Timaru Garden Tour #3

These pictures are from the totally charming garden of Mr and Mrs Emmerson. It's what I would call a "normal" sized section, but the space is so well used - not a square metre is wasted!
 I noticed a great use of stepping stones in this garden. They've been placed to link to focal points, as well as providing access for weeding and tidying.

 Stepping stones also help to ground this wheelbarrow planter.

 A sweet little summerhouse has a harbour view from its back windows.

Facing away from the summerhouse, this narrow stretch of grass has a boat shaped central bed and sinuously curving paths. I love how there is so much movement in this small space.

 This seems to be a garden for all seasons, with rhododendrons finishing off and roses and peonies waiting to take their place.

 There is lots of whimsical garden art, but my absolute favourite is this stone cat riding a vintage tricycle. Oh, do you think Lui would like it if I got him a tricycle?

 The garden walk was in some ways a week too early, at least if you wanted to see peonies. They were in all the gardens and they were mostly still all in bud. So when I saw one in flower, I photographed it madly! This is a tree peony - not sure if they flower earlier than regular peonies or if it was just in a good spot.

 This property has three glasshouses (with a fourth looking like it was being built), two sheds and a summerhouse. They were all being put to excellent use.

 There is also a thriving vege patch. I photographed the peas as a note to self - bent metal sticks will be a lot easier next time than tying up cane teepees.

I took away a lot of lessons in focal points from this garden.

6 Today!

Happy Birthday Toby Ted, we love you to bits!! ♥♥♥

Timaru Garden Tour #2

This is the garden of Janet and Joe Young, and it is three years old.
The sunny vegetable garden overlooks strawberry cages and chicken coops.

This little arrangement caught my eye, in particular the fluffy pom pom aquilegia.

The garden has such a stunning backdrop. Mountains in the distance, a lovely pond and grazing sheep. You almost wouldn't want to let the roses get any bigger.

This flower garden is looking pretty established. I was especially taken with the drifts of snow in summer.

I sowed this as seeds this season and mine's nowhere near flowering, so I took this photo to remind myself what I have to look forward to. (A great groundcover for a hot dry area, like my front garden.)

This gazebo was a lovely spot to sit in for a few minutes and rest out of the sun. I wish I could fit one in my garden. I'd need to bring those mountains to look at too.

Timaru Garden Tour #1

Here are some pictures from the lovely established garden of Jane and Tom Coughlan.

It is wide and sweeping, with gorgeous views over lush paddocks out to the sea in one direction and mountains in the other. Plenty of established trees provide shelter and shady nooks to sit in.

This elegant fountain is almost hidden by tall spires of foxgloves and roses. I like how the plants are asserting themselves here, not taking over but definitely making a statement.

I'd enjoy weeding the vegetable garden if this was the view!

A sweet little gate complete with climbing rose. 
And a sweet rustic shed. I'm not sure what the climber is as it looks to have just finished flowering.

An avenue of white roses leads to the house.

You go away for one weekend...

...and look what happens.
 Sexy Rexy is the first of the new roses to flower. Only the one bloom, and it was almost overblown by the time I saw it, but I appreciate the effort.

I also spied one tiny bloom tucked away on Cecile Brunner. I cut this rose back hard every year (because she can take it!) so she takes a little longer to bloom than other people's.

I've been away this weekend doing garden tours for the Timaru Festival of Roses. Eight gardens were open to the public and I took pictures at each, so there will be plenty to show you over the next few days. I tell you what, my own garden looks shabby in comparison! Not to mention weedy. I got to work today with a big sprayer full of Roundup and felt slightly more on top of things. Slightly.

See you back here tomorrow for the first garden tour post!

one little bird studio and giving thanks...

i do like Leanda, i like her a whole lot.
and as i thought perhaps we are getting to that time of year when you may be making wish lists, or thinking of another to gift to, it would be a perfectly perfect time to introduce you to Leanda.


one little bird studio has the most peachiest of prints and one little bird studio belongs to Leanda. 
i marvel at her wonderful work, how time after time she comes up with images i would happily hang on my shed's wall in a heart beat. yes i marvel at how gifted Leanda is with her designs.

recently she has produced some prints which made my granny retro heart skip a beat. especially this spiffy number. so much so, it is now hanging on our shed's wall. the most beautiful midnight blue background truly makes me happy alongside of the wonderful pops of bright colours.



whilst i was waiting for my 'home sweet home' print to wing its way to my door step (which may i add, it did so very safely in the sturdiest of cardboard mailers i have ever come across, my kitchen scissors were no match for its sturdiness, thats how sturdy it was!)... well as i was waiting, Leanda only went and popped her 2012 calendars into her shop.
gosh, see, take a look at this one in all its mustardy glory
now does that not make your granny retro heart skip a beat all over again. 

surely if ever there was a person who does not do calendars, and they happened upon Leanda's 2012 calendar print, i am without doubt they would be converted into being a calendar loving folk. how do i know such a thing? what proof do i have? well i don't really, but none the less, i'm a believer and i stick by what i say, and that is, the 2012 calendar from one little bird studio, is quite the most peachiest calendar i have laid eyes on.


