a blog post about matchboxes

Here in Palmerston North it is very muggy and humid. 

We have had some much needed rain, our water tank was only half full.

I haven't blogged in a while, but thought I needed to do a blog post on matchboxes.

Here are two reasons why ...

Recently I received a delightful box of goodies in the mail from Patty (her link is under the QB5 group), and much to my delight amongst the goodies I found, carefully wrapped in a pretty piece of fabric, a wee matchbox.

I love matchboxes.

Don't you think Patty has made a lovely job of this one?

It is covered in paper, is very pretty and contains a secret.

One of Patty's gorgeous wee handmade bird's nests! 

Thanks Patty, it's totally birdilicious :))

However.....

I also love these matchboxes .....

do you remember them from years ago?

I cut a sheet of pre-rolled flakey pastry into rectangles and cooked in a hot oven

until they puffed up and were light golden in colour.

Then when they were cool I iced them with a passionfruit icing, 

and when the icing was set I split them in half and 

 filled them with whipped cream! (you can also fold summer berries into the whipped cream as an extra treat)

mmmmmmm!

They are lovely with a cup of tea, or as a sweet treat after your meal. 

Believe me I know!

Heavenly!

Hope you are all having a stress free pre Christmas week, if you aren't, 

I recommend you make and eat some of these!

Carole :)

a distinct lack of creative genius!

You may have noticed a distinct lack of creative goodness on this blog or recent weeks.

Today I decided I had better pull finger and start on my swap goodies for the famous 5 

I decided to start by dying some cotton reels, in a bid to make them look a little old :)

they sit in a bath of walnut ink for a few hours and start to suck it all up, goody!

They dry a little lighter, but they are starting to looked aged! Yay.

Mmmmmm, now I'll need some old lace. But it looks a little too white, 

so, into a lovely coffee bath :))

And then a bit of a rub on the concrete and left to dry in the sun.

Looks pretty old now! 

I'll keep you updated on progress...

Carole :)

How's your week going?

Well I'm popping in to see how your week is going?

Mine has been average, but I have felt a little more in control this week :))

If that is actually possible!

But I wanted to share these photos with you.

On the weekend when my family were visiting,

my mother and I went to a country fair held in the gardens of this glorious old home.

We got there early to ensure a car park,

and wandered round the gardens and through the old trees and looked at all the wares for sale.

There were jams and silk scarves, handmade books and babies clothes, cane baskets and womens clothes, alpaca blankets, bunches of flowers and hats. And a refreshment table that had the most divine looking bad things and the smell of coffee floated in the air.

Several of the rooms in the house had been done up with furnishings as the owner ran an interior design business. 

But the most exciting part of the day was listening to my father tell me stories about when he was a child and how he used to play there, and

that the house and the land it sat on belonged to his grandmother many years ago.

He told us tales of what it was like when his mother grew up there.

Where the fountain is now used to be a tennis court. 

What a marvellous morning we had!

What memories were stirred,

what imagination worked over time!

Here's looking forward to the weekend :)

Carole