Out and About

 I've been out and about lately, going here, and going there.  I was at a craft group last week, and we meet in a beautiful old property called Thompson House, home of a former doctor who lived and worked here.   I believe it has been gifted to the community and groups can hire the rooms for meetings.

Thompson House

 One of the ladies there that afternoon teaches bobbin lace.  She had all sorts of exquisite samples on display.  It's such beautiful fine work, but not something I would have the patience for.

Lace samples and bobbins

Melanie had been working on signs of the zodiac and had one for Libra, the Scales of Justice.  That's my sign, I told her, so she very generously gifted it to me.  Here it is at home, pinned up on one of the spools on my thread spool wall hanging in my sewing room.  

Libra, the Scales of Justice

I'm a member of Age Concern, and go there weekly for my easy balance and exercise class.  They also hold meetings about various subjects of interest to older people, and last week held a movie afternoon, free for the members.  That was fun, there were decorations and balloons galore in the room, and we were treated to bags of popcorn or chippies, tea, coffee and juice was available, and we were presented with  small bags of liquorioce allsorts and jaffas.  The film was called "Thelma" and told the story of an elderly lady who was scammed into sending money, supposably to help her grandson, and the police couldn't help her.  So Thelma took matters into her own hands, and with the help of an elderly friend and his mobility scooter, tracked the scammers down, got into their computer, and with telephone help from her grandson, managed to transfer her money back into her account!

Don't mess with Thelma

And to help with me getting out and about, I'm pleased to say that I passed my 80th driving assessment, I was able to apply a couple of months early.  Here in New Zealand drivers have to get a medical clearance to keep driving at 75, 80, and every two years after that.  I went to have an eye test at the opticians, then had an appointment with the doctor, who asked me questions as he filled in several pre printed pages.  "I know you don't have diabetes, and your heart is good", he said as he worked his way through the form.  That was good to know.  Tick, tick, tick, he went through the questions, then, "all done", he told me.  At my 75th assessment, our previous doctor had asked me all sorts of questions, including counting back from 100 by 7, and other general  knowledge questions, so I was a bit worried about what my current doctor would ask me.  "I know you", he said, "and I know there is nothing wrong with your memory".  Whew.... all that worry about nothing!

I've had to do some car stuff this month, things that Robin used to take care of.  Such as apply for the annual car registration, get a Warrant of Fitness, and the car insurance is due as well.  And last time I filled the car up, I wanted to use up some of the petrol vouchers I have, so called into one of the local service stations.  When I went in to settle up, the attendant was rather worried.  "Did you know you've just filled your car with diesel?" he asked.  I assured him that everything is fine, my little car runs on diesel, which is quite unusual here for small cars.  Although Robin used to top my car up for me, he impressed on me not to put petrol in the tank, which would ruin the engine!  Just as well I took that lesson to heart.

The Birthday Quilt

I've been working hard to get a birthday quilt finished.  It all started with a bag of shirts I received from my niece Lisa when my brother-in-law Dennis passed away.  Dennis was  my late sister Kathleen's husband, and I started to make a quilt for their grandson Adam, in memory of his Poppa.  Just a simple four patch, I decided, with red and black frames.  Then my beloved Robin passed away late last year, and this got put on the back burner.

Making a start

The birthday invitation to Adam's 30th birthday in March gave me a bit of a shake up.  Goodness me, perhaps I can get this finished in time for the birthday.  So I worked away, stitching the blocks together.

Hard at work

Gemma is helping while I added the borders

The top was finally done, but being too big for me to comfortably handle, I needed to send it away to get commercially quilted.  Would it get done in time?  Of course it did!   While it was away, I got the binding prepared, and the label.  And here it is, all finished in plenty of time.  Deborah used a leaf quilting pattern, you can glimpse it in the black border.

All done, ready for Adam

Two extra blocks made a couple of cushions

Gemma a had a trip away as well, to the cattery.  She wasn't at all impressed and did a bit of hissing when she arrived.  "Don't worry", the owner told me, "I'll spend a bit of time with her to help settle her down".  As a former traveling caravan cat, she hardly ever went to a cattery, but now there is no option.

