Brr, it's getting chilly

Our weather has turned wintry again, with snow on the ranges.  That didn't last long, when the rain arrived, and some wind.  It is still winter after all, it's just that we have been spoiled with calm, mild, sunny days for ages. Luckily, there is a heat pump installed, so there is clean, efficient heating here in my little home.  And it has been perfect soup making weather too.  My latest batch was pumpkin and kumara, so nice and tasty, with added pieces of fried onion and bacon, after it was whizzed smooth.  This was made in the microwave, and I do love home made soup.

Creamy pumpkin and kumara soup with added bacon

Gemma had a difficult morning recently, it was time for her annual vaccinations and health check.  I picked her up and put her in the carry cage before she realised what was happening.

How did that happen, she's thinking

Gemma doesn't make a fuss being in the car, and it was a short drive down to the Vets.

Here we are

Gemma was a little uncomfortable when she was lifted on to the table and the vet checked her over.  Everything was fine and she was given her vaccinations.  I had asked if she could get her claws trimmed as it always took both Robin and I working together in the past to get this job done.  She was most unhappy with this procedure and had to be wrapped in a towel, growling at the vet and struggling to get away.  I told the vet that I had never had a cat who growled before.  Finally, with three paws clipped, she was getting so distressed that we agreed to give up  - she couldn't get back into her carry cage fast enough.  Poor Gemma, I wondered if she would forgive me for this abomination when we got home.  She hopped into the hidey hole in her tower at home to recover from her ordeal.

I'm hiding, don't touch me.

I've been doing a bit of knitting in the evenings and more importantly, I'm working hard to get my secret sewing finalised for my daughter's birthday.  It's looking rather good, even if I do say so myself!  All will be revealed soon.

Sock Knitting

I'm pleased I have a sock finish, this pair seems to have taken ages.  But only because I don't work on them all the time, I tend to flick from one project to another.   These are for my daughter, I asked if she would like another pair for Christmas.  "Yes please" she said, "I'd like pale blue this time".  So they are done well ahead of time, which is good.

  Socks for my daughter

I knit my socks flat, two at a time then sew up the side seam.  You can't feel the seam and it doesn't go under the sole, but up the side.  None of those tiny double pointed needles for me!  This pair was  made using Tootsies 4ply Merino sock yarn.

But wait, there's more, I'm working on two more pair as well, both up to different stages.  These are thick 12ply socks, using double knit together with left over sock yarn, and will be for me.  The heels are done on the dark pair, and the pale ones have more growing to do to reach the heel stage.  I prefer wearing these thicker socks, especially in the winter.

Two more pair on the go

Our winter weather has been very changeable, cool but sunny some days, and heavy rain on other days.  There was a sprinkling of snow on the hills last week, which always looks pretty in the sunshine, but I'm pleased we don't live in an area with snow on the ground. 

Snow on the Tararua Ranges

Colder weather means more soup making, so I made a batch of French Onion soup in my Crockpot.  It was delicious served with some cheesy toast on the top of my bowl of soup.  Nothing beats hot soup for lunch on a cold winter's day.

French Onion soup

Pink Socks and Blackberries

My pink socks have been a long drawn out project.  I received this lovely skein of sock wool from my daughter for Christmas 2023.

 Christmas gift from Nicky

I didn't cast these on till mid way through the year and the socks traveled with us down to the South Island in August when we went to celebrate my son Michaels's 60th birthday.  The trip across Cook Strait takes three hours so after something to eat in the cafe there is always time for a little knitting.

Knitting onboard the ferry

As I always seem to have more than one knitting project on the go, these socks were neglected for a while.  Then my daughter purchased some sock yarn in the Op Shop, asked for a copy of my pattern, and within a couple of weeks she had knitted her first pair of socks!  That really spurred me on to finish my own.  

I was soon up to the toes, that didn't take long, then sewing up the side seams.  Several have asked if the side seams make the socks uncomfortable to wear.  They run along the side/top of the foot and up the side of the leg, not under the sole, and I don't have any discomfort at all.  The weather is still nice and summery here, so I will tuck them away in my sock drawer to wear a little later.

Finally finished, that took a while

And just so you know, I've two pair of triple knit socks, my blue jumper, a baby's jumper, and a kitten blanket for the SPCA, all cast on and waiting their turns.  Plus all the quilting projects as well. No wonder I have trouble completing things, there is too much on the go!  

I was at a meeting last week and one of the ladies had brought along several bags of frozen blackberries to give away.  I gratefully took one, and made some blackberry crumble.  It was delicious, and I froze a couple of portions for later.

