Its Spring :-)

Hello dear friends & readers,

My favourite season has arrived . . .  spring.

I love spring  ...  to me it is the season of "hope" ...   after the winter it makes me feel full of hope when I see my plants & bulbs peep through the soil & rear their heads again 

Although our winters here are getting milder, it still fills me with hope when things come into bloom again

My magnolia is in full bloom & I can enjoy it from my dining-room window

My young friend Rebecca is having her first baby & they have found out it is going to be a boy - they have decided to name him Toby

As I knew she was a golly lover I decided to make her a golly for her baby shower gift ... I knew just the pattern too 

I chose Tobias -  a Melody Daly design out of the Handmade Magazine 

I decided to do a "kiwiana themed golly" as I knew Rebecca loved this particular buzzy bee fabric

His top is a lovely soft polar fleece that I already had in my stash

I stitched his name on with beads but (should they decide NOT to name him Toby) they can be unstitched easily

While I was making him up I made 2 extra bodies to have as stock for the Cottage

I did one as a boy & then the same body,  but dressed as a girl

Last year I did this pink colourway, but I have not used this boy golly fabric for the boy before ... I was really pleased with the end result (& especially delighted that I found my bumble bee buttons which matched the bow tie fabric perfectly!!)

taken before the stylist came along & did her hair properly !!!!!

I gave her a toy to hold, but he just gets to hold her hand

This giraffe had browny coloured dots on its body so when I wanted to change them to hot pink, I simply held my hair dryer against each one & it loosened it .... you may already know this tip, but some of you may not ... I use this method for loosening the glue on lots of things & find it works very well  :-)

After reading this particular post from Raewyn I decided to use some of my flybuys rewards points to buy the Rosemary McLeod book for myself ... I had coveted it for quite sometime but it was rather expensive to purchase

I haven't found time to read it thoroughly yet but a couple of patterns that really caught my eye were these ...

a gorgeous vintage stitched apron . . . 

& I thought this applique picture (above) was just beautiful 

I was lucky enough to catch up with some lovely friends last weekend & this is the surprise gift they gave me ... have you seen these ??

They are called Tili Jars ... & they have 1001 uses (apparently)

I just adore it ... as soon as I opened it I immediately thought "red buttons"  . . .  but now I am thinking perhaps red jaffa lollies ??!!   But I am not too sure how long they will remain in the jar (knowing my willpower - or lack of)!!!

Finally to share with you something just a little bit personal ...

"Sometimes in the middle of an ordinary day ... life gives us a fairy tale ..."

When I was 27 years old I found myself with a broken marriage & 2 young sons to raise on my own ... to say that they were difficult years would be an understatement ... 
sometimes it felt like it was all uphill. When my boys grew into teenagers they pushed hard against every single boundary I set them. Somedays I think we just got by on pretty much "a wing & a prayer"

my son laughs at this old picture "Oh Mum your so 80's - look at your fashions" he says

Some people wish for great & wonderful things for their children ... I did not.   I never wanted my sons to rule the world or become rocket scientists ... I simply wanted them to grow into decent young men who were good & kind to others & to each other & to themselves ... & most of all, I wanted them to be happy.

My youngest son (above) & his lovely partner have been saving for what seems like forever to do a trip to Europe for 6 weeks - it feels like they have been poor for a very long time.  On Sunday they flew to Paris & on Wednesday he proposed to her in that wonderful city of love ... my heart is bursting with happiness & joy for them both - he told me before he left he had found the one he wants to grow old with ... what more can he ask for?
And my eldest son is getting married in my garden in late November to his lovely partner also.
As their Mum, what more can I ask for??
Thanks for letting me share that with you all.

The Mr's old work boots, now growing moss & planted with polyanthus ... love the little foxglove self-seeded into the crack where the lace-up was.

Have a great weekend dear friends 
sending wishes of happiness to you all - thanks for popping by - your visits make my day  :-)
much love/hugs/friendship,
Julie x0x0x

Make Do & Mend

A rainy afternoon Hello to you dear friends & readers

When I was a young girl growing up my Mum always "made do & mended"

Oh how I hated it ...

I wanted to be wasteful like the other kids in our street ... being wasteful meant affluence to me as a young girl

A poster on my wall from the Frankie magazine,  given to me by my friend Sally

How little I knew back then   ....  fast forward several years & what do I do today ??

I make do and mend   ...  (still!!!)

It is a lifestyle choice for me - I get far more excited at an Op Shop bargain than the most expensive labelled dress

This week I am linking up with my friend Sophie at Hettie Brown

Sophie practises her "Treading Gently, being thrifty, Living Simply" way of life & her blog is such a lovely place to visit with a cuppa  :-)

I have helped a friend shift house this past week & came home with a few black rubbish bags from which have been removed many "treasures" - easy come, easy go to some folk I guess

This black dolly with a wooden body was destined for the tip
I have given her a wash, some clothes & named her Ebony

While helping with the move I got myself the nickname "Mrs Steptoe" ... I just smiled ... I have been called worse !!!!

