The Joy of Friendship

 It is really nice to have friends..I am sure everyone would agree about that! On my recent birthday so many friends contacted me to catch up and to wish me all the best in the coming year as I inch closer to the big 70! Not for a couple of years yet though :-) Seventy used to seem to be so old but these days a seventy year old is quite young. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!!

One of my friends who I originally 'met' on the Down to Earth Forum was passing through town so we caught up and she gave me these gorgeous daisy coasters. She is extremely talented and does beautiful crochet, knitted and sewn work as well as other crafts too I am sure. If you would like to crochet up a few of these coasters you can find the free instructions on Whiskers and Wool.

As August is the month one of my old nursing friends tragically died from cancer, a couple of friends and I drive to Brisbane annually to celebrate her life with her daughter and granddaughter. It is always a lovely time reminiscing and seeing her girl and granddaughter progress through life without her. She would have been very proud of them both I am sure. We have a cuppa using some of her many cups that she used to collect and share a meal before heading back home.

Her daughter has an Instagram shop called 'Imeldita' and she has quite a collection of vintage sheets and lovely fabrics she uses to sew for her shop. She showed me how Instagram shops work and I think I picked up a little bit of info as she swiped across the screen quickly. I have no intention of opening a shop but I thought I would make my Instagram account public that I started a while back. I mentioned my big learning curve in the post From Telegrams to Instagram.  The followers and following issue is still a bit vague to me as I don't know which is which but I think I am getting the hang of taking photos and writing a short note on Instagram.  You can tell I am getting all techy.  Ha ha!

While we were visiting I spotted an old skirt made by her mum who was the queen of op-shopping way back in the early 1970s before it became a popular pastime. She would pick up the most beautiful fine china, doileys etc. and loved sewing her own unique clothes as does her daughter now.

 

The photos are a bit blurry but look at how she has added doileys to her skirt. She was one creative lady and such a character and I miss her so very much. 

We are 'enjoying' some really cold mornings and evenings as winter finishes for this year. The days are warm and sunny though so today I picked some calendulas to dry before putting them into olive oil to infuse out in the sun.

 I finally bought a pink lavender plant! We were walking out of Big W when I spied all the plants on display as everyone is gearing up for our Carnival of Flowers in a few weeks. It is called Pink Tuscany and I just love it so hope it grows well like its lavender cousins. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. It looks like the end of our cold weather is nigh although overall it hasn't been as cold a winter as it used to be years ago. As long as we have sunny days I can cope with the cold mornings :-)