Just a little Shopping

Black thread  - that’s what I needed for my traveling stitchery project.  Luckily we found out where the LQS was and I made a quick visit.  I was after Perle No 5 in black, and luckily they had some.  Then while browsing around,  found some nice stripy fabric which could work well as the borders on my Noah's Ark stitchery.  Or not, perhaps I should have waited till this project was completed to see if it would go well with the stitchery blocks.  Never mind, I’ve bought it now.

My purchases

I’m not expecting to make our South Island Trip a Quilting Shop Hop, but I’m sure I’ll come across a few shops which will pique my interest.  The Sewing Store at Blenheim had a great range of fabrics and tools and I received nice friendly service.  Always a must have bonus for me as I'm sure we have all been in shops where the friendly service has been sadly lacking.

Inside The Sewing Store

I’m sure you would like an update on our South Island Adventure.  We drove off  the Inter Island Ferry at 5.30AM, drove 8km to Koromiko,  opened the gate, chose a site, kept the car and van hooked up, pulled the blinds and curtains and climbed into bed.  We were so tired, but Gemma took a while to settle down, no doubt still a little anxious after her time alone in the caravan for several hours crossing Cook Strait.

Gemma is outside after a bit of shut eye

This is a pretty camp, surrounded by beautiful mature native totara trees.   For book lovers like me, this camp has a rather quirky book swap set up.  The books are inside an old fridge, with a power cord seemingly plugged into the totara tree.  I had a book to swap, and came away with a couple more.  In my view there is nothing worse that not having book to read at bedtime.  The birds were singing in the trees all day long, and across the road came the occasional bleat of sheep in the paddocks.  I loved the look of this old barn, certainly rustic, and it has it’s own type of beauty, I think.  We sent several hours during the afternoon sitting outside,  just relaxing, and chatting to the campers next to us.  .

At Koromiko Camp

The following morning was wet, and we moved on to Blenheim.   After choosing a site, settling in, and paying our camp fees, we had a quick lunch then set out to find a laundromat.  May as well spend a couple of hours doing the laundry on such a wet day, we reasoned.  The laundromat was busy, and one customer came in and commandeered five large washing machines!  She did mention that her machine at home had broken down and a  new one was not available till well after Christmas.  Seems she will be looking forward to many more visits while waiting for her new machine to arrive.

The next coupe of days we went exploring, and discovered an  “Old English Pub” for lunch.  Stepping inside, we were warmly welcomed indeed.  With thick ceiling beams, a large brick fireplace, and plenty of brass and jugs everywhere, the Cork and Keg certainly had an English country pub ambiance.

The Cork and Keg

We placed our lunch orders, and sat out in the beer garden, sheltered with plenty of sun umbrellas and a large sun shade.  Our lunches arrived, popcorn shrimp for me, something I’d never had before, and buffalo wings for him, and Robin indulged in a large glass of Guinness.  I’m not really a beer drinker but I can remember having the occasional small Guinness myself when we traveled around Ireland some years ago – it seemed the thing to do at the time!

In the Beer Garden

What’s that sign we spotted driving back to camp?  Fresh strawberries were for sale – just what we needed.  Not only that, but strawberry snow freeze ice-creams too.  The car park was packed, and happy customers sat outside licking their ice-creams.  And if they were anything like me, trying to finish the ice-cream before it all melted and ran down my hand.

A giant strawberry, and Robin waiting with the ice-creams

Gemma had been wandering in and out of the caravan on her lead, but the caravan next to us had a young terrier dog which got excited when Gemma poked her nose outside.  We waited till they went out in their car, before letting her outside in peace.  Otherwise, she is happy to rest inside, and particularly likes to snooze inside the lap top bag while I am busy blogging.  She is such a big help!

Relaxing, that’s what cats do best