Blackberry crumble for dessert

Hand Stitching

I've been busy doing a little hand stitching lately.   On Saturday I attended a stitch-in day, organized by my quilt club.  The weather was miserable, wet and drizzly, but the hall was nice and toasty with the heat pumps working hard.  Others were machining away, but I don't like to take my sewing machine away from home theses days, it is just so heavy for me to load into the car and take it out at the other end.  So I make sure I have plenty of hand work instead.  Yesterday I starting  hand stitching the binding down on one of the big quilts I had commercially quilted a while ago ago.  I didn't get it all stitched down, but I've made a good start on it.  

Binding time

Eight ladies braved the wet and cold conditions to come and stitch for a while.  We stopped for a mid morning cuppa, and a lunch break.  It's always nice to stitch with company, isn't it.  By 2.00pm we all decided to pack up and head home.

Today, Sunday, I decided to make blueberry pancakes for breakfast.  I'd found a Jamie Oliver recipe, knew I had some frozen blueberries in the freezer, so whipped them up.  It was a nice simple recipe and I served them with whipped cream, extra blueberries and a drizzle of genuine maple syrup, all the way from Canada.  They didn't turn out perfectly round, but I must say they were absolutely delicious!

Blueberry pancakes for Sunday breakfast

I've been stitching away on a quilt label today, almost there.  I had just written the info with my pigma pen, but decided to stitch over the words.  Then I can attach it to the backing and share a photo of my completed quilt.  

Stitching a quilt label

As for my socks, they have come to a bit of a standstill.  I'm up to the heels, but need to spend a bit of time, sitting quietly on my own, while I read the pattern and mark off each row.  I've knitted heels plenty of times, but really need to concentrate.

Perhaps you remember the oven mitts I completed recently?  I posted them to my granddaughter Megan last week and received a thank you snap chat.

Thank you from Megan

My daughter Nicky has asked if I can make her oven mitts for her birthday, so I'm not finished with them yet.  That's next on my list to do.

It’s been a busy day

With only a few days till Christmas, and one day till we head away in out caravan, it’s been a busy old day here today.  I needed to do some baking to take up to my daughter’s home for Christmas, and had promised to make some of my delicious Chocolate Cherry Slice.  This is rich and decadent and is  a lovely treat for Christmas.  Made with a chocolate base and topped with a coconut and glace chocolate topping, it is certainly a winner.

Chocolate Cherry Slice

I also offered to make a bacon and egg pie to help with dinner tomorrow.  We will have it cold with a salad,I expect.  This has plenty of bacon slices and eight double yolk eggs so should be nice and tasty.  Bacon and egg pie is a family favourite here in New Zealand, usually served hot for dinner, and is excellent served cold for a tasty  picnic lunch.

Bacon and egg pie

I needed to use up a couple of oranges which were starting to look a little sad, so made an orange and raisin cake as well.  The cake won’t be needed over Christmas with all the other usual treats on offer, so is now in the freezer, to use later.

And checking out the veggies in the fridge I found half of a red and half a green cabbage, left over from making coleslaw last week.  With not much room for them in the caravan fridge,  they needed dealing with too.  The green cabbage was chopped, bagged, and frozen and I can use it for stir fry meals later.  As for the red cabbage, I knew I had a recipe tucked away somewhere to make use of it, which I had made one previous Christmas.  Using sliced red cabbage, onions, apples, spices and white wine vinegar, I cooked it all slowly in a pan, put it into two containers, and into the freezer it went.   I’m pleased that I was able to use these items and that nothing was thrown out and wasted.

After my cooking marathon, I started packing the caravan.  Prior to a trip, we move the caravan from the area around the back of our village, and park it in one of the car parks outside our home.  Which means we can plug it into power to get the fridge cold, and it is so much handier for the many trips too and fro with food and clothes.  I mustn’t forget to put the bag of presents in too.  My knitting bag and stitchery project is already safely packed in the van, along with several books to read.

Our caravan just a hop and step away, ready for packing

With these jobs out of the way, I needed an after lunch nana nap!  It’s been cloudy here today, but very warm, so warm, in fact, that I had to change into shorts!  The Santas will wave us goodbye tomorrow when we head away for our Christmas/New Year adventure.  I’m rather fond of the big Santa,and made him in a class many years ago.

Hello Santas

Sending everyone warm Christmas wishes, and hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Day.

