Sweet Mary

At work this afternoon making lavender hearts in bulk for the spring and summer fairs coming up where I will be running my Sweet Mary stall. I will post dates and venues as they get confirmed though I do know the first one will be Porangahau Spring Fair at Chapelwick Coastal Estate on Sunday 27th September. These are the first two quilts I ever made. The left for my daughter and the right for my son - as they are 20 and 23 now I can happily say that my sewing and quilting skills have greatly improved over the years. These quilts have been washed and used many times and bring back such a wave of great memories. I was inspired to post this photo after looking at this blog - click here . All winter I have been keeping a look out for fabrics to use in my Sweet Mary business - these gorgeous ones arrived today from the U.S. Shopping for fabric online opens up a whole new world but one where you have to have to be a tad careful. It can feel a little like being a kid in a sweetie shop. L...

What better way to spend an afternoon - meeting friends for high tea at The Old Church . It was a greyish afternoon but this grand building looked so inviting. Click on the name and then "About Us" to learn the history of this building, its very interesting. After years living in the north of England I thought I knew what a high tea was. Although the above spread was advertised as such it was actually a very delicious afternoon tea. Many different small cakes, scones, sandwiches and a very good cheese board. Pretty china teacups with an equally pretty teapot steaming with your choice of leaf tea. We left around 5pm when dusk was falling and the lights were on so couldn't resist this photo from above, of the extremely large chandelier. No doubt about it - this place has a lot of atmosphere.

I have been lucky enough to acquire my son's old computer as he has bought himself a lovely little AppleMac. Its much faster than my old one which means that I hardly ever curse when things go wrong because they hardly ever do! I have set this "new" one up in the spare room which makes it very handy to my sewing room and also gives me a gorgeous view of the woodland garden. Those branches will be covered with blossoms come springtime. For a few weeks the computer was atop a very ugly and large trestle table and I found myself hankering after something smaller and more vintage looking. Last Saturday, after a trawl around a few local second-hand dealers I found this very nice desk - it has two deep drawers for my junk and is just the right size for me. Its painted the white I wanted and only cost me $40. I feel very happy with myself and am enjoying sitting at it right now! The beautiful screen saver is courtesy of my husband .

Linens to Love on the corner of Tennyson and Market Streets in Napier are stocking this exclusive line of Sweet Mary lavender hearts - made from a black and cream printed linen with striped ticking back. Black satin ribbon to hang in wardrobe, as a decoration or as a special gift.

My colourful sister is staying at the moment so I have been getting out and about a bit more - which is just what I have needed. Legs are working well, still a little tender but feeling and looking so much better. Its been raining on and off for days but yesterday was mainly sunny so we headed over to Ahuriri for breakfast at Milk and Honey followed by a rather bracing walk around the Perfume Point boardwalk. No wonder it was such a bracing walk - the breeze must have come straight off those snow capped mountains in the distance. Lovely views though. Last weekend our Sunday dinner ended up with a Christmas mid-winter theme. Its a popular thing to do here in New Zealand as most of the traditional foods are just to heavy to eat at our summer Christmas. So, out came the ham, chicken ( no turkey!), roast vegies, cranberry sauce, brussel sprouts etc. And a very large bowl of bread sauce - we are a family who LOVE bread sauce. My English husband was very happy and for the rest of the even...