Blogging break

 I'm taking a blogging break as I'm off on a coach holiday for the next couple of weeks.  I write the blog on my lap top, but don't want to have to carry it around with me.  But I will be able to keep up with my blog reading on my small tablet. which will be packed away in my suit case.

And talking about packing - this was never an issue when we traveled by  by caravan, there was room for everything, and more.  I always used to pack a pile of books, my knitting bag and stitchery bag.  Several wooly jumpers, just in case, and more clothes than I ever needed.  This time I have to be much more organised, and take only what I can fit into my suitcase.  

What I am taking as an extra, it a set of blocks to make another traveling memory tablecloth, made with New Zealand designed fabrics, plus the marking pen.  Some batiks and some prints, with a centre white square to mark the places I'll be staying at, and the attractions visited.

Packed and ready 

I'm traveling right up to the very top of the North Island, Cape Reinga, haven't been up that way for about 30 years or so!  Cape Reinga is a very spiritual place, as the Maori people believe that the cape is the point where the spirits of the dead enter the underworld.

Gemma is in the cattery having her own holiday, and I'm on my way, bag packed and ready to go.  This coach trips seems quite fortuitous as Robin and I had planned to go on a caravan trip up to Cape Reinga next summer.  That can't happen now of course, since he has passed away, but he will certainly be with me in spirit as I travel around.  I'll certainly be blogging all about it on my return.

Sew Wot Tuesday

 Heather was the hostess today, and all the Sew Wots were there.  Jude had a special welcome as she had not been well lately.  We were so pleased that she arrived today as there was a pile of belated birthday gifts for her to open.  

Happy Birthday Jude

We all get just as much fun as the birthday girl as we watched her open the parcels.  Mmm, lovely lavender soaps, fabrics, a set of coffee mugs, chocolate, and a gorgeous fabric covered journal too.  Plus some pretty hand made cards.  Didn't she do well!

Of course there was show and tell, but only two of us had anything to show this time.  Carol had made another selection of teddies, and Heather showed a pair of cozy dark pink socks.

Toys from Carol, socks from Heather

In fact Heather's show and tell just kept coming, she obviously had been very productive lately.  She showed us a cape she had just finished sewing, patchwork on the front and lined with pretty pale teal fleece.  These would be good for people in a wheelchair, she declared.

Heather's cape

Thinking ahead, Heather had made motor bike pillowcases for her great grandsons for when they are in their big boy beds, not for a while yet, but they can be tucked away until that happens.

Motorbike pillowcases

And lastly, Heather had finished a lovely little girl's cardy using some wool she received for her birthday.  There was not quite enough to finish the job, so she added a white collar.  This is such a pretty design.

Knitted by Heather

Then it was morning tea time and we sat around the large table.  Jude, as the birthday girl, was handed a tiara to wear, and there was a sponge cake with candle in honour of her special day.  Morning tea was very tasty, as usual, and we sat, drank our cuppas, nibbled away, and chatted even more.

Jude and Heather

Morning tea is served

We had all taken our knitting to work on during the morning, socks, baby singlets, even a man's jumper.  Clickity clack went the needles as we put the world to rights.  Thanks so much to Heather for giving us such a lovely morning, and we will do it all again in two weeks time.

One bag missing and two found

 The RSC colour for this month is black or brown.  Great, I'll get on with stitching the last of my selvedge strips and make a final two handed oven mitt for the year.  You may remember that I have been on a quest to use up my remaining selvedges.   But where was the bag with the selvedges and the hessian for the backing?  It should have been hanging up on the coat rack with various other bags of stuff, but no, it wasn't anywhere to be found.  Perhaps it was in the crates in the wardrobe, where I had repacked stalled projects after my wardrobe malfunction a couple of months ago.   Pulling them both out, I diligently checked through, and no, not there.  Surely I wouldn't have discarded this bag?  

So the crates went back into the wardrobe and I checked every bag hanging on the coat rack.  Several  were empty and used for shopping or to take projects away on Sew Wot days or quilt club nights.  But there were a couple of forgotten surprises found.  One bag contained an assortment of 5inch squares which I had received from my neighbor Dorothy's stash, all packed up by her in little bags.  They will be handy for future RSC projects.

