June Days & Angel Wings ...........................................

Greetings lovely friends & readers

We have had a week of lovely mild winter weather with sunshine & blue skies some days.

Included in my list of "things-making-me-happy-this-week" are the daphne that is now in bloom 💗 I picked vases of both white & pink & their fragrance is beautiful.  I've been on pet-feeding duties for neighbors & their hens have been laying lots of eggs for me.

 

I counted 4 daffodils flowering in my gardens this morning & many more in bud about to burst forth.  It seems early but I'll take early thanks very much !!

A new-to-me mug purchased on sale from Briscoes ... with the 3 cats on it how could I resist?? 😉

 I made a sticky lemon slice this week using this recipe * here *.  Believe me dear friends - if you like a real hit of lemon you will Love this! 💛🍋💛 I have had to give half away to stop myself eating it all !!

I also made Annabelle's Chicken & Veggie pies from her blog post * here *.  It made a huge mixture, enough for a large square pie for us & a larger rectangular one which went to Sid's family (with dinosaurs on it)  They were hearty & delicious.

I had a dear friend celebrate a birthday recently - we share similar taste in books so I was bold enough to buy her Marian Keyes latest book & stitched her a corner bookmark to go with it.  

I also had 2 orders for wheatbags - one for a male in a Motor X fabric which luckily I had a length of in my stash.  I added a handful of dried lavender to the floral one but not the MX one.

Alec's family have a new furry member - meet Lexie, a wild kitten who was found on the roadside right beside a busy city bridge.  She is settling in & has made herself most at home. My daughter-in-law sent me the above pic of her on my son's shoulder while he slept.  

My friend Gail sent me the above photo last weekend - she works at the St Johns Op-shop & wondered if I'd be interested in these Angel Wings above for $15?  Yes Please!  When I got into the shop to pay for them they were much bigger than the photo indicated (66 cms tall).  And heavy - I am sure they are concrete or some sort of cement.

Here they are on my deck table, awaiting painting. I did not care for the tan colour of them but wasn't quite sure what colour to apply to them.  Gail knew the girl that had donated them & she had sat them in her garden apparently.

Here is a close up to show you the wings which looked like a sandy mixture covering them - also the base was cracked but was quite firm & intact.  I decided not to fill the cracks but just work with them. I applied a coat of Pumice paint, a sort of fawny/cream colour.  Once this was dry I applied a coat of pale grey but didn't like this so tried to wipe it off.  It had dried already so I only got parts of it off despite scrubbing really firmly with water & a brush.  I actually quite liked the effect it was taking on.  So I let it dry thoroughly & then just dry brushed on a bit more pumice paint. (I have no progress photos to share as I forgot to take any while painting the wings)

This concrete urn beside it is sort of the effect I was going for - I thought 😉  I wasn't really sure to be honest.  I am saying all this so you realise that things don't always go tickety-boo to plan & sometimes I have no idea what I am doing.  

The Mr walked past me while I was studying it indecisively ... "I haven't a clue what I'm doing - but I think I'm trying to get a stone effect". I told him.

 "Well"  he said ...... "if it's any help - it looks like something you stole off someones Graveside!!" 

Perfect - just the effect I was after 😮

I glued felt under the base as it was rough & currently have it on Mum's glory box in my bedroom.  But I may put it out on the deck when spring time comes - not sure 😉.  All that to say ... I am really pleased with how it turned out (!!)

I am calling this photo Progress.  You can see the two furry ones managed to actually fall asleep within a close radius of each other last night, while I was sitting by the fire knitting. The ginger one managed to wait at least half an hour before she hissed!!  This is a miracle dear friends - it's only been 12 long months!!  So Yes thanks - I'll take any progress I can get!

As I sit typing this Blackie is still in my fabric basket (😣), Pippi is curled up on my dressing gown in the lounge & Little One is outside wondering what "winged things" he can chase today.

This arrived in my email inbox yesterday from The Mr.  We have a bad case of furalysis going on here.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend dear friends,

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

With much love & friendship to you all,