Special Deliveries

Its been a busy old day today with deliveries.  First was some more  “happy mail”, all the way from Germany.  Postmarked 8th December, it's now early March so it was a long time coming.  Christmas wishes from Judy, and she had enclosed a cute little Christmas Stocking, with the hope that we will find a place in the caravan to hang it over Christmas.  I’ll sure we will, thanks so much Judy.

Merry Christmas wishes from Germany

Our other delivery was a new fridge.  While we were away on our three week trip, our fridge died and we arrived back home to find a stinking mess, particularly in the top freezer compartment.  Frozen berries, home cooked meals in containers, and some salmon filets, they all got chucked out, together with whatever had been left behind in the fridge, mainly sauces, pickles, cheese and butter.  The smell was awful, and we had to set to and give the fridge a good wash out with hot soapy water.

Then came the job of finding a replacement fridge, not at all easy these days.  There was stock on the wharves, on ships in transit, but not so in the stores themselves.  Robin managed to talk the local manager into selling us one “off the floor”  as we were desperate.  But we still had to wait 10 days till it could be delivered.

The best option for us was to move the caravan into the car park in front of our home, (it is usually in the motorhome park around a corner or two) plug it into power and use the caravan fridge.

Before each meal we loaded up the chilly bag with whatever was required, and then did the return trip to replace the items back in the caravan fridge.  At least it wasn’t too far to walk.

Then finally today, two nice young men delivered our new fridge, and took away the dead one – we had worked out that it was about 12 years old.  And the new one has a sign saying “10 Year Warranty” so appliances are not really built to last these days, are they.

New fridge delivered at last

I also had time today to do a quick sewing job for Robin.  He had recently purchased two new pairs of shorts, one pair had belt loops attached and the other hadn't.  “I can add some for you”, I declared.  So I cut and stitched some navy drill fabric into lengths, checked the other pair of shorts for placement, and got stitching.  Just about ran out of navy thread though, but the job got done, and Robin is very thankful.

Making belt loops

Happy Mail

The postman delivered me some happy mail today, so much nicer than advertising brochures and bills.  Mary from Mariposa, California, had contacted me recently (through the blog) with a request.  No problem, I was happy that I could help.  A “thank you” note from Mary arrived today, and enclosed were two small hand made gifts – a bookmark and a small scissor pouch. 

Book mark and scissor pouch

And here they are in use, thanks so much, Mary

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day, (I know I’m a day late)  to all the Mum’s out there – hope you all had a great Sunday.  Ours was a very quiet, stay at home kind of day.  But I did have the excitement of opening a parcel, couriered down from my daughter Nicky.  Wonder what’s inside?

For Mother’s Day

Inside was a little hand woven basket, or kete, made from flax.  Wonder how she managed to do that, it looks a bit tricky to me.  And a little cellophane bag of no, not potpourri as I first thought, but coated walnuts, they look delicious.  I know she gathered the walnuts herself, cracked them all opened, then baked them with the flavouring, so it was quite a long drawn affair.   I think we will pack them in the caravan for when we can get away, and enjoy them for 4zees (Happy Hour) with our caravanning friends.

As a treat, I told Robin we would forgo our usual Sunday morning breakfast of bacon and eggs, instead I cooked some blueberry pancakes.  Nice and easy, a Jamie Oliver recipe.  We still needed bacon, Robin decided, and Maple Syrup on top.  But, I obviously didn’t read the label properly when I purchased the new bottle of sugar free Maple Syrup.  It was Blueberry flavoured, quite nice but not as nice as the more usual one.

Bacon, blueberry pancakes and blueberry maple syrup

Being Monday morning it’s time for another “roll of the dice” .  It’s number 2 again, the same as last week.

Number 2 again this week

I don’t mind working on number 2 again this week at all, hopefully it will give me the chance to get the border on my Sampler quilt.  Or at least make a good start on it this week.  I’ve got something in mind, lets see how it all works out.

What to do for the border?

Worth it’s Weight in Gold

What a surprise to get an unexpected parcel delivered by the courier.  He quite correctly placed the parcel by the door after ringing the bell, then stood back a safe distance to while confirming he was at the correct address.