She is not at all happy

The drive up to Hastings was difficult, as I haven't really done long journeys on my own.  Obviously, I was a bit nervous, rather tense and ended up with a sore muscle on my side!  I drove through  drizzly rain, and the never ending road cones on the side of the road.  But where were the workers, I wondered?  The road cones are set out, together with the signs to reduce speed, with not a single worker on the road side in sight.  My little car behaved well on the trip, and as a bonus, I had discovered some petrol vouchers tucked away in the caravan when I cleared it out, so that filled the tank for me.  After a couple of stops along the way I finally pulled into the motel, pleased to have arrived.  It wasn't the best motel I've stayed at, but I guess you get what you pay for.

My home for the next two nights

Adam was having his birthday celebrations at home on Saturday evening, nice company and a home cooked meal, together with a birthday cake.  I'm pleased to say that he seemed very pleased with his 30th birthday quilt, and recognised the fabrics as his Poppa's shirts.

Adam and his sister Kate

Happy Birthday Adam

It was a very pleasant evening indeed and I'm pleased that I made the effort to make trip up by myself.  My niece Lisa presented me with this lovely quilting fridge magnet, those words are so true.

A gift from Lisa

Changing Quilts, and a Movie

It's taken me a while, but at long last, I've taken the Christmas quilts down.  With such gorgeous weather, what better to display than "My New Zealand Bird Quilt", made back in I'm very proud of this one, especially as it is hand appliqued and hand quilted, and was designed by NZ designer Mary Fletcher.  I'll let you into a little secret.  The design had a creepy crawly weta together with the iconic tuatara (lizard) block, but there was no way I was going to have one of those on my quilt!  

New Zealand Birds

Of course, the quilt ladder needed changing too.  On the top is the Tee Shirt quilt I made for Robin's 60th birthday.  He passed away in late November and this quilt was on display during his memorial service, and I decided I will leave it out on permanent display on top of the ladder.  On rung two and four is my own work, and hanging on rung three is a row by row quilt made for me some years ago for a big birthday.  It's good to ring the changes and get to see some quilts which have been hidden away for a while.

Quilt ladder, made by Robin

So what else have I been up to?  I went and filled my car up, not such a big deal for most of you, but Robin used to do this for me.  A couple of weeks ago my friend Dot came along to the petrol station at the supermarket with me, to run through all the steps I needed to take.  The first one was to pull up at the pump on the side where the filling cap was!  Then she showed me what I needed to do, read the instructions which guided the customer through, and how to enter the discount code from the supermarket into the machine.  And most important to remember, my little car takes diesel, not petrol.  So now I can be trusted to do this job for myself!

I took myself to the movies today, to see "A Complete Unknown", which tells the story of 19 year old Bob Dylan arriving in New York with his guitar.  I'm not really a Bob Dylan fan, but this film was very interesting and I found out such a lot about his early song writing life, and some of his really early songs are still so well known today.  The film touched on the Kennedy, Cuba, Khrushchev, and the Cuba blockade.  Even down here in far away New Zealand, we feared for a nuclear war, and held our collective breaths, as did the rest of the world.  I was 17 at the time, working for an insurance company in Wellington, the capitol city of New Zealand, and remember attending a lunch time church service held to pray for world peace.  Scary times indeed. 

 Another part of the film that I particularly remember was when "Dylan went Electric".  In 1965 he teamed up with different band members and started recording and performing with electric instruments.  The folk music community and audiences were appalled, accused him of turning his back on the genre, booed on stage and pelted him and his band mates with bottles and cans!  My favourite Bob Dylan song was not written till 1975 so didn't appear in this film.  It is "Shelter from the Storm" full of dark lyrics of love and loss.  I hear it occasionly on the radio station.

Another part of the film which 

What's on the Table

 This tablecloth dates back to 2012 when we traveled to the South Island with three other caravans for a three month trip.  I took along some pre sewn  rail fence blocks made up of strips of New Zealand inspired fabrics alternating with pale grey and my Micron ink pen. 

Table cloth documenting our mammoth South Island trip

 Our old cat Muffy was 16 years old back then and we had always placed her in a cattery when we traveled.  But I worried that at her age she might die while we were away, so we took her on  her very first caravan trip, and what a long one it was.  Although she was very unsettled during the ferry trip, she settled down surprising well.  Within a week of being on the road she was reasonably comfortable with the big change in her life.

