Op Shop Hop pt 2…

Well it’s been well over a week since our Op Shop Hop… things have been very busy here with school holidays, visitors and farm life… So let’s see how well I can remember and finish up the Op Shop Hop day… After lunch Mum took us to this cute little gift shop in Waitara…

(Photo courtesy of Michelle)

The shop is owned by Roz Liddell, you can go here to visit… the shop is set in park like grounds and is filled with all sorts of goodies and treasures inside… Roz also makes soy candles and she will fill any container for you…

I think this would look sweet as a candle holder don’t you? I bought some yummy almonds(thyme flavoured) for DH… a cute little notebook for DD2 and a horse handkerchief for DD1… I also bought another handkerchief for this months challenge which I will share more of in a future post… We then said goodbye to Roz and my Mum and headed in to New Plymouth for some more Op Shop shopping… the first one was a no go but the second one we all found a couple more goodies… I found a pretty plate to start off my new collection…I have been wanting to create a dinner set of mismatched plates like these…

And this gorgeous blue teapot looks right at home on my hutch…

Oops I did forget something… we also headed into ‘Briscoes’ and bought 3 of these…

Glass cloches… They are supposed to be used for filling with your favourite jam or spread but really you could fill them with allsorts of pretty things instead! Claire is using hers for flower arrangements, just add a little water and have one bloom floating on the top… me I’m not sure yet… yoyo’s perhaps… buttons… not sure. Any ideas?

Well that about sums up our day… the challenge we have given ourselves this month is to create something with our handkerchiefs, finish a UFO and decorate our cloches… hmm almost forgot to mention I made the girls a cloche each out of chicken wire;o)…

(Photo courtesy of Michelle… again)

Cant wait to see how the girls decorate theirs… though I still need to make one for me!

Michelle

Op Shop Hop and Babushka’s…

I had an absolutely fabulous day, made so much better by the wonderful girls I went with!!! I was up before the birds… had the calves feed… before my nieces were dropped off for the day… my sister was stuck for a babysitter so DD1 babysat the older two and I took Summer(2) with me… Summer was amazing all day, that girl knows how to shop!

I arrived at Claire’s to find she had bought us a big bucket each to put all our goodies in…I would never have thought of it myself…

Mine was this lovely blue one! Then we drove to Stratford to met with Michelle and the first Op Shop where I bought this cute little doll cradle($2.50)…

I plan to give it a quick sand and a white coat of paint… and make a mattress and a teeny tiny quilt to fit! Next stop was Inglewood which was a bit of a disappointment… none of us found any goodies there… so next stop was Waitara… where we found a real treasure trove of goodies at Corso… this is what came home with me…

Two blue and white plates (20c each)

And this very pretty tray ($2 I think?) Next stop I found…

These cute little forks($10)… there were three but one was missing the little blue flowers and it has now found a home in my garden along with an old spoon I found outside the other day! I also found this sweet little bowl($1 I think?)…

I have plans for this too which I will share a bit later on… By now we are feeling a mite peckish so we head to my Mummy’s for lunch… She had made a yummy pumpkin soup, followed by Chocolate Mousse for dessert… Thanks Mum it was delicious!!! Then while we let our tummies settle we had show and tell…

These gorgeous Babushkas were our last months challenge… mine are the three on the left made out of ‘Bliss’ fabrics and Claire’s are the 5 beauties in the middle and Michelle’s three cuties on the right…I love them all! Then Michelle surprised us with some gifts she bought us on her recent trip to Australia… A cute babushka notebook…

A gorgeous Babushka pin…

A bouncy kangaroo pencil topper and a Babushka nail file…

Thank you sew much Michelle… I love them all!  And if that wasn’t enough the girls surprised me with some lovely birthday pressies… Claire made me the lovely slippers from the previous post and Michelle bought me this beautiful cup…

Isn’t it the sweetest! But wait that’s not all… she also bought me this…

Just look at the top edge and the colour… oh my! And take a look inside…

Isn’t it beautiful? Michelle… I am sew happy with my lovely gifts, Thank you!

Well there is more but I think I have rambled on enough for now… stay tuned for Part 2…

Michelle

Let it snow…

Look what we woke up to this morning…

I had a lovely friend who txt me this morning at 5.30 to let me know it was snowing and since I was then wide awake we decided to take a drive…

The last time it snowed like this in Hawera I was a little girl!

My sister was on her way home from work(her shift finished at 6am) and she and her daughter met us on our outing for an impromptu snowball fight! Then it was time to come home and feed the calves and boy were they happy to see me this morning!

