Hosting the Craft Group Ladies . . . . . . . Easter Crafts

Greetings lovely friends & readers

It's been another busy week - Sid celebrated his 8th birthday last week!  Goodness me - where did those 8 years go to I wonder ??!!

He had a family tea at home on his birthday & then the next day a school friend's party in which he took 4 boys to see the latest Minecraft movie.

Granny was asked to make him a birthday cake - I was feeling really tired uninspired, so I just made up my chocolate cake recipe which fits in a large meat dish, iced it with chocolate frosting & then used m & m's to decorate.  The gold heart shaped candle in the foreground was a sparkler candle & I got a wonderful video of him lighting this but cannot get it to upload.  I generally think if you put some colorful sweets on a child's cake, they are more than happy. 

A few days later it was Sid's Mum Nicole's birthday.  Her favorite colours are pink & orange so I was lucky enough to be able to scratch around in my poor dry flower gardens & come up with some flowers in these colours - good old zinnias & dahlias.  I made her a banana bread & packaged up some nice treats for her.  

Prior to my trip south in my last post, these wooden rabbit figurines arrived from an online order.  I painted 2 of them in pale duck egg chalk paint, then decoupaged pretty paper serviettes onto them, added ribbon & lace ... & thought they turned out so sweet.  I took one of them down to my friend Claire as I knew she loved to decorate for Easter.  I thought they'd make a great project for our next craft group get-together, of which I was hostess.

The rabbits came in packs of 4, & 4 different shapes.  I painted them before the craft ladies came as they were raw wood & I wanted to seal them.  Also I felt this would save time on the day.

I'd asked the girls to bring their own serviettes & mod-podge if they had it.  Here is a photo of them all working on their rabbits.  We were down to 4 this day due to 2 ladies being unwell but I never mind the smaller group.  

I made a raspberry & white chocolate slice & served it with freshly whipped cream ... because I feel if you are going to eat something as decadent as that, then you may as well enjoy it with cream !! 😋 

We also had Louise cake & Coffee slice.  For lunch I made salmon rolls & Gail bought along freshly baked cheese scones & Plum Jam. I've said this before but we sure do get the food right (!!) 

Here are the 4 different bunnies once we'd finished them.  Mine is on the far right.  I love how everyone puts their own special take on these crafts.  The ladies very much enjoyed their day & the Easter project was a big hit.  

Prior to their arrival I did my usual scrubbing & cleaning. The Mr always tells me he knows when I'm hosting the craft girls as my enamel-ware gets washed (!!) 😐

I'd given my deck table a good scrub as it was looking dusty after our long dry summer.  I'd purchased this easter themed runner last year in a sale & thought I'd try & do an easter display out here.

The butterfly Impatiens that I'd planted back in February in this post were still looking vibrant & I didn't have the heart to change it so I used this in my easter display. I added bits & pieces that I already had in my stash & tried to create a bit of a rabbit theme.

Birds nests always fit in with Easter & I've always got plenty of those that fall out of the trees.  I decoupaged this tin heart with a serviette that Gail had given me & tied it to my cloche.  

And the moss covered bunny ears were made last year in * this post *.  The moss was originally green but has turned brown - I think I need to spray it with hairspray & try to shape it a bit better.

Not a cat in sight  .  .  .  .  .  Yet !! 😸

Although we're having lovely mild sunny days, our nights are chilly.  I dragged the heater in last week & it didn't take long for these 2 to find their places.  I'm trying to Not light the fire until after Easter.

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead dear friends - remember to be kind to yourselves & to each other,

I hope to be back later this week with more Easter crafts & decorating.

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

With much love & friendship to you all,

Away & Back Again . . . . . . . .

 Greetings lovely friends & readers

I had been wanting to do a trip south to check where Mum & Dads ashes are buried for quite some time now.  I had not been down since we went as a family & laid Mum's ashes to rest.   I had a small window of opportunity & I seized it as The Mr is now calving & I need to be here when he is busy & gone long days.  

