Rosemary's Rabbit

A rainy "good afternoon" to you dear friends & readers

dead-headed roses waiting to be spread on cane trays for drying the petals

My friend Rosemary is a customer that lives out the back of beyond

She pops by a couple of times a year to shop for gifts

Quite sometime ago she requested that I make a rabbit for her new grandaughter for christmas

... being the great focused business-woman that I am .... I promptly forgot her request !!!!!

The other night whilst trying to sleep, a cog shifted in my brain ... & I remembered the rabbit request !!!!***

"a girl rabbit in a pink dress about this big " were her instructions "no cardigan but quite girly & pretty"

I used my Rosalie Quinlan book "Gift" & her "Miss Millie" pattern as a guide ... but I enlarged it a little & gave her a dress instead of bloomers

I even found the same micro waffle fabric as the pattern suggested for the body in my stash, but it was pure white, so got a good dunking in parisian essence.

I decided to do 2 bodies & have one as stock for the cottage - the 2nd Miss Millie got clothed in a lovely paisley print fabric I had on hand ...

Oh I do adore a good old paisley print  :-)

Being the neurotic creative person that I am, I had to give them a little doiley hanky to hold in their hands

Rosemary is coming tomorrow to collect her rabbit ... I wonder which she will choose ... Miss Rosebud or Miss Paisley ???     Which one would you choose ???

My friend Sandy has always had the most beautiful christmas decorations & displays ... earlier this year she had the misfortune to sustain a terrible fire in which she lost all her lovely christmas collections, along with lots of other personal items.

I had wanted to make her something a little christmassy as she begins to replace her collection again .... she had admired one of the Santa bags in the Cottage & I remembered she had had one before the fire ... so I sat & stitched one for her this past week

It is a Country Friends design (an old pattern) & just simple redwork which I lined & backed with a ticking fabric.

They are lovely filled with lollies or choccy treats & hung on a door knob for when guests arrive ...

 I noticed this sign which I had tossed aside during my outside spring clean-up prior to the wedding ... it was certainly faded & past its best ... I had other ideas for it as it seemed the perfect size ...

You can hardly read it - it is SO faded - but it said  "PEACE may peace be forever in our hearts & home"

Many months ago I had picked up a couple of floral spring clips from the bargain bin at The Warehouse ...

 I wanted something to affix them to, to make a clipboard of sorts

After a "lick & a promise" with my waxing/painting technique ... I managed to attach the pegs to the board & used the "rub-ons" given to me by my friend Elaine

The little wooden butterfly was found in my craft drawer stash 

I have hung this on my sewing room wall & am finding it most useful already.

I had to do a trip to Cambridge last week & popped in (again) to this lovely shop  -  mystyle

I had long coveted one of their Cath Kidston ironing board covers but I could not bring myself to pay $70 for something to cover the ironing board !! ... so instead I bought 70 cms of their good quality fabric & made myself one (which probably took half an hour at the most)

I simply took my old cover off & traced around it on the floor, & made a casing with elastic threaded through it 

I am so chuffed with my new cover ... my ironing board covers get a hard time with sticky vliesofix etc & like many crafters, they get used a great deal - not just to do the ironing  :-)

Thank you all SO much for your very kind comments last post about my sons wedding day ...  I must confess to feeling my energy levels returning again & now my groups have finished for the year, I can breathe a sign of relief

The last bus on the last day was not without dramas ... he actually drove off leaving 2 ladies still chatting to me in the Cottage !!!

I did not know I could run that fast (lucky I didnt fly to bits!!!) as I ran out my other gate to catch him coming up the road -

 I suggested rather "firmly" to him that perhaps he do a headcount in future, before departing a venue !!

Sarah emailed me a couple more photos I would like to share with you please ...

 Notice how chuffed Cedric (scarecrow) looks in this photo that he got to be a part of the day  :-)

I love this photo - look at my Mums happy face as she hugs Sarah in the background

Isabella (in the background) also got to feature - she got a good wash/hosing the day before hand - she got told she was in NO fit state to attend a wedding all grubby & cobwebby like she was - it was disgraceful !!!

Sarahs nephews ... I think they had just been up to mischief ... they've got that "it wasn't me" look on their faces  :-)

me & my two sons ... Kayne not asleep this time !!!

Probably my most favourite so far (above) - thanks so much for letting me share them with you 

Today is a dark sky & a rainy day - a perfect day for sitting at the table making some christmas cards - I love the whole cutting & pasting thing ... reminds me of when I was little (quite some time ago now!!!)

Thank You So Much for stopping by dear friends & readers
May you enjoy the rest of your week be it rainy or sunshine :-)
much love/hugs/friendship to you all
Julie x0x0x

a most magical day

Greetings dear friends & readers

On Saturday my eldest son Aaron got married in my garden - we had a most magical day

The weather gods smiled upon us (though a huge thunderstorm went through the night before taking down 2 large tree branches)

Sarah is a minimalist girl & didn't want any fussiness - though I "sneaked" in an antique chair with a basket of dried rose petals for tossing

It was a beautiful day enjoyed by all ... I have no proper photos yet apart from a few snaps the Mr took for me ...

She put her posy together from flowers out of my garden which was special for us both

Sarah is one of 5 beautiful girls - imagine that . . . 5 daughters??!!

(Sarah is 2nd to eldest - I think this photo is eldest to youngest on the left)

They both chose to have no attendants - Sarahs Mum & myself were the witnesses

me & my two boys . . .  one having a wee nap !!!!

