Greetings lovely friends & readers &
Welcome to a bright shiny New Year - 2025 💚
I hope the year ahead is good & kind to us all & if the very best thing that you did last year was simply to survive it ...... then well done !!
Yesterday I picked pink alstromeria & 2 jugs of sweetpeas ... I can always hear Mum in my mind when I'm picking sweetpeas - telling me to keep on picking them in order to keep them flowering.
I sat a teapot full on my kitchen bench where I can enjoy their perfume more. If I can have a small bunch of flowers on my bench it makes me very happy ... lifes simple pleasures 💗
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We had a real cold snap at the weekend where I found myself back in winter clothes!!! These two tucked up together on the dining room couch so I knew it must be chilly!
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Since Christmas I have managed 3 craft completions. This delightful kitset was a gift from my friend Gail ... "Alices Tapemeasure". It came with everything required so I sat over a few evenings & stitched the beads onto the felt. I especially loved the Alice in Wonderland charm that you attached at the end.
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Another small kitset - this one was purchased at the Quilt Show in * this post *. It's called a Miniature Japanese House Pincushion ... it made up so tiny measuring just under 2 inches in height.
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I've shown it next to a frixion pen to give you an idea how tiny it is. The base is a button which it sits upon. Everything was included except the crushed walnut stuffing that I filled it tightly with. I purchased it from Annie's Country Quilt Store who had a stall at the Quilt Show.
And then just last night I finished stitching the binding to this wall hanging which was another kitset given to me, I think 3 Chistmas's ago now. This is a pattern by Gail Pan designs & I plan to attach a wire hanger to the top, ready for hanging next Christmas.
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This kitset was all done in Tilda fabrics. I'm not sure why my photos are appearing yellow-ish today.
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It took me 8 days to display all my Christmas decor & One entire day to pack it all away. Usually it takes me 2 days but this year I just kept plugging away. Once it was done I tried to do a couple of fresh new displays as the house often looks quite bare after Christmas. I felt my coffee table needed something fresh & lighter as we are in mid summer here so I used plants & white vintage linens that I already had on hand.
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The only new item is the diffuser which was a gift from my daughter in law. Everything else I already had & most of it are thrifted items.
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And of course . . . I did remember to leave a space for Madam Pip to sit & do her meditation 😉
Sid came for 2 days while his parents worked & we crafted quite a lot of the time. We had a large black dinosaur join us on the craft table which Sid found amusing (!!)
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And later that day when Sid & I watered the veggie gardens we had visitors of a different kind ... jersey cows are such gentle, inquisitive creatures.
Well dear friends, I am off to try & mow some lawns now the heat has subsided a bit,
Thank you as always, for your ever welcome visits here today,
With much love & friendship to you all,
Sometimes, survival is the very best thing of all. =) I've been picking lots of sweet peas, too. I'm with your dear mum....the more you pick the more blooms you get and they don't go to seed. Every home needs a black dinosaur. It looks as if Sid had lots of fun. Such a pretty view with those jersey cows and the pretty vista beyond. Oh my, that little house pincushion is a wee thing. So pretty, as is your wall hanging. Hoping 2015 brings lots of lovely times your way, dear Julie. Xx
ReplyDeleteA lovely post Julie. The patience required to make the Japanese house pin cushion…. And sewing on those beautiful tiny beads. Fresh flowers always give you a welcome smile.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sandy. Yes the Japanese pincushion certainly took patience! But I love how it turned out & would quite like to enlarge that pattern & make another one. Happy Saturday my dear friend x0x
DeleteLovely to catch up. Looks like your little man had a great time crafting with you. My mother and grand mother always had sweet peas, I have them for the fist time this year and have cut some to pop into a vase by their photo. I might go and get some more. Yes, it's cold, I went looking for warmer clothing today.
ReplyDeleteI just love all your crafting .
ReplyDeleteI love to see what you are doing You have a great creative mind .
Oh I love sweet peas , how pretty.
Enjoy your day , here it's very cold .
What a lovely coffee table you have set up in your lounge - it must give you lots of pleasure.
ReplyDeleteFinishing wee projects is always satisfying - I must say the Christmas one is quite sweet, as is the tape measure. The wee pincushion is exquisite.
I too love sweet peas, and they also have memories of childhood associated with them for me - I loved taking a bunch of them to school on a Monday morning.
What a great time you had with Sid and the black dinosaur :)
I have finally started making cards again after a break of six weeks or so... my mojo disappeared totally! Now I am playing catch-up - but it's not too bad, as there were virtually no Dec birthdays.
Blessings
Maxine
Beautiful summer flowers Julie. I am hoping the first of the Cornish daffodils will be in the supermarket when I visit next week - always cheering to have a few on the kitchen window ledge when it is cold outside. The tape measure is beautiful but the pincushion is stunning! I may NEED to make something like that, such a long time since I made a pincushion and I do love to have a new one. The Gail Pann Christmas designs are some of my favourites. Lovely clean crisp decorating for the summer. Have a lovely 2025. xx
ReplyDeleteIt all looks so fresh and welcoming. The flowers are beautiful, of course, and so are the four-legged furries, but your photos of the cows and the vista beyond are simply delightful - a view we could all wish for.
