Winter Wednesdays #2

Sometimes I can't help thinking of that line from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe: "it's always winter, but never Christmas". Living in the southern hemisphere where winter is June, July and August, it can be a long, dreary time with no festivities to break it up. Luckily in New Zealand we do have a midwinter festival: Matariki.

Also known as the Maori New Year, Matariki celebrates the reappearance of the Pleiades constellation in our skies, which heralds the coming of spring. It's time to get together with friends and family, celebrate the harvest and have a nice meal, and also time to plan your garden for the coming season and determine how your crops will grow.

There are many ways to celebrate Matariki. I chose to make some golden star decorations - seven of them, for the seven stars in the Pleiades constellation (also known as the Seven Sisters). 

I made my stars by stamping and gold embossing onto clear heatproof acetate. Then I cut the star shape out with scissors, leaving a gap of about 1 mm because I found the embossing could flake off if bent. I added sparkle with some stick on rhinestones, and pierced a hole at the top for a thread (more embossing flaked off at this point, which annoyed me but I didn't have a punch tiny enough so had to use a pin). Then I threaded on some beads for more sparkle.

I hung the stars off my flower garland which is currently adorning this corner. They sway and catch the breeze, and reflect the sunlight - a small reminder that the days are now growing longer.

(Please ignore the giant crack in the wall - it's where our hot water cylinder tried to jump out.)

This was posted as a part of Hazel Dene's Winter Wednesdays series... for more ideas to celebrate winter, see this post!

Wordless Wednesday

It's Wednesday again!
  Visit  Faith Hope and a Whole lot of Love for more ♥Leah

Seeds to share

I saved a few seeds from some of my tomatoes. Just cut a ripe tomato in half, scoop out the seeds, and spread them on a paper towel to dry. Don't forget to write the variety on the paper towel! I even made little paper envelopes for some of mine, but a paper bag would work just as well.

So I have some tomato seeds to share if anyone wants to try them. I'm happy to post them anywhere within NZ.

Abraham Lincoln

Large, firm red fruit.

Amazon Chocolate

Large brown beefsteak fruit, very tasty.

Brown Berry

Small brown cherry tomato, tangy savoury taste.

Sunset's Red Horizon

Red medium-large fruit, said to be frost resistant and resistant to cracking.

Yellow Pear

Small yellow, pear shaped fruit. Sweet and mild flavour. Plants tend to be very bushy.

Red Fig

Small red, pear shaped fruit. Vigorous and prolific, however the fruit were very quick to crack and split.

I also have some seeds of the pink Sunset Runner beans, these were just like normal runner beans but with pretty salmon pink flowers. (Note: these were grown next to white flowering cannelini beans, though according to Google they shouldn't have cross-pollinated.)

Just email me your address if you want some (it's on the left hand side of my profile page). It's hard to believe that the seed catalogues will be out next month... bring it on I say! Apparently King's Seeds will have a rainbow carrot mix, so that's definitely on my list! Along with some more mizuna for planting the potager edges. What's on your list this season?

Flea Market Finds

Hello, I'm a little bit late posting my find for the week, we had a very busy weekend. I did manage one garage sale and found this old cupboard for my sewing room for $20.00. It does need a polish, I have some lovely handmade lavender furniture polish which I should use more often!
Pop over to Sophie's Blog for more fun finds.  ♥Leah

Cozy cans

Apparently we are having a mild start to winter. Not that I've really noticed; cold is cold and dark is dark and winter is winter, in my opinion. So I got out my hook and yarn and made a cozy wrap for this pink geranium who is overwintering inside. Actually, it was a new hook and this was a new crochet stitch for me: Tunisian. It has a finished look similar to knitting. It seemed to take foreeever to do, but I persevered and was pleased with the finished knit-look result - the one thing knitting has over crochet is that you can do ribs! (Oh and socks.)

A final row of single crochet in pink.

And some vintage buttons to finish it off.

I potted up my fibre optic plant in the other cozy. Here they are on the windowsill with their friend the red cyclamen, who is outgrowing his little terrarium. One more can cozy coming up...

Pinterest

I am loving pinterest, so much inspiration! ♥Leah

Last week

Last week began with more earthquakes, more liquefaction, more mess. We have learned how to deal with this situation and so we pick things up, clean up, and try to move on. The piles of sand and mud are collected that very evening by council trucks working long into the night.

Mud and muck is piled outside my back door. The cat walks through it and tracks mud through the house. I wipe the benches with paper towels, because the water supply is off for two days.