i do think showing you the wonderful printed world of Leanda, is a lovely note to end on, for tomorrow it is Thanksgiving, my favourite American holiday, and so i will be taking a week off until December 1st when i will return for the joyful gleeful season!
hip hip hooray!

so for now, i will leave you with saying "thank you" for the kindness you have shown me and my constant canine companions this week, for all the offers of fingers, paws and fins crossing over the coming few weeks. and indeed for all your wonderfulness over the past year, from the incredible embracing of my book, to your continuing wish to visit me here on my shiny place and being most generous with your comments on my crafting, time and time again. 

you have truly filled my heart with such a brilliant feeling of warmth, 
and are such an important part of my world.
so once again, i can only say it the best way i know how.
"thank you kindly dearest readers, you are the bees knees to me"

she is wishing you a wonderful happy thanksgiving in the USA and is wishing everyone else an happy week too ~ Tif

Wordless Wednesday


Playing along with Faith Hope & a whole lotta love ♥ Leah

update on Used Dog...

it has been many years since i wrote a christmas wish list 
but this year i have one, 
it is quite simple and i am only asking for one thing:

1. a clean bill of health for my constant canine companion

i have high hopes it will not be too much to ask for.

last night, Used Dog came home. 
she made it through the operation which turned out to be a tricky dicky one, 
leaving her with several layers of stitches and 30 plus staples in her side. 
but still her little eyes shined brightly 
and her tail wagged when she knew she was home.
('cos that's what doggies do best, even on bad days)
we lay side by side in the lounge all night long. 
just me and my secondhand dog. 
now some may call me insane, but i think not. 
for my dog has been by my side through good and bad for over 11 years, 
so at a time in her life when perhaps she is not feeling the bees knees,
 i think it perfectly sane for me to lay next to her, 
so she need not be afraid.

the next few weeks her side will slowly mend, 
the staples will be removed 
and the long wait will be over. 
we will know if our Used Dog, 
despite the doctor's concerns, 
has a clean bill of health 
and a few more happy doggie years left on this earth

so i must take a moment to thank you all so kindly,
for all the fingers and paws crossing you have been doing
on behalf of our Used Dog
and may i be so bold and ask if perhaps
you may care to continue to do a bit more 'crossing'
until we know she has a clean bill of health.
i know it may be tres tricky to go about your daily lives
with crossed fingers and paws,
but even just a little 'quick crossing'
 every now and then would be spiffy.

and tonight, 
when Used Dog comes home to the shed again,
after another day at hospital
and we lay in the dark,
just her, me and my florence nightingale cap.
i will be sure to tell her of your kindness 
whilst i administer half hourly doses of ear stroking.

she will be back tomorrow with the peachy 'one little bird' to share ~ Tif

a long day at mossy shed...


today Used Dog is in hospital for an operation.


we have told her to be brave


we have told her "we love you Used Dog"


and now all we can do is keep our fingers and paws crossed
(a little tricky for a little critter with limbs on the short side)


and wait patiently for Used Dog to come back home to mossy shed so we can feel whole again

~ Tif and Little Olive

round and round...

'tis no secret, i am partial to a stool or two in our mossy shed. i appear unable to say no to little waifs and strays of stools i come across in my daily travels. however there is one stool i hold dear, above all the other little stools within our nest. now of course i know it is terribly wrong to have favorites but i cannot help myself. for the stool in question has been there all my life...


(i am quite sure i have told this story before but as it is buried deep with in the rambling archives of this here blog, i'm just going to repeat myself rather than try to find it as i fear it could take all day to unearth it)

 as a small child i would sit on a stool at my mother's dressing table every sunday evening. where upon i would don what can only be described as a shower cap attached to a long flexible tube which in turn was attached to a box which was attached by a cord to a plug in the wall. 


my mother would switch it on, the cap would inflate and hot air would start to dry my tresses. after half an hour, my mother would remove my head from the hairdryer of sorts and say "voila", where upon i would sit there silently praying that this time my hair would come out poker straight and gloriously shiny. upon opening my eyes, every sunday the vision reflected in the mirror, told me once again, my prayer had not been answered and thus a week of going to school with kinked, fuzzy, cow licky hair proceeded until the following sunday when i started praying again...


despite the horrors of my childhood hair-do i still look back fondly on those moments, and i am quite sure that is mainly to do with the stool upon which my derriere sat. for it was a glorious tulip stool and its fine form, is to me, one of the best a stool can have.

nearly 14 years ago, my mother kindly entrusted the tulip stool to me. in the years that followed it has had many little coats of various grandness, some quite dubious, like fake fur, or lilac sateen, but still it never felt unloved. recently, (and when i say recently i mean the past 10 days), i got itching to be stitching it a new little jacket.


inspired by lovely folksy round cushions, i took one large doily and started going 'round and round' with strips of lace, fabric and one embroidered vintage doily for the middle.


i spent many many happy moments with embroidery floss in hand. i then went a little nutso on the french knots which are my fabby fav thing to do. they are so peachy, you do one and it looks just right, and so you do another and before you know it, there are many little knots doing a brilliant job of looking spiffy.


