Mr P. Cottontail Rabbit . . . . . . & Displaying Some of Mum's Treasures

Greetings lovely friends & readers

Although I have packed all my Easter decor away now, I did manage to finish off this rabbit which I started only 12 short months ago!!!  

His name is P. Cottontail Esquire & he is designed by Lyn Hosford.

For his tailored Jacket I used the wool fabric from a man's blazer that was purchased from the Op Shop quite sometime ago.  I often pick these up when I see them going cheaply as the wool fabric is wonderful to use in projects.

His personalised wooden key is purchased from * here *

Though the pattern states to dunk his body in a "dye bath mix" to stain it, I could not bear to do this ... I much preferred my Gentleman rabbit in pristine condition. 

Here he is besides Miss Maggie Rabbit which I made way back in 2019!

The pattern is from the book Meadow Threads by The Need'l Love Company

I hauled a comfy lounge chair over closer to my French doors for the winter time.  It gets lovely afternoon sun here & is a nice spot to sit & look outside in the wintery months.

  Amongst Mum's treasures I had bought back this soft pink mohair throw & I draped this over the chair.  My friend Jane had gifted me a beautiful Cath Kidston tea-towel last birthday, commemorating our late Queen's Platinum Jubilee.  I decided to make it up into a rectangular cushion for my chair.  Jane had also gifted me the beautiful piece of Sanderson Linen & this became a cushion also.   

I thought they looked so pretty on the pink throw & they only took a couple of hours to sew up.  Often I pick up cushion inners when I am thrifting & tuck them away for projects like this.  

An inviting spot to sit with a cuppa ... I just need to make sure I actually do this!

There is a round occasional table next to my chair & I displayed Mum's glass cake stand on it along with some pretty floral china my friend Sandy had gifted me.  When I do new little vignettes like this, it encourages me to pull everything out & it all gets a good clean & a vaccum & I like to oil/polish my wooden furniture.    

A small ribbon-rose embroidered cushion that I gifted to Mum many years ago now 💝

I was with Mum when she purchased this sweet little Oak table way back in 2014.  She needed something to display photographs on & this was perfect.  I've always loved the heart shaped legs on it so home it came with me.  Mum's Crown Lynn Swan displayed on the lower shelf. (would you believe dear readers - Mum used the Swan to hold her toilet cleaner & loo brush !!!)

This Oak Canteen holds Mum's silver cutlery set.  She had always said she wanted me to have this so I have sat it on top of the Oak table & popped a small display on top.  Looking at the brass tray in this photo - I really must try 

the tomato-sauce method on this!!!

The sweet lace cloth cames from Mum's also

Just a little corner of my home ... & makes me think of Mum when I look at her treasures around me.  There are still lots more to sort through yet dear friends, but I am trying to deal with a few things each week.  

Sid came twice last week & wanted to do "arts & crafts".  I save loo roll tubes for him but he also goes through my Recycling bin & pulls out any cardboard boxes etc that he wants.  He happily crafts & builds junk contraptions for hours! He LoVeS cellotape & goes through rather-a-lot !!! 😉

I got up early this morning & cleaned out my Fridge.  I then tossed all the left over veggies into a Fridge Drawer stew.  This will hopefully feed us for 3 nights & smells very comforting cooking away in the Crock Pot.  

There is a cold Southerly wind blowing here today & Madam Pip has her banana box inside the house with a fresh wool blanket.  Blackie is tucked up in the hallway cupboard sitting on the ironing pile (!!!) 😐.  The Mr informs me we are in for cold temps tonight.

I hope you are warm & cosy where-ever you are dear friends,

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

With much love & friendship to you All,

Love Julie & the furry ones x0x0x

Easter Decorating Threadbear Style .............................

Greetings lovely friends & readers

As I began packing away my Easter decorations this morning I realised I had not yet shared them on here.

I really LoVe Easter decorating - I love all the soft pastels & I really enjoy that it can all be bought out in a day & then packed away again in a couple of hours, unlike Christmas decor that seems to take me days & days. 

I have a vintage Singer Sewing table in the corner of my dining room that I like to decorate for the seasons.  This is my display on here - nothing new this year, just re-using the same decor from previous Easters.   Raggedy Rabbit made * here *

 

Same table - different end

This is the small nest of tables that I decorated * here * . New items are the Girl Statue that I painted * here * & a pink Easter sign gifted from my friend Sally last year. 

I bought this little shelf in from my Cottage - I have a new piece here ... the china rabbit plate purchased on sale 

from * here * about a month ago. 

Raggedy Heirloom Rabbit made by me * here * & knitted rabbit from Mum's

My mantlepiece is decorated pretty much the same as last Easter with no new items.

                                              A small occasional table with some Easter items from last year

The rabbit trinket box is new - again purchased on sale from * here * but turned out much larger than I imagined - one of the downfalls of online buying I guess.   The moss rabbits are both op-shop finds.

A small primitive display on another table - nothing new here ... wool rabbit made * here * ... cross stitch cushion made * here *

This wooden egg was a 50 cents op-shop purchase sometime last year. I found it when I unpacked my Easter decor & decided to give it a coat of white chalk paint.  It had some tatty lace glued around the middle which I pulled off first & sanded lightly.  

