A Mixed Bag

Greetings lovely friends & readers

It has been one-of-those-weeks ... a mixed bag filled with good & not-so-good things.  I am choosing trying really hard to focus on the positives.

 I stood out on my deck one glorious day at the start of the week & took this photo of the brilliant blue sky & the autumn colours of the trees down the section. 

Even the shadows looked wonderful  💙

On my way out to babysit Alec I called into The Floral Shed & purchased a bunch of Paperwhites.  Their fragrance is amazing & they are still looking good after nearly a week as I put them outside at nights.  They are sitting in Mum's antique Crown Devon Vase.

I lit a new candle that I'd been gifted at Christmas.  The fragrance is White Lily & Ginger & it is subtle, soft & lovely.  

I planted up a punnet of Antique Pansies into my old tin tub.  This shade of pansies is my absolute favorite  💗

 I parked outside Habitat for Humanity Op-Shop last week & - of course - popped in for a quick squizz.  This little dish came home with me - $2.  I've cleaned it up but am unsure what it is meant for .... the assistant thought perhaps a tooth-brush holder ?

Any thoughts/ideas dear readers ............. ?

Remember back in this post in February when I repotted my two moth orchids?  I was delighted to see healthy looking flower shoots now appearing on both plants.

The white one above has not flowered for a few years, the pink one skipped last year ... so I was thrilled that they seem to be much happier & healthier in their new pots.

I made two loaves of banana bread on Wednesday - one is for Sid's family, one is for ours.  The banana's seem to turn black quite quickly with the warmth of the fire going.

I finished stitching the Sashiko Panel that I had been slowly stitching since the beginning of the year.  This was a preprinted panel purchased from * Here *.  I decided to make mine into a pouch to hold my Journals.  I had bought a fat quarter of Japanese Woven fabric at the same time so I used this to line it & also for the edges.  This pouch kind of "evolved" in my head as I went along 😉

This is what generally happens when I sit at night to do some handwork & watch TV.  Inevitably the ginger girl ends up in my lap & Oh My - does she shed fur !!!!  I have wiped the pouch over with a damp cloth but I can see by my photos I am going to have to vacuum it to get the hairs off.

Using up the last tiny scrap of fabric I stitched a little pocket to the inside flap to hold my pen.  I am really pleased with how this turned out & it was therapeutic to sit & stitch when my eyes are tired at night (despite the cat hairs!!)

Speaking of said ginger cat ... I went searching for a lace scrap in my lace bin last Monday & before I could put it all back in again - she took up residence. 

 The photo on the left is on Monday - the right one is on Wednesday - she is still sleeping in there & I am going to seriously regret letting her do this I just know it (!!!)

When I went to collect Sid from school on Wednesday we encountered bad weather so drove particularly slowly home.  I am not sure whether a small tornado had gone through here but I noticed a huge branch had fallen off the tree onto my rose garden while we were gone.  Underneath it all - in the right photo - is my poor flattened rose garden.

We also lost a huge native Ponga tree by the pond which just completely tipped itself over.  There is going to be some cleaning up to be done at Threadbear HQ !!

Thank you so much dear friends, for your welcome visits here today,

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

With much love & friendship to you all,

Creating Luna Lapin 💙

Greetings lovely friends & readers

It's nearly 2 years ago now since I treated myself to the book "Making Luna Lapin" using some birthday money.            A couple of months ago I pulled it out of my bookshelf & decided it was time to bring my own Luna to life.

 I had no Grey or Oatmeal coloured felt to make her body, but what I did have was an old Op-shop woolen skirt in a grey fleck - I decided to use up what I had in my stash.  I was worried the edges of the wool might fray but once blanket stitched I just trimmed any loose threads & it's fine.

The cream wool blanket with pale blue borders had come from Mum's when I cleared out No 44.  I had a purpose in mind for this.

Luna's body is entirely blanket stitched by hand but I decided to do her ears, body, & soles of her feet by machine - the rest all by hand.  I am pleased with this & it's enabled me to stuff her more tightly.  

 I used offcuts of vintage Tilda in a soft grey floral to line her ears & the soles of her feet.

 I made her the Polka Dot Dress (so called in the book) but I made mine using up some of my treasured Tilda stash - I think this piece might be from the Plum Garden range.  I used oddments of ricrac to trim her pockets & her sleeves.

This orphan earing was in Mum's jewellery box so I cut the back off & stitched it to her neck just under the Peter Pan collar.  A girl has to wear her finest jewellery when she's dressed in her best frock 😉

Using an oddment of broderie lace I sewed her the French Cami Knickers in the book but I made mine a bit longer.

I put off making the wool coat for awhile as I wasn't feeling confident in my sewing.  After the school holidays I decided to give it a go.  This is what I'd earmarked Mum's wool blanket for - the book suggests wool felt but I decided again to use what I had on hand.

