our local newspaper.  He coloured this in & upon his return home I dropped it in to the venue running the competition - a local Real Estate Agency.  Sid was delighted when they rang to say he had won his age group so I was able to take him in to collect his prize - a $50 gift voucher from a local bookstore/toy shop!!  

The fragrance is Baked Pear - just divine !

I called into Brandy's Botanicals while away as I needed to drop in some dried lavender ... I purchased this beautiful set of fragrant tealite candles & am burning one today in my crystal candle jar.

Phew - well done if you've made it all the way to the end!!

Thank you so very much dear friends, for visiting here today,

I hope the coming week is good & kind to all of you,

With much love & friendship to you all,

Love Julie & the furry ones x0x0x