A Special Day

It's a special day today, it would have been our 43rd wedding anniversary.  We reached 41 years together, and then, unbelievably, Robin passed away just 2 weeks later.  But we had so many wonderful years together, and I'm especially grateful we spent a two week holiday in Rotorua the previous year, celebrating our 40th anniversary there.  Rotorua was where we had our honeymoon, so it was wonderful to return and visit old haunts and discover new places.  Going to a hotel for High Tea was on my list of things to do.

40th Anniversary High Tea at Rotorua

Each November I like to put my quilt "Hearts of Love" on the bed.  I made this quilt to celebrate our 25th anniversary.  It is full of hearts and stars.

Hearts of Love

I guess this would be a good time to tell you about the wedding ring disaster.  I had been wearing Robin's wedding ring together with mine.  Some months ago I was washing dishes, pulled the plug, and turned the insinkerator (waste disposal) on to help get rid of the hot soapy water.  What a racket, crunch. crunch, I looked down at my hand and the rings weren't there, they obviously had slipped off my finger.  They were what was making a racket, not a missing teaspoon.  So then I had to carefully reach right down and pull the rings out.  They were mangled.  I was devastated, was this an omen, I wondered?

I was in tears after this happened

Dealing with the insurance company was surprisingly easy, and I took my rings to one of the local manufacturing jewelers in town, hoping to get my rings remade.  Couldn't be done, he said, and showed me trays of new ones.  I was quite emotional, but chose two rings to wear.  Although I am now widowed, I still felt I wanted to continue wearing a wedding ring to remember all those happy years we shared together.

So I took the two mangled rings to the other manufacturing jeweler, and asked if he could help me.  No problem at all.  I told him what I wanted, he did a sketch, and several weeks later I went to collect my pendant.  I wanted two gold hearts together, adding the small diamonds from the rings.  Our original wedding rings have been made into a symbol of love for me to wear close to my heart.  

Two hearts as one

Sew Wot Tuesday

 There was a last minute change the day before our Sew Wot Tuesday, and hostess Sandra was unwell.  No problem, Jude put her hand up to host, and several of us offered to "bring a plate" to help with morning tea.  I got up early to make some Cheese Puffs to take along, these are not the sort of item which can be made a day ahead.  It turned out to be quite a drizzly morning, but not at all cold, very mild in fact.

I had a bit of trouble opening the heavy wooden gate when I arrived, just couldn't get in.  Luckily Jude must have spotted me struggling through the window, and came to rescue me.  There were five of us gathered for the morning, and before I knew it, several birthday parcels were handed to me.  A pretty little gift bag from Helen contained a bottle of Nivea body lotion, and two jars of Barkers (world famous in New Zealand) chutneys.  Barkers products are manufactured in Geraldine, in the South Island, and they have a wonderful cafe and shop there.  Our tour group stopped for lunch at Barkers when I was on my South Island coach trip earlier in the year.

Thank you Helen

Then two big parcels needed opening.  I joked with Heather that her rather large wrapped parcel probably contained a rugby ball.  But no, it was a rolled length of batting, that's handy.  And I received a pretty lavender box from Carol, to put whatever I want in, would be handy for projects, I thought.  Plus some nice little "smellies" as well.  

From Heather and Carol, thanks so much

As usual, there was plenty of chatter going on, and some knitting too.  And before we knew it, it was morning tea time, orders were taken for tea and coffee, and the tea trolly was wheeled in.  There's no shortage of goodies  on the tea trolly, no chance of us going hungry, is there!

Morning Tea time

I was the only one who had show and tell.  I'm sure I had bought my little hats along to show before, but I wanted to show off my new pom poms, and the pom pom maker.  It was interesting to find out that none of the ladies had seen one of these pom pom makers before.

 Little hats with pom poms

I also had my lasted quilt to show, and the woolen needle/craft book which my daughter Nicky stitched me for my birthday.

My show and tell

Even more chatting, and we were reminded that the next Sew Wot morning in two weeks time will be our last for the year.  We will be meeting in one of the local cafe's for lunch, so that will be nice for a change.