Spring Forward

Spring has officially arrived in my part of paradise, and along with it came Daylight Saving, so we had to put the clocks forward one hour last week.  I’m always so impressed that the computers and cell phones know how to do this themselves, so it’s only a couple of household clocks and those in the cars  which need to be altered, plus watches too of course.

The last reasonably pleasant days of Winter have given way to the tumultuous Spring weather.  It’s always so much more windy in Spring, it’s been rather wet off and on, and the temperatures are jumping up and down all over the place.  The weather has been weird worldwide, and NSW in Australia is suffering from wild fires, brought on by hot temps and strong winds, that must be a terrible thing to live through.

It’s time to hang up my seasonal wall-hanging. Hello Spring was completed last summer so was this is it’s first season up on the wall.  This is hand embroidered and machine quilted.

Hello Spring

It may well be Spring but the weather is cold – so cold I decided to make some nice tasty soup for lunch.  That should last us a couple of days.

Two Little Wooly Hats

In between all the secret sock knitting, I've made two little wooly hats.  These were made using up bits of left over yarn, such a good way to get rid of small balls hanging around.

Two little hats for donation

The brown and white hat used up the last of Robin’s birthday socks home spun brown wool, and I even managed to make a pom pom.  It’s been many years since I’ve made a pom pom, and I think I’ve lost the knack over the years, do hope it all stays together.

The dark blue hat used up other bits and pieces, and I had just enough of the pale blue yarn to eke three stripes out of it!   I’m quite pleased with these and they will be going into the Foster Hope donation box soon.

Even though it’s Spring here in New Zealand, it’s been rather cold, wet and windy lately.  So for a nice warming treat I made a steamed pudding for dessert.  Must admit that I can’t really remember the last time I made one of these, and with some whipped cream, it was delicious.  And with just the two of us here, there is plenty left for the next couple of nights too, so yummy.

Jam steamed pudding tonight

Birthday Socks

When I first started on my sock knitting adventure a few years ago, I declared  I would never knit socks for others as it took so long.  That changed when my granddaughters asked if I could please knit them a pair of socks, so of course I did, making an extra pair for my daughter as well.  Knitting  three pairs of 4ply socks for Christmas really kept me busy.  All through this, my hubby Robin kept reminding me that I’d never knitted him socks either!  Oh dear, guess he was next on the list – so some extra secret sock knitting started.  I finished them in time for his birthday, and kept them safely tucked away till his big day.

These were knitted using brown and cream hand spun wool which was gifted to me by my friend Merilyn, and I added some dark green sock yarn as well, making these triple knit (12 ply) socks.  As I only have two ladies sock patterns, 4 ply plus 12 ply, I had to guess how many extra stitches to add to fit him – I think I got it right.  So here at last is his very own pair of hand knit socks, plus a block of his favourite chocolate.

Happy Birthday, Robin

We had originally intended on having a birthday dinner out at a local restaurant, but as he is recovering from his recent knee replacement surgery, he really didn't feel he could cope with the effort of going out.  No problem, we ordered pizzas instead.  And I made a Key Lime  meringue topped  pie for dessert, so we celebrated with a nice meal at home instead.

Yummy home made dessert

It’s been a Busy few Days

It certainly has been busy, starting with the Coronation on Saturday.  Or in our case, living in New Zealand with the time difference, Saturday night.  The TV coverage started at the very civilized time of 7.00pm, and we settled down to watch.  With a glass of Kahlua and milk in my hand to toast the momentous occasion.  And what an occasion it was, full of pomp and ceremony as only the Brits can do.

The Coronation ceremony stretches back more than one thousand years and represents God's blessing. The ceremony progressed, finally arriving at the most sacred part, when the King is anointed behind screens.  Following the anointment, the King is then prepared for the crowning, which is carried out by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The oil was consecrated by the patriarch of Jerusalem and the Anglican archbishop in Jerusalem.

The screens were designed by  Aidan Hart and worked on by the Royal School of Needlework, the designs taking inspiration from the stained glass sanctuary window in the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace, which was gifted by the Livery Companies to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee in 2002. According to the Royal Family, King Charles personally selected the design.  With the monarchy’s cipher at the bottom—to represent the king’s position as servant to the people—the screen boasts 56 leaves to pay homage to the British Commonwealth’s 56 member states.  And New Zealand, together with Australia, had a part to play in making the screens, the wool for the backdrop was sourced from both Australia and New Zealand, but was milled in the United Kingdom. 