after which i took my large decorated folksy doily and appliqued it like a cap 'on top' my stool.
i am most happy with my lovely folksy stool


however i must confess, i was not happy with my man when he came in from running around a soccer pitch for 2 hours in the rain last night and promptly sat his derriere down upon my fine and roundy stool! it took all my willpower to remain quiet, i took deep breathes followed by recalling my 'labouring' breathing exercises, for fear of what was happening to my french knots under the soggy soccer gear. i thought i had it under control, i really did, i channeled my inner kindness with all my might, thinking of the long day at the office he had had, and how i needed him to fix a lamp for me and all those other good things he does for me daily but alas, no! my french knots and their fate was too much to bear. i could not get past 2 minutes before i burst and had to ask him to find another stool to plonk down on... any stool, any dumptie just get off my french knots hoppity quick 'pretty please'

she has 3 lads haircuts and one 'constant canine companion' bath lined up for her thrilling saturday morning ~ Tif 
footynote: a little message for Katie (Bob) i have tried to send you several emails today, alas they keep on bouncing back to me, not sure why. could you please email me again with your email address so i can respond to you. many thanks :)

a bit of tartan, some good fortune, perhaps a smidgen of snow and a little thanks...


for the past two days i have been wearing my elf cap upon my bonce. alas and alack, i have not been wearing my Paddington Bear pyjamas despite the temptation of their flannelly goodness and the crappity crap dreary weather. they are not quite like the ones he wears, for if i recall (and we all know how iffy that can be) he wore pinstriped ones, or perhaps that was my own Paddington Bear, now i am thinking he wore ones with flowers on. well mine are tartan and i like to think if Paddington had gone across the border into Scotland he would have liked a pair of tartan pj's to remind him of his travels.
mine are made from Stewart tartan no less.


"how could you possibly know such a thing Tif?" i hear you inquire.
well dearest reader, first off may i congratulate you on your inquiry, i think it is always important to be inquisitive of such matters.
well as luck would have it, many many moons ago in my late teens i lived in Edinburgh for several years and worked a day job at a Barrow which stocked buttons and ribbons, and many of those ribbons were tartan. and being what my job was, i was often called upon by inquiring tourists to name a tartan or two. oh yes those  long ago days of cutting ribbon and counting out buttons all come flooding back when i stumble across a tartan or two.


'weather bug' has informed me that it is going to snow, he appears to be a little iffy as to the details and when i try to pin point him down he becomes quite vague. 'weather bug' is an app, he lives on my cell phone, i have reached the 21st century, i have a phone that does things other than dial a number. i am struggling with the other things it does but luckily for me, i live with teenage lads :)


so i have a handy dandy 'weather bug' who appears to change his mind hourly and now i have a 'fortune cookie' app too! never has life been so thrilling to get out of bed at 6:30am for the school run than when one has a fortune cookie waiting for you. i just tap its little shell and out pops my fortune for the day. two days ago when my phone rang causing me to panic as it rarely rings and being one of those smart phones you press things without wishing to, just trying to get it out of your bag. well all i was trying to do was answer my phone, a perfectly innocent thing to do, but instead i pressed the 'button tile' to my fortune cookie, which is okay normally because it would just show me my fortune again for that day, reminding me less i had forgotten. however in my need to get back to where i wished to be, i double tapped it. gosh, do you know, my fortune cookie got cross with me. it actually told me off. it said something along the lines of 
"do not be greedy, one fortune a day, come back tomorrow".
after which i was quite upset for there appeared no where on the screen i could tap out a message to my fortune cookie explaining the tres terrible mistake, telling him, i was not intentionally being greedy and to please forgive me so i could go about my day without feeling wretched. but no, nowhere and so i was left with that feeling of having done something wrong. the power of what appears to be a harmless little app...


but today is not the day for talking tartan pj's and fortune cookies, although can i just say, if 'weather bug' gets it right and snow comes a tumbling from the sky, i'll be donning my flannel pj's faster than my lads can shout "snow day, no school".

today is the perfect day for me to say "thank you kindly". it was so spiffy to see so many of you at my 'joyful' shop update, you kindly spent your hard earned pennies which resulted in not only me wearing an elf cap but also my peachy friend Laurie. she came by on tuesday to help me and i must say her 'elf cap' was far prettier than mine. i am thinking i need to 'dottie angel' mine up a bit.
also, before my shop update, so many many kind folks have been coming to my little shop and buying the book. you have taken time to write me fabby feedback upon your purchases and also to send me emails with how much you love the book. this is wonderful to know...
so with a week to go till thanksgiving, i truly am most thankful for your kindness, your custom and your lovely comments you continue to share with me. i've said it before and i will say it again, you are the bees knees for sure.


she notes, it is one month tomorrow and her girls are home for the holidays ~ Tif

Good Times!

Another quick hello from me. This time of years gets sooo busy! I have just had a wonderful 4 days away with friends. (A "mums" only getaway!)

we did LOTS of shopping.


Ate out and enjoyed coffee,


and even had some early morning exercise along the beach!



All images from Pinterest




I can't wait to do it all over again next year!
Have a great day ♥ Leah