Youngs Paraffin Light & Mineral Oil Co.Ltd

Had this lamp for a very long time and thought I would see if I could find any others like it and have searched the net to no avail. It's as the title says a Youngs Paraffin Light which is still being used as a light but not a drop of paraffin in sight, just a candle. I am trying to find out who made these lamps and when. I am going to post this in the hope that someone will be able to give me a little more info. Last picture is the man himself James Young another canny Scot.

Come What May

Have to say not the best May weather wise I have experienced here in the South of France, in fact it has to be the wettest, coldest in the 15 years that I have lived here, the fire is still on and I am sitting here with  a big polo necked jumper and thick socks. My mind is telling me it should be t-shirt weather, sitting on the patio putting the world to rights over a few glasses, perhaps a BBQ  and watching the sunset. Still the birds are singing their little heads of and the garden is blooming and everything is very green and lush, and I really should not complain. 

I  managed to get a little gardening in and discovered one of my white roses has a tinge of pink which is really quite interesting.

Picked our first crop of green beans

Made these little kimono slippers for my girlfriends baby due soon

Now these are quite something else they remind me of chicks hatching and although I have no recollection of planting these have found their common name is Sicilian Honey Lily and if you are feeling brave try saying this  Nectarscordium Siculum.  The bees adore these and I love the way they hang upside down.

I.

What else, oh yes I got these fabulous vintage scissors at a car boot sale a couple of weeks ago and they are still remarkable sharp which surprised me.

This allium called Mount Everest given to me by my daughter, and  I have to say I was very sceptical at first but the plant opened and is quite beautiful, next year I hope to have a few more.

I had a custom order last week for a Ring Warming Ceremony pouch, and as I had never heard of this ceremony let alone made a pouch for one.  I googled it to find out a bit more about it, and for the ceremony the rings are placed in the pouch  and are passed around  the wedding guests and they then say a prayer/blessing and then it winds its way to the groom, kind of sweet, this is what I came up with and hope she likes it.

So May although wet, cold, dull and grey wasn't so bad after all, but please summer come soon.

Have a great weekend xx

The Big Seven May Giveaway

Firstly I want to say a huge thank you to all the sponsers for this months fabulous giveaway which is worth  a whopping $170 and there are 7 fabulous prizes to be won. So lets see what lovlies we have for you.

 First we have a pair of  gorgeous sterling silver weather studs (you can choose any two from the set above) from BehindTheShowcase value £27 ($42)

 Next we have all about the stripes a  fun and very funky  upcycled jumper from Designs-by-Dana value $65 (£42)

Four beautiful handmade cards with adorable origami dresses sponsered by cranberrydreams value $16 (£10)

Perfect size to carry in your bag a 10g tube of  Papaya Lip ointment  from PUREpapaya value £7.50 ($12)

A beautiful cream hand embroidered table cloth in pale pastels measuring 32" x 32" (81cm x 81cm) sponsered byVintage Bits & Bobs value £12 ($19)

A spring time collection of 50 gorgeous flowers sponsered by PetalLu value £6 ($10)

A fabulous miniature book box filled with a great bundle of goodies for mixed media, assemble artwork or altered art projects sponsered by The-Vintage-Arcade value $25 (£16)

Well then best leave you to it, please if you can share on your facebook page, tweet and  tell your friends show the sponsers lots of love:), and remember the more times you enter the better chance you will have of winning:) Oh just before you go! could you G+ for me pretty please xx Run using rafflecopter and the 7 winners will be chosen by random.com.   a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations to all the winners, and I have sent mails to you and await your replies:)
1st Margaret Bolger 
2nd Maxine Tromeur
3rd Polina Mousito
4th Aik Yin Chien
5th Sydney Lancier Burke
6th Zoe Hunter Lee
7th Dana Baldwin

Audrey Hepburn May 4th 1929 - Jan 20th 1993 xx

“When you have nobody you can make a cup of tea for, when nobody needs you, that's when I think life is over.” Audrey Hepburn

 I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it's the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It's probably the most important thing in a person.”  Audrey Hepburn

 There is more to sex appeal than just measurements. I don't need a bedroom to prove my womanliness. I can convey just as much sex appeal, picking apples off a tree or standing in the rain. Audrey Hepburn

 "I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles."  Audrey Hepburn

 If I get married, I want to be very married.” Audrey Hepburn

“The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman is seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. True beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It's the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows & the beauty of a woman only grows with passing years.”  Audrey Hepburn

Parsley Flush

Well now this was a most unusual start to my day as I have just seen a post on facebook called "Clean your Kidneys" along with the  recipe....