It was a long night indeed, and after watching the balcony appearance, we finally made it to bed at 2.00am, tired but so pleased to be able to witness this historic occasion.  I was around for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, a young 8 year old,  and there was no TV in our country way back then.  My first fleeting brush with royalty came during the Queen’s tour to New Zealand.   All the children from my school were given flags, and we lined up along the main road waiting till she drove past, frantically waving our flags.

Rising a bit late on Sunday, Robin still did the honours and produced our usual Sunday morning cooked breakfast.  Later in the morning I used up the last of our feijoas to make some muffins.

We’ve been cooking

Just as well I did make some muffins as we had a visit from grand-daughter Megan later in the afternoon.  She had driven down to Wellington to help her friend who was looking for a wedding dress.  Not an easy task, it seems, and the prices are horrendous.  Not only that, but the bride-to-be had to pay a fee at the shop for the privilege of trying some dresses on.  I had never heard of that.  Megan stopped and chatted for an hour or so, before heading back home.  She reminded me that it had taken some persuasion on her part before I finally knitted her a pair of socks!  So we checked through my sock yarn and she has selected what she liked for her next pair of hand knitted socks.  No promises when they will get completed though.

Me with Megan

Tuesday was Sew Wot Tuesday again, and we met at Mary’s lovely home.  With everyone having a tidy up in their sewing rooms lately, I took along a little something lurking about in my sewing cabinet drawers to see if Mary was interested.  It was a needle holder with pockets to slip needle packets in, and as Mary was the only one in our group who seems to do hand quilting I thought she might like it, as I had never used it at all.  Yes, she was delighted to take it off my hands.

This found a new home

Of course, there was show and tell as well.  Carol started this off showing Emily, a beautifully knitted doll and clothes.  Emily will be staying with Carol for a while, I think.   Plus two small knitted teddies which will be going to the Neo Natal unit. 

Emily and teddies

Heather had brought along a pretty knitted blanket.  This started last Christmas when everyone at the Spinning and Weavers group she attends brought along a wrapped ball of wool for a Christmas swap.  Heather’s gift was a ball of teal wool, and she added the brown alpaca yarn to knit her blanket.  Each of the teal blocks has a different pattern, and she finished it off with a knitted lacy edge. 

Heather’s knitted blanket

Heather is an avid sock knitter and had just finished a pair of socks for her grand daughter, nice and colourful, aren't they.

made for Heather’s grand daughter

Jude had been knitting socks too.  Not one, but two pair of socks for her son. 

Lucky boy, two pair of hand made socks

Mary had a top to show us, made with beautiful batiks.  Called “Skipping Stones” it is made up of nice big blocks with a partial seam.. Not too hard at all, Mary said.

Skipping Stones

Mary enjoys crochet too, and brought out her gorgeous Pandemic blanket to show us.  Made in shades of white and grey, it is wonderful.  I really admire people who can crochet with ease, it’s something I cannot do.

Pandemic blanket

There were a few WIPs brought along too.  I had taken my purple clam shells to show the slow progress I had made, pin, pin, pin, and carefully stitch along the curved lines. I’m still getting the occasional tuck which needs to be fixed, but not as bad when I first got back to this project.  It I can do several rows each week I’ll be happy.  And Sandra had brought along two WIPs to show us.  After completing a pansy quilt for her Aunty, she decided that she should be making one for her other Aunty too, and decided on star blocks.  The other blocks are inspired by a quilt Jude had made featuring 1.5in strips, so Sandra is working on that design too.

Sandra’s WIPs

We spent a lovely morning together, morning tea was served, but no photo was taken, obviously we were all enjoying it so much.  Thanks to Mary for being hostess, and she had a little surprise for us when we were leaving.  Her garden had produced several pumpkins, so Mary chopped one up into pieces for us to take home.  So nice, I love pumpkin.

Fall Back

Don't worry, I haven't had a fall.  This is how we remember to alter our clocks when daylight saving comes to an end.  It’s “Spring Forward” at the start, and “Fall Back” at the completion.  This important job belongs to Robin, he is the clock fixer-upper in our home.  I must say that I'm always most impressed that the computers and cell phones can do this task all by themselves!

We've had a busy week.  Robin had his procedure on Saturday morning so we had a drive up to Palmerston North Hospital.  I was well prepared for all the waiting around, and took my knitting along on my hospital bag, a gift from Jean of https://jeanmckinstry.blogspot.com/.  Jean made me this lovely batik bag several years ago when I was having health issues, and it traveled to many a hospital appointment with me, so I always think of it as Jean’s hospital bag.  A lady walked by and told me that she wished she had packed her knitting too, while she was doing her own share of waiting.