After our morning chores we ventured out again this time we headed straight for the mountain but we couldn’t get through the gates as the roads were closed, so we found another place to have some fun… no photo’s of that though I was too busy throwing snowballs!  Here are a couple a shots I thought you might enjoy…

Right… I’m off to feed the calves their supper…back soon…

Michelle

FNSI results…

I finished sewing this baby quilt together and now I just need to add the borders…

A friend had a baby girl on my birthday and called her Olivia after my DD2, baby Olivia was born on the 7/7 and weighed 7lb 7oz, my Olivia was also their flower girl! So I thought a new quilt was in order… let’s hope I can finish it before she turns one!

I also made a start on another project, this one is part of a challenge… for our monthly girls group(we are searching for a name, any ideas?) we have to create something with a hanky, finish a UFO(mine’s the one above;o) and decorate our cloches’ (I made the girls a chicken wire cloche each, photo’s to come…) Anyway I can’t share much yet but here is a sneak peek…

I have lots more to share in the next few posts but let me just share my new slippers…

What do you think? Aren’t they the cutest! I love them so much I don’t want to wear them in case I get them dirty, Lol The lovely Claire made them for my birthday, from an old doily and guess what they fit too! By the way Claire has a blog, but she doesn’t post… Perhaps if you all go over and give her some encouragement she might start posting… ;o) I might get in trouble for this(I know she reads my blog, Hi Claire;o) And I know you would all enjoy her blog tremendously, she is a wonderful person, a great friend and a very talented quilter!

Next post I really will share all about our Op Shop Hop…

Michelle

Are you joining me for the FNSI…

FNSI tonight…

are you joining in too? I plan to work on a UFO tonight…

I will share all about our op shop hop adventure next post…

Michelle

Some new treasures…

I had a few minutes to spare yesterday in town so I ducked into ‘Willow’ and found these neat jars…

I might have to go back and buy a couple more, here’s a close-up…

Old style milk bottles with the words Dairy Milk by Heritage Company since 1810 and on the back please wash and return to Heritage Co.

And these gorgeous green ones have 1868 Honey written on them.

And just for fun, have you seen this book…

It is amazing! We got it out of the library the other day but it would make a great coffee table book, this is one of my favourites…

And yes it is made entirely out of food! The water is made from a sea of salmon, the trees I think are carrot tops the rocks are potatoes! Amazing huh! If you want to see more go here.

Only two more sleeps until Claire, Michelle and I go on our Great Op Shop Hop!

Michelle

Farmers Wife QAL…

My Farmers Wife book arrived in the post this week and I managed to sneak enough time in to make 2 blocks…

I am using my Fig tree stash(jellyrolls) to make it. I will have to look at adding a few bigger pieces of fig tree fabrics to my stash as some of the pieces require a little bit more than 2 1/2” hence I used a green from my stash… I am not sure if I like it, is it too much? I would really appreciate your opinion please.

I wasn’t sure about this QAL but I really enjoyed sewing these 2 blocks, but we’ll see how it goes when I get to some of the harder blocks ;O)

And this pattern arrived too…

I plan to make this quilt for DS1, I just need to find some suitable fabrics…

It is also the school holidays at long last… life is still busy, but we are just living at a slower pace(does that make sense?) We have Jasmine(DD1’s friend) from retrobabooshka staying with us for the weekend and she makes the yummiest caramel slice! She can take over my kitchen anytime she likes;O)

Farm Update

Calving is well and truly underway, we have 73 cows in now.

I have about 40 babies(calves) to feed… at the moment

The weather has improved lot’s, we are having cold frosty mornings followed by crisp but sunny days and the ground is slowly starting to dry out!

 

This week I am meeting with the girls for our monthly get together and I have yet to finish the project we are are working on so I better scoot…

Enjoy your week…

Michelle

Just a wee bit windy!!!

We had a little bit of excitement here this afternoon, a small tornado passed through our back yard…

snapping a post and blowing down part of our back fence! Now we have a wonderful view of mud! It also knocked over our wheelie bins(rubbish bins) and there is rubbish everywhere;o) DH cleaned up all the big branches that fell onto the road with the tractor before the emergency services arrived 30 minutes later Lol

Michelle

A few surprises…

A big thank you for all the lovely birthday wishes you sent my way, I appreciate each and everyone of them! I received some lovely goodies…Lolly(DD2) bought be one of the most useful gifts…

A new travel mug… You have no idea how often I use it!