Lots of squares rediscovered

The other found bag was even more exciting.  There was a cot sized quilt top in blue and yellow, which I added to the pile of tops in the sewing room to be layered and quilted sometime.  Then there were two lots of nine patch blocks all stitched up and with their respective fabrics to complete the projects, another blue and yellow project, and another in pink and blue.  Yes, it's all coming back to me now, I remember stitching these quite some time ago.    These two nine patch projects were added to the crates in the wardrobe to be completed in due cause.

One quilt top, two tops in the making

So.... I didn't find my bag of remaining selvedges and I've checked all sorts of places where it could have ended up.  But I did find these other unexpected projects which I had long forgotten.  As I used to tell Robin, I'll never run out of things to do!

This week has been rather social, going out and about.  First was a trip down to Tatum Park with my friend Dot, where we enjoyed a Devonshire Tea.  The main reason for going to this establishment was to confirm the booking and details of my upcoming BIG birthday family lunch later in the month.  The day was cold and miserable outside, but we were  toasty warm inside.

Dot and Jenny enjoying Devonshire Tea, actually coffee,  on a chilly morning

And then the following day I had lunch with two friends at Otaki, sadly our fourth friend was unwell and could not attend.  This cafe is so busy, and we were amazed by the queues of customers which kept streaming in.  Just as well we had booked a table, I thought.  There was plenty to chat about with these ladies, we go back a long time and there are many memories of earlier years.

Trish, Robyn and Jenny

So it's been a busy old week, but still no sign of the missing bag with the last of my selvedges.  I'm hoping  it will turn up sooner or later.

A Morning at the Movies

Three friends and I attended the Thursday  morning screening of the film "Downton Abbey the Grand Finale".  When we arrived we were told that the credit card system wasn't working, so sales were cash only.  Luckily we all had some cash in our purses, so movie tickets were purchased, and a coffee too, as we were there in plenty of time.  I was so looking forward to the film, as I had watched all the TV series, and knew all the characters.  The scandal of divorce raised it's ugly head, as no divorced woman (at the time) could take part in polite society and were ostracized.   There was no mention however that divorced men were so treated and shunned.  I loved the film, the story line, and the gorgeous costumes - if you are a Downton Abbey fan, you will love it too.

On Saturday morning the local Community Patrol team was hosting their Safer Plates campaign and I drove down to check it out.  They advise that the first thing a criminal does when they attempt to steal your car is to cut the screws off your number plates to change them and make it easier to commit offences.  For a $5 donation to Community Patrol, the team will replace the plate screws with stainless steel star shaped heads which are much more difficult to remove.  That sounded a good idea to me, so I went and happily paid my $5.00 for the service.

There was a wee bit of a wait as many other car owners had the same idea, and then my car was attended to.  It hardly took any time at all.  

Started in 2002, the Community Patrol is active at night and covers about 100km a night in our area in their distinctive vehicles, working as a set of extra eyes and ears for the Police and report suspicious or criminal activity.  The volunteers  do a great job in helping to keep our community safer. 

Hello Spring

 Spring has arrived and it was time to change the small wall hanging just inside  the front door.  Down came Welcome to Winter and up went Hello Spring.  I hand stitched the pretty floral design and finished it up with machine quilting in 2022.

Spring has arrived

Our Spring weather is often temperamental and we have had heavy wind and rain.  The wind blew, blew, blew, creating  a carpet of yellow kowhai blossoms scattered across the lawn in the back yard.  Our native tuis love the kowhai nectar and have been feeding off the tree, in between busily chasing any rival birds away from the bounty.  This tree came with us as a little seedling when we moved here from Upper Hutt back in 2013 and has grown and matured into such a lovely tree.

Kowhai blossoms

So what have I been up to lately?  I have a knitting finish, and no, not socks this time.  Made with Op Shop (thrift store) yarn too pretty to leave behind, I'm pleased with how it turned out.  This will probably be donated, but I'll keep it for a while, just in case.  Not that I've heard of any new arrivals, but you never know.

Little jumper finally finished

And it's been binding time over the last few evenings too, I'm diligently stitching down the binding on the butterfly quilt.  This is one of three I want to make for a special family, more about that later.

