Playhouse Renovation - fun water blasting

I'm going to try block the last few weeks from my memory. I was as sick as a dog (where does that saying come from?) and flat my my back. I got the actual flu and it was nasty. I'm still in recovery but feeling so so much better.

Here is one of the dinners we were delivered by a member of our church family (actually the pastors wife who was also nursing her own family back to health). YUM.

Hubby and Mister E donned their raincoats one afternoon and water blasted our playhouse. The amount of dirt that flowed out between the boards was pretty impressive. As is the sloshy moat of mud left around the foundations.

Now that the house is clean I can push my planning into buying. Fabric is on it's way for curtains and other furnishings and once the house is bone dry I'll be off to the paint store ! 

It feels like Spring has arrived in New Zealand, which makes everyone feel happier and excited.... now if only we could all shake our illnesses (and by all, I mean our community at large, as we all seem to be sick with something).

Brenda xx

Playhouse Renovation - moving into location

The day arrived for us to move the playhouse into it's permanent location so what does the weather do? It rains like never before, thunder and lightening rent the sky and our section turns into a bog... but despite the open heavens our friends still came out to help with the job. 

In order for the playhouse to be in the best spot, we had to move the entire sandpit... Like one of those tile puzzles we had to work out which order to move sand and where to put it so we could move the sandpit itself and all without our trailer which was carefully balancing our playhouse :-) 

The sand was moved into a wheel barrow, then onto this blue tarp then into the new sandpit location under the deck... the kids LOVED having the sand to spread over a huge area and push it around with their diggers. 

And I felt like I had been to the gym after shovelling sand all day :-) Bonus! 

The final location is pretty cool, it's under our deck which will give sun protection and hopefully it won't get so wet every time it rains. Check check :-) 

My hubby got busy building a foundation for the playhouse so we were all ready when our friends came over to help. He's such a handy man.

There was some pretty intense discussions on how to get the playhouse off the trailer. I was the photographer so I only got a small sense of how heavy the house actually was. It took 6 strong dudes though with some kids giving moral support. 

It all seemed to go pretty smooth from where I stood.

And look at the cutie cutie little house, doesn't it look adorable. I can't wait to get in there and start cleaning it out and decorating... my brain has been whirring with ideas for weeks. 

Thanks for stopping by. The playhouse renovation series will continue over spring/summer. 

Now where am I going to hang my washing? (we had to move the washing line out of the way)... 

Brenda :-) 

Little known facts about Alpaca Fibre

Today I thought I'd tell you a bit about Alpaca fibre... we've all heard of lambs wool and how warm it is and water resistent etc... but there is a better fibre out there, who knew! And this beautiful fibre comes from the intelligent Alpaca. (How cute is that little guy above!)

My friend Kathy runs an urban farm (with her husband and family) called Gumtree Gully and they have about 13-14 alpaca. I asked her to tell us a bit about the fibre and why it is so amazing.

Kathy: Alpaca fibre was often referred to as "the fibre of the gods" by the Incas and the best quality fibre was made into beautiful garments for their royalty. It is thought that the Incas developed their fleeces to a higher quality than even available today, and breeders are now endeavouring to return the fibre to that pinnacle of perfection. 

This unique fibre comes in 22 natural shades from white to fawns, browns, greys and black. It is amazingly hard wearing and is used extensively in sock manufacture. Being a dry fleece with no lanolin, it has hypoallergenic properties and the hollow fibres make it very lightweight and very warm, 60% warmer than lambs wool in fact. 

It is fire resistant and does not retain water, making it also ideal for baby clothing. If you have trouble wearing normal wool next to your skin, then there's a good chance you'll be able to wear alpaca as it has very few prickly guard hairs. 

Alpaca is unusually strong and resilliant, and can be reused due to its ability to return to its original structure. Professional climbers have reported they can wear their alpaca socks for days and even weeks on end (!) with no unpleasant 'pong'. This naturally breathable fibre repels bacteria and its resulting odours. So indeed the Incas had it right, this fibre is super soft and fit for royalty, a truly luxurious product that lasts!

60% warmer than lambs wool, that really stuck out to me.

Now if you're a knitter or crocheter you may want to know how easy it is to knit/crochet, so I had a go and was pleasantly surprised. I found it incredibly soft to knit with (especially the pale shades) almost silky, I loved it. And crocheting was much the same, very easy to slide through my fingers and make quickly into flowers or whatever takes your fancy.

