exciting news

...my tomatoes have started to ripen!!!! woohoo!!

i know that when you saw the title of this post tomato news is probably not what you were thinking you would find here. but these little guys have been sitting on my tomato plant for MONTHS! i was about a week away from ripping it out and giving up. i had spent some serious time on google searching for 'how long does it take tomatoes to ripen' which did not ease my troubles at all (the standard answer was a few weeks). however, they are finally ripening and they are delicious. yum yum yum!

four happy things on (a day that is close to) friday... an op shop edition

just a few treasures that i have picked up at the op shops this week!
have a lovely weekend xx

an engagement present for my one true love...

i am blessed with wonderful friends. the kind that you want to go 'through life' with. the kind that don't care if you are a little neurotic or your house is messy and the kind that you can imagine going on family holidays with when you decide that you are ready for kids (at the same time of course).

...and on the weekend two of them had an engagement party. i wanted to get them something lovely. something that they could use to go on dates and enjoy the sunshine in their life and their weekends.

after weeks of thinking about this and months of collecting here are some of the goodies that i included in their 'vintage love picnic basket'. a floral tablecloth, napkins, handmade drawstring bag to store all that mismatched cutlery (let me tell you - it is hard to find nice forks!) and a fabulous little vintage thermos flask.

my husband would remind me often throughout this collection process that 'boys don't like stuff like this' - in my defense, i kept the colour scheme fairly manly... not a pink floral in sight :)!!

scenes from the weekend... plus a vintage sheet update

 

a lovely engagement party for one of my favourite people. and early birthday saltwater sandals. heck yes.

**vintage sheet FQs have been sorted and packaged up ready to go flying back to you tomorrow. am just finalising a few things before they go to the post office. please email me with any feedback you may have... i have tried to only send you the best sheets but i can't look through each individual FQ for rips or stains. that is where i am counting on your good swapping ethics - that you would only send sheets to swap that you would be happy receiving!

please shoot me an email or a blog comment if you post about your new FQs over at your space of the world wide web so i can come and visit!

thanks again :) have a most fabulous day!
and pop over here to wish the lovely Bec a happy birthday!!
(p.s - wait til i show you photos of my new naughty shorts dress!!!)

four happy things on friday

finally getting my hands on the latest peppermint, the beginnings of a pair of socks, some baby burp cloths and flowers from my year 9's

Feel free to join in! Just leave a comment and I will pop over to see your happy things this friday...

check out past issues of 'four happy things on friday' over here

some thoughts on taking my life back...

if you know me in real life or read this blog regularly you will know that the word i would use to describe my life is 'busy'. not 'lovely', 'fulfilling' or 'fun' but 'busy'. don't get me wrong, my life is lovely, fulfilling AND fun but more than all of those things it is busy. now i understand that some people thrive on being busy and i guess i am one of those people too, but only to a certain point. i cannot sustain busy for long periods of time without feeling like i am failing... at my relationships, and providing for my family (chris and i count as a family right?) and at living the life that i want to live. i tell myself that i will get it together... one day. it is getting to the point where there is always an excuse and 'one day' is looking further and further away.

so... im taking some steps to slow down and simplify and turn this 'busy' life into a 'lovely' one.

i want to find joy in little things.
i want to make, bake and create.
i want to be present rather than be everywhere.
i want to share rather than spend.
i want to walk on the beach and in the mountains and around our block.
i want to be home in the daylight.

sounds lovely right? but i have said this before. i need to do more. be more practical. take action rather than sending out happy thoughts. with this in mind... i do not have a teaching job lined up for term 4. this is something that i have been thinking and praying about for a long time. i really believe it is a blessing in the disguise of a substantial pay cut. i will still be working. but it will be part-time. and it will not involve 14 hour days. and i will be present and i will be home.

please remind me of this when i blog about the new dress i want. or the shoes. or the holiday. remind me that family is more important. health is more important. 'lovely' is more important.

p.s - it is really through the wonderful blogging community that i have found the inspiration to stop and be still and uncovered the lost skills on how to live a life of 'lovely' rather than 'busy' and that 'busy' can still come in the form of baking and sewing and growing and that kind of 'busy' is one that i can't wait to be a part of!

**photo from here

DIY business cards

in the spirit of procrastination i spent a night last week making up some business cards for my little, yet to be established etsy store instead of cleaning and marking year 9 essays. i was pretty happy with how they turned out! who knew that some manilla tags and vintage fabric scraps could be something so pretty!

I am currently looking at the possibility of a few local crafty type stores stocking some of my softies but if that doesn't work out an etsy shop is on my list of things to do! and the room full of vintage clothes is begging to be sold on ebay! now i just need to find a way to fit more hours in my day... maybe less watching 'friends' and more getting organised!