Snippets From My Week . . . . . . . .

Greetings lovely friends & readers

I hope this finds you all well & ticketyboo ?

 The Painters are still not finished though the bulk of it is done -  there are still windows & French doors to do ... fiddly stuff.   You can see top left, the new colour which is Resene Titania & the old colour which (showing yellow) was Country Way.  It appeared quite yellow on some walls & more of a clotted cream on other areas.  I am really happy with the new colour.   We have most of the plastic removed but still some windows partially covered up.  

The reason it's taking so long is because there is only a 4 hour window of drying time at this time of year - 10 til 2.  Then it's too damp, especially in this little basin where we live & the fog rolls in early.  

The 3 cats are most unhappy with the constant tradesmen here.  Little One went missing for a day & half a night last week - can you spot him up high in a tree?  Blackie has taken to the bathtub & Miss Pip has told me 3 times she is leaving home, tho' I haven't noticed her packing her things just yet 😉  We have 3 days peace & quiet as it's a long weekend here in New Zealand (Kings Birthday Weekend).

I have spent a lot of time outside & away from the tradesmen.  I managed to finish my mulch pile which delighted me immensely.  Last week I weeded my hothouse & made my new Lasagne garden for next spring's tomato plants.  Here is the no-dig recipe I use which I swear by & have great success with :-

- a layer of newspaper or cardboard

- a layer of leaves

- a layer of compost (I used a tray of worm farm castings)

- a layer of green waste (I used lawn clippings)

- a layer of peastraw (I used leftover strawberry straw)

- another layer of compost

- a thin layer of mulch.

Give it a good soaking every week so it all breaks down.

Late yesterday afternoon while I was burning some garden rubbish the cows all came over to the fence to see what I was doing ... I love how inquisitive they are. 

Click on the image to read the details about the book - a true story.

I managed to read this book in under a week which is a miracle for me as I am a slow reader.  I could not put it down & thoroughly recommend it.  I got my copy from my local Library - it is Sally Wenley's memoir.  

My friend Gail asked me if I'd like to go with her over to Matamata one day last week.  For Lord of the Rings fans, this was where it was filmed - here is the town Information Centre above - very "hobbity looking".

I've not been to Matamata for 2 decades now & we had the loveliest day out having a coffee, a wander around the township & then a nice lunch in a cafe.  

Gail's main reason for going was to visit this craft supplies store Rock Me Revamp as she was after decor transfers.

I purchased the small transfers above & decided to try some milk paint as I've seen it used on YouTube but never had a go myself.   

We had a wander around the Op-shops, of which we found 4.  I haven't op-shopped all year since my big January clean-out & I very much enjoyed my thrifting day & found some treasures to bring home.

The two plaster candle holders above left were $4 each & I am thinking of giving them the rust treatment.  The rectangular dish with the lacey edge was $4 & I've sat my dishwash liquid on it along with soap & dishcloth.  I've put my dishwash liquid in an old glass decanter because - why ever not ??!! 😊 Things can be beautiful as well as functional too dear friends. 

My photo is not doing this justice - it is a heavy glass tile, quite large, about A4 size - I thought it would be beautiful in my Easter decorating.  This was $6 ... all the above items were from the SPCA op-shop.

The enamel milk pourer was $4 & the decorative bracket above right was $3 ... I will use this to hang up my Fleur Woods inspired piece from * this post *.

This cane tray was $5 from Hospice ... I bought it home, cleaned it & warmed it by the fire before spray painting it with a matt finish off-white paint.  I plan to use this in my laundry.  

The Hospice shop had a free box out front & I picked up this old blue book.  A few days later I painted it .. I wanted a dark charcoal colour but had none so I mixed black with a bit of white to get the right shade.  I painted the entire cover,  then applied a transfer that I purchased from Paint Me Vintage earlier this year.

This is the first time I've tried the gold metallic transfers & I really liked how it turned out.  

This made me think of you Lynn & Precious as I know you have long lap times  💙

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend dear friends - I am off to make myself a sticky lemon slice as I've had a sugar craving all week 😐

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

Sending much love & friendship to you all,