Looking Back at 2023

It’s always interesting looking back over the last year to see what has been achieved – or not.  So how did I do?  I finished six children’s quilts, all for  donation.  Let’s have a look, shall we.  First up was the second Flag quilt I made, nice easy blocks using up bits and pieces.  Each block in   the green froggy quilt were made the same cute fabric, but framed in different colours, and finished with a lime green border.  I’m keeping this one for a while, as there is a new arrival coming soon in the extended family..

Flag quilt and Froggy quilt

I finished the red, cream and blue Transportation quilt, using fabric donated to me from my elderly neighbour Dorothy’s stash, after she moved into a Rest Home.  The blue fabrics feature helicopters and tractors.

Boy’s Transportation quilt

Next was a four patch variation and a boy’s Happy Block quilt, both for donation.  I like to make a few boy’s quilts too as I feel they are often overlooked with all the pretty girly fabric around.  This boy’s quilt is backed with cozy fleece.

Four Patches and Happy Blocks

And the last quilt completed was made from Unicorn panels donated by Sew Wot friend Helen.  I’m really pleased with how this one turned out, and will probably keep it for a while.  Who knows, I may get a great grandchild from one of my horse mad granddaughters one day, she says hopefully

Unicorn panel quilt

I’d done quite a bit of knitting too.  Two little jumpers, two woolly hats and a Bunny Blanket Buddy for donation.  And five pair of socks, including Robin’s first ever pair.  Maybe his last pair too!

Robin’s birthday socks

We've had quite a busy year, spending ten weeks at the beginning of the year on our South Island caravan holiday.  We had a marvellous trip, exploring new places, revisiting old favourites, catching up with family and friends.  We got caught up with the Cook Strait ferry cancelation problems on both our trips there and back, these problems seemed to go on and on for months and put the holiday plans of so many people into disarray.  Transport of freight between the two islands was quite disrupted too.

Once we got back, we attended monthly caravan club rallies, went to various club meetings, and out to lunch with friends.  I kept busy with my quilting life, and met up with the Sew Wot ladies very fortnight. 

Robin had his second knee replacement  in August which kept us close to home and away from caravanning for a couple of months as he slowly recovered and got on with his rehab.  Luckily he was able to drive and tow the caravan again in time for our 40th Wedding Anniversary trip to Rotorua in November.  Highlights of this trip was High Tea at a posh hotel, a marvellous anniversary dinner at the restaurant at the top of the cable car and the Redwoods Tree Walk.

Redwoods Tree Top Walk

We've had a good year in 2023, and looking forward to another good year in 2024.  Thanks to all readers and fellow bloggers who take an interest in the happenings of my life, it’s great to have you here.

Lunch out, then Homeward Bound

The lazy, sunny days at Napier were coming to a close.  There really is nothing nicer than sitting under the awning, doing a little knitting or stitching, and chatting away with our friends.  Gemma discovered one of the locker doors open, and wasted no time jumping in to see what she could find.  Sorry Gemma, there’s nothing very interesting in there at all, just a cozy place to curl up.

Gemma in the locker

On our last day in camp we arranged to go out to lunch with Helen and Owen – where to but the Silky Oak Chocolate café.  It was hot and sunny, a typical Hawkes Bay day, so we sat outside the café under the awning.  Even under the awning it was so bright we needed to keep our sun glasses on to stop us squinting.  The age old question, what to order?  Robin ordered a BLT and I had a salmon roulade, and of course we needed one of their delicious iced chocolate drinks as well.  Who cares about the calories, surely they don't count when you are on holiday?

 

Lunch at Silky Oak

We called into the Chocolate Shop to buy some drinking chocolate, and to be honest a few little chocolates came home with us as well.  The staff member told us about the flood rushing through the buildings during Cyclone Gabrielle a year a go, and showed us how high up the internal walls the water rose.  All the stock had to be thrown out of course, and the business was closed for six months while repairs took place.

The following morning we packed up, said our goodbyes, and headed for home.  Just prior to Dannevirke we stopped and waited, and waited some more.  I guess that we were held up here on the road for a good 15 minutes at least.  What was wrong, we wondered?  Nothing wrong, just the never ending road works, laying asphalt on the road surface, then rolling it.

Never ending road works

We stopped for lunch at a lay-by at the beginning of Dannevirke.  Oh look, there’s a fine looking Viking to welcome us.  If you are wondering about Vikings here in New Zealand, 13 Danish and 8 Norwegian families arrived and started clearing bush and making new lives here for themselves.

Lunch stop at Dannevirke

On the road again, and we arrived home mid afternoon.  The caravan was unpacked, and put back where it belongs, laundry was started, and we collapsed in a heap, hot and bothered on such a hot day.   We had a great time away, caught up with family and friends, travelled here and there, and plenty of relaxing days in camp.  But it’s always nice to get home again, and  I’m looking forward to getting to work on my sewing machine again, it’s certainly been a while.