I had purchased the decoupaged wooden rabbit from my friend Joy when I was last down at Mum's.  I found the very same serviette Joy had used in my stash, so I decoupaged the egg with it.  I just love how this turned out & would never have thought to use browns & greys in my Easter decor had I not seen Joy's rabbit.  🤎🖤

This one is especially for you dear Willie ...... when Blackie got wind of the idea that I was Easter decorating he decided to bring me my very Own Easter Bunny!!!   He was not at all impressed when I shooed him away with it. 

I sewed a baby gift over Easter - 2 bibs & a wool blanket rabbit.  My dear friend Sandy is flying to Canada to visit her new grandaughter so I wanted to send a little Kiwiana gift as Sandy's son & my youngest son were very good friends during their schooling years.  

I spent a couple of days with Alec this past week.  The first day we went to the Variety Store (Pokemon cards!!), Cafe for morning tea, the Space Centre & then the Movies in the afternoon.  On day 2, I decided we should drive over to Raglan & we had a delicious fresh fish lunch at the Wharf Cafe. 

After lunch we went to the beach & Alec found a trowel so he dug for crabs.  He found 8 which he played with for awhile before Granny made him put them back in the water & we had an icecream before heading home.  It was a wonderful couple of days but I was rather shattered at the end.  Next week I'll be having Sid as it's school holidays here in New Zealand.

Thank you dear friends, as always, for your welcome visits here today,

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead - remember to be kind to yourselves & to each other,

With much love & friendship to you All,

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x

Sid's Sixth Birthday (!!) 💗

Greetings lovely friends & readers

Sid's 6th birthday is one we will all remember for a very long time ... & for all the wrong kinds of reasons.

After I made the Pokemon Mew toys for Sid & Alec in * this post *, Sid requested a Gengar character to be made.  I managed to finish it just in time to wrap up for his 6th birthday.  These toys are a free download available from * this * amazing site! 

Sid's birthday gifts were all wrapped up ready & waiting for his party of which he was So excited about!   Unfortunately the very day before his birthday he became most unwell & ended up being admitted to hospital & having to undergo many tests & scans to determine why he had so much pain in his neck & body.

 

The photo above left is poor Sid on his 6th birthday - in alot of pain & not happy at all.  The following day the Dr's decided that the antibiotics they were giving him intravenously were not working & they needed to do surgery to drain the large cyst that was appearing inside his neck.  The photo above right is dear Sid, trying to manage a smile right after a very long surgery.  He was such a trooper - the Dr's said it was a large cyst to drain but they were confident they got it all cleaned & flushed out.

The following week passed by in a blur of travelling to the hospital each day to visit Sid, keep him entertained & also try to offer some support to his parents who were having a very difficult time of it all.  I did colouring in with him & read him stories - just whatever it took to pass the hours away & distract him from all the IV lines in him. 

 

Several days after surgery when he was showing some improvement we were allowed to go upstairs to the craft room!  This Granny thought that was just wonderful & Sid created the "tower" above right.  Look at all those dollies on the windowsill (left hand pic) - I badly wanted us to dress/decorate one but Sid was not interested. 

Finally - the day of Sid's Mum's birthday - he was allowed home again.  The day we thought would never come!!!  It was so good to see him happy to be back in his familiar surroundings again. 

Though I had grand plans for some Easter creations, this was all I managed this year.  The felt bunnies are a free pattern from * here *.  I made the chocolate & banana muffins to use up bananas that were turning brown & added some frosting to them with a small Lindor Egg in the top - these were a big hit  🐰

As my Grandsons mainly wanted Pokemon cards this Easter, I packaged up a bag of small treats for them each including the felt bunnies & some other fun bits & bobs.  

Does my Bum look big in this ??? 

I decided to make up a gift basket for my daughter in law's birthday. I knew I had a nice wooden crate in my cottage so I bought it inside & popped some tissue paper in the bottom while I sorted out my gifts to go in it.  No sooner had I gone to do this than a certain ginger furry being decided to try to fit her rather ample proportions in the crate!!!  

Finally I removed both cat & ginger hairs & made up my gift basket.

I also made Nicole a chocolate cake & decorated it with candles as I remembered Sid had not gotten to blow out any candles for his birthday.  I managed to rescue the last of my pom-pom dahlias to go with the cake.

And then this very morning I got to spend some time here with Sid while his parents caught up on some things. The first thing he wanted to do was "arts & crafts" so we had a wonderful morning making things at my table ..........

.......... until a certain black T-Rex decided to plonk himself down in the middle of all our craft supplies !!

Speaking of contrary cats ... I bought out the banana boxes a couple of weeks ago as it's turned chilly here now. I lined each one with an old flannelette sheet.  Blackie wasted no time in curling up in one & then I noticed Madam Pip had joined him, so I dragged out the 2nd box. 

                                           This was the scenario that followed ......... 

