Resolutions . . .

 

Hello dear friends & readers,

 

Happy New Year to you all!!! :-)

 

When I looked at my little notebook with my list of all the New Years resolutions I had written down for 2012 . . .

there were only 3 I could truthfully tick off

"grow more veges" -  tick

revamp my D.L.E cards - tick

start a blog for my cottage - tick

 

Remember Me rose - bought for my Dad - smells so divine

 

Of course all the usual were there . . .

lose weight, exercise more, get fitter! ! ! :-( (no ticks)

But I have to say, instead of being disheartened about all that I could NOT tick off

I was overjoyed about the ones I could

This little place - mythreadbearlife blog - has bought me SO much joy

& its all thanks to You dear readers

& your comments & encouragement that you send out to me in cyberspace

that bring such happiness into my day

deep heartfelt thanks to you all

 

big bunches of flowers to all of you out there :-)

 

I hope you all enjoyed the festive season??

We have had a busy time with these long summer days

We have had folk staying but now they have gone & the house is quieter & there are many chores to catch up on

 

there is lavendar picked ready to tie into bunches

 

 

a pleasant job for the cool of the evening

 

there are roses flowering to be deheaded before they drop

 

 

 

 

and the petals laid out on trays to be dried for potpourri

 

 

 

 

My sons lovely partner Sarah is having a birthday today

so there are flowers to pick for her & a gift to package & deliver

 

 

there are lots of veges ripening & the first of the seasons plums ready to pick

 

 

In between all this there are stitcheries to be traced off -

ready to be worked on at night

 

 

Mr Fluffy has really struggled with the heat this summer

as have all of us lately with this humidity that doesnt go away

 

 

Jared & the Mr decided it was time to bath him with the shampoo we use that cools his skin

 

He was not so impressed . . .

 

Well I dont know whose stupid idea this was - probably that Mums!!??

 

Remind me to come in the shower & take photos of YOU mum !!!!   NOT funny !!!

He certainly smells alot nicer now :-)

 

Yesterday the Mr decided he wanted to go to the seaside & have fish & chips on the beach

(he gets these whims every now & again)

I closed the Cottage early & we headed to Raglan

 

 

I do so love the Coast

We had enough time to look in a few shops for a change

They are usually all closed by the time we get there

Raglan has some really quirky, arty shops

I made a couple of purchases

 

from a little vintage gift shop called Zinnia - they have a Hamilton branch also

 

 

We enjoyed our fish & chips on the beach

even though it was a little windy out there

 

lovely freshly caught snapper

We had some visitors join us

the Mr couldnt resist sharing our tea with them

 

 

before long they brought along their friends too . . .

 

 

It was a great outing & blew the cobwebs out of our hair

but the highlight for me was a little "find"

in the Raglan Traders shop

(tucked around the corner from the main street) . .  .

 

 

 

someones beautiful handwork done in fine detail

I am giving it a gentle soak & will treasure this little piece

 

 

Well folks I am off to do some more picking

now the sun is a little cooler

Hope you all have an enjoyable New Year

& that the coming year brings you all your heart desires

 

thankyou again for all the pleasure you bring me

stopping by to read my ramblings

I look forward to sharing them with you for another year

 

 

also a Zinnia purchase  :-)

Take care out there - you are all very special

much love/hugs/friendship

Julie Xoxox



Merry Christmas Everyone :-)

Hello dear friends & readers,

 

I hope everyone is managing to survive the leadup to Christmas okay??

This past week has gone by in a blur. . .

I have managed to do some christmas baking for some friends

 

Gingernut bites mixture cooling on the stove

 

I like to make little treats at this time of year

& package them up for friends/customers

 

It has been a battle trying to keep things real simple

(& I am not sure if I am actually achieving this!!!)

but I keep plodding on  . . .

 

Lavendar heart from wool blanketting

Lots of the gifts are wrapped under the tree (waiting)

I always try to gift wrap things real quick

cos otherwise I am tempted to Open the chocolate treats

& "taste test" them!!!!!(when I am home alone...)

 

One of my stepsons is coming to stay for a fortnight

so I had to clean the sleepout for him as he likes to stay out here

it was a "bit of a mess"

& took me an entire day to sort out

 

somewhere there is carpet in here I seem to recall??!!

 

Somewhere under all that is a sofa bed!!!!

It is all done now & ready for Jareds arrival

He lives down in Wellington so has a long trip ahead of him to get to us

 

There hasnt been much (any) crafting going on

but the garden is certainly in full swing now

 

 

 

 

Lots of things are in full bloom

& I was delighted to see a little visitor on my swan plant today

Welcome little monarch butterfly  -  please stay :-)

I took my camera down to the pond - things are dry here now
the lavendars have flopped over the pathway
they love the dry weather

Some lillies are coming into bloom by the pond

 

 

The daylillies are flowering away

 

 

& the penstemons all coming out in the rose garden

 

 

 

This little daisy flowers away down the far end of the section

beside an old wringer washing machine

planted with busy lizzies

I didnt plant any of these white daisies,

 they self seeded all by themselves :-)

 

 

 

& the native iris beside them came from Donnas (I think??)