The mystery parcel

This rather heavy parcel was from my daughter Nicky.  Was it an early delivery for Mother’s Day next month, I wondered?  Should I save it, or open in now, I enquired.  Open it, was the firm response, so I did.  And what's this I found inside?  A bag of flour, about 3kg or so, I reckon!

Inside was a big bag of flour

The note read:  (abbreviated)

“Dear Nana, here’s some flour for you, we ended up getting a 20kg bag yesterday at the supermarket.  We hope you are doing well in Lockdown, and will enjoy doing baking with the flour.  Love from Emma and Nicky.”

With flour missing from our local supermarket shelves over the last few weeks, I’m extremely grateful, and can’t wait to get on with some baking.  It certainly is worth it’s weight in gold these days!

Big Stitch Quilting and Mail

This is “slow stitching” alright with the emphasis on slow………  Probably because this project only gets picked up and worked on every now and again.  But I’m OK with that, it will be done when it’s done.  And now I’ve completed big stitch quilting block number eight (of nine),  the New Zealand Clematis.

NZ Clematis block

All the lovely designs in my  New Zealand Botanical blocks were designed by Jenny Hunter as applique blocks, but I traced them out to do as stitcheries.   As the white flowers in this block tended to merge into my pale green background fabric, I decided to outline around them.

The mail man brought me an exciting little Christmas parcel, from pen friend Carol of South Dakota, just recently received as we have been away over the holidays for several weeks.  Inside were  Christmas ornaments selection preprinted onto a long fabric strip, all ready to stitch.   Carol had kindly fused  wool to the little designs as applicable, which makes it so much easier for me when I start on this project.  These designs can also be made into a small wall-hanging.  More slow stitching -  I’m  going to have fun working on these little darlings. 

From Carol, thanks so much

The last few days

What’s been happening the last few days?  All sorts, really.  Starting off with taking the hems up on two pairs of jeans for Robin.  This was a rather long drawn out job, I must confess.  The jeans were purchased some time ago, and I washed them.  A few weeks later he tried them on and I pinned up the legs to the correct length, then they sat and waited some more.  Finally I got around to stitching the hems, quite a quick job really once I got on to it.  All done – although I draw the line at taking up “proper” trousers, they get altered professionally!

There are a couple of local farms specializing in growing asparagus and we popped in to get some.  The packing house was in full swing, and lots of the asparagus gets exported.  But there is plenty left for the local market and consumers and we love it, so tender and fresh.  There is nothing better than cooked asparagus served with melting butter and plenty of pepper, or smothered in a rich cheese sauce.

At the asparagus farm

Our local group of “Pink Ladies” (Breast Cancer Support Group) was invited with other ladies groups to an Afternoon Tea.  It was a very nice afternoon out, there was sing-along music and a wonderful spread.  And very exciting, my number was called out for one of the raffle prizes.  I could choose what to take, and liked the look of the small gift baskets filled with goodies.  In fact. our table was extremely lucky, and took home 5 prizes!

Raffle Prize

Last weekend at the caravan club rally one of our members came along with boxes of spare grapefruit and lemons from their trees, and I gladly took some home.  Yesterday I made some Lemon Honey in the microwave.  The recipe only makes a small quantity, and it has to be kept refrigerated.  It’s so nice and tasty, and I’ve plenty of lemons remaining to make some more later on.  Or maybe  Lemon Meringue Pie, wouldn't that be nice?

Two jars of Lemon Honey

And there was excitement today when I received a parcel in the mail.  This was a birthday parcel from my quilting pen-friend Carol who lives in South Dakota.  As well as a gift and a pretty card, she always sends snippets from the local newspaper, and how-to patterns she collects from her quilt guild.

Quilting pin, glasses case and pussy cat fabric

So that’s been my week so far.  There’s always plenty to keep me busy, I find.