When I returned last year I went online & purchased this new plaque to put beside the one Mum had there that read "Resting with the Angels".  It had sat in the wardrobe for over a year waiting for me to take it down. 

I drove directly from Home to the Crematorium where the Gardens of Remembrance are.  I was pleased to find the area was not overgrown this time & I only had a few branches to clear. I removed all the old flowers & left a new bunch of red silk roses - this was something Mum always purchased to take to Dad whenever we visited.  I've placed the plaque in the ground & hopefully it will not get removed.

I spent a day baking before leaving as I was staying with people & I never wish to arrive empty handed.  I did a huge lasagne, a coleslaw using homegrown cabbage & a double batch of chocolate fudge cake.  

I spent the first 2 nights at my brothers home & on the first day my Uncle travelled over from the Hawkes Bay to visit, along with an Aunt & my cousin Janine.  It was wonderful to see them all again having not seen any family since Mum's funeral.  

Left to right - Aunty Margy, myself, sister in law Leonie & cousin Janine

We were so busy chatting & catching up & eating a delicious lunch that I forgot to get any photos while inside the house.  Uncle Rol snapped this from his car window - it was a bitterly cold day with a southerly wind blowing.

Here we are tucked around behind the Glasshouse trying to get a quick pic with Uncle Rol in it. He is one of Mum's younger brothers & is now aged 82.  Aunty Margy is one of my favorite Aunties, always kind to me & such a gem of a person.    

After they left I snapped this from my brothers deck - it was raining by then & icy cold.

My sister in law had said to me "you don't need to bring any winter clothes, it's still very warm down here".  Foolishly I believed her 😐  It was FREEZING!  Look at that cap of snow on Mount Taranaki.  

My brother lit the fire for 2 nights while I was there & it warmed us all.  That is Bubby, Mum's old cat on the left.  She must be over 10 by now & has the most wonderful life out on the farm.  

My brother had recently built this little hut for holding garden tools, potting mix etc.  He used salvaged wood pallets that were thrown out at his work.  For someone with only one arm, he is very clever & also has good vision of what something will look like.  He even made the sign beside it. 

I was lucky enough to be able to spend 24 hours with my friend Claire & stayed a night at her home.  This was such a treat as I have always visited, but never stayed.  Look at that table dear friends - I was having conniptions eating my breakfast on that gorgeous cloth - afraid I was going to slop something.

This was the bedroom I got to sleep in !!! 💗Just look at all that gorgeous-ness.  I tried really really hard but I was not quite able to squirrel any of the treasures into my suitcase 😉

I was admiring this chair in the room & the little vignette in the bowl, when Claire picked it up & said "This is for You".  Oh be still my beating heart 💓  How special indeed ! How spoiled I was. 

Some more treasures in the room - that pink vintage teapot was actually a burner & had a lovely wax melt burning gently in it.  Yes dear friends - I slept like a log in amongst all those treasures!

The next morning Claire & I went into town & visited every single Op Shop in the town, bought lots of goodies & then went to the new cultural centre in the middle of the town.  Last time I visited this was just a pile of rubble & it was indeed stunning.  

Inside the new centre is a lovely cafe called The Gathering & we both enjoyed a delicious lunch there.  That is my lovely friend top left, wearing a new-to-her op-shopped scarf !

Claire & Peter have 2 dogs & 2 cats.  Though the other cat Asha hardly showed her face, Daisy the one above followed us everywhere & was very much the star of the show!  Here she is reclining on the wet freshly washed linens that Claire had just pegged on the rack.  

After a wonderful time together I travelled around the Coast to stay a night with my dear friend Carolyn who lives in Okato.  We chatted into the night, drank tea & ate delicious food.  

We went for a walk down behind Carolyn's property & there is a swing bridge there with a stream running along.  I would LoVe to have this at the back of my property.  

All too soon it was time for me to get up early & leave for home. I did not manage to catch up with all the people I had hoped but I did a pretty good job of cramming a lot into a short time.  And as always it was wonderful to be home again as it really IS my favorite place!