I've got my knitting with me

Eventually Robin was processed and whisked away so I made my way to the hospital café for a late lunch.  Being a Saturday it wasn't too crowded with visitors, so I chose some lunch, found a seat and made myself comfy while I ate my lunch.  Then I waited, and waited until I received the phone call to come back and collect Robin.

Lunch, hot coffee,and a good book

So back I walked along seemingly miles of corridors to find Robin sitting up having a sandwich and a cuppa.  He was given a printed report, everything seemed well, then it was home time.  After a week of being on a restricted diet, he was happy to resume our Sunday Morning cooked breakfast tradition the following day.

Sunday morning breakfast

Some time was spent at the sewing machine during the week.  I stitched up eight neutral string blocks for a new project, more about that later when I move this further along.  These blocks will be sliced diagonally.  All these strings came from an overflowing bag which i hardly made a dent in, and I stitched them on some tracing Vilene I found lurking about.

Neutral string blocks

Easter is coming up quickly, and we are going away in the caravan again.  You can be sure we are taking some hot cross buns and Easter Eggs away with us.  Sadly, no animals are allowed at this particular venue, so we have booked Gemma into a cattery, for only the second time in her life.  She didn't have a happy experience last time, much too noisy for here, so we are hoping that with trying a different cattery it will be easier for her. 

The ladies have been requested to bring something for supper at the caravan rally, and I thought of just the thing.  Robin's usual breakfast cereal wasn't allowed the week prior to his procedure, but he could eat rice bubbles instead.  There were such a lot left over so I made some Chocolate Crackles.  These chocolatey treats were always such a hit with my children at birthday parties, so I’m sure all the caravanners will remember them.  I’m not sure if this recipe is just an Aussie and Kiwi thing, or if these are known in other countries too?

I’ve made two containers of Chocolate Crackles to take away

Wishing everyone a happy Easter break, however you plan to celebrate it.  Safe travels for those who will be travelling during the long weekend.

Family and Old Quilts

Sunday is the day Robin makes a cooked breakfast, whether we are at home or away in the caravan, as we are currently.  So he cooked up a storm, little breakfast sausages, eggs and tomatoes, yummy.  And because it was Easter Sunday, in place of our regular Dilmah teabags in a cup, we decided to go all fancy and get the tea pot out, together with our cannister of Russian Caravan Tea.

Breakfast tea

After breakfast we went to another family lunch, this time to daughter Nicky and her husband Robert’s  rural home.  A big pot of cheese and potato soup was simmering away, and grand-daughter Emma had made a loaf of bread in her new bread maker.  It all smelt and tasted delicious.

Freshly baked  bread, yummy

I was delighted to see a couple of old quilts – now that Megan has her own home, Nicky told her it was time to look after them herself.  I certainly remembered making these for Megan, and it was nice to see them again.  The first one was a pinwheel quilt with alternate blocks featuring little rabbits in the garden.  This was backed in cozy flannel and made in 1999 when Megan was about 3 or so.

Bunnies and pinwheels

A few years later the family moved to their current rural property and it was time to stitch Megan a new quilt. What does she like, I asked Nicky, and the reply was that she loves being on the farm.  So I made her quilt, with different blocks featuring life on the farm.  I stitched blocks with Babe the border collie, Dad on his blue tractor, Fanta the cat, their farm house, chickens, and because Megan and her sister were riding horses by this stage, a couple of horses too.  This was also backed in flannel, I like to use this on the back of quilts made for children.

Life on the farm quilt

Now that my daughter Nicky has a spare bedroom, she has turned it into a sewing room.  With both girls being mad about horses, she had a label on her sewing machine saying “no horse gear”.The girls often like to sew and repair their heavy horse covers, but not on Mum’s sewing machine!  They can use their own machines they were told.

Girls, take note!

Now she has got back into sewing, Nicky has stitched a pretty embroidered cushion to go on the sofa in her sewing room. 

Nicky’s velvet cushion

My daughter is also very keen on cooking and is currently making fruit vinegar – how clever is that!  I wouldn't even know where to start.

Making vinegar

This morning four of us met up for breakfast at their favourite local café.  Us two, Nicky and Megan, the others had returned to work after the Easter break.  We had lovely food, nice hot coffee and it was so nice to have yet another catch up.

Three generations, Grand daughter Megan, daughter Nicky and me

We had a wonderful Easter break, staying at a “new to us” camp site, and having plenty of family time.