Sweet Mary

Home from an early visit to our local Farmer's Market in Hastings with our bounty. All of this is locally grown - no food miles ( km's ) here! We are growing our own courgettes and broad beans but the rest is grown within a few kilometres of our home and we can chat to each and every one of these growers. Can't get better than that.

These three little cuties are for sale on my Felt site - just click on Felt to the left of this post - then double click on individual pictures for more information. There are 5 of each for sale.

Early evening with dinner cooking in the oven I went out to water the pots. We have a cute courtyard that has been created within the confines of the L shaped house and two outside rooms called "sleepouts" here in New Zealand. Its warm and sheltered and everything grows very well so I find I have to cut back on a regular basis to keep it looking nice. Watering done, I thought the pretty lavender against the wall could do with a trim so that I get another show in about 6 weeks time. I did mean to do this a couple of weeks ago so they would be flowering for Christmas but oh well... So pretty - it does seem a shame. Piled up on the table ready to be bunched up for drying in the airing cupboard alongside the rosemary and rose petals already there. I use the rosemary in my Sweet Mary "men only" sachets. My lavender goes into my Sweet Mary lavender hearts topped up with lavender that I buy in from a beautiful New Zealand lavender farm as I don't produce enough. Th

I have been selling my Sweet Mary lavender hearts through some New Zealand shops ( see left) for a year now and with a little encouragement thought it was high time I faced my public! So I expanded my range and set up, ready for business on the first day of the three day Holly Trail in Havelock North and what fun I had. Can't wait to do it again. The cushions I made out of antique linen and faded paisley fabric were snapped up and though I was happy that happened I would have also have been very pleased to have taken them home again as they looked rather nice in my bedroom. Last minute, as you do, I made what are called my "Sleep Hearts" which turned out to be big sellers, in fact I had sold out of them by the second day. They are larger but flatter than the other hearts and tuck nicely betwwen pillow and pillowslip to help you sleep. I also thought it would be good to make something for the men so I made my "Men Only" sachets filled with lavender, rosemary