More Holiday News

It’s hard to believe we have been traveling around the South Island for 2 months, with only a couple more weeks to go.  And so far we have towed our caravan close to 3000km.  So where have we been to lately?  We were interested to see how the town of Kaikoura was getting on.  Last year Kaikoura suffered a huge earthquake which did immense damage to the road and rail link, leaving this town cut off from some time.  The coastline was raised dramatically, and our stay here gave us the chance to see some of the changes.  South Bay now has a raised coastline, with rocks now lifted up, which were previously covered by sea water.

Kaikoura coastline

While at Kaikoura we called in to visit Fyffe House, an historic property administered by Heritage New Zealand.  This historic house is built on the “bones of whales” and is all that remains of Waiopuka Whaling Station.  It really is built on top of whale bones, and we were shown where vertebrae bones were laid as a foundation to support the house.  There were tiny bedrooms on the top floor and I rather hoped that I would find an old quilt or two gracing the beds.  But no, in the later years the house was owned by a crusty old bachelor, whose housekeeping  habits were rather questionable, we were told.  But he did donate the historic old house to Heritage New Zealand, so the history can be kept alive for all to enjoy.

Fyffe House

Then we moved on to ticked another item ticked off the Bucket List – the Pelorus Mail Boat Cruise.  And what a day we had. The Marlborough Sounds is a system of drowned river valleys, which were formed after the last ice age around 10,000 years ago.   Our trip took us in and out of these tranquil waterways, surrounded by endless tree covered hills, with the boat dropping off mail along the way.  Delivering the mail meant chugging slowly into the bays, nudging up to the jetty, leaning precariously out, and swapping mail bags with the customer.

Sometimes the customers brought their pets along to meet the mail boat, so we got to meet them too.  This is Paul the pig, who was practically climbing into the skipper’s window, drooling and grunting,  while he was fed biscuits.   Then at another stop, we admired two rather cute Kune Kune pigs who came to meet everyone on the boat.

The scenery was gorgeous, there are no roads so it is boat access only.

We cruised past a tiny island, home of the King Shags with their pink feet, and these birds are only found in the Marlborough Sounds.  King shags are deep divers, feeding on bottom-dwelling fish species, and have been recorded foraging in water depths down to 50 m.

King shags on their tiny island home

We had a great day out cruising

Moving on to Nelson, and after a warm and cloudy day, the weather has changed dramatically.  But we mustn't grumble – as everyone says,  the farmers need the rain after all those weeks of over the top temperatures.  Robin’s sister Kaye and her hubby Jan live close to where we were camping, and invited us around for a Sunday roast dinner.  It was great to catch up with them, and in my book, nothing beats a leg of roast lamb, although roast pork would be a close second.  It was a wonderful meal, and we appreciated their kindness.

Jan and Kaye

Currently we are staying at Nelson, and today took a trip out to Mapua Wharf.  Once a busy coastal freight wharf during the orchard heyday, Mapua Wharf is now a trendy restaurant, bar, café and arts and crafts precinct.   But the remnants of it’s early history still remain in the buildings. The apples may be long gone, but the old buildings remain, chock full of trendy stores.

We had the very best lunch available at Mapua Wharf (in our view) and ordered fish and chips from The Smokehouse, seated outside in the sunshine – a “must do” Mapua experience.  This was followed by an ice-cream for him and a coffee for her.

Lunching at Mapua Wharf

And what’s this I found?  Another quilt shop – that wasn’t there on our previous visit six years ago.  Cushla’s Village Fabrics is well known in Auckland, and I didn’t know that they now have a shop on Mapua, Nelson.  They have been here about four years, I was told.

Robin waited patiently outside while I had a look around.  Inside was lovely, full of colour, fabrics, quilts, I could have spent ages there, just pottering about.  It made me realise that I’m getting withdrawal symptoms from my sewing machine! 

Inside Cushla’s Patchwork and Quilting

Mail Call

It’s always exciting to get a little parcel in the mail box.  And this one was extra special as I won a prize from the lovely and talented Michelle Ridgeway of “Rag-Tag Stitchin” fame.  Michelle was having a give-away and I was one of the lucky winners.

The Pocket Mini design was accompanied by a beautiful card featuring one of Michelle’s original drawings.  Called “Nap Time”, just look at that gorgeous sleepy koala!