To the right is a sample of the items I've made with Alpaca Yarn:

If you're keen to have a go with this gorgeous, naturally coloured yarn, Kathy sells her wool at markets or you can contact her via Facebook or her website.

Thanks for stopping by... the next interesting item I want to tell you about is bamboo clothing... I can't wait to share my findings with you.
Brenda

Playhouse renovation - the arrival

It's arrived. It's arrived!!!!!

The Zealous Family playhouse! We picked it up from another local family whose children have grown too big for it now. I did hear a rumour that the 16 year old couldn't watch her childhood playhouse being taken away - poor sweetie. 

My children are super excited to start playing in it, but first Daddy needs to find a safe place for it and Mummy.... well she has big 'renovation' plans for it. For the last week I've been adding lots of ideas to pinterest and so far I'm thinking it needs a plain paint job inside (the inside is wooden and tired) and some fun bright coloured furnishing!

At the moment the little house is resting on the trailer, taunting the kids.

I'll be posting the renovation pictures as I complete the playhouse this summer! Feel free to show me your playhouse makeover or give me your awesome ideas :-) 

Until then

Brenda :-) 

Supporting New Zealand Made

If I went around my house and checked where everything was made, I reckon it would be close to 50% made overseas. I'm not proud of that fact but also it's not entirely my fault. It is soooo hard to find things that aren't made overseas (particularly China) and even harder to find Made in NZ products.

I had one of those 'aha' moments a few months back after buying a pack of biscuits from the supermarket. I ate one and thought 'yuck, that must have been a bad batch'. To my dismay, when I read the label, I found they were made in China. Really!!!!! We have food from China. I threw those biscuits out. I can't always control where everything in my house comes from but I refuse to eat food that is 'made in china'.

[Paua Pukeko made by Paua Art in NZ - be in to win this wall art here]

I feel so sad that we are losing so much of the control of products in this country because it's 'cheaper' to send it overseas (well I'm assuming that is the reason). Every week I hear of a new business moving to China/Indonesia. More Kiwis losing their jobs. More products being made with less love, care and integrity. Are some of us so intent on making our million that we put our integrity aside?

[Ruby Sue dress, Made in NZ, for sale here]

Because my 'thing' is sewing. I sew as much of my children's clothes as possible. It's not always cheaper (not often) but they wear unique designs and concoctions that their crazy mum puts together, and they even get input into what I make.

I sell my NZ made clothing at markets and sometimes I overhear people saying how expensive my things are. That makes me really sad as I don't even get close to minimum wage for the time my clothes take to make. But I'm proud to make NZ made products. I'm proud to offer something that you can't find elsewhere and when you buy a Zealous Design you know it's not off a production line, and it has been handcrafted with time and love by me.

Since my biscuit experience, I'm a big label checker. But the best thing that has come out of that experience is my love of New Zealand made. So I go out of my way to buy from small businesses that craft their goods here in our lovely green country. Sure most things are more expensive than the warehouse but when you buy NZ made, you are often buying off a stay at home mum or someone who has put their heart into a product or service. I try to profile small Kiwi business on my FB page from time to time as well to help out other at home mum's trying to keep their family afloat.

If you work from home, handcraft a product or service, let me know!
Sew glad you stopped by

Brenda

Enter my giveaway here (finishes 18 August 2013)

Home Body and Beauty Market

I've been selling at Markets and Fairs for just over a year now and have learnt so much in that short time. I've also had so much fun meeting customers and other extremely talented crafts people. 

With so many of the products around these days 'made in China' and sold by big multi million dollar companies. I am really trying to make an effort myself to buy from local crafts people or make my own things. When you buy local, you are not only helping support families but putting money back into your local community rather than lining the pockets of rich business men. 

I've also recently got involved in helping organise a market in my local area with two extremely hardworking and talented girls. Both run their own small businesses from home like me, who also needed some outlet for their talents and products. (Check out Kathy and Robayne and their awesome products).

I had no idea how much hard work went into organising a market until four months ago, but even though it's a lot of work, it's worth it to bring so much talent and New Zealand made products together in my local country town.

One thing we've found quite difficult is working out how to reach people to advertise this market. Do people read newspapers anymore? Does everyone have Facebook yet? Do signs on the side of the road work anymore? Let me know what your thoughts are... how would we reach you to advertise a market?? How would we reach your mum or grandma?

Thanks for stopping by :-)
Brenda