I dont know about you folk, but I just HATE photos of myself !!!

me & my little tiny Mum . . . 

I Love the sign just behind my back end  !!!!!

Now, because I always want my blog to be an honest place &, lets face it, I dont live in a world where everything is all sunshine & roses - I live in the real world, let me just say this.
  The weeks prior to the wedding were not ones I would want to repeat in a hurry. The work load felt huge, often overwhelming,  coupled with the fact that November is my busy season for groups.
The cleaning, weeding & preparation seemed endless & energy levels were low 
I wanted everything to be Oh So Perfect for everyone.

 To tell the truth, most of the time, I just wanted to be in a cave, on Mars,  with my eyes shut tight & my hands over my ears !!!!! 

 So when they both arrived for the wedding, I went around the front to greet them & walk up with my son ...  & I saw in front of me, an actual bride & groom, it suddenly struck me, they are actually getting married ... I promptly burst into tears !!!!!

I thought they both made such a lovely couple, but yes, I am indeed biased  :-)

Sarah is a very lovely girl & will be a wonderful daughter in law

The day just flowed so well & everyone seemed content to sit (in the shade mostly) & relax & enjoy themselves.  We laughed lots ...

It was honestly a truely magical day  :-)

Oh, & I must share with you my new wedding shoes ... made in Spain ... so comfortable to wear & my favourite colour too 

The following day I had a group coming. Wendy from charlotte's web bought her very lovely church ladies out to the garden. Wendy was surprised I would want to host a group the day after the wedding. I confessed to her that I felt it should all still (hopefully) be tidy so it was perfect timing.

Oh it was so nice to just sit for awhile  :-)

We had a lovely afternoon tea in the shade with china teacups - the ladies were in no hurry to rush off which is always the greatest compliment.
Wendy presented me with this delightful gift as a "thank you"

Today, it is back to reality & on with some christmas orders

A large order for angel & golly teatowels & matching oven mitts

There are gaps to fill in the Cottage plus I still have 4 more groups before they finish for the year.

Thanks so much for stopping by & letting me share our special day with you all.

I hope the coming week brings you only good things

The soldier poppies in my garden always remind me of my Dad

Much love/hugs/friendship,

Julie x0x0x

A garden for a Fluffy

Good afternoon dear friends & readers

When I  stand on my cottage deck & look up the length of my section I can see the spot where the fat fluffies grave is.

It always bothered me somewhat, that it was just a patch of lawn with the stones on it made for me by my dear friend Carolyn

It always felt that someone in our lives of such significance should have a more memorable resting spot

I had tossed around the idea for awhile now to make a small garden around the area

When we first moved here a lady from further on out my road would sometimes come & gather fruit off our trees.

It appears the previous owners used to let her & I was more than happy for her to continue as fruit was one of the few things she could digest with no problems 

We developed a kind of disjointed friendship over the years but often she would call in just to see the fat fluffy

So what do ya reckon Mum ???

Over the years I knew not to get offended when she plainly told me "No, I dont want to talk with you today, I have just come for a pat with Nero" -  more often as not... this suited me to a tee

I am hiding today & I am NOT receiving visitors thanks !!!!!!

...though I am not sure the fat fluffy was always receptive to her attention!

So  I came home recently to find a most beautiful handmade card & a granny smith apple tree left on my doorstep ... she had written the words "never will I pass your gate again & not think of him..."

It seemed like the perfect time to mark his resting spot

I couldn't think what flowers to plant until, in the middle of the night it dawned on me - of course, forgetmenots & catmint - yes, he had a fascination with cats, bordering on obsession 

And as he loved to chase the grannysmith apples (he thought they were balls), the tree was just perfect :-)

Not great photos unfortunately but I am hoping when the catmint & white shasta daisies bloom it will be lovely

It has been 6 months now since he passed away.  I still miss him like it was just yesterday. 

  

These have been busy November days & many late nights - some spent on the floor making up batches of potpourri 

There were 2 orders for Hettie Hen Doorstops that were flying out to Australia . . . the customer didnt want me to weight them as she was already very overweight in her luggage . . . 

I usually weight them with a broken brick so these two felt like a feather with nothing in them

Back on the floor again, this time making christmas stockings for the Cottage

These two little sampler needlecases (A Country Friends design) finally got completed & are stock for the Cottage

I managed to fling together a small christmas mantlepiece late last week before a busload arrived . . . the month had kind of slipped away on me as I usually have a christmas display done well before now . . . 

Not really the grand vision that I had back in February for my display this year . . .  but gosh, where did the in-between months go to ???!!!

Sometimes when you rush through your days like a half crazed person (as I do) you dont get to see & appreciate the beauty & the growth in the garden ... I took my camera for a little stroll yesterday to try to capture some of it & share with you . . .

The roses are just coming into full bloom now - mine are a little later this year 

The lavender path leading to the pond has a gentle haze of mauve as the lavenders come into flower

The water lillies are looking beautiful on the pond right now ...

And some of my water iris's are flowering also

"surely you must have a gardener?" a customer asked me last week
"yes" I replied "there are 3 gardeners here...  me, myself, I..."

It is a pretty time in this part of the globe although things have taken a hammering from the strong winds we are experiencing lately
Thanks so very much to you all for popping by  :-)

I am off to "park up" with a cuppa & unpick a dollies dress
Wishing you all a great rest of the week  :-)
much love/hugs/friendship,
Julie x0x0x