Two Lovely Visits

Greetings dear friends & readers

Last week a customer asked me the name of my flowering cherry blossom tree ??

Ummm...  "Prunus something something" I informed her

I am sure she rose up a good few inches in height before telling me it was in fact, Prunus Shimidsu Sakura

So there you go  .  .  .  I had the "s" right anyway !!!

This past week I have had two lovely visits . .  .

the first lovely visitor was my fellow blogging friend Wendy from Charlottes Web who came from the city to see me.

We had the loveliest time sharing muffins, tea & chatter & Wendy very generously gifted me this enticing package of goodies below

I have been drooling over the Daphnes Diary magazines when I get a few spare minutes in my day.

Thank You SO much dear Wendy - I always really enjoy our catchups.

The 2nd lovely visit was my weekly trip out to see my wee grandson Alec, who is growing like a little mushroom

I love this photo above where he looks as though he is crawling now, & reading books (which he is not) ... super intelligent that grandson of mine (*wink*) !!!!

I have managed a couple more completions ... I had sold completely out of my dainty lavender bags after the last group, so I put some more together over the weekend

The house smelt delicious & I notice I slept a little better that night     :-)

When my friend Gail delivered her "rubbish for dumping" in my last post, I saw she had some cut out christmas stocking shapes in a bag that she said I could "do something with if I wanted, otherwise to toss them"

Although she had cut the front shapes out, I had to back them, line them & embellish them.  I managed to do this entirely from my stash of fabrics, doileys & trims, which was great.

They are a good generous size, big enough to get gifts into comfortably, but not so big it will involve a small mortgage to fill them.

The Mr pointed out to me they were not in christmas colours ... although I personally love traditional reds & greens, I remember from my years in the Gift Shop, not everyone wants these traditional colours nowadays.

I pulled an orphan stitchery out of my work basket & completed it in an evening.  It is an old Country friends design called Garden Sampler which I stitched onto Sandcastle fabric.

I have made this pattern up before into a Needlecase & always love it.  
I lined the inside with some flannel fabric that I had already.

I had to laugh at my photo below . . .
I had taken the needlecase outside to photograph on my outdoor table as the light was better ... yes thats a little paw appearing in the top left pic

The Jersey bulls were in the house paddock roaring their lungs out, & someone was a teeny bit frightened . . . look at that anxious little face.  Bless him, Staying safe by Mum.

A few posts back - when I was ferreting around under my house looking for firewood - I came across an old preserving pan & dragged it out, along with the watering cans which I painted & planted.

For some reason, when I looked at the pan, I visualised it filled with white petunias.
 I have no idea why I thought this .  .  .  but that is what I did do & now it is flowering away merrily, the picture in my mind has come to fruition

Every time I walk out my kitchen door & look at that funny derelict old pan, it makes me feel cheery.

Rusty old trikes planted with snapdragons for spring are also cheerful.

Well friends, today the house smells delicious as I am dehydrating some homegrown oranges  .  .  .

 .  .  .  my stocks of citrus potpourri are low again so I am making up a fresh batch

& as I work away in the house  .  .  .  one good guess what the other two are doing .  .  . ???

Yep - on the table still !!!
Please note ... new fleece blanket in the basket !!! We are training Mum real good !!!

Thanks so very much for your visit today dear friends,
May the rest of the week bring you things that make you happy & cheery
with much love & friendship,
Julie, Blackie & Pippi
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