Last week Jon's dad passed away. It was unexpected and we grieve his loss.

Garden flowers are confused. Bulbs and spring-flowering shrubs are blooming. I wonder what will be left, come September.

Wordless Wednesday

Click here for more  ♥Leah

planes, trains, automobiles and pom poms...

it is always a toss up between yarn and undies, this year just like every year the dilemma of what i require for a month on the road 'attire wise' and what i require for 'sanity wise' is a little tricky with one bag allowance. and just like every other year, the yarn will win out, for this time i have pom poms on my crafty mind.

ever since i saw the picture of Erica and Lauren's pom pom garlands in the first issue of Mollie Makes i have been smitten by thoughts of pom poms. however it was not until last week when the peachy Allie Jane and i were in convo it dawned on me they would be the perfect traveling craft. how easy peasy to carry around on trains, planes and automobiles. this dawning has now resulted in my crafty snug upstairs being strewn with yarn and pom poms. for myself and Our #4 had no self control and we foolishly thought, maybe we could just make one, you know, just to see how it all works and then pack it away and save it for our hols.

yes well, with the pants weather this weekend, it was rainy day recess at the shed and why waste our indoor hours on packing undies, cleaning a shed, writing lists for clan members left behind, when pom poms were calling our names. i am mighty impressed with Our #4's brilliant pom pom making skills. i confess i was doubting he was up to the task, which is really quite rotten of me. however by the second pom pom, he had over taken me in pom pom making abilities and it was full steam ahead. at the end of our pom pom fest we counted over 40 lovely bejeweled yarny balls of fluff. we have many, many more to make and i am delighted to report my pom pom making companion is up to the task. despite the mocking from his older siblings about being seen in public aged 13 with his mother, pom pom making together. he is willing to ride above it all, for he is addicted, truly addicted. as we sat at dinner last night in the Indian Restaurant, our final family dinner for a while altogether. he turned to me and said "i wish i had brought the pom pom maker with me". my crafty mother's heart quickened to hear such words.

whilst travelling this summer i will not only be pom pom making but also proof reading my book, this is tres extreme exciting for me. i mean, how often does one have a chance to do such a thing. i have a visual of sitting in the train carriage, pencil poised for action and my book pages laid out in front of me. i think i would like a packet of Walkers crisps to help me along and obviously a seat with a table in-front of it and in one of the less noisy carriages, yes that would be grand and whilst the little scenario plays out in my head, the little voice is saying "blimey Tif, it will be a surreal moment indeed"

after our travels of a small island we finish up this year's homeward bound trip in Amsterdam, i am pretty giddy about this, not only to show my boys a really wonderful city but also meeting up with my long time cyber buddies Ingrid and Jane where upon we will spend a day and a night together. to think after years of cyber friendship we will actually be sitting together in person chatting about this and that, gosh it is quite a thought indeed.

yes this summer is looking good, getting to spend time with Our #1 and even better still, she will be coming home for a few weeks in August, so she can see her sister. i am thinking a road trip to Portland will be in order, actually i am thinking we may aim bigger and further a field, i may suggest the three of us drive to San Francisco. yes, that just shows how keen i am on this summer... willing to throw away my fear of freeway and city driving.

for a few weeks i will have my girls back together again before Our #1 returns to her studies in England and Our#2 flies the nest to study on the East Coast of US.

so there we have it. tomorrow, me, my yarn and a few pairs of undies will be heading home, but before i shut up shop i must just say how kind you all have been to me. once again, just like every summer i am left marveling at how generous and kind folks are. you take time out of your days to come visit, you leave me lovely comments, always are most nice about my crafty moments, spend your well earned monies in my little store and send me wonderful emails sharing your lives with me. truly you are beyond kindness... truth be told it's been a little busy around these parts, things i cannot always share until the right moment, however i hope you all realize you brighten my days, day after day and without you doing so, i would not be sitting on a train, proof reading a book or making pom pom garlands to decorate a book launch. no sirree, i owe it all to you...

she is truly thanking you most kindly and wishing you all a spiffily and 'tufty squirrel safe' summer ~ Tif

10 Today

My baby No.1 is 10 today!                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

      The rainbow cakes are in the oven ♥

a bit of 'lo and beholdness' continued...

ta dah! a 'lo and beholdness' circle of crocheted goodness becomes a 'lo and beholdness' warm and woolly coat for a cold mid century stool.