Helen had brought along a pumpkin from her garden, all chopped into pieces for us to take home.  Thanks Helen, how kind.  I think I'll make some pumpkin soup with mine.

Who doesn't love pumpkin!

So we said our goodbyes and headed off home.  The drizzly rain had stopped, it was going to be a lovely fine afternoon.  Another lovely Sew Wot morning, thanks Jude.

The Pom Pom Maker and Me

Remember the days of making pom poms from two  circles of cardboard with a hole cut in the middle?   I never had much luck doing it this way, so some time ago I had purchased a set of small pom pom makers.  Mmm, not sure about this,  looked at the instructions and decided it seemed a bit too difficult for me.  I just couldn't make sense of the instructions.

Pom pom makers

So I took it down to the Monday craft group I occasionally attend.  One of the ladies there is a pom pom maker extraordinaire and makes many toys from them.  How do you wind the wool around, I wondered.  It was a mystery until Linda showed me how the little appliance opens up.  It is actually done in two halves, I didn't realise that.

I'm getting started

Then when both halves are done, the arms go back to the middle and you take your small scissors, carefully cut, and tie up tightly.  Then I had to be shown how to pull it all apart and release the pom pom.  I'm so pleased I asked for help, I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to work it out on my own.  Obviously I'm a visual learner!

So now I have two little pom poms atop two little baby beanies.  Don't they look cute.  I don't plan to start making pom pom toys, but just the occasional pom pom to go on top of little hats.  

A Finish

It seems to have taken a while, but I've got a finish at last.  I've been working away on quilting my RSC bordered/framed four patch, and this took me a while.  This is a single bed quilt, so a reasonable size.  After quilting along the sashings, I then quilted across each block.  There were lots of ends to tie off and bury!  

Getting there

Stitching on the binding and hand stitching it down came next.  I do enjoy this quiet task, sitting in my recliner chair with the quilt on my lap, stitching away.  I wouldn't be without my binding clips, after all those earlier years of using pins.

Binding time

Photo time was next, it was a bit breezy and I had to wait between gusts for the quilt to stop flapping around.

There, all done, another donation quilt completed

This quilt came about because I found a bag of 2.5in squares some time ago, and have made two lots of Framed Nine Patch blocks.  So there is another lot waiting my attention sometime.  And prior to that, I had made a block set of Hollow Nine Patches in RSC colours too, still to be assembled.  Those little squares go a long way, but I've finally used them all up!

Wet and Wild Day

"A Dark and Stormy Night".   That is often the opening line to some novels, and it certainly was true here last night.  The wind was blowing and seemed to be finding it's way into the garage, rattling the interior door.  Rattle, rattle, rattle as I lay in my bed, hoping it wasn't a burglar trying to creep inside.  The rain was falling, and the wind chimes, hung from the eaves just outside my bedroom window,  were ding donging in the wind.  I couldn't settle so got up at 4.00am, made myself a cup of tea, and took it back to bed.  Things didn't seem quite as bad with the bedside light on to keep me company.  And the morning was wet and gloomy.  Our Spring weather is often very temperamental.

A wet morning

I left home mid morning with a list of things to do.  First was a visit to the local Mitre 10 (hardware store).  There had been a lighting emergency in the sewing room.  I have a standing lamp beside my sewing machine with two bright spotlights, it is really good and give me the extra light I need when working on my projects.  One of the bulbs stopped working, so I carefully unscrewed it and went into the store.  Faced with shelves of bulbs I needed help, this was usually something that Robin took care of.  The kind assistant looked what I had brought in, went to the right place, and handed me a box.  That worked well, item number one ticked off the list.

It was still raining when I drove down to the Op Shop and handed over a bag of donations.  In the garage I usually keep a bag and place various items in as I'm tidying up.  Clothing, culling craft magazines, things from drawers and cupboards that I no longer want, that sort of thing.  The bag was full, so down to the Op Shop it went.  What next?  Put some more fuel in the car.  Once the gauge reaches 3/4 full, I top it up.  Don't worry about the price of fuel, I tell myself, I can't do anything about it.  

