Crawford Road Autumn Seed Haul
Hello friends,
Last spring I grew from seed a large number of flowering plants, in order to fill my garden with colour throughout the growing season. Some of the plant species I grew and harvested are used as dried flowers, and include plants like Calendula, Love in the Mist, Statice, and Strawflowers.
I enjoyed going out into the garden to harvest these flowers, and spent some time drying them using both the hanging, and flat lay techniques.
I'm not quite sure what to do with all these dried flowers as yet, but for now they're safely stored away in cardboard boxes waiting for the coming colder months, when I will have time to craft with them.
After enjoying growing and harvesting these flowers, I wanted to prepare for next spring by buying some more dried flower seeds from Crawford Road, a New Zealand boutique seed company.
I purchased some new to me plant species, including Ammobium Winged Everlasting, Gomphrena QIS Pink, Gomphrena Raspberry Pink, Helipterum Pierrot White, Helipterum Red, and Persian Cress.
I also purchased Matricaria Magic Lime Green, Matricaria Vegmo Snowball, Verbena Bonariensis Vanity, and two zinnia seed varieties, Zinnia Jazzy Mix and Zinnia Persian Carpet. Zinnias are not only great as fresh cut flowers, but they also dry well, and they keep their colouring for months as long as they are stored properly.
And finally I bought some more Strawflower (Apricot Peach, Cranberry Rose, Creamy White, Purple Red, Silvery Rose) and Statice seed varieties (Forever Happy, Pale Blue, Pink Pokers, QIS Lavender, and QIS Rose).
All my new seeds are now entered into my seed database, and stored in my seed storage boxes.
My plan was to sow some of them this autumn, but life has been busy, so they will now have wait until spring. I'm looking forward to seeing all these new flower varieties next growing season.
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
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Dimensions Gold Aurora Cabin Cross Stitch Kit Finish
Hello friends,
Recently I finished cross stitching the Dimensions Aurora Cabin Cross Stitch kit. I bought this kit back in autumn of 2022, and have slowly been working on it every winter since then as a seasonal project.
Last year due to me having two cataract surgeries over winter, I was unable to work on it, so in spring last year I decided to finish cross stitching the project out of season.
Unfortunately due to it having a lot of back stitching, which I hate doing, it went on the back burner once I had finished cross stitching the project. But hubby came to my rescue and back stitched the project for me this past summer.
All that was left to do was all the many french knots for the stars, and I hate stitching those too. After some pondering about how to overcome this problem, this autumn I went along to my local Spotlight store and bought some small shiny beads that could replace the french knots. It didn't take very long at all to sew on all the beads, and after a couple of days working on it, my Dimensions Gold Aurora Cabin Cross Stitch kit was finished.
It looks so good all finished, and I can't wait to get a chance to frame it and put it up in our stairway wall. There's nothing more satisfying than seeing the end result of all your hard work.
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
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Our Lilac Tree Died
Hello friends,
Our lilac tree stood in the right hand side of our backyard, a fully grown tree already when we moved into our home in 2019. Each year in spring it would bud out and produce leaves followed by stunning purple scented flowers, but unfortunately this past spring was its last.
In the third week of October in 2025, a large wind storm blew through the South Island of New Zealand, causing wind damage throughout Otago and Southland, and cutting off power to thousands. At the time I thought my only plant casualties were some limbs coming off my quince tree, and my Avalanche camellia bush being snapped off at its base, but unknown to us at the time, my lilac tree had been damaged as well.
A week after the storm I'd noticed that our lilac tree hadn't burst its buds, and when I touched the buds they crumbled, having been turned brown and crispy by the wind storm. The tree had gotten wind blasted to the point that it was in serious trouble. We left it for a while to see if it would bounce back, and eventually a couple of leaf buds on the south side of the tree burst open, showing that at that time the tree was still alive (well only barely).
We left it over the summer to see if it would grow more leaf buds, but it didn't, and then around early February 2026 the few remaining leaves on the plant turned brown and fell off. After carefully checking multiple branches at points around the tree, and the suckers which usually came up from the base of the tree each summer, they were all dead and brown. I also checked with a few knowledgeable plant friends, and they also agreed that our lilac tree had died.
I was really upset over this, but also practical, because sometimes these things just happen. Nature gives and it takes away. The next weekend hubby got out our saw and began cutting down the tree limbs. Our first priority was to remove dead branches that could possibly hit the glasshouse or the fence, and then after that we cut the tree down to the ground. Hubby mulched what tree material he could with our wood chipper, and mulched around that area of the garden to help with weed suppression.
We also dug up the old fern plant beside the tree, as in the past a wasp nest had been buried in there, so I wanted to remove the plant to ensure it wouldn't happen again.
The resulting sunlight in this area of the garden after the tree had been taken down, is just amazing. There is now a lot more sun in the garden bed from early morning until early evening. Dahlia plants that had grown under the tree grew vigorously, and have even flowered.
At the moment in mid-autumn there are dahlias and damask roses still growing in this area. As soon as the first big autumn frost comes, and knocks back the dahlias growing there (after I've finished seed saving from them), I think I will rearrange this whole area of the garden, in preparation for the next growing season. And I already have some ideas on what I could do...
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
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Gimli Fibre Spinning Project
Hello friends,
Over the summer I spun up some 100% Corriedale combed top in the colourway Gimli from Dye Happy Yarn. My friend Karyn picked it up for me at a fibre festival last year, and I chose this colourway to spin because it reminds me of autumnal shades, which I love.
Not wanting to think too hard about the process, I split the combed top in half, and spun up two singles on my spinning wheel using my default drafting method.
The 2 plied yarn ended up being approximately fingering weight width, and a total 215 metres long.
The washed and dried yarn is now in storage, along with many other handspun project yarns, ready for me to eventually decide what to do with them all.
I find spinning to be one of my favorite crafts, as I find the whole process very relaxing, but deciding what to do with the yarn afterward, and getting a chance to actually knit or weave with it, never usually happens. Maybe one day I may decide to sell some of my excess spinning projects to make space for more fiber projects in my life, but at the moment I'm just happy to squish the yarn whenever I walk past it.
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
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