Gardening by the moon & suitcase planting

Hello dear friends & readers,

Do any of you use the lunar calendar to help with your gardening??

Back in June my friend Donna gave me a moon calendar ... it looks like this ...

Each month you set it at the date of the new moon & then work from there .... this month (in our hemisphere) I am waiting for the 10th to begin planting again ... currently I am mostly digging & weeding

I decided to try this method for 6 months & see how I went (I figured I had nothing to lose)

My vege garden has been growing prolifically since I began using the lunar calendar ... it tells when to plant all things that produce below ground (root crops, like my beetroot) 

and when to plant things that produce above ground (like my broccoli & cabbages)

slowly developing their broccoli heads

I also referred to it for when to prune my roses as last year, I experienced lots of die back

The Mr meanwhile, thinks I am completely batty & just shakes his head & rolls his eyes when I try telling him the best time to sow seed at the farm, to spray or to use liquid fert !!!!!!!!!!

The upturned wire baskets are to stop the birds eating my young plants ... my moon calendar hasn't quite figured this problem out yet!!

This week Cedric got a bit of a makeover - he was looking the worse for wear after standing outside for a whole year!!

The Op Shop provided some new/old clothes, he got a new hat & gingham scarf, & some new hair as well

He whispered to me that he was really rather chuffed with his "finding Nemo" overalls   :-)

Late last year, while shopping with my friend Sally, I bought a stool  from the Op Shop for $5.00

Finally, this week, it got a make-over . . .  a paint job, (Resenes Amulet) & a new oilcloth top

Thank You Catherine for recommending this green colour which I absolutely Love !!

I quite like my new/old stool with its freshen up  :-)

You may recall a few posts back when I helped my friend shift house & earned myself the nickname "Mrs Steptoe" for carting all her rubbish home . . . ??

Well this gorgeous red tartan rug was IN  one of the rubbish bags - this week I made a doorstop Owl from some of the wool fabric

and still have plenty left to spare  :-)

A lovely group of "oldies" doing a "country ramble" by bus bought their afternoon tea & enjoyed in the garden last Wednesday ... the sun came out, they sat & chatted, by the time they left, it was 4.30.

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Lastly I thought I would give you a bit of a "how to" on making a suitcase planter . . . yes I can hear you saying "Oh hellooo Julie ... we are not dumb ... we actually KNOW how to make a suitcase planter you foolish girl" . . . but some folk have actually asked me how to do this so (for those that already know) just scroll down to the bottom here . . .  

I loved that my suitcase still had the key with it  :-)

Take one op-shop suitcase - can be any size but do remember you will have to lift it, so filled with soil, it can get real heavy

I just use a cheap black rubbish bag to line mine - poke holes in the bottom of the bag to let water through

You will need 2 pieces of wood to hold the lid open - I just used my kindling firewood - doesn't need to be heavy duty ... now heres the tricky bit ... this depends entirely on whether your Mr is around & helpful ... if so, then ask him nicely to screw 2 small screws through from the outside of the suitcase to hold the wood in place . . .  however if (like mine) he is always busy & is always "going to get to that" then just use your hot glue gun to hold the wood in place - works fine as the soil will hold it firmly once thats in anyway

I find a couple of clothes pegs stops the liner slip sliding around

I used a bit of my mulch in the bottom for some drainage - you can use broken pots/ stones/ whichever ... then begin filling with potting mix ... then add your plants - I wanted to make a herb suitcase garden this time but flowers too look lovely - I have even seen them done with a vege selection

When full, trim your black liner around to the top of the soil & give your plants a drink ... stand back & admire your handiwork & tell yourself how absolutely magnificient you really are !!!!

