Lucky Me!

This is a post I have been meaning to write for months now, I just hadn't gotten around to taking the photos.
A few months ago the lovely Linda, reader of my blog, passed on (via a mutual friend) a bag of sewing notions and braids and all sorts of goodies.

There are metres of luxurious braids as shown above, in gorgeous burgundy and gold. When I look at them my mind turns to costumes, and I feel another Regency/Jane Austen night coming on (stay tuned!)

Then there are these sweet braids which I just love. They remind me somehow of my childhood and yellow has always been one of my favourite colours.

Then there are some gorgeous laces, and all in large quantities!

I love this wide one, especially.

Then a collar or cuff ...

And some pretty laces in different styles ...


... and some pretty motifs to applique onto something ...

So you can see that I have been completely spoiled! (and completely slack in not thanking you properly, Linda!)

Not only were there all sorts of pretty things, but lots of useful notions too - bias binding, elastic, piping cord ... I am feeling all inspired to sew in the very near future!

But in the meantime am trying to sort out things, declutter, and have the house in some sort of order before school holidays begin tomorrow afternoon!

Daisies in Winter

Daisies on my dining table in the form of a thrifted cloth, one of a pair, bought for just 20c each.
Lovely with the pears in a vintage creamy yellow bowl.

Rednesday - old and new

Today I'd like to share with you the book I'm reading for an online book club, Girl of the Limberlost bu Gene Stratton Porter, with its dull red suede cover. This book is truly just holding together, almost every page is loose, but I'm loving reading it again.

I love the embossing on the front

And for something much more RED and cheery here is a card I made a few weeks ago, complete with cherries and glitter!

Click here to see other's red goodies, and click on the image below to see other vintage goodies!


And now I really should go and find that washing sitting languishing in the machine so long while I sit blogging ...

Hello Friend!

Hello there, no I haven't dropped off the planet, I've just been busy.

What have I been doing?

I've been doing lots of sitting and reading - I'm on my second cold in 15 days and am just over it. My latest reading (from the library) has been on organic gardening, self-sufficiency and the effects and problems of modern farming on the environment - I might become a greenie after all. LOL

In addition to reading, I've been knitting. I finished this scarf for Laura, and am making one in different colours for myself - the perfect mindless-but-still-productive activity while I have a cold.

I used some very clever yarn from Lincraft which has little fluffy bobbles on it spacedto come between every two stitches - too easy!

Doesn't it just look like candy floss or marshmallows? Yum!

I've been working on my food garden, today I have put in some seedlings and have been mulching, we've had so much rain, I hope the garden doesn't become waterlogged.

I've been doing some stamping and some scrapbooking when I have the chance, this little matryushka girl is one of my latest stamp purchases - I love her!

Then there have been school assignments to help with, excursions and things to organise ... and everyday life. Yes, I sure have been busy! But busy is good, on the whole.

Have you been busy too?

Winter Sunshine

After a few weeks of rainy weather it is lovely to see the sun today again! And perfect timing, with this being a long weekend. (I would enjoy it even more if I could breathe properly - a cold has knocked me around the last few days).

We decided it was time to get the food garden planted, and have broccoli, broad beans, bok choy and coriander sown. It was good to be outside again.

Friday Artworks

Some Fridays the girls and I have "Friday Fun", which sometimes takes the form of doing some art or craft together. This is how the wall by our fridge has looked for the last few months, the product of previous Friday Funs.

I love this blog for art inspiration, it's where the circles idea came from.

The heart was painted by Emily in the style of something she painted at school.

But last Friday I took them down and we used this book as inspiration (well, ok, we copied) and created a very cute and large cake using tissue paper, a glue stick, and markers.

Lots of fun.

We were a bit silly by the time it was finished and hung on the wall.

The Food Garden - Making some progress

On the weekend we worked some more on our first vegetable plot - added some pavers round the back, weeded, and raked in some blood & bone. We've had plenty of rain so the soil is looking great. Just now I constructed a bean/pea climbing frame (experienced gardeners: please don't laugh!).


Inside I have seeds growing in toilet paper rolls, these are broccoli and they are just starting to push up out of the soil. When they have grown enough I will plant the seedling, together with the toilet roll into the soil, and the toilet roll will decompose.

On the weekend we should enjoy our first harvest (LOL) cress and mustard!

Edited to add: I've decided to keep an online journal of my food garden adventures, where I will post more details about my vegetable growing. Please visit here if you are interested.