Here in New Zealand our General Election takes place on 7th November, but we can vote early if we prefer.  So that's what I did, parked outside the Council Office, walked inside, got my papers, made my choice, all done.  The political parties have been on TV for weeks, having debates, promising all sorts of things, and out and about door knocking.  We will just have to wait now till election day and see how it all pan out.  

Walk this way

I met up with a group of ladies for lunch, and the sunshine was coming out.  Then on the way home I stopped off at the Star 4 Hospital in the Medical Centre to see a friend.  Patients are transferred here from the General Hospital when they need a little extra non medical treatment, such as working on mobility, before being discharged.  After a fall, Ruth is coming along well.

Gemma was happy to see me when I finally returned home and was keen to get outside in the warm weather. She really is quite particular, doesn't like going outside if there is wind in her face, or wet puddles under her paws!  But the weather improved dramatically by the afternoon and she was happy outside enjoying the sunshine, and sniffing at whatever took her fancy

Gemma in the sunshine

Family Birthday Lunch and Gifts

 I met my daughter Nicky and son-in-law Robert for a birthday lunch.  We were meeting at a favourite cafe, Robert Harris at Foxton, about the halfway point from our homes.  On the way up I called in to Lewis Farms, it is asparagus season again, and the sorting belts were clattering away as the workers did their thing.  Some of this asparagus is exported overseas,  and some of course is for the local market.

Clatter, clatter, noisy while they are sorting and packing

The freshly picked asparagus is sold in kilo bunches, I always like to buy the thins.  Lewis Farms also grows strawberries in huge tunnel houses, so I bought a container of these as well to take home.

 

Asparagus for sale

We hadn't booked a table for our lunch, so I made sure I arrived early at the cafe, just in case.  There was no worry, there were plenty of tables available when I arrived, but this popular cafe does fill up very quickly.

At the cafe

Nicky and Robert arrived, bearing a gift box and some flowers from the garden, so nice.  We pondered what to eat for lunch, ordered coffees too, and settled back to enjoy our meal and each other's company.  Son-in-law Robert was off work with a pulled muscle, so it was so nice he could join us too.  There is always plenty of news to catch up with, chatting about this and that.  Ooops, nearly forgot the photo, Robert took one of us outside the cafe.  Nicky is not too keen, but kindly obliges her old Mum, the things you have to do to keep the family happy!

Nicky and me at the cafe

We said our goodbyes, they drove North, and I headed South.  Once back home, I admired my beautiful hand stitched gift again.  Nicky had made me a wool needle case/sewing kit with butterfly accents, full of pockets containing sewing goodies.  Such a lot of work.

Wonder what's in here?

Appliqued butterflies

Tiny scissors with a little fob so I don't lose them

Sewing goodies plus one of those tiny fold up thread catchers

And a beautiful bunch of hand picked flowers from her garden

I had a lovely day indeed.  My son Michael had phoned me from Christchurch, in the South Island,  to wish me Happy Birthday.  And it is always so nice to catch up with Nicky and Robert again.

Still Quilting

 I'm still working away on machine quilting my RSC bordered four patch quilt, I had hoped to get it finished this week, but no.  If I'm honest, I've been out every day this last week, so not much time at all sitting in front of the sewing machine.  Never mind, perhaps I'll get this project finished next week.

Not finished yet

Gemma still seems to find any quilt in progress I've left on the sewing machine cabinet at the end of the day.  It's so thoughtful of me to leave the quilts out for her to snuggle up on, she thinks.

So comfy, thanks Mum

Remember the pile of fabric I  got from Jude recently?  I've washed it in the tub, just as well I washed it by hand as the colour from a couple of the solid fabrics ran everywhere.  The pieces were dried outside in the sunshine, and are now ironed, folded, and put away.  I've got plans for a couple of these fabrics, but not for a wee while yet, watch this space.

All washed now and ready to use

I went to see the movie "Sense and Sensibilty" last week, and really enjoyed it.  Although I had read this book previously, I couldn't quite remember it so I looked it up on Google to get a quick overview of the characters and plot.  I do love a good period film, and really enjoyed the film.  So much so that I will re-read my copy of the book again, when I get though my current library books. 

I loved this film, and recommend it