Don't be tempted to overplant as they will soon grow & fill the area between the lid ... here is a pic of one I did last year with flowers

Hope the coming week brings you only good things my friends 

thanks so much for popping by - happy suitcase planting to you all :-)

much love/hugs/friendship,

Julie x0x0x

Four Seasons

Good afternoon dear friends & readers

This past week feels like we have seen all the four seasons rolled into one

We have had a real mix of rainy days, cold windy days, chilly clear spring days & then last Friday ... I gardened outside in a t-shirt (Yes I Did in fact, have trousers on too!!)  ... the sky was so blue & clear

On the days when the weather was lovely, I felt like doing outdoorsy things ... walking past my old table & chairs I decided it needed a freshen up ... I remembered having some old testpots in the back of the cupboard somewhere ...

by adding a touch of water to the mix ... I had just enough

& was so pleased with the improvement  :-)

(when purchased, they were white, then they went dark green for a few years, now " Hot Chilli")

However on those cold days, it was indoor activities for sure ...

I only had 2 blue owls left in the Cottage so out came the blanket stash again ...  another "Parliament of Owls" came to life ...

No you are not seeing things, yes there are 2 the same ... 1 is a gift for a friend far away

I was especially taken with this little fellow ... I had not used this blanket before ... quite a bit of retro going on ...

Especially loved the "poppy wings"   :-)

Incidently, the doilies I have used to embellish their tummies, if you look closely at my Op Shop purchases from my last post (below) you will see the bottom left corner doiley ... I simply cut out the individual crochet "flowers" & used some of them up ...

This stitchery had been completed several months back & sat in "the pile"

Finally I made it up into a cushion ... it is a Country Gate Crossing design & was bought out of a clearance bin many moons ago ... I decided to use some of my Lynette Anderson wooden buttons to embellish it ...

I loved this pattern for two reasons ... firstly, it was a preprinted panel (dont you just LOVE those) & secondly, I love anything flower or garden related   :-)

Also sitting in "the pile" was this stitchery ... also completed many months ago & never quite made up into anything

This was another bargain bin purchase - a pattern from "You are Special/Sami's Stitchery's" - I made this one into a wallhanging & added a wire hanger I had in my stash

I decided not to tea-dye the centre panel as it was a lovely lineny osnaberg fabric & it seemed a shame to detract from this

Note to self . . .  clean moss off brick paths ! ! !

The garden is "unfolding" as spring kicks in ... twice this past week customers have commented on my grannys bonnets (acquilegia) ... "oh you have these weeds too do you ??!!"  . . .  well (to climb up on my soap box for a minute here) ... to me, they are Not Weeds ... I adore them   :-)

And I save the seeds of the different coloured ones, & sprinkle them round in other places of my garden ... just because something chooses to pop up in the cracks of your concrete ... doesn't make it a "weed" in my book !!!!!

slooowwly coming to life . . . 

Its okay everyone  ... I'll climb down now . . .

Finally folks, after my "slip" last post down the steps, I had to go one better...

I actually fell right through the deck of my cottage this week ... now honestly ... I know I could do to lose a few kilo's but for goodness sake . . . I am Hardly an elephant !!!

Yes the boards were rather rotten but all I could think of (once I had hauled myself out of the garden & dusted myself off) was "thank goodness it was me - & not the little old lady customer I had the day before!!!!"

So the moral of the story is . . .  if you need to lose a few kilo's & are having trouble finding the motivation ... try falling thru your deck & that'll kick start your weight loss campaign well & good!!!

Our builder Daniel is coming this week to replace several decking boards I am pleased to advise

I am off to walk myself round the local Domain Park - thanks so much for your visit - do hope the coming week is filled with good things for us all . . . 

Cheerio for now folks,

much love/hugs/friendship,

Julie x0x0x
(p.s  do let me know if you would like any grannys bonnet seeds ... I have plenty to spare !!!!!)