And here we all were, full of excitement,  traveling down on the Inter Islander Ferry with our friends. Sadly, Robin and Geoff C are no longer with us.

Robin, Jenny, Dot, Pauline, Eileen, Geoff T, Derek, Geoff C, way back in 2012

And what a time we had,  Each  night I would get my Micro pen out and write down, where we stayed, the places we explored, and special sights we had seen.  The writing has faded now over all these years, but the memories are still there.

Writing on the blocks each night

We drove down the east coast,  stopping at all sorts of interesting places and reached Invercargill.  This was quite memorable for our old cat Muffy, as she found some cat nip growing where we were parking up overnight and rolled on the warm concrete in ecstasy!

I think Muffy overdosed on cat nip

We traveled back through Central Otago, and over to the West Coast, back over to Picton, and finally taking the ferry back to Wellington. The scenery of the South Island of New Zealand can only be described in superlatives, such as majestic, stunning, and sensational. With vistas of mountains, rugged peaks, glaciers, rain forests, fiords, rivers, lakes, hot mineral springs, wild coastlines, streams and estuaries, and rolling farmland, each day brought us more wonderful views to marvel over. Each of these wonderful places was faithfully recorded on the rail fence blocks, and the memories will live on each time I use my  table cloth, completed in June 2012.  Eileen had donated me the colourful kiwi fabric which I used for the backing, border and binding.  I think her original intention was to use this fabric to make something for her grandchildren, which never happened.

Completed in June 2012

Our Toyota Land Cruiser towed the caravan 3973km around the South Island, and then we drove a staggering 3413km without the caravan on the back,  tiki touring around.  A grand total of 7386kms for the trip, and we used 1417 litres of diesel.  And all this travelling cost us $2292.17 and our fuel consumption averaged out at approx 18 litres per 100 kilometres.  Goodness knows what the cost of the fuel would be these days, 14 years later.

We've been Busy

 We've had a busy old time lately.  Robin had a hospital procedure recently, one of those which require drinking large amounts of horrible liquid before hand - I'm sure many of you have undergone this as well.  Driving up to the hospital early in the morning, he had his paperwork done, changed into a gown, and taken away.  While I waited I spent some time in the hospital cafe with my book, a cheese scone (not the best one I've ever eaten), coffee, my knitting, and my phone, waiting for the call to come and collect him.  The procedure went well, the results were good, and there is no follow up, so all is well.

Morning tea while waiting for the call

Knitting and my batik  hospital bag, made by Jean

With a weekend caravan club rally planned, we went early and stayed at a new to us camp, parking  beside an older lady who lives full time in her motor home.  She was 94, and had just passed her drivers licence again, she proudly informed us. What an achievement.  The grand tour around this little village didn't take too long, but was still quite interesting.  driving around,  up and down the few streets, then we stopped at the beach.  Cell phone reception here is very weak, and there is a platform on the beach to climb up to and hopefully get a stronger signal.  Here in towns and cities we just take cell phone coverage for  granted, and don't think of the problems those living in smaller places may have.

Local cell phone users come here for a better signal

On leaving the next morning we stopped SH3 to check out Turakina Antiques and Collectables, after years of driving by, towing the caravan behind,  This place was huge inside, room after room choc full of crystal, silver, fine china, and some furniture.  Cabinets were packed full with crockery and china, there were several large dining tables with large place settings, and cabinets full of other collectables.  All quite beautiful, but nothing jumped out to say "buy me".  It was sad to see so many beautiful treasures, sold off and looking for new homes.  These beautiful items for sale needed a large colonial home with big rooms to show them off.  

Inside the antique shop

Then we enjoyed a weekend away with the caravan club, up to the coastal village of Kai Iwi.  The beach is rather wild with signs warning of the dangerous conditions.  We glimpsed a tiny little hut for Life Guards tucked away overlooking the beach.