Dear friends we are still having computer issues & it is taking ages to load photos on to my posts.  But I will persevere & hopefully I can sort it out. I have lots still to share so I will endeavor to be back again soon with another catch-up post.  

As there are no cat pictures today, I have slipped this one in especially for dear Willie

Thank you as always dear friends, for your welcome visits here today,
Wishing you a wonderful weekend,
With much love & friendship to you all,

Meeting up with A fellow Blogger from half a world away

 Greetings lovely friends & readers

It's been awhile  . . . . .  I did not mean to be gone for so long.

    Our computer finally died & the new one sat in boxes on my lounge floor for 3 weeks.  Eldest son came & set it all up for me a week ago & we've had the initial "teething problems" including a certain overweight large black furry family member jumping on the keyboard & locking everything (!!!) 😖 Fingers crossed I can get this post to Publish.

On the 15th of last month I once again pulled on my big girls panties - & drove across the island to Mount Maunganui.  

Janet from the blog Rogue Quilter is coming up to (I think) her 14th year of blogging & I am sure I would have been following along for at least 10 of those years.  We have corresponded over the years & also did a swap exchange together once.  

Last year Janet mentioned she & her husband were doing a Cruise of Australia & New Zealand in March of this year, so I inquired whether they would be stopping in at the Port of Tauranga on their cruise.  When she replied Yes, I decided to try & meet up with her.

The Port of Tauranga where the Cruise Ships come into, is situated in stunning Pilot Bay, in Mount Maunganui.  I left home in the dark for my 2 hour journey & arrived to a gorgeous blue sky day.  

I have to say from the moment Janet & I first hugged, it felt like we had been friends for years - we just seemed to have an instant connection.  We were lucky enough to be joined by Raewyn - a fellow blogger from Northland, who happened to be in the area for a family birthday. It was wonderful to see Raewyn again as it is well over 10 years since we last met up when she came to my craft cottage. 

The cruise ship that Janet was travelling on.

First on the agenda was a walk around the Mount base track - this is a distance of 3.4 kilometres & takes about 45 minutes.  We stopped many times along the way to take photos, admire the views & just chat.  

Janet, Raewyn & myself

Here is a view of the Mount in the background after we'd completed the walk.

Very proud of ourselves for managing it (!!)

Next up was coffee at a little outdoor cafe on the beach front.  Just wonderful to sit & the chatting came so easily 💗

Janet very generously presented both Raewyn & I with a gift each.  Our packages included some of her wonderful handmade soaps, choccy truffles, a charm pack of fabrics & a mug rug.  Janet does the most exquisite detailed patchwork & I am always in awe of the tiny pieces she puts together so perfectly.  

Both Raewyn & I had gifts for Janet but I have forgotten to photograph these.  Because of the tiny detailed work she does I had decided to make her one of the miniature Japanese House Pincushions that I made in this post. I also included a linen NZ tea-towel & my friend's handmade calendula soap.

After coffee we walked down to the main street for a little retail therapy - Janet was looking for some souvenir items & Raewyn & I were happy to help her search.  We then found a wonderful little cafe in a side street that served gluten free food & enjoyed the most delicious lunch together.  

Janet's final request was to put her feet in that ocean ... of which we were happy to oblige.  The water was refreshing, but not cold & we had a good paddle.

Look at those fluffy white clouds  ⛅💙

This photo is borrowed from Janet's blog post

We even managed to find 3 sand dollars & Raewyn found a starfish.

You can read Janet's post about the cruise * here * & also Lou, another fellow blogger who managed to meet up with Janet, has written a great post * here *. 

All too soon it was time for us to say our Goodbyes & for Janet to reboard the ship.  As I began the journey home my heart felt full for this wonderful day that I would treasure for a long time to come & it reinforced to me how special this little blog of mine is.

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

I have lots to catch up on with posting - please bear with me as I navigate my way around this new computer & get back to visiting you all at your blogs,

Sending much love & friendship out to you all,

Moments of March . . . . . . .