 

For two days they both slept in the back box & since then they've both been in the front box together.  I am not even going to try to figure them out !!!! 😐

Wishing you all a wonderful Easter break dear friends,  💕

Thank you so much for your ever-welcome visits here today,

With much love & friendship to you all,

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x 

Catching up Post (Part 3) .... Clearing out No 44

Greetings lovely friends & readers

This post is written mainly as a record for myself, my sons & grandsons ... & I acknowledge it may be of no interest to anyone else.  But I wanted to keep a record of clearing out my family home,  as I have a tendency to forget 😉

Winter Pansies planted in my old trike just yesterday  🖤

I was down at Mum's house for 2 weeks emptying it out & cleaning it ready for settlement on March 10th.  The new Owner was purchasing it as a rental property & I wanted it presented as "move in ready".     I first came to live at No 44 when I was aged 1 so I had 61 years of memories tied up in the house & large section.  I expected to feel all sorts of emotions the day I drove away for the final time but I did not feel one iota of sadness whatsoever.  Which surprised me to be honest.   I felt incredible sadness for my Mum who was lying in bed in a Resthome, just 6 doors away from the house she had lived in for the bulk of her 93 years of life.  The morning of settlement I had walked up to visit Mum as I did twice daily, & she had been very frail & incoherant.  So I felt a deep sadness over my Mum but certainly not over leaving the property. 

My brother had sold quite a bit of Mum's furniture on Facebook Marketplace prior to my arrival so this was my little set-up in Mum's lounge, where I sat for my meals & to do a bit of knitting or reading in the evenings.  A cane chair borrowed from my sister in law & a banana box for a side-table. There was nothing else left in the lounge room but this worked just fine.

My brother & I had to be ruthless when it came to Mum's furniture & possessions.  We both have small homes & each have houses full of furniture already.  So many, many loads went to the 2 Charity Shops that Mum liked - SPCA & Hospice.  I kept some things that had sentimental value but even then I was ruthless.  Some things I bought home were simply because I could not bear the thought of them going to an Op-shop.  Like Mums wedding dress for example - like I would ever fit into it in a zillion years !!! But I kept it.

I certainly do Not need more sewing supplies but I kept Mum's sewing basket (which she made herself) & needlecase, which my Dad sewed himself when he went into the armed services & they all had to make one.  
 

This mohair bear was made by myself a year after Dad died - the pattern is "Old Boy" & that's what Mum used to call Dad.  The Granny bear I made for Mum after she fell in love with the pattern - I did not knit the cabled twinset - this was knitted by Mum in very fine wool.  Before her eyesight deteriorated Mum was an exquisite knitter.

I have been working on a few revamps of some things I bought home & you can expect to see more over the coming months as I slowly sort my way through things.  This table above was "donated to a mate" by my brother, & I promptly undonated it & hid it in my car.  It was made from an offcut of formica many years ago & used as a bedside table in Mum's spare bedroom.

I chalk-painted it with cream & then used a lovely green on the top called "Pale Sage".  Just to take the plain-ness off a bit, I added a stencil in the same colour as the legs.  I gave it a light distress & a wax & it is just THE perfect size. 

This concrete statue had sat in Mum's laundry for many years.  She had a broken neck as you can see above (cracked right through).   She was also a dirty pale lemon in colour.  

I filled the cracked neck with some strong adhesive, left it to harden & then chalk painted her in cream.  I love how she has come out & you would never know she'd had a broken neck!

The two silver trays above had Australian maps etched into them.  Mum used to feed her neighbors cat whenever she went to Australia & these were bought back as thank-you gifts.  The larger one had rust spots on it which I sanded off.  I cleaned them well & then chalk painted them in cream - I really loved the floral edging on them both. 

Then I applied a couple of the left-over transfers from Juno's rabbit suitcase in my last post.  I added hangers to the backs & these are now part of my Easter displays.  

This cutting board had seen alot of use but I loved the shape of it.  Once again painted in cream & then transfers applied.  I really like how this turned out too.

I hope to share some of my Easter decorating in my next post. 🐰🐇

Last week I dug an entire tray of worm castings into my raised veggie gardens along with lawn clippings & some compost.  I dug them over well & then planted 6 punnets of winter veggies - silverbeet, spinach, broccoli x 2, cauliflower & baby cabbage. I saw cauli's in my supermarket last week for nearly $10 each !!!

While I was outdoors working I picked my gourd harvest.  These are one of my most favourite things to grow as it's always a lucky dip what shapes & colours you get.  I decided to do some autumn decorating on my deck table as I'd given it a good clean out there.

I washed my gourds & displayed them in my vintage scales .. I am not usually an orange-&-yellow-fan but I just loved these rich warm colours for autumn.  💛🧡

While at the Garden Centre buying my veggie punnets I noticed these celosia plants in autumnal colours so a punnet of those went in my trolley & the Kalanchloe plants were on special so I grabbed one of those too.

Love, love my new display .... & not a cat in sight (Yet!!) 😉🐱

Thank you as always dear friends, for your visits here today,

I am all caught-up now & hope to continue blogging more regularly.

Wishing you a wonderful rest of the week - be kind to yourselves & to each other,

Sending much love & friendship to you all,

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x