Merry Christmas

With no small children in the house and no need for stockings etc. I must admit our decorations have become a bit sad! At least I have put up the tree and hopefully next year will be a bit more energetic about other decorations! May you all have a Blessed Christmas with your families and friends. I hope to be back next year bursting with enthusiasim, creativity and energy!

Pack your bags

These vintage suitcases, found in a second hand shop, make me think of how much travel has changed. We throw everything into a soft tog bag or ruck sack and off we go! No trunks, hat boxes,leather and beautiful brass trims. Our bags only last for one or two trips and in the bin they go, to make room for a new branded beauty.I would love to know where these suitcases have been, if only they could talk!

Matric dance

My son and his girlfriend went to her matric dance recently and I took these pics for them.

Beautiful detail on the shoes and dress!

When you come to take photo's in Hermanus you realize how many great views there are. Living here you sort of take the stunning scenery for granted.

It was quite a windy, grey day but we mananged some lovely shots.

etc.etc.

Another interesting shop found on my travels to the Natal Midlands! The wind has blown the sign around but it is called etc etc!
I absolutely LOVE black and white checked floors. I know they can be a bit over the top but there is something about them that is sooooo appealing!

Pretty prints and orchids.

I also love vintage cups and saucers and have a small collection of my own. I always feels loathe to use them in case they get broken, but I suppose that is silly, they are no use if not enjoyed!

spring flowers

Unfortunately I had to go into hospital for a few days, but the upside was all the gorgeous flowers I received!

Baby soft!

This is a blanket I made for someone who is having a baby using tunisian crochet. It's sort of a mixture between knitting and crochet. You use a looooong crochet hook and pick up all the stitches as you would on a knitting needle and then cast them all off again. I'm sure there are other patterns but this is the only one I know!

It makes a beautifully soft blanket if you use 4 ply wool and quite a thick needle. The crochet flower is just a bit of detail for fun!

Lavender wreath

There is so much lavender in the garden at the moment that we decided to make a lavender wreath. First we cut some shoots from the honeysuckle creeper and wound them into a circle ( I'm sure you could use wire) Then we picked loads of lavender flowers and, taking bunches of four flowers, laid them across the wreath and secured them with string.

Don't cut the stems, they form the bulk of the wreathKeep going, it is time consuming! As you can see, my son did it for me, I only took the pics!This is what the back looks like.

We have left it to dry and I will show you what it looks like in a couple of weeks time. It smells delicious !

Trees

While on my visit to Kwa Zulu Natal, I came across some interesting trees. As I love texture I couldn't resist these beauties. This one is a thorn tree (i think) and has bark that looks like layers of paper.

This is a Leopard tree and needs no explaination to the reason for it's name!

I'm not sure what this tree is, other than to say it is magnificent! It can be found in the park at the top of the Howick Falls.

Pastel Paintings

While trying to tidy up my messy workspace the other day, I came across this old box of pastels and decided to try them out.
They work perfectly for the texture of the animal fur, but you do need to layer the colours and it is quite time consuming. I find it very therapeutic, almost like knitting a stitch at a time, drawing in a hair at a time! This one still needs a lot of work, there's a lot of paper to cover!

Midland greens

Well, I'm back from my holiday in the Kwa Zulu Natal midlands. It is still as beautiful as ever with the start of spring and everything turning green . I couldn't resist a pic of these scrumptious looking salad greens. My Mom is an avid gardener so wherever we went we had to stop at the garden centers. This one was at a farm stall called Piggly Wiggly.


There are hundreds of farm stalls, restaurants and craft shops along the Midlands Meander which wanders, or meanders, through the most picturesque countryside. Shops are tucked away down dusty farm roads and it's really quite an adventure following the map, getting lost, and trying to find all the places on your list!

This is the view from a cluster of craft shops across the valley to Piggly Wiggly over on the other side.I must admit I didn't take as many photo's as I wanted to because I wanted to use my camera and not my cell phone. This backfired somewhat because the camera is rather cumbersome and difficult to maneuver in restaurants and shops. Next time I think I will just stick to the cell phone and go for quantity rather than quality!

Holiday!

I am going to the Natal Midlands for a few weeks, to see my family, and will be back towards the end of September. I am also going to take a break from blogging and hope to return with great pics!

notebooks

I've been having problems with my printer and decided to test it out with various designs. I used them to make these personalized note books for my friends.
I need to work on my sewing skills a bit, but all in all was quite happy with the outcome!

lavender and lemons

Spring has definately arrived!
The lavender is in full bloom,buzzing with bees and ready for picking.

I love the lavender colours mixed with lemon yellow.

Cocktails to celebrate the beautiful sunshine, appreciated after all the rain!

Summer Salad

Sunday was a beautiful sunny day, most welcome after all the rain! We celebrated with a summer lunch of spinach filled filo pastry parcels, asparagus quiche and this gorgeous avo, feta and fresh basil salad. Yummy!

Rainy Days

Winter rain...... necessary, but not always welcome! It 's really a day to curl up with a cup of tea and a good book .Unfortunately I am going for a haircut, shudder at the thought of all that water around my ears! Seriously though, I love the rain, especially soft rain that falls for days so that everything can get a real good soak.

Zips

A couple of weeks ago I set out on a quest to find a professional way to insert zips and I think I may have found the answer!

This is from a tutorial I found here at house on hill road blog. It is very confusing and I must admit I still don't really understand how it all comes together but, believe me, it does!

The entire zip is concealed and looks very professional. I'm going to have to try it a few more time before I 'll be able to do it without the instructions, but it really is worth the effort!

All things orange

Orange is not one of my favourite colours, but as we're in the middle of winter, I find myself noticing all things citrus. From there it's an easy step to shades of peach, yellow and salmon.

From there another step to pure orange,


And finally to the intense, sun baked orange of a warm winters day!

maps

I love maps, atlases and vintage books. We have a secondhand bookshop in Hermanus with the most amazing books. I found this atlas and couldn't resist buying it, even though it is moth eaten and discolouredMost inspiring colour combinations.

Dedication in the front of the book. Although this was written over 50 years ago, it still rings true for today.

This map bag, inspired by the atlas purchase, has already been sold and is living happily in the U.S.A

This is a tea towel specifically designed for Hermanus, combining the map idea with the stylized whale shape.