Sweet Mary

Today is the beginning a very busy eight days for me so I thought I would remind you all now about the extremely fabulous Craft&Design Market which will be around Hawthorne Coffee shop as usual, in Havelock North village. It starts at 9 and finishes at 1pm.

Lavender Hearts. Trak's beautiful hydrangeas at the market. Yesterday was a very warm and sunny day in Hawkes Bay, just the right sort of day to visit the Craft&Design Market in Havelock North. It was a busy day on my stall, selling vintage haberdashery and my handmade lavender filled hearts. This year I have made a big effort to make my hearts using a wide variety of vintage inspired flowery fabrics which provided quite a bit of amusement as people tried to choose, especially one little girl who couldn't decide on just the right one for her grandma. I also had a very special visitor come by for a chat and a hug x

Saturday 15th is forecast a hot sunny day, perfect weather to browse around the Craft&Design Market - see you there.

Sweet Mary lavender heart. Its early February here in Hawkes Bay and what we should have weather wise is hot and sunny. Instead, today is an autumn day, a day for greens and mustards and making Sweet Mary lavender hearts. The two retro patterned tins were bought on the way back from the Otane Waitangi Day market last week and the long plait of garlic from Setha's stall at the market. Otane is a small town about 25 minutes drive south of here.They have a thriving Farmer's Market every Sunday which is really worth a visit. Click HERE for their Facebook page, scroll down to read about the Waitangi Day market and also about Setha who not only grows and sells the most wonderful garlic but sings and plays in Cabin Fevre . Seriously cool toe tapping country music, the band will be at Cornwall in the Park this Sunday (I think, please check). Setha's garlic

  What to do when the rain stops for a bit in the afternoon? Run outside to check the pots are not swamped, harvest the beans and courgettes and take a few photos. The gorgeous pink dahlia was given to me as part of a mixed bag and all the tubers have bloomed, easily and with no fussing over. In fact they sat in a bucket for a good few weeks before I planted them out. My newly planted lettuce seedlings are enjoying the big drink from the sky and the beans have been blanched and frozen already. I have a very moreish recipe for the courgettes to share with you but that will have to be another day. I can tell you that it involves garlic, cream and white wine and is highly addictive!

NO market today due to the wet weather - maybe next week?

Vintage Buttons Tomorrow is the first Craft&Design market for 2014 and Sweet Mary will be there in the corner as usual - weather permitting. Lots of "new to market" vintage buttons from France to tempt you and my beautiful pincushions, lavender hearts and haberdashery. Please check the Facebook page HERE to ensue the market will be running - weather is not looking good!

Making Strawberry Hearts. Lavender filled Strawberry Heart. Bunching the lavender harvest for drying. Making lavender filled hearts to sell on my Sweet Mary stall this Saturday at the Craft&Design Market in Havelock North. This is the first market for 2014 after the summer break so do come along and support your local artisans. There are a few new dates and some missing dates for the market this year so please click HERE and go to the dates page to check out the changes. The February and March markets are a week later than usual due to many stall holders attending the Martinborough Fair and we are now going to hibernate for a few months over winter - its good for the creative brain you know! A special thankyou to Trak, a fellow stall holder and friend who harvested armfulls of her beautiful lavender for me to dry. The dark corners of my garage smell amazing with the bunches hanging here and there.