At the beach

Our club President had arranged a visit to local car enthusiast Sandy's home to view his cars.  Sandy wanted a sports car with a long bonnet but couldn't find a commercial option, so decided to build one himself.  No plans, it was all in his head, just waiting to be acted on, he said.  What a clever man, so talented and I'm sure not many people would be able to accomplish such a thing like this.  I know that quilters can design and make a quilt from their imagination, but this is certainly a much more technical achievement.

An original car, designed and made by Sandy

Time for lunch - but with the first choice closed up tight, we backtracked to Pukeko's Nest Cafe.  There was a group from a car club in attendance taking up a lot of tables,  but we managed to find a couple of tables for our group, and settled down to enjoy our lunch.  Soup was on the menu so that was my choice, and Robin enjoyed his bacon and egg sandwich.  Robin and I posed in front of the place names inside the cafe for a photo shoot.

Then just the other day we met up with our SLG friends for lunch, it was my turn to arrange this and we met at Porirua at Denny's.  There was plenty of choices on the extensive menu, but it still took us  a while of dithering to finally decide.  Calvin and Helen had recently celebrated their 65th Wedding Anniversay, what a wonderful achievement.  They will be enjoying a big family celebration very soon.

Calvin and Helen

We all enjoyed our meal choices, and even indulged in desserts, that doesn't usually happen at lunch time.  It was lovely to catch up again with everyone.  Another customer was walking by and offered to take our photo for us, how kind.

Calvin, Helen, Robin, Jenny, Trish

With all these happenings going on, it is no wonder that my stitching projects have been neglected.  But never mind, it's been lovely getting out and about, and we are home this weekend, so I should be able to spend a little time in the sewing room again.

Whanganui and Back

 Last weekend we had a caravan trip away to Whanganui, stopping overnight on the way at Duddings Lake.  What a pretty, peaceful place this was.  We decided to camp off power so left the crowded motor camp behind and parked up around the lake on a large grassy area.  There were several caravans and campervans parked here, but plenty of room  between is all.

Our lakeside camping spot

The lake must be very healthy as we noticed plenty of bird life, and the frogs serenaded us in the evening.  How often do we hear frogs, we commented.  Their calls are quite soothing really, soft croak, croak, croaks.  Gemma enjoyed quite a happy time outside safely on her lead all afternoon.  There were ducks to watch, and then she rather liked settling down under the caravan, I imagine she feels safe and secure under there.  Then for a change, she likes nothing better than sitting in the caravan doorway, snoozing, or taking in the sights.

Gemma in the doorway

The following morning it was time to move on from Duddings Lake to Whanganui Racecourse for the Vintage Weekend, with two other vans joining us there as well.  Four of us walked the four blocks into town to view the vintage cars parked up on Victoria Avenue.  It was another very hot day, and we joined the crowds all admiring the various cars on display.  People were everywhere, some in 50s costumes, some with dogs and children, and plenty of vintage age people on sticks, all intent on checking out the cars.

Someone's pride and joy on display

There was plenty of entertainment too, to keep the crowds happy.  Some were dancing to the music, and we noticed that others had brought their folding chairs along, to sit in comfort and enjoy the music.  It was such a hot day that after lunch in one of the cafes we were pleased to return to camp for some rest and relaxation.

One of the several bands performing

On our last full day in Whanganui, we invited Maureen and Russell to join us for a drive to Pipiriki and a picnic lunch.  It was many years since we had driven this road, so long ago that in those days it was a gravel road, although it is now sealed.  Narrow and windy, it took us through tiny settlements with interesting names, rather like those associated with the Grand Overseas Tours taken by young men of the aristocracy in earlier years.  These interesting little places have now reverted to their Maori names.  Athens, now known as Atane, Corinth, now Koriniti, London, now Ranana, and Jerusalem, now Hiruharama.  We stopped at a lookout point along the way for a lovely view down the river.

Looking down at the Whanganui River

One of the places we were keen to revisit was the Kawana Mill, in fact, we wondered if in fact it was still there, after all these years.  This mill has not been operating for many years but the water wheel is still in place.  Luckily the building has been well cared for by the NZ Historic Places Trust.  This is the only remaining one of six mills  dotted along the river to mill corn and wheat grown by the Maori people back in the day.