I was able to cut it out using the blanket stitched edge as my hem. This was wonderful to be able to do this. Again I made mine slightly longer than the pattern states.

I just LoVe all the details that the coat has ... false pockets, sleeve tabs & a back tuck. 

Although it is showing as grey-ish in my photos on this overcast day, it is actually the softest pale blue.

Last Sunday all I had left to do was the buttonholes ... I simply could not fit the thickness of the wool blanket under the buttonholer on my sewing-machine !!  In the end I just sewed the buttons on the top & sewed some snap fasteners underneath - this works fine & holds it nice & snugly on Luna.

Of course a girl that's going off on a trip in her swish new wool coat needs a fancy suitcase to take with her don't you think?  This adorable suitcase just kind of fell into my shopping cart when I was browsing on Etsy.  I was delighted with it when it arrived & it even opens & has compartments (!!!)  💗

The next item I would like to make for Luna is the Patchwork scarf - I have lots of small Tilda offcuts that I could use for this.

And perhaps the lace up boots .... I think she could do with a pair of these.  I have no desire to make her any of the other clothes in the book although there is a huge assortment of garments as well as her own comfy armchair !!!   

The Mr asked me if Luna was to give to Juno (my step-grandaughter) but I told him "one day maybe"........  

Right now the grown-up-girl that writes this blog gets to enjoy her for awhile  😉

Last Saturday my eldest Grandson Alec turned 9 (!!) How on earth did that happen (??)  

His Mum Sarah asked me to make a chocolate cake for his birthday cake using her recipe which I was not familiar with & not that happy with the end result ... however M & M's can solve a large array of issues & cover up all sorts of faults 😳

Alec got to go ten pin bowling with 6 other friends including Sid.  We had a wonderful time at the venue & Sid won the rounds for his team.  After this we went back to the house for a pizza dinner (& cake).

It's a grey dismal day here in rural Waikato  - not cold but overcast & showery.   What's a girl to do but wait til your Mum is otherwise distracted,  then go to sleep on the good mohair rug that you're not meant to be on !!!  

Thank you as always dear friends, for your welcome visits here today,

Wishing you a wonderful rest-of-the-week ... remember to be kind to yourselves & to each other,

With much love & friendship to you all,

These Busy May Days .......................................

Greetings lovely friends & readers

We had a week of -1 degree frosts last week & I picked these hydrangeas before they became all blackened & frost bitten.  I just adore the colours of them   💗

 

Today is rainy, dull & gloomy outside - the maple trees are changing colour & their leaves are falling ... this is taken looking out my Lounge window.

Remember in this post when I took my friend Carolyn on a surprise outing to Splashy & we painted ceramic dishes?  They arrived by post last week having been fired in their kiln - they are certainly brighter looking now.  The "finger bowl" was a gift to Carolyn ... Splashy do this when it's your birthday so you have a momento of your visit there.  We both had to put our painted fingerprint on the bowl. 

Sid played soccer last Saturday over in Hamilton & was delighted when he was chosen as Player of the Day.  He received a certificate, a Trophy which gets returned next weekend, & a McDonalds voucher.

Just yesterday I finished an Order for 3 lavender/lace coathangers for my dear friend Shirley - I just have to scent them with lavender oil before she collects them. 

I also finished an Order for a dozen bags of my Cottage Garden mix Potpourri ... these are waiting for me to take to the Post Shop.  They are scented with Rose/Geranium Oils & smell wonderful.

Slooooowly as time & energy allows, I am getting the mulch onto my gardens.  I have done one & a half piles so far - I like to put it on really thickly so it takes me ages.  First I have to weed & clear the area ... I found all my rusty hens underneath the flaxes when I cut them back ... they must've gone roaming 😉

These 3 above are newer & are still turning rusty  - the rain & weather makes the corten steel gradually rust over time.  One of them had a wobbly leg so I managed to wire it up so the hen didn't fall face first into the mulch.

I found this wooden box in The Mr's shed so I stole borrowed it to make a "hen house" & sat the nesting hen on some hay tucked into the box.  Maybe she'll lay some eggs for me  ...............

It wasn't long before Little One came along to investigate what I was doing  ...............

Yesterday he got drenched (funnily enough standing in the pouring rain will do this).  He seems to like it when I towel him dry & he starts to purr.  He ended up on my bed - as you can see I put down a sheet & a towel but he - of course - had other ideas (!!)  

Also yesterday Blackie decided to take up residence in the clothes dryer because of course there are No Comfy Sleeping Spots in the entire house !!!  😐

(From motherinthenorthernlands on Instagram)

I saw this verse on Instagram & really liked it.  I would like to print it off & put it on my fridge.

Thank you as always dear friends, for your welcome visits here today,

With much love & friendship to you all,