 

 

 

I have to admit that although things are flowering away at present

I am tired of watering (already)

& although the photos all look lovely . . .

there is some serious weeding needs doing here!!! :-(

 

 

beautiful hollyhocks

planted last year - waited patiently - I adore them

although the leaves have rusted, I love the rich velvety colour

 

This will be my last post before christmas

so I wanted to wish you all a wonderful festive season

& may 2013 bring all your hopes, dreams & wishes true!!!

 

 

Mr Fat Fluffy has had a stressful lead-up to christmas

as I am sure you can imagine
(it is quite stressful deciding which patch of floor to chill out on you know)

 

 

Busy, busy, busy - superivising that Mum, she sure is energy draining

 

I wanted to thank you all for taking the time to read my ponderings

your comments always mean the world to me

thankyou so much for stopping by

& have a wonderful christmas

 

 

& I hope Santa brings you lots of goodies.

Take care of yourselves

you are all very special

Love/hugs/friendship,  Julie Xox

 



Some Christmas Spirit . . . .

 

 

Hello dear friends & readers :-)

 

 

Well hooray, yay, yahooo, weehee

this morning I finished the last of my orders for the year!!!

it is great celebration in the house

Maybe if I pretend to be asleep she will stop dancing round like the fruitloop that she is??!!

I have been plodding away on orders for a long time now

 

 

 

It was a cushion making week

Peace sign cushion on wool blanketing

some were for gifts

Oilcloth cushion for a friends new rustic garden seat

 

I had an order for 10 metres of christmas bunting also

 

 

Love the old world Santas in this fabric
 

My last order - finished this morning - was for 12 cream covered coathangers with lavendar bunches on them. . .

 

 

 

Last week while needing a break from it all

with a dark sky & a rainy day

Mr Wolf & I decided to put the tree up & begin some decorating

 

she can flipping well think again if she thinks I'm going to help with that stupid tree

Approximately 17 years ago the Mr & I had a terrible house fire in the sleepout at the farm we were milking on

Because the house was small we had lots of our possessions stored in the sleepout

including ALL our christmas decorations

& so it was all lost in the fire

I lost all the things my boys had made me since little children

those christmas things they make at kindy & you treasure

So I began all over again buying special things & making lots too

 

 

this one always makes me smile when I get it out each year

After 18 years working (part-time) in a gift shop I must confess . . .

to a bit of an obsession with Santas . .  .

 

Some are gifts, some purchased, some made by me :-)

This little spindle legged table holds some of my precious decorations - a bit of a "primitive" look
 

 

note to self  . . .  tidy up messy sewing room on the right!!!!

The beautiful hand crocheted pumpkin & cover was made by the extremely talented Amy from here  . . .

 

my vintage marketplace

Amy is one very talented lady & if I could, I would buy one of everything she makes !!!

This felt christmas card holder was made by me a few years ago
it is a Country Friends design by Wendy Briggs

The beautiful patchwork runner was my craft swap with my friend Therle whom I posted about back in June
We took part in the fionamarie.com great global craft swap
& this is what Therle made me
I just love the colours she has used & enjoy taking it out each year
for my coffee table :-)

I like to put Santa hats on the teddies that sit beneath my tree
in the old violin case . . .

One of my all time favourite Santas (above)
a Woodcutters Daughter pattern (now known as Theodora Cleave)
this guy is called Rustic Santa

A doorstop Santa that I made some years ago with his bag of parcels
(made over a Coca Cola bottle filled with dry sand)

Skinny Minny

How is your christmas decorating coming along??
I have made a couple of new purchases this year -
each year I try to buy 1 or 2 special things
either new or pre-loved
this little guy had to come home with me - he was on sale

I loved the simplicity of him
he just hangs out by the fruit bowl in my kitchen  :-)

Dear Santa  -  I have been very good this year & have not poked my tongue out at anyone or anyones cats . . .

Well folks - I hope you are managing to get into the christmas spirit in your house & that you are not like Mr Wolf -
who just pokes his tongue out at the whole affair -
& dreams "cat dreams" curled up on his blanket

I am off now to tidy the sewing room so I can make a couple of christmas gifts - I am sure there is carpet in there underneath the avalanche that I have had!!!!!

Have a great week out there everyone,.
Love/hugs/friendship,
Julie & Mr (humbug) Wolf Xoxoxoxox