Doilies, a trip, & the tale of a stool

Hello dear friends & readers

(warning ... this may be a lengthy post ... you may want to grab a cuppa or a tipple or two)

This past week I have taken a flying trip to my Mums (who lives about 4 hours away from me)

There are 2 main highlights of visiting with Mum (aside from Mum, of course)  . . . the 1st is Op shopping (there are 5 Op Shops in Mums little town), & the 2nd is visiting my friend Claire ... I managed to do both this quick trip  :-)

(a footnote for my overseas readers ... here in New Zealand we call thrift shops Op Shops, which is derived from the word "opportunity")

Beautiful Mount Egmont ... I grew up thinking everyone had a mountain out their bedroom window
(yes I know they now call it Mount Taranaki but NOT me . . . . )

These are the doilies I managed to acquire on my Op Shop foraging

(I have yet to soak & wash them)

plus the gorgeous vintage sheet they are resting on was an Op Shop find for $1

Now before I go on, you really must pop on over to here & read eco ethel's post on joining her B.A.D. club  ...  I think this is a great idea & I am sure there are many out there who would want to "join" ... eco ethel is a girl after my own heart ... she just loves a doiley,  or two,  or three . . . 

These little vintage cut crystal salt & pepper shakers were another Op Shop find . .  .  since returning home I have filled them with vintage buttons & decorated them for the Cottage (VERY tiny vintage buttons for the taller pair I might add !!!!!)

While I was at Mums I managed to decorate this horseshoe for my son & his partner Sarah who are getting wed in my garden in late November

Woops . . .  hope Sarah isnt reading this blog post ???!!!

I cover real aluminium horseshoes (like they use on race horses) ... (a dear old soul in his 90's gives them to me as he spends his days hanging out at the racing stables)

I wasnt able to find any silver letters anywhere - I usually buy these from cake decorating shops - I had neither the time nor the energy to traipse all over Hamilton City searching,  so I bought gold ones & found my can of spray paint 

worked perfectly fine as far as I could see . . . 

Visiting with Claire . . .  always such a buzz & an inspiration - I am never disappointed, in fact her home has popped up a few times on my blog posts . . .this is what greets you as you knock on the door ...

One of Claires creations - "dont open the door" I yelled to her "I am drooling"

  she had recently made a new quilt & it was hanging on the wall ...

my photo does NOT do it justice - it was stunning

Claire had been redecorating her t.v. room in quite a masculine theme as this was her husbands lounge mainly 

 I just fell in love with her handmade plant holders

I am seriously hunting for the Mr's old wooden rulers now !!!!!!!!!!

Op Shop belts  -  I LOVED this one - simple but effective

Claires Country Room

I know that  Michelle has posted about Claires country room here before ... & in fact,  lots of Claires creations as they belong to the same craft group - a very talented bunch of ladies

You have to look in every little corner, nook & cranny

The window seat - where I sat dribbling !!!

Claires new vintage table filled with birthday gifts & treasures

Lastly, this was in her entrance hall - my photo has chopped the top of it off (unfortunately) but it was a torso she had made from chicken mesh wire & stuffed the "skirt" with old dressmaking pattern tissue, then fashioned a light bulb inside so the whole shape lit up at nights ... it was just beautiful (& amazing) & I could imagine how stunning it would look glowing at night ...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Now for the tale of the footstool ... on my last visit to Mums back in April I rescued acquired this old footstool from the Hospice Shop for the princely sum of $4

I unpicked the cover (which took hours & contained about a million staples), removed the 4 "feet" then when I was doing some of my paint revamps, they got a sand & a quick wax/coat of paint

After all my patching & piecing with my doilies & linens back here, I decided that I would like to make a patched doiley cover for the top ... to be honest I didnt know what to cover it with but this look just kind of appealed to me

the long rectangle piece on the left is actually a vintage pillowcase

I am so thrilled with my $4 stool "revamp" . . .  naturally the Mr has been forbidden to stick his grubby cowshed socks on top of it !!!!

And then just this morning - slipping on our very wet steps, hurting my derrier & my back, feeling rather sorry for myself, hobbling out to the mailbox, licking my wounds . . .  a package ?????   to me ?????

beautiful soft hand-crocheted heart mats in the palest shade of blues

a surprise from a dear friend across the miles . . .  a blogging friend - sore back & posterior forgotten :-)    
So beautiful, such a lovely thought - thank you so much dear Amy

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend - thanks so much for being patient with me through this rather lengthy post - hope you enjoyed all the eye candy
much love/hugs/friendship to you all,.
Julie x0x0x