As I’ve just recently completed stitching Michelle’s Noel Christmas Alphabet blocks, I’ve decided to use one of the designs on my Pocket Mini design as a label for this quilt, when it is finally assembled.    Thanks so much Michelle, you are very talented, and I really enjoy stitching your designs.

Have I caught up yet?

I’ve been trying very hard to catch up with things, and I’ve done quite well over the weekend.  With a flurry of finishes lately, (sorry, couldn’t resist a little brag), I’ve finally written each project up, printed them out and filed away in my quilt documentation folder.  I like to add snippets of the fabrics used in each project too, and it is so nice to look back through my books.  It’s so easy to let this step slide – a bit like not getting a label on your quilt.  And I’ve already mentioned to Robin that if I end up as a confused old lady in a rest home, my quilt folders must come with me!  If I happen to lose my short term memory, surely looking through my folders will help me remember happy quilting times.

With two new quilts on hand, it was time to ring the changes.  International Maples is now hanging over one of the couches in the lounge, and looking good, I must say.

International Maples

And as my grown-up granddaughters have assured me that they won’t having babies anytime soon, the Little Letters quilt I made for the next generation is now hanging up in my sewing room.  I may as well enjoy the bright colours myself for a while as I’m waiting to become a great-grandmother.  So down came my hand stitched pink and green angel quilt to be replaced with the ABCs.  It certainly adds a splash of colour to the room.

Hanging in my sewing room

Another bit of catching up was dealing with long overdue letters to my quilty overseas penfriends.  Sadly, I’ve been so caught up with my medical woes over the last few months that I’ve missed birthdays and neglected my penfriends appallingly.  That’s six letters written, and ready to post, so I’ve caught up on that job.  Not everyone emails, and I feel it is so nice to get a real letter in the mail box.

The weekend weather hasn’t been at all nice, so I had a pot of soup bubbling away on the stove.  Something a little different, cauliflower and potatoe, flavoured with cooked bacon and grated cheese.  Robin gets to use the wand in the soup pot to blend it all nice and smooth, as I can’t be trusted not to lift it out while it is still going – I’ve been known to get soup splattered everywhere!

Tasty soup for lunch on a cold day

So that’s what I’ve been doing this weekend, looks like I’ve caught up with things quite well.

Parcels in the Post

It’s always exciting getting parcels in the post, and I was expecting a little gift from my pen-friend Carol before Christmas, but it didn’t arrive in time.  While we were away over New Year, we had arranged for the Post Office to stop and hold our mail.  And sure enough, on our return, the missing parcel was delivered.   It wasn’t really missing, of course, just held safely until we arrived back home.

Christmas gift from Carol, of South Dakota

Carol had sent me two patterns, both from Chickadee Hollow Designs.  One was a little miniature, Baby Steps, featuring four patch blocks and embroidery.  The other was a pattern for Butterfly Memories, and Carol had included a great selection of 1930s squares for the butterflies.  She also writes such lovely newsy letters too, so it is always a joy to hear from her.

Another recent arrival was this lovely new book I had ordered, Splash of Colour, by Jackie Kunkel.  I don’t buy many quilting books, but was really taken with what I had read about it.  Lots of lovely projects, and it is quite interesting to see that all quilts have been made in two colour-ways, which can give quite a different look. 

My new book

It is certainly so much more fun to receive a parcel or two, rather than a pile of bills, wouldn’t you say.

I’ve been busy

I’ve certainly had a busy week, out and about for lunch three days in a row.  It’s a hard life sometimes, but someone’s got to do it.  Also made a batch of jam, just because I like to.  What is more “kiwi” than kiwifruit jam?  I purchased two big bags of kiwifruit  for a bargain price so I knew it was time for jam making.  It bubbled away in the preserving pan and the recipe says to break the fruit up with a potato masher.

  Cooking up kiwifruit jam

With the sugar added, plus lemon juice, it cooked away for the required time and then I ladled it into the hot jam jars.  The kiwifruit loses some of the bright green colour while it cooks, but the jam is really delicious. That lot should keep us going for some time.