yes indeedy, it never ceases to amaze me what lovely yarny grandness can come from a few balls of yarn and stick with a little hook. when my little warm and woolly coat was finished up, my little crafty heart swelled with pride. i am not saying this is a big headed kind of way, no sirree, not me. i am saying it in a 'blimey, did i really make that bit of yarny goodness with my own hands' kind of way. oh such is the fabbiness of craftiness. after all it is a circle and up until now a crocheted circle has been out of my crocheting ability reach.

once again however i am reminded, with determination and a little bit of patience and many many moments of not succeeding in the ways of being a 'roundie', my perseverance has paid off. my lovely little stool with his woolly coat is living in my crafty snug upstairs. such is my love for him i have warned all clan members, with or without fur, it is out of bounds.

within seconds of placing my little 'lo and beholdness' jacket upon my stool, Our #3 said "oh, you've finished, great can we sit on it now?" and plonked himself down on my 'moment of roundie glory'. the shriek that followed alerted him to the fact, yes it was finished and no, you cannot.

i have noted over the past few weeks the petals are slowly flattening, and at times the cover appears to have shuffled to the side a bit. i have no evidence that others are sitting on my stool, or resting their feet, however i have sneaky suspicions 'when the cat is away, the mice will play'.

if by chance you fancy yourself a little roundie woolly coat for a cold stool, or indeed just wish to continue making a larger circle of petals and head towards a lovely rug for the floor, or a smaller one to make a cushion cover, then i am happy to share how i did it.

however before we begin, let me tell you several nitty gritty things.

1. this is not a 'how-to' for the petals, i am assuming you have already studied Mille's lovely pattern for petals, she so generously shared with us the other day

2. i used chunky yarn and a size Mr Hook 6.5mm K. where i did not have chunky in the colours i wished to use, i doubled up a worsted weight yarn. in fact the aqua colour i used is made up of two different shades put together and it came out spiffily in my books (do you like that! i do too, it is so much more than just spiffy, it is most spiffily, my new favourite word)

3. if you have understood how to make Mille's petals then you will understand what i am talking about below, if you have not understood, then i fear it will all read like gobbledy de goop.

4. i did have to rip out several rounds as the circle grew to keep it flat but i was determined not to be beat. you may well have to do the same.

5. all along i continued to check the fit with my stool after every round, just to make sure i was on the right track. each stool will be different so this is just a rough guide to help you along.

so hey ho, let's go

round 1, 2 and 3: as written in Mille's pattern

round 4 and 5: repeat round 2 and 3

round 6: repeat round 2

round 7: alternate between single petals and double petals

round 8, 9 and 10: repeat round 2

i stopped here as this was big enough for the top of my stool. if you are going on to make a rug, you will have to decide if rounds of single petals or alternating between single and double petals in a round will increase the circle nicely and flatly.

after my last round of petals, i half double crocheted (US term) all the way around joining at the end of the round and chaining up 2, to begin the next. you do no wish to increase as you are now working on the edge. i ended up with seven rounds of half double crochet to fit my stool's side.

to make the cover sit still and not move around or slip off (the stool is vinyl underneath) i then did a final row of single crochet missing out every other stitch from the row before, giving it a nice almost elastic edging to it.

i carefully placed the cover over the stool, not wishing to stretch the final round of stitches too much and damage them and Voila! it flipping fitted! it was indeed a small miracle.

i think a cushion cover would be most peachy and i have plans to work on one if i can find the printed out instructions of Mille's fabby pattern. i placed them somewhere super duper safe so i would not forget to pack them for Old Blighty. so safe, i have lost them...

she is hoping it all makes sense and wishes you a few crafty moments with your Mr Hooks this weekend ~ Tif

footynote: Mr Spell Checker found over 22 issues today, he particularly found 'spiffily' to cause him fretfulness like never before

The Vendor Winner!!

Start getting ready for next year's Shop Hop. Theme: Springtime in the Smokies. Dates June 7 - 10

Jessie was our lucky winner of the vendor basket in our shop!