ReplyDeleteLooking at my messy craft table, I don't feel so bad now. I love how the cows come up close to the fence. I would have to go out and talk to them. Happy New Year.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Ilona. The cows are such gentle creatures - if I move very slowly to the fenceline then they don't run away. I just love them. Happy New Year to you too xx
DeleteJust got back from town, met a few friends in Costa coffee...
ReplyDeleteFew bits and pieces from Morrison's supermarket, l'll give
Lidl a miss this week, still got things left over from Christmas!
And, we have a lovely sunny day, dry, but very cold, zero temp.
down here in the south, though much worse further up, floods,
rain, snow...not to good at all...! :(.
And...It didn't take you long Julie, to get back into crafting......
And, the furry two, cuddled up and asleep, look very keen, to
give a hand...! Bless!xx
And..Jersey cows are lovely, l spent two years living in Jersey,
in the Channel Isles, where they hail from...lovely temperament,
and friendly...! :). And the best milk ever...!
Well...Best get on...And Yes! A Happy New Year to one and all....! :O).
🍁🍂🍃🍁🍂🍃🍁🍂🍃🍁🍂🍃🍁🍂🍃🍁🍂🍃🍁🍂🍃🍁
Lovely crafting projects and things to treasure too. Madam Pip does look as though she is meditating in the photo and I love the large black dinosaur supervising Sid! Your agapanthus in the final photos are beautiful (as are the jersey cows, of course!) Have a happy crafting week.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes
Ellie
You are a very talented crafter. I am an amateur in comparison. I love the pics of your kitties.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your kind comment Ellen. xx
DeleteI make you jealous of our weather, lol. -7 C today and -15 C tomorrow when I must go to the grocery before our 3rd snow storm in 6 days. Only 7 inches on the ground and so dark until today. Every day drops another inch and not sign of thawing at all in Jan. Also no sign of me walking outside as it is to be this bitter all month long. So I will drink tea and admire your crafts. I managed to finish crocheting and starching stiff an angel for the Christmas tree just in time to take it down Jan. 6. Now I'm back to just house piddling and reading. Must come up with a craft. Sid and the dinosaur look to have had plenty to craft with. And I miss seeing cows already! Get to see them close up on the bike. Long time until May! Happy New Year and when you sweat ( women never sweat do they) shed a drop in my name. Give the kitties a pat from Precious. Lynn XX
ReplyDeleteWhat a lot of crafting you managed to complete. My aunt and uncle raised Jersey cows on their dairy farm, and because they were purebred there was a need to give them names and papers needed to be sent in. My aunt started naming them after all her nieces and nephews by the end. I think poor Jackie has gone to her maker now, but I really enjoyed having a namesake.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Oh that tiny Japanense pincushion! My heart skipped a beat. And the Alice tapemeasure...Julie, what beautiful things to make and show us. I went a tad green...oops. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI'd frame that photo of the cows at the fence, I really would. When we go on our country drives each Sunday I love to stop and photograph the cows - mostly Brahman where we are in the tropics, but any cow is gorgeous to me. xxx
Beautiful flowers Julie, I love that tape measure, how cute, as is the house pincushion and stitchery. Your coffee table looks great, and a great place for a meditating cat. Well Sid is lucky to have a cute black dinosaur to watch over his activities. Omg Julie you mow the lawns to😲😂
ReplyDeleteMy sweet peas came and went very quickly, obviously I need to pick more!! Your kits are lovely Julie, the little pincushion is very cute and so small! Nice to see you have made space for Miss Pippi in your new decorating and nice to see dinosaur watching over Sid. Great to see the Jersey cows, they have such beautiful eyes.
ReplyDeleteI love the cows over the fence. The neighbor cows visit me often. Love them. Love your posts.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Kim. I enjoy the cows too - we are so lucky to have them just over the fence - they like to watch me hang the washing on the line. xx
DeleteOh my goodness I love the little pincushion - must have been fiddly to make. I do like kits that have (almost) everything you need. Love Jersey cows, we had them when I was a youngster - the best milk and cream ever... not to mention those eyes!
ReplyDeleteHugz
The little pincushion is so lovely. It's beautiful.Lovely photo of the cows looking over the fence.
ReplyDeleteJulie, I DO love your blog! There is always so much to see, so many pretty things to think about. Your stitchery projects are wonderful, and the flowers. Oh, the flowers. I love them all. So many you can grow that will not survive here. And right about now we are headed into freezing weather. Not happy about that at all. The green of the plants with the white of the vintage linens is just perfect. And the cows. My grandparents had cows on their farm. Jerseys and Guernseys for milk and Black Angus for meat. Some of the happiest days of my life were spent there.
ReplyDeleteI'm so jealous of the weather you are having! It's been so cold here in Columbus and we are dying to have some warmer weather. I love the fact that you've been crafting with Sid. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of doing projects with my grandpa, which actually led me to my career today. I hope you both had a blast doing projects together! Thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDelete