I'm Still Blue!

I've been enjoying some interesting takes on classic chairs lately!
Nathan Wierink of Zo has designed this classical chair with an air cushion.
Jimmie Karlsson and Martin Nihlmar of Jimmie Martin transform classic furniture into amazing quirky works of art! When I saw this one...
It reminded me my of my own chair which is still blue. Perhaps it is in need of a little JimmieMartin pick-up! Here it is piled up with some of the vintage books in my collection.

New Life!!!!

Years and years ago, my mom, who was an incredibly talented embroiderer, started making a table cloth.

She never did get around to finishing it. But here is the exciting bit! I cut out the pieces that she did finish and have made them into cushions!

They form a lovely focal point in my otherwise very neutral lounge.

And Yes - they do have some "Freshly Found " labels attached -

And No - they are not going anywhere!

These have huge sentimental value and they are staying right here.

Yippeee!

Great Excitement! My labels have arrived!

It is sooo much fun sewing them on to the things that I am making!

A Handmade Gift for You!!

A Great challenge has been doing the rounds. It is called the PIF or Pay-It-Forward Exchange. Thanks to Janine de Waal of Fourwalls Design, I have joined in!

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

Visit Buy Handmade and sign up to promise to buy handmade goodies this Christmas!

Wedding Update!

Creative Wedding Fever is definitely here.


This is a glimpse of some of the Invitation Prototypes my daughter has been busy with!

What a Week!

It has been quite a week! We are doing our best to deal with the flooding of our garden. We have had lots of help...

...and a few rare and interesting visitors!

A Wooly Necked Stork...

And a pair of Egyptian Geese
The bottom line is ... we still have a blocked storm water drain, we still have a smaller lake and more heavy rain is forecast. The cause of the blockage remains a mystery and is more than 100m from our home - but the City Engineers are working on it!

The GOOOOD news is that - as mysteriously as we lost our internet connection - today it returned. We have almost become personal friends with the Telephone Technician who was also puzzled by it's refusal to work! Great joy for us all when that little PPP light started flashing this afternoon and eventually stabilised! It is good to be back again!

The Lake, The Internet, etc

A quick update - the lake has not gone yet - the dogs and the birds are still loving it and so are a mass choir of frogs at night. We have high pressure machines and pumps arriving tomorrow - hopefully!
And my internet connection is down again. The cause of this is mystifying our Internet Service Provider, our Telephone Company and ME!
Am making this quick post thanks to my son's help and my husband's cell [mobile]phone.
I really hope I am back on line by tomorrow.

Reflections on our Lake!

Haven't you always dreamt of having a chalet on the edge of a lake??

Well thanks to a massive downpour on Thursday night and a blocked stormwater drain - our dream [or is it a nightmare] has come true! Our front Garden is a lake! It is Saturday and we are still waiting for the City Engineers to help us!

The dogs are loving it...

The birds are loving it...

But we can see some more clouds in the sky and we are a little bit worried!

Lovely Linos

Whenever I read Jezzeblog I feel inspired to DO something! - to knit, crochet, make my own liquid soap or even try drawing a cartoon.

Now I definitely feel inspired to Print! I have so enjoyed Jesse's informative and entertaining tutorial on Fabric Printing with a Lino Block. She has done some lovely stuff.

I have a Vintage book, printed in 1960 called Printing For Everyone by Gertrude Derendinger. The only colour in the whole book is the cover! It is full of patterns... and black and white pictures of the finished product!

I love seeing how the past influences us today - and wondering how today will influence the future!

At Last!!!!!

I lost access to my blog - and most of the internet for the last few days.

Many hours in front of the keyboard and screen, diaganostic tests, switching things on and off, a couple of long calls to my service provider and a little bit of exasperated ranting and raving on my part to - anyone who would listen - and finally - everything is back on track again! Yay!!

So before I catch up and pay some accounts and send some e-mails, I thought I would publish some of my daughter's recent "rainy-day" photos to celebrate being connected again!