I thought I'd share this sunny pic from a lovely blog that I have been reading StoneGable   It's not very sunny at  our house today!  Have a wonderful weekend ♥ Leah

'once upon a time'...

i like the color green a whole lot,

always have.

i like grolly green

all the way through

to pretty pastel minty greens.

i like green with hints of blue

and i like green with hints of yellow.

in fact i think it quite true to say,

if i were only allowed one colour in my life

it would have to be green.

if i spy an article of clothing in a store

and it happens to be green,

all sense of what suits me or not,

goes out the window...

i only have eyes for the green.

finding vintage fabrics in green

and indeed clothing

can be a little tricky at times,

hence when i stumble upon them

i can get a little emotional

about the stumbling moment.

however i do not do luminous green,

no sirree,

no way,

no how,

having lived through the 80's

i cannot bring myself to dabble

with such wrongness again.

yesterday i decided to buy a small pot of paint,

a brilliantly cunning plan to distract me

from another of my flock getting ready to fly.

it did not take me long to spy my green,

it was called 'once upon a time'.

well surely upon surely,

if ever there was a green paint

suited to our shed,

it had to be this one.

upon arriving home at the shed

i noted i have a couple of hours

before high school graduation.

ignoring the piles of laundry,

the dried crusted breakfast dishes

and the dog hair courtesy of Used Dog

i only had eyes for a thrifty find

and my can of green paint

my thrifty find

was a wall sconce in brown metal,

upon discovering its charms on the shelf of despair

it told me it liked the colour green,

obviously i was left with no choice...

after two coats of 'once upon a time'

and a couple of vintage decals,

i was smitten,

completely and utterly

smitten with my new paint.

whilst driving home from Graduation,

i noted all the Freeway road signs in Seattle

are painted the same colour

as 'once upon a time'

she is thinking upon her return from across the pond, a certain cupboard in her laundry room would look peachy dressed in 'once upon a time' ~ Tif

footynote: if by chance you wish to paint a find in your life the same colour as Freeway road signs in Seattle, here's the nitty gritty

Benjamin Moore, Aura ~ semi gloss

574 once upon a time

my crafty mojo and me...

it's a little nutso here at the shed, more so than usual. school is nearly out, Our #2 graduates high school today ('tis a big deal here, heading into Seattle for the ceremony) and it is five days till i am on a plane heading to old blighty. end of last week i felt a little like i was sinking, but then a glorious thing happened, just as i was flaying around, my crafting mojo floated on by. i grabbed it, and before i knew it, i was swimming. a doggie paddle kind of swim, no gold medals for technique, but none the less, my head was above water and that is all i needed to get me back on track.

and so it dawned on me, as me and my crafting mojo clung to each other, it had been quite the while since i had made myself a bag. i do like to make a bag for myself to go on my hols. i think i am not alone with wishing something pretty and new to take away in a suitcase. this dawning resulted in me rustling through vintage fabrics and making the biggest possible bag i could without tripping over it. my reason for making such grand scale bags is purely an excuse to deck myself out with the largest quantity of fabby vintage prints i can get away with. then when they are on my shoulder, they just look happy all together in their pretty, slightly odd combination and i cannot help myself from catching their happiness...

so admist the nutso of late i breathed, for a full on afternoon, i switched off and breathed. for me when i craft it is like meditation and therapy all wrapped up in one. i put the world to rights first of all in my little brain and then i lose myself in the process of patching and piecing. in this instant i was patching a grande market sac together, made entirely from secondhand fabrics, along the lines of ones i have made many times before, except with a variation of the handles.

the result of my afternoon of dallying with my crafty mojo has the cogs of creativity turning again, they are blimen' turning so fast i cannot keep up. however this is good, this is tres peachy, for when i return from my trip home to old blighty, i hope they will still be turning and my crafty mojo will be waiting for me patiently just where i left him, so we can dabble again and the results of our dabbling ways will be hanging in my little shop window.

she is finding it hard to believe another child is leaving school, seemed like only yesterday they started ~ Tif

The Cherry Pit Basket Winner from the Shop Hop!

Cynthia said it was like a wonderful birthday present. She could not wait to see what was inside! Congratulations! We love happy winners and happy quilters. Jane

Flea Market Finds

Hello here are my finds for the week.  Two old chenille bedspreads from a local op shop for $2.00 each! They are usually quite a bit more expensive than that. More exciting Flea Market Finds can be found here. I hope that you are having a wonderful weekend.  I'm off to have a look at some more finds  ♥ Leah

Weird Cat Behaviour #5

 WEIRD CAT BEHAVIOUR #5

Couch diving.

Duck under the throw, grab the couch with your claws, and pull! Roll over, kick your legs out, get your claws into everything! Duck and dive, flip and skid. Grab the fabric in your mouth and make manic snarling, snuffling noises. Then get up, walk calmly away, and wash. Refuse to acknowledge the mess of throw rugs and shredded fabric left behind.

(Weird Cat Behaviour is an occasional series on this blog. For earlier posts, go here.)