A Gift to Inspire....

I received this beautiful
birthday gift,
a hand made fabric and lace book
from my very dear blog friend
Suzy
of
Suziqus Threadworks

The beautiful front cover
tells the story about
my love of vintage textiles,
lace, embroidery and flowers

Exquisite details on each page of my book
completely takes my breath away.

Most of you who read my blog
already know Suzy
but those of you who don't
will appreciate a visit to her blog.

Suzy is a textile artist
and a source of inspiration
to all of us who follow her
creative journey.

Thank you dear Suzy
you have given me a gift
I will treasure always.....
and it will be part of my collection
to be handed down to my
granddaughters
in years to come!

Today I'm joining
Mary for Mosaic Monday
Isabelle for Monday Link Party
Claudia for A Favorite Thing
Becky for Blissful Whites Wednesday
Judy for Creative Mondays
Bernideen for Open House Thursdays

À bientôt

be kind to one another

Shane ♥

(only 12 days until I fly to France again -
can you imagine how excited I am at 
the thought of being with my grandchildren again)!!!

An Autumn Walk

We are so lucky to have Cornwall Park

on our doorstep.

It is quite unusual - as this is a working farm 

as well as a recreational park

in the centre of a city of 1.5 million people.

125 hectares is fenced off  for the

Simmental cattle

 and Perendale sheep

City children can experience a taste of 

country living without leaving the city.

The park has a series of seasonal events

all through the year and everything is free.

There are sheep shearing displays

guided archaeologocal walks

art displays

school holiday activities

and much, much more.

Today I'm joining Mary for

Mosaic Monday

please do visit her blog to see some

great photo mosaics.

À bientôt

be kind to one another

Shane ♥

My talented Aunt

My 91 year old Aunt Josie

has always sewed beautiful things

for the benefit of the

Save the Children Fund.

"These are a few of my favorite Things"

She belonged to her local branch

which involved a group of like-minded

kind souls who made various

useful items which they sold at

their local Save the Children shop. 

Aunt Josie made many pretty

patchwork bags like these ones

which she still has at her home

hanging on door handles!

There are many wonderful people in

every country across the world

who use their talents and

give their time to help

raise funds for various

aid organisations.

Very few of them get the recognition

they deserve.

Yet little by little their efforts

help people in need all over our

World.

A beautiful bag made up of tiny hexagonal pieces

was made by my cousin Jane (Josie's daughter)

for her mother's 90th birthday.

I'm joining Claudia's

A Favorite Thing

and

Bernideen's
Open House

and

Mary's
Masterpiece Monday

please pop over and see what others

are posting today.

À bientôt

and be kind to one another

hugs

Shane ♥

Vee's Note Card Party

It's Vee's monthly Note Card Party

and today I decided on a french theme

for my cards 

On my visit to France last year

my family took me to

Fontainebleau Chateau.

We enjoyed Sunday lunch at a bistro

in Fontainebleau village

and then spent the afternoon

wandering through the palace

and the peaceful gardens.

I've visited several chateaux

so I now know what to expect

however, the sheer opulance

is always awe inspiring.

I hope you enjoy my selection of photos

for a set of four note cards.

.

Please pop into Vee's blog

to see everyone's cards -

there's always a varied selection

which makes things interesting!

Welcome to my new followers

and thank you all for leaving

your comments.

À bientôt

and be kind to one another

hugs

Shane ♥

Flowers - a photo Challenge

I'm running late for Donna's monthly

Personal Photo Challenge.

When I visited her blog I saw that the 

party linky had 53 minutes left

before closing.

I searched my photos and finally

made a decision on these three.

When I went back to link up the 

linky had closed.....

... so I left a comment on Donna's blog

telling her of my dilemma...

then I received an email from her

to say she had re-opened the linky

so I could now post -

how kind is that?

Thank you dear Donna!

I'm linking to this month's

flower

Personal Photo Challenge

Please pop in to see some great flower images.

I use a very basic 'point and shoot'

digital Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS3

with a Leica lens.

I take most photos on 'normal picture'

mode.

I took all of these photos about six weeks ago

in the

Nancy Steen Memorial Garden

within the Parnell Rose Gardens in

Auckland, New Zealand.

You can tell from the colour of the foliage

that these are Autumn blooms,

they also have that soft spent out colour

which I love.

Nancy Steen wrote a beautiful book

called

The Charm of Old Roses

which is a bible for lovers of the old heritage roses.

À bientôt

and be kind to one another

hugs

Shane ♥

For some wonderful tips and helpful suggestions

on photographing flowers

please visit Donna's blog

Cottage Days and Journeys .