The day before my birthday a big box arrived in the post from my Dad, I was gobsmacked, because my Dad never buys presents, he usually sends money or gift vouchers. So I was intrigued to see what was in the box…

A porcelain doll… let’s just say I was suitably impressed! The photo doesn’t do her justice it is very hard to take good photo’s with the weather we are getting!

And the shoes are just too cute! My Mum has been on a knitting/crochet inspired frenzy and has decided to make a crochet dress to add to ‘Dolly’s’ wardrobe! Speaking of my Mum(Hi Mum!) she bought me some perfume and a lovely lemon scented soy candle. I bought her some new towels(that’s what she wanted!) and a couple of soup cups(she’s been wanting those too!) and a lovely jar(I bought one for me as well!) We went to Cobb n Co for tea and had a great time, afterwards we went back to my Aunty’s house and she had made me a big Afghan cookie and 5 smaller ones for the rest of the family, she’s a sweetie!

When I arrived home there was another surprise waiting for me from DS1, but he was already in bed so I had to wait til the morning… I was a good girl and didn’t peek! I was not expecting anything from him(just a hug!) so was really excited to see what he’d bought…

A recipe book stand! And didn’t he do a most excellent job? I love it! I feel so spoilt!          I bought myself a little pressie too;o) Some fabrics from Denise Schmidt new line of fabrics…

Well that’s it folks, thanks for sticking around this long(if you have)

A quick farm update

We now have 14 cows in and lot’s of mud!!!

Michelle

I forgot…

I had a very busy day the other day, went to school to do some PTA stuff picked up my daughter and headed home... I'd been home a wee while and said to DS1 where is DS2, his reply I don't know. Hmm so I called out to him a few times to no avail, so I txt DH to see if he knew where he was... his reply 'didn't he go with you?' And then it clicked, oh my I had indeed taken him to town with me and he had walked to the library from school. I couldn’t believe I had forgotten my own child… So I jumped in the car and whizzed back into town to pick him up, by this stage I am an hour later than the arranged pick time.

When I finally found him he was sitting in a corner quietly engrossed in a book and hadn’t even realised I was sooo late! Totally nonplussed;o) It gave us all quite a chuckle though! I don’t think I will live this one down in a hurry;o)

But here’s the thing I honestly just didn’t remember, I am not sure what to blame my memory lapse on, I did have a lot on that day, it was wet and cold and I just wanted to get back home or maybe it’s because I’m just another year older… tomorrow!

I share the day with my Mum, I was born on her birthday :O) So tomorrow I plan to head up to New Plymouth alone (yay no kids to worry about… forgetting, Lol) and we will go out for tea together to celebrate!

I have been so busy this week I haven’t done any stitching and things aren’t looking much better for the very near future… we now have 4 calves and counting! I am hoping to sneak in a couple more finishes before things get too busy on the farm, but if things get quiet around here you’ll know I’m not too far away…

Happy stitching…

Michelle

A gentle nudge…

Thanks to Lara a gentle nudge was all it took for me to order this…

(I borrowed this photo from Angela just until my copy arrives ;o)

I have seen blocks popping up all over blogland and I really want to make this quilt, will I be able to commit myself for the long haul, I’m not sure but I will try! I have a little catching up to do now since I dithered around so much. Now I just have to choose what fabrics I’m going to use…;o) I think I am swaying towards 1930’s fabrics and doing each block in a specific colour… Or this could be the perfect quilt to make that Reproduction quilt I’ve been wanting to make for so long…

Anyway the book is on it’s way, if you want to check out the Quilt-a-long you can visit here or here.

Enjoy your weekend…

Michelle

Lunch with Lara…

Yesterday I had the privilege to meet another Kiwi blogger, Lara. She was on a day trip to New Plymouth(for work), so we planned to squeeze in  a quick lunch! We managed to squeeze in lunch, a visit to a quilt shop and a coffee before she had to head back to work.

And of course she was lovely that goes without saying doesn’t it? She has the most adorable little boys, works full time and manages to find time to make such beautiful quilts! If you haven’t been to visit her blog before you must pop over and say ‘Hi’

It’s the weekend again already!  Lots of things are happening here, but I hope to find a few moments of calm amongst the chaos and finish another project or two!

On the Farm this Friday…

New milk vat going in today

We are puppy sitting this weekend Lolly(DD2) is loving it

Oh and we have our first calf! I am not ready for calving yet,I need to psyche myself up first, get the calf sheds, milk feeders and such ready… we officially start about the 15th of July and that’s going to come around pretty quick!

Better go DH and Ruffles have just arrived back home, DH took her for a drive in the car(she just got her learners!) so he may need a very strong coffee…

Have a great weekend…

Michelle