y-a-w-n

Nothing to report. Quiet day yesterday, pretty much doing nothing, I needed things to be still for a few hours. I didn't get the drill out, I didn't do any vacuuming, I did put on a load of washing. Jethro slept for hours on end. I drank tea and stared at the wall, although by 9pm I had to stop myself from rearranging the big room, as you do when the piles of boxes and stuff starts to totter and overwhelm you.
I wish I had a whole other day to do nothing. I've snuck in an extra half hour in bed but now I feel the pressure of starting the week. Here we go again. Once I've sculled my tea and got dressed I'm off to Richmond to check a couple of things out and then up to the studio where a pile of zips and a mountain of tea towel cushions await me.

all my chickens have come to roost(er)

Actually all eight of them. I have nowhere to store them as they will have to be under lock and key thanks to a furry housemate who will want to 'love' them. I think I may have caught poultry fever but how could I turn down a whole chicken coop of crazy roosters?! We've got leghorns, a silkie, cochins, frizzles and a gamebird (sounds like a bunch of homie rappers). I think people who came into the shop as we unpacked them yesterday may have thought we were completely mad as we ohhhed and ahhhed over them. I'll need to make blocks for them to sit on and I don't think we have big enough domes for them to go under but, oh my, they are fabulous. So if you know any poultry fanciers out there then let them know we have some chooks available for adoption.
Rooster in a henhouse.
The rooster has landed.
If you want a long distance adoption we can send photos, you know the drill.

In other, less macabre perhaps, shop news we have new tea towel cushions in, the 'Australian Parrots' and 'Toowomba' ones are really corkers. There is also the three new tapestry pouffés and I've made up some Welsh blanket cushions in a fabulous blue/green/black/cream combo. We are starting to think all things Xmas and are slowly starting to pop things into the shop.We are also now stocking beautiful Japanese fabric covered cords, 1.8 metres in length, they would look fabulous tied around presents and they can be used for crafty type things as well. The weekend I decide it is all going out on display is going to be a killer, I don't know where it is all going to go.
We have three Cambridge Satchel Co bags left and are waiting for our next batch to arrive. The Douglas sandals are in. The lovely vintage-y flower pins are out. Lots to do though.
Better go vacuum the shop.

introducing mr finn, product tester for hire

This weeks big project was making 3 tapestry pouffés. A pretty exhausting effort really. I had to break the tapestries out of their frames, piece them together, back them, sew them together..... you know the deal. They are pretty stunning if I say so myself.
We decided to get in an external product tester- Mr Finn of Maxwell, Finn and Associates. On arrival Jethro quite happily handed over the job and gave Mr Finn a whiskery kiss which made Mr Finn giggle (cute rating 11). As you can see Mr Finn is giving the pouffés an A1 rating. Later Jethro decided he needed to give them a going over from the inside. The sleep test came through with flying colours.

I'll try to stop posting photos of Jethro for the next week, sorry to all those non-feline friendly people.
It's just he's so damn photogenic. As is Finn, if you need to find out his rates please go over to HML and talk to his agent Beck.

he's three today

Jethro is three years old today.
Looking over photos last night I marvelled at how he's changed and how he's stayed the same.
There are no presents but we had a cuddle and I thanked his little white socks for being such a handsome character of a kitty. According to the cat wall at the Show he is now 28 human years old, great that's all I need, a late 20 something male in my life.
Normally I would do a 'compare-the-pair' photos but I thought a selection of kitten shots was in order.
The one above was the first photo I took of him after I picked him up from the vet, he spent the day playing in the studio, and the one below was his first Xmas window display. Yes I admit I am a cat-tragic but look at that face, his fan club is legend around here, he even appears in the blog stat searches, 'jethro cottage industry'. I kid you not.
It's a joy having you around kitto.

pretty as a peacock

Yesterday was parcel day and the best package of all was the one from our friend Zara.
Zara is the collector of all the beautiful Mexican clothing we stock and the first batch of new Summer stuff arrived in that box of delight. A whole new stash of Frida dresses in cream and I have to say they are the best I think we have ever had. They are always great but sometimes there is the joy of pulling one out that is so freaking stunning you just want to scream in happiness. The yoke is adorned with two peacocks and a giant one surrounded by flowers in the middle of the dress! The old saying about vanity and peacocks is justified in this beauty of a dress.
Z also sent down a couple of black Fridas and a small batch of black Frida blouses (if you ran into me last week you may have caught me wearing one....). We also now have every size from 1 to 12 in the children's Fridas so you can dress the whole distaff side of your family in one.
I better get off, things to do at the studio, but I thought you might like to have your day brightened by a hand embroidered bird on a dress.

hung

The drill was out again this Sunday, three weekends running.
Perhaps it was the whole daylight savings change but I decided I really really needed to do a bit of cleaning. Of course the amount of cleaning here would take a whole week (if not longer) so I didn't get very far and of course it has caused mayhem, the cleaning ripple effect. Four loads of washing which will probably end up on the floor again but clean sheets and a confirmation that black floors just show the dust once it has settled again.
I may have ended up on the Ikea website at some stage trying to work out my storage issues. The problem is that if I pack things away they are so out of sight I never get them out again. Perhaps it's from living for the last 20 years in Victorian buildings with no cupboards or wardrobes, I have storage envy but don't know how to use it.
I did manage to finally hang the Marshmallow photos. They have been leaning against the table upstairs since the start of the year (!) and Jethro has managed to knock them over once in a crazed midnight run through the house. They weren't originally going on this wall but I think I like them here the best even if they clash a bit with the old photos of India. I've never been a matchy-matchy type anyway.
I better get my day in gear. I think there is more cleaning and sorting booked for the studio. Damn, I shouldn't have started that last week.

birds of a feather (and a sheep and a couple of cows)

Just a few gratuitous animal shots from the Show on Wednesday. I wish that you are allowed to go into the stables but they have banned people from mingling with the horses. Nothing like a calm plodding Clydesdale to make you feel tiny or a fully turned out dressage horse to make you feel inelegant and ungainly.

Nothing like having a friend to lean on.
(OK that was a bit corny.)

You can't beat a duck wearing a pillbox hat.

And a good classic chook.

Well it's the big ol' Grand Final Day here today, which can mean you could fire a cannon down the street and not hit a soul or perhaps a few football widows out shopping. I've waxed lyrical in the past about the kick-to-kick out in the road at half time, people spilling out from pubs to run around like a bunch of kids at playtime. Of course if you are in a shopping mood it is actually a great day to go for a stroll, if you plan you travel well there won't be any traffic hassles. there's rain splatting on the window so it looks like it will be an old-skool Grand Final, I used to marvel at the players rolling in the mud, it's not like that anymore sadly (and don't get me started on those stupid uniforms they wear these days....).
I've been working on the beautiful vintage-y flowers and have finally got some more ready to go into the Cottage.  I do love the magic of steaming a fake flower and watching it unfurl. There are also, due to popular demand, new big balls of hemp twine in and I made a big batch of 'hot water bottle' wheat bags (must tell you the story about cleaning up in the studio yesterday). Since we packed away the beanies and scarves two weeks ago we have sold quite a ridiculous number of them. The new shelves means we can access them at a drop of a hat (boom boom), so if your head is cold or you are heading to the northern winter then just ask and we will get them out for you to peruse.
Almost time for me to do the vacuuming and chase Jethro around the shop.

Oh! And we still have some satchels left but you better be quick!