Tuesday Trip…

I am still around… life is starting to settle down a wee bit.. we are still busy on the farm but are nearing the end of calving… so soon I may get to spend some time sewing… Unfortunately our worker has had to resign for health reasonsso between myself and our children we are taking on his job… DH has made a roster… so between three of us we will share the job of milking… and whatever else needs doing… so between home schooling and the farm and house work I have had little time for sewing…

I did manage a quick trip to New Plymouth on Tuesday(I had to do a job for DH and pick up some meat from the butchers) so I snuck into say Hi to Mum and Roz and Roz cute little shop…here  if you are ever driving past make sure you call in and say Hi you wont regret it, it is a fabulous little shop and Roz is such a sweetie too…

Roz’s shop and garden will be open for the Garden Festival in October… this is a photo of her gorgeous house, I love the blue trim and just look at the sweet scallops…

DS2 got to be an orchardist and pick some lovely sweet tangelos…

That’s my lovely Mum holding the bag for him… The garden is just my sort of garden with little vignettes dotted here and there…

And little bridges…

And I couldn’t go there and not buy anything I bought another treasure for my hutch which I will share when I change my hutch for spring! In fact I have been picking up a few little things for my spring display lately…

I’ll hopefully be back soon with something quilty to share…Until then…Keep smiling!

Michelle

Cloche…

Many of you have asked what a Cloche is? The dictionary says a Cloche (pronounced Klosh) is…

1 A close-fitting woman's hat with a bell like shape

or

2 A usually bell shaped cover used chiefly to protect plants from frost.

This is my interpretation of a cloche…

Last month I made a chicken wire cloche for Claire and Michelle and one of our challenges for the month was to decorate it, this is my attempt! Please use your imagination a little and picture the cloche on a pretty plate complete with birds nest and eggs(I just need to find one;o)… considering I made this the night before I think it’s come together really well…

And all us girls decorated our cloche with a bird theme… great minds think alike Lol!

Such a pretty brown bird! Oh and look a beautiful butterfly has flown down for a wee chat…

To see what the girls made popover and visit Michelle for more photos.

After a fabulous lunch of baked potatoes and salad followed by yummy truffles Claire declared we venture out into the freezing cold and go check out a few Op Shops…so we did! 

I found this wooden stool(I plan to repaint it soon) and a cute egg box(I have plans for this too!)

I also found this cute candle holder…

Our two other challenges for the month was to finish a UFO… I finished a quilt top(I will take a photo when it’s not windy) and make something out a hanky, this time we all made something totally different… This is mine…

An origami dress… if you look real close you will see the mother of pearl buttons down the front… Claire made a fabric pinwheel and Michelle made a journal cover…

This months challenge is to make something with… modge podge!  I have no idea what I am going to do yet… Do you have any ideas… Or better yet would you like to join us with this challenge I would love to see what you come up with!

Keep Smiling…

Michelle

B is for…

Gosh it’s been a while since I last blogged… I didn’t mean for it to be sooo long but life has been crazy hectic… as you may be aware we are in the middle of calving… it’s my job to feed all the calves… and when the worker gets sick… well I am the fill in… he was off for a week and a bit… and now he’s off again… (he does have a legitimate illness and if he wasn’t such a good worker…) Anyway my days start at 5.30… yeah that’s am;o) milk the cows, feed the calves, go get the new calves and cows in then hopefully home for breakfast by 9-9.30, then my normal day begins… back out again by 3 to feed calves and whatever other jobs need doing… usually one of the kids milks in the evening :o) then home to cook tea and by then I am not feeling like doing much of anything…

But I do have a few things to share with you…

Here is a close up of my babushkas…

‘Big Sister’ Babushka(the wiser one!) with her nice warm polka dot scarf…

‘Middle Sister’ Babushka showing off all her bling…

and last but not least sweet ‘Little Sister’ Babushka…

I am really pleased with the way they turned out!

B is also for buttons!!! The other day while in town I popped in quickly to a local craft shop where the owner waved a bag in front of my eyes knowing all to well I wouldn’t be able to resist…

These aren’t your average buttons are they? The rep had them in the bottom of his/her bag thinking no-one would ever what buttons this big… are you kidding??? I have thought of so many things I could make with these beauties… I can just imagine them on a knitted beanie(handmade of course!) with some flowers or…use them for wheels on a car(appliqued cushion perhaps)… my Mum suggested they would look great as a set of Draughts(with a quilted board) a bit more of an expensive option though or… they would look great as the centre of a cushion… what would you do with them???

We also have too new lambs, Boris and Larry…

I love to watch them jump and skip! This photo was taken today… as you can see it was a beautiful day! Would you believe two days earlier all you could see was snow! If you look closely just below the mountain many farms are still covered in snow…

As I write this another storm front has just arrived and with it the air temperature has dropped… more snow has been forecasted… it is going to be really hard getting out of my warm cosy bed in the morning! ;O) But I do have something to look forward to… I am meeting up with the girls for our monthly get together… we are going to Claire’s this time… I hope to be back sooner this time with an update and photo’s of our monthly challenges…

Keep smiling…

Michelle