Years pass by and our kidneys are filtering the blood by removing salt, poison and any unwanted entering our body. With time, the salt accumulates and this needs to undergo cleaning treatments and how are we going to overcome this?

It is very easy, first take a bunch of parsley or Cilantro ( Coriander Leaves ) and wash it clean
Then cut it in small pieces and put it in a pot and pour clean water and boil it for ten minutes and let it cool down and then filter it and pour in a clean bottle and keep it inside refrigerator to cool.

Drink one glass daily and you will notice all salt and other accumulated poison coming out of your kidney by urination also you will be able to notice the difference which you never felt before.
.....................................................................................................
So,I went out and cut some parsley and followed the instructions to the letter...

This is waht it looked like after 10 minutes and filtered, yes I can see you all drooling. I decided to blend it and got this for my efforts...

It is now in the fridge cooling and when I feel brave enough I will taste it and let you know. My kidneys are so excited  I can't begin to tell you. I might even try the corriander one of these days :)

Here is the original picture

Well I have just tasted it and have to say that I found it revolting ,and will not be trying the corriander!!  urgh

Before you throw the Duvet Out

 I was given a  pink floral and lacy duvet cover, and as pink is not my favourite colour (not that I was ungrateful for the donation I might add)  it was dutifully washed, cut  into usable pieces and  put away till I got my head round as to what to do with it.  As it turned out that did  not take very long,  the first thing I made was some bunting for Poppy (my grand daughter's) new bedroom, seeing as she  loves pink, so 15 flags in all and I even used the lace that came with the original duvet cover, well would be rude not to really.

Then the The Great British Sewing Bee popped onto our screens and Poppy saw the smocked dress and said she loved it and could she have one!  I rummaged through my materials and finally came up with  some blue & lilac floral and a good match in a plain lilac. Poppy of course wanted a pink one, that at least should have been a good cue for me to remember the duvet! well it didn't, and now I am actually glad   my memory chose not to remind me, as this combination worked well together, and have to say Pops loves it and she does look cute in it.   I have no idea how long it is since I last  smocked and I had forgotten how much fun it is (once you get the tension right that is). Should I be worried that I keep forgetting things? 

Now back to the duvet cover, so far, bunting, 1 smocked dress, a little lavender sachet, and  I still have a  goodly amount left left. mmh... what else can I make? I do have a pouch bad ready cut out to stitch. So just before you decide to get rid  have a quick think again, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Have you  made anything with your duvet? please share would love to see your creations.

Celebration Giveaway Personalised Lavender Sachet

Well I posted this giveaway on Facebook yesterday after reaching  2,000 fans (so I got carried away and without thinking it through properly, plopped it on my wall!!!)  and well, long story short fell foul of their rules,  which I seem to find increasingly hard to follow these days, and it was subsequently removed.  So here it is again all above board. A personalised sachet like the one pictured above (which was won on my last giveaway by the lovely Debbie:) an Art Deco Font on vintage linen, filled with my organic lavender harvested by my own fair hands here in the South West of France, and a very cute silver heart stamped "made with love" and tied with matching thread.
So, all you have to do to enter (note no rafflecopter today)  is give me up to three initials and your preferred colour for the embroidery you would like to have for the initials. Fortunately I had taken a note of who had already entered whew!!!!

You dont have to follow my blog, or like my face book page to enter but if you feel like sharing then good on you and I thank you. I will choose at random next Sunday 7th April and will let you know who the winner is.
Competition open worldwide

 Good luck xx

Names I noted were as follows

Sonia...  SB in Red
Despina... VNT  in lavender
Lucinda.... VON Burnt Orange
Lizzie B ..... LBV Maroon

Krishenka on Facebook

Simply put ....Mike's Amazing Cakes ...

Hard to believe that these are cakes, and I just bet they taste as good as they look. These creations have to be some of the most original and diverse cakes I have ever seen. The mad Hatters Tea Party was the first cake I saw and I had an idea that I would find many more wonderful cakes to  feast my eyes on, I was not dissapointed, they are pure eye candy. These gorgeous cakes are made by Mike who works from his bakery in Redmond, Washington and specialises in unique and I am sure  totally delicious and unbelievable cakes. I have chosen a few but if you want to see more pop over here and have a calorie free feast :). 

Mikes Amazing Cakes

Mike on Face Book