I have had 2 orders for my vintage linen table runners so decided to make 3 to have one for the cottage again
I very much enjoy re-using the old linens & doileys & always think about the women who made them & what they would've been thinking as they spent all those hours stitching away on them 

The Mr has learnt by now, when he comes home in the evening, invariably he will have to tiptoe his way to the lounge - he is used to me by now & doesn't complain ...  (much!!!)

I love the patching & piecing of making these runners - adding bits of lace here & there - they are not perfect as they have that slightly time-worn vintage appeal with their little faults & blemishes

This particular doiley (below),I almost could not bear to part with ... I just adored the flowery sails on the ship

Seeing the 3 together made me think, what a beautiful bed quilt they would make ... so I lay them out on my bed to get the general effect ...

Hmmm ... maybe that will be a project for another day  . . . ???!!!

I also completed an order for an Isabella Golly - imagine coming out in the morning all bleary eyed to be greeted by this sight on your breakfast table . . . 

Good morning . . .  whats for breakfast ?

How could you not feel cheerful looking at those little faces holding their teds :-)

So 2 more orders left on the list, & as one is not needed til christmas  I am hoping to get back to making some new stock for the cottage

These wooden pegs had been sitting in this container for many months - since I had made one for my friend Claire way back here  - they were waiting to be made into peg garlands for the Cottage

I decided to leave one lot stained & not paint them, to make more of a prim/country-style garland

Do you have a favourite??
I just love old wooden pegs - I love the differing shapes of them all . . .  speaking of which . . .  this just might have appeared in the post last week . . .  it just might have been a trademe purchase !!!

Quite a few peg garlands there I think !!!!

I cant actually print what the Mr's comment was !!!!

Hope you have found some time to "tread gently, be thrifty or live simply" this past week folks
thanks so much for your time & for stopping by
much love/hugs/friendship
Julie x0x0x 

Colleens garden

Hello dear friends & readers,

Today is so mild here you would not think it was officially still a winter month

I have just had my first group for the year . . . 

I had charged my camera ready to get lots of photos as the ladies were all dressed up in costumes for the day but unfortunately . . . 

Oh yes Julie .... whats that we see .... another pile of mulch to distribute??!!

these were the only 2 snaps I managed!!!!!  (too busy chatting as per usual)

There have been quite a few late nights getting the Cottage ready - there was a fresh batch of potpourri to bag up - I loved this lilly pod that I found to break up into my latest citrus batch

Are you having a good big sniff????

Oh yes & are those your good dressmaking scissors we see sitting there - only to be used for cutting fabric??!!

I think I could bag potpourri now with my eyes closed!!!!

Another order has been ticked off my list ... my "teddy bear addict" friend Christine bought these 2 rather plain looking teddies out to me a couple of weeks ago...

Christine wanted to display them in her ensuite which is decorated in a yellow & blue colour scheme   ....  she wanted one a boy & one a girl (no gender issues here)

They turned out quite well I thought  :-)

While lying awake around about 2.23 am the other morning (!!!) solving a few of the worlds problems .... I was thinking about the beautiful jar covers that so many crafters make, often gorgeous crocheted ones like my friend Amy makes here ... & how much I loved them ... & this idea popped into my head ...

why not make one using wool blanket offcuts & blanket stitch the edges ??

add some crochet flowers (purchased ones because we wont discuss my efforts to learn to crochet today??!!!)

add a tag & some lace & a pearl button or 2 ...
perhaps add a doiley ...

Just Lovely :-)   don't you think??

A group of ladies in my neighbourhood meet once a month for morning tea at each others homes ... this group is called "good neighbours" & has been going for over 30 years ... I try to get along whenever I can.
 Since I hadn't been to one since February I went this last week as I knew it was at Colleens place & I particularly love her garden & its setting ...

Colleen & her husband would be in their late 70's I am guessing (sometimes you cant actually ASK these things)  
They made the 3 ponds on their property themselves & have spent the past decade or more planting them out with natives & making bridges, walkways etc...

Colleen plants her daffodil bulbs by the 100's - they were not quite in full bloom yet

Colleen commissioned my youngest son Kane to build her a small version of "Threadbear Cottage" to place beside one of the ponds

I met this beautiful creature whose name is Elizabeth ...

she is very friendly indeed ...

Elizabeth had a mate - named Edward - but he died recently after becoming entangled in blackberry - it was very sad

These two last photos are especially for you Catherine ... because when I saw them I thought to myself ...

"Catherine would just love this"

I hope you enjoyed your little tour round Colleens garden folks ... I hope your weekend is going well & that the coming week brings you only good things.

Thanks so much for visiting my little corner today :-)

much love/hugs/friendship,

Julie