Greetings lovely friends & readers

Welcome to March & the touch of Autumn you have bought with you - I am more than happy to wave Goodbye to the heat of summer.

 

Using up the last of the Christmas money I was gifted, I treated myself to this gorgeous candle.  It is a new-to-me fragrance ... Rose Jasmine & Oud & the description reads  "A charmingly complex & elegant woody floral blend".    It is filling the house with the softest rose tinted fragrance & is just so soothing & lovely 💗

The poor garden has well & truly flopped (rather like the Gardener to be honest) but I still managed to pick a bunch of roses & some veggies this morning.  I have pulled out a lot of my veggies that are bolting to seed but the hothouse tomatoes are still producing steadily.  

From left to right ...... Sue, myself & Jenny

Last Thursday I got up early, pulled on My Big Girls Panties, & drove all the way up to Auckland for a special meet-up with my friend Sue from the blog Kiwikids.  Sue was over (from Australia) looking after her friend Jenny who has had a hip replacement Op & when her message came through asking if I'd like to drive up, I could feel my heart palpitations.  

However thanks to Google maps it's not hard to get to destinations nowadays.  We met at The Hidden Cafe in Paerata & had a lovely few hours before I made the journey home again.  I took along some homegown veggies & made a gluten free Brownie as I remembered Sue was gluten intolerant.  It was such a lovely day that just filled my heart with Joy & so wonderful to finally meet Jenny too. 

Thank you all so much for your very kind comments about my sewing room revamp in my last post.  I haven't been able to spend much time in there but I did manage to complete a couple of orders last week for two dear friends.

Sandy sent me this gorgeous Toy Story fabric & requested I make a pillowcase for her Grandson who is turning 5.  I use this tutorial *here* which I really like.  It requires a metre of fabric but you are always left with a decent strip down one side from cutting out the narrower piece for the pillowcase.

I suggested to Sandy I make up a simple drawstring bag from the remnant as I've done this for my Grandsons in the past.  I've posted the order back to Sandy & she was delighted with both items.

I completed 4 lace coathangers for my dear friend Shirley this week - these are going to Australia so cannot have the dried lavender in them as I usually do.  I offered to fill the lace circle with wadding & scent it with lavender oil which will get through customs no trouble at all.  Shirley was thrilled with this idea. 

When I cleaned out the large double wardrobe in my sewing room a couple of items got put into a separate pile as I wanted to revamp them.  This noticeboard was one of them, a thrifted find from years ago quite some time ago. You can write on the whiteboard part & attach notes to the lower string part.   I removed the string, masked & painted the entire piece apart from the wire mesh insert.  

Then I added a simple Easter style transfer to it, a new string & some pegs.  When I unpack my Easter decor I am certain I have some vintage Easter postcards that I can attach to my noticeboard.  

Likewise I found this sweet box, a gift from my dear friend Leeanne ... to do with as I pleased.  The box is lined with black felt & the inside was in perfect condition.  

I chose only to paint the top as I liked the white distressed sides - I masked it out & then painted it Pale duck egg & added some more Easter transfers.  I am not sure what to use this for as yet but it may make a good hiding place for my choccy eggs (!!!) 😋

The large box of playdough in my sewing wardrobe had gone hard so it all went in the bin.   I gave Sid my big jar of cutters & his mum sent me this pic on the weekend - he'd had lots of fun making gingerbread men & dinosaur cookies using the cutters I'd given him.  How precious 🤎

Monday was our first craft group meeting for the year & I made a No-bake Apricot Slice with cream cheese icing.  We met at Gails & worked out our programme for the year ahead.

I met up with a friend & we went to the new Bridget Jone's movie in town.  We both laughed & cried & very much enjoyed the movie.

 

March's arrival has bought chilly nights & mornings & the furry two have taken up residence on my bed - Yes I do recall ranting saying No cats are allowed on the bed when I made my new cushions (!!)  It seems they didn't get the memo .............

Thank you all so much dear friends, for taking the time to visit here today,

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

With much love & friendship to you all,