Kawana Mill

From here we continued on to Pipiriki and found a nice shady spot in the picnic area to eat our lunch.  This little settlement is the hub for jet boat rides up the river.  We met up with friendly young German tourist who had arrived with her bike off the boat and was planning to cycle to Whanganui - wonder if she realised just how hilly the road was?  She kindly agreed to take our photo for us.  

Robin, Jenny, Russell and Maureen

On the way back we stopped to  admire the Raukawa Falls at the lookout.  It was a lovely day out, traveling on roads we had not driven for quite some time.  

Raukawa Falls

Whanganui is an area with a very strong connection to the river.  There is a saying here which sums it up.  "The great River flows from the mountains to the sea.  I am the River, the River is me,"

Since returning home I have been doing a little of this and that.  A little time working on a pair of socks, and a few hours sitting at the sewing machine doing some machine quilting on a donation quilt.    And today, once the heat of the sun had eased, I spent a little time working on my stitchery project.  But....... nothing completed so far.

Stitching on the patio this afternoon

So that's what I've been up to over the last week.  A weekend trip away in the caravan, and its always so nice to take some time to work on a project or two.

Back to Napier for Art Deco Festival

After staying for a few days in rural Maraekakaho, south of Hastings, the next stop on our ICA rally was to Napier for the Art Deco Weekend.   The Art Deco Trust puts together a very full programme,  and as first time attendees, everything was new to us.  The highlight to us was the vintage car parade, with 300 pre-1946 cars registered.   We spent some time admiring these beauties as they awaited the start of the parade.  How did the passengers clamber up into those dickey seats and get settled while dressed to the nines, I wonder?

Lovingly restored vintage cars

In my opinion, there is nothing more thrilling than a pipe band - the Hawkes Bay Highland Pipe band started playing and got my toes tapping and my (diluted) Scots blood racing through the veins.  Then there was the  Royal New Zealand Navy Band looking extra smart in their white uniforms as they started playing before the parade – two great bands indeed.

Hawkes Bay Highland Band and the Royal NZ Navy Band

The navy played a crucial role in Napier during the 1931 earthquake.  At 10:46 am on 3 February 1931 an earthquake registering 7.8 on the Richter scale shook throughout New Zealand, its epicentre just 15.2 kms north of Napier. The initial shock lasted for 2.5 minutes.  In the city of Napier, buildings and chimneys toppled, roads broke apart and the earth heaved and opened.   Water rushed out of the harbour as the ground rose. Veronica was ‘left high and dry, all the wire mooring lines broke, but the ropes, made from New Zealand flax, held, and prevented her from rolling over on her side.’ Commander Morgan landed rescue teams to assist the injured, feed the hungry and help establish a sense of order amidst the chaos.  Fires were ablaze on shore, power and water supplies were cut and hundreds discovered they were homeless.  Two merchant ships at anchor nearby, the Taranaki and Northumberland placed themselves under naval command and assisted in the relief efforts.

Once the car parade, the bands, and marching girls had moved off, it was time to make our way to see some of the other delights on show.  Ladies walked by dressed in their beaded finery, fancy feather headdresses, and some sporting fox furs around their shoulders.  The gents were also elegantly dressed, braces, hats, some in knickerbocker trousers too.    My daughter Nicky was also in Napier enjoying the festivities and we arranged to meet further along the street.  “You always want to take photos”, she complained.  “That’s what mothers do”, I told her.  

SIL Robert, daughter Nicky, and her friend Heather

There was a “Traction Trundle” taking place -  look what fun this bunch of revelers are having.  Other working vintage engines were on display.  Flying displays by the Warbirds Display Team roared overhead.  We watched as the planes flew in formation, and looped the loop.  Then one would break away from the group, fly up high, then nose down seemingly in a suicide mission, luckily pulling up in the nick of time and continue on his way.  Thrilling stuff indeed!

Vintage steam engines

Later in the afternoon our group had their own Best Dressed competition, and what a lovely bunch we were.  After the judges put their heads together and made their decisions, the winners were announced, Best Dressed Couple, Best Dressed Lady, and Best Dressed Gentleman.  Congratulations to the winners.

All dressed up

Our time at Napier experiencing Art Deco has come to an end, next stop is Kairakau on the east coast.  That should be fun, we have never stayed there before.