Kiwifruit jam waiting for the labels

The mailman came calling with a couple of “real” letters for me this week, so that was exciting.  From two of my quilting pen friends, Glennis in UK and Carol who lives in South Dakota, USA.  I love getting real mail, and a couple of friendly newsy letters really made my week.

Letters from my quilting buddies

So far this week I’ve done a little knitting, some mending, and started stitching a new gift.  Nothing worthy of a photo just yet though.  There’s always something to keep us busy, isn’t there?

New Book in the Mail

Look what the postman brought me – a new book.  I had only ordered it a few days ago, so was very pleased it arrived so promptly.  My new book is called “Adding Layers”, by Kathy Doughty of Material Obsessions.

Kathy likes to do things big and fast.  Or as she says, quick and easy results which fit into a busy life.  I can see several designs which have taken my fancy.

But……..sadly, there is a downside.  Clearly, I had not done my homework properly before rushing off and ordering this book.  The pattern I really want to make is “Soul Searching”  from another of Kathy’s books, Making Quilts, the Promise of Joy.  This is a delectable mountain type of block, using 4 blocks arranged in groups of the same colour.    I know the block is made up of 2 1/2inch strips.  Can someone help me please?  I just need to know how long to cut each light and dark strip to make a quarter of the block.

Selvedges in the Mail

How exciting – there was an unexpected parcel in the mail today, and it was addressed to me!  Sent from quilting buddy Roz from Dannevirke, it was chocker-block full of lovely selvedges all all hues.  I know that Roz does a lot of sewing for charity, and all these selvedges show just how busy she has been.  Thanks so much Roz, I really appreciate your kindness.

Lots of lovely selvedges to play with

I’m currently half way through doing a selvedge project, which I will show shortly as soon as it is completed.  And now I have plenty more to replenish my supply!

I’ve got Mail!

We’ve finally returned home after tripping away in our caravan for a couple of weeks.  While we were away, we took advantage of the “Hold Mail” service provided by the Post Office.  For oldies like us, this service is free on production of our Gold Card.  And an important looking red bag containing our held mail was delivered today.  Amongst the boring bills, (Robin will take care of those)  were three overseas letters from my pen-friends, one each from USA, England and Germany, quilters all.  How exciting! 

In the mail box today

So I sat down quietly with a drink, opened my mail, and savoured each one.  Nothing beats a real letter, does it!

I’ve been busy since we have returned home, and done two loads of washing, unpacked the caravan, cleaned the caravan fridge and bathroom, and lugged the vacuum cleaner out to vacuum the floors.  So it is all nice and tidy for our next trip away. 

Didn’t get a lot of stitching done while we were away, never mind.  But we caught up with a couple of rellies,  checked out a couple of quilt shops,  visited new places and travelled roads previously unexplored, and had a great time. 

Too pretty not to share

My birthday is well and truly over, although the cards are still out on display.  Included amongst them are two rather lovely quilty cards, which I would like to share with you.

Glennis from Chipping Norton, UK,  sent me a hand made card featuring a ginger cat behind an old fashioned crank handle sewing machine.  There is a tiny reel of pink thread attached to the front of the card, and the inside is decorated with baby sized buttons and a piece of tape measure.  It certainly is a lovely card to send to a fellow quilter.  Glennis has travelled out to New Zealand and stayed with us twice over the years.  In fact, Glennis and her friend Sue were staying with us for the royal wedding celebrations, and we had a party night in front of the TV to celebrate.  She returned the favour when we went to UK back in 2008 and stayed at her home for several days.

From Glennis

I’m sure that most quilters are familiar with the cards made from paintings by the very talented artist Diane Phalen.  This one is from her painting “Hole in the Barn Door”, and feature colourful quilts, cats of course, and a view of rural Pennsylvania.  Sent to me from my pen-friend Carol of South Dakota, she wrote, “We’ve been quilt pals for how many years?  Knowing you is a plus, so glad to be your friend”.  We have not met up yet, but who knows, maybe one day?

From Carol

I enjoy writing and receiving “real” letters, so much more satisfying than an e-mail, I always think.  Luckily my pen-friends feel the same way, there is nothing nicer than when an airmail letter occasionally pops into the letter box, it really makes my day.