Binding the butterfly quilt

Our clocks changed for daylight saving in the middle of the night, Spring forward.  Luckily, by the magic of the internet the phone, tablet and laptop changed all by themselves.  It used to be Robin's job to change the other clocks, so that's something else I have inherited.  The kitchen clock has been lifted down off the wall and changed, and I worked out how to alter the clock on the stove.  My new little bedside clock is a challenge as the only little thing to turn on the back altered the alarm time.  Then I remembered that last time I just took the battery out, waited till the correct time arrived, and replaced the battery!  There must be a simpler way, but I haven't discovered it.  The clock on my car can stay exactly as it is, that is beyond me, and I reasoned that if I'm getting into my car to go out, then I will know what the correct time is.  And of course my watch it easy to alter.  

Catching up with Family

 My children don't live on my doorstep, so it is always so nice to see them when I can.  Son Michael lives in Christchurch, in the South Island, and was up in Wellington recently to stay with his Dad.  We arranged to meet for lunch, I drove down to Otaki, and he drove up from Wellington.  Just as well I got there early, as there was no parking close by, it was a matter of driving around till I found a park in an adjacent street and walk back.  

While I was waiting, several groups of older cyclists arrived.  This cafe is obviously on their route for lunch when they are on their bike rides.  Good crowds in a cafe always means that the place is popular and the food is sure to be good, I feel.  Michael duly arrived, after finding a handy car park non existent too and walked back around a corner or two to reach the cafe.  We ordered lunch and settled down to catch up with the news.

Michael

I had taken along some computer stuff which Robin had tucked away and I didn't know what it was or what to do with it.  Michael took a couple of packets of discs off my hands, so that was good.  There is a lot of stuff at home I'm still trying to sort out, so this going to a good home is a bonus.  As far as computers go, I know what I know, and that's not very much!

I didn't even know what these were

My daughter Nicky came down to see me on Sunday, and we had lunch here at home.  I made some parsnip and bacon soup, it is always very tasty.  Then we sat and chatted.  I showed Nicky a project which had been stalled for a while.  It features three snow people and I mentioned how I hate making and stuffing toys.  Her response was, why did you buy it in the first place if you hate making toys?  The answer was that I bought it very cheap in a sale, and I enjoyed making their easy felt outfits.  But when it came to the bodies I put it away.  Luckily I had stitched up the bodies and arms, and had the stuffing handy so she sat and stuffed them for me.  

Snow people bodies and arms, don't they look weird!

Gemma checked them out too, and was soon rolling around and giving one of those legs a good beating with her back feet, she must have thought it was a type of mouse.

What's all this, she is thinking

I'd better get the heads stitched up, and then maybe Nicky can stuff them for me as well next time she comes visiting.  And I've got no idea how to attach the arms.  Maybe I will need to read the instructions.  Did I mention how I hate making toys?

So it was nice that I spent one on one time with both of my children lately.  It is the school holidays here in New Zealand, and I remembered our outings from Hutt Valley to Wellington on the train each holiday, to see whatever film we had picked out.  And having lunch as well in the Pancake Parlour (now long gone) was another school holiday tradition.  Those were the days.

Sew Wot Tuesday

 It was a rainy old Tuesday when we all gathered in Carol's home this week.  It's Spring here in New Zealand and the weather is always temperamental during this season. It was nice to catch up with everyone again, with only one absence this time.   I had taken some old quilt magazines around to share, and some of them found new homes.  The rest will be donated to the Op shop.

Of course there was show and tell, with several pair of nice warm socks making an appearance.  Helen had knitted these two pair and during the morning she completed sewing up the side seam on yet another pair.

Helen's socks

Mary had been knitting socks as well, and had completed two pair of blue toned socks.  Plus a little flower we had been shown how to stitch at our last quilt club meeting.

Mary's socks

Sandra made a very pretty pansy quilt from the fabrics she had collected over the years.  This is for a special friend, isn't it lovely.  This design is called "Plaidish" and there are lots of pretty pansy fabrics in here.

Sandra's pansy quilt

Our hostess Carol had been rather busy, with several quilts to show us.  The first one was made with fabrics purchased in Vancouver on her 70th birthday, showcasing lovely tall flowers.

Carol's quilt made from fabrics purchased in Vancouver

Then, in the never ending quest to use up fabrics in the stash, she whipped up these two delights, in pinks and Autumn tones.  But we all know we will never use up all those fabrics stashed away, don't we?

Two more quilts from Carol

After all that excitement it was time for morning tea.  The "Eat a Lots" eat again!

Morning Tea is served

Many thanks to Carol for hosting Sew Wots this week.