Holiday Knitting and Stitching

My knitting and stitching bags have come  away with me on our caravan trip.  I like to do easy knitting on car trips and I’m working on my blue socks.  Once past those tricky heels, the foot portion is all straight knitting till I reach the toes so doesn't need too much concentration.

Sock knitting in the car

Summer holidays means sitting outside under the shady awning working on my stitchery.  I’ve spent several pleasant hours working on one of my Christmas Kiwi blocks, and have now completed the kiwi and the BBQ.  That’s two finished, and two more to go, but I’m not in a hurry for this.

Kiwi cooking on the BBQ

Our caravan friends Helen and Owen came to join us for several days here at Napier.   I went out with Helen and her family to visit the Sunflower Farm on their Open Day.  So many people had the same idea, all vying for a car park.  We joined the hordes of people all walking up  the path, getting up close and personal amongst the tall, nodding sunflowers.  I had never seen so many, and everyone was entranced with them.  It was free entry to wander amongst the flowers, and when leaving the sales table was very busy with customers.  At $2.00 a stem, two sun flowers came back with me.

Helen and Jenny amongst the sunflowers

I’ve finally purchased some cherries,  I love summer cherries, so I’ll really enjoy these.  Robin doesn't care for them, so I’ll get to eat them all myself!

Cherries for me

There’s just a couple of days to go on this trip, then we will start heading home again. 

Lots to do in Napier

We've moved on to Napier to spend several days just relaxing.  But….. needs must, and we desperately needed to go to the laundromat.  There was one close by, and at the NZMCA camp we are staying, there was a huge clothesline to hang it all out.  There’s nothing better than laundry drying in the warm sunshine, is there?  Holiday or not, there’s always plenty of washing to do.

Round and round it goes

Not too far from the camp is the Filter Room which makes cider and beer.  There is also a restaurant attached and we took ourselves out for a meal, we are on holiday after all, that seemed a good excuse.  I decided to try a glass of cider, but which flavour?  Peach, I decided, and Robin tried a lager.

At the Bar

Our meals were delicious, fish and chips for me, and Robin chose sticky pork ribs, a huge serving but he managed to eat it all.  We had only ever had take-away fish and chips from this establishment before, so it was nice to try a sit down meal for a change.

Delicious meals

One of the places we like to visit in Napier is Arataki Honey, where Robin can get his  honey jars refilled.  We got a jar of Manuka, Rewarewa and Blue Borage, that will keep him happy for a while. And we picked up some more comb honey, it’s not always easy to find, so we  buy it when we can.  I also found a couple of small gifts for future birthdays which I will tuck away somewhere safe till they are needed.

Arataki Honey

Next on our list of places to go was BIrdwoods to their old fashioned sweetshop, always a favourite.  We wanted to replenish our supply of blackballs and acid drops, which we like to keep in the car.  Maybe a little fudge jumped in too.

 

Birdwoods Sweet Shop

This establishment has a gallery, sculpture garden and café as well, but we headed straight to the ice-cream shop.  It was typically warm Hawkes Bay weather, so an ice-cream was declared necessary, and we enjoyed a mixed berry ice-cream, served in a tub.  Better on a hot day, it means it didn't melt and drip all over me as an ice-cream comb is apt to do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another thing on my list was a visit to Skeinz Natural Yarn Store, a lovely shop indeed, packed full of beautiful wool and knitting accessories.  But the trouble I have going into these stores without a plan in mind is that I often get overwhelmed, so don’t buy anything.  I came out with a pattern book of baby knits, and a hank of cotton yarn and a pattern to knit a new dishcloth.

Just a couple of things in the bag

One of the things on our “must do” list was to catch up with our Hastings family again.  Niece Lisa had arranged to collect her Dad from the rest home and had booked a table for us all at The Duke of Gloucester pub in Taradale, a favourite of theirs.

Venue for lunch

It was so nice to see Dennis again, husband of my late sister Kathleen, and Lisa with her grown up family, Adam and Kate.  We pondered over the meal choices, and eventually decided.  The meals were huge and several doggy bags got taken home with the leftovers.

Robin, Kate, Jenny, Lisa, Dennis and Adam

We still have a couple more days here in Hastings, and one or two more places to visit.  And high on my “must purchase” list is some sweet summer cherries!  I love them, but so far have hardly had a taste at all, here’s hoping they are still available.

New Year Party, Berries and Peas

Generally, we spend New Year fairly quietly, but we had a family birthday celebrate.  This year we spent a very wet New Year’s Eve with my nephew Shane who was turning 60.  Shane is the eldest grandchild on the maternal side, the first child of my late sister Kathleen and hubby Dennis.   It is a tradition in this family to prepare and cook a hangi for special occasions, and this Shane did with a little help.  Not a “hole in the ground” traditional hangi, but rather one cooked in a stainless steel container, heated with gas, but still using the wet sacks as usual.

THe hangi food is ready

The birthday dinner was served, chicken, pork, lamb, potatoes, pumpkin and kumara from the hangi, with salads and bread rolls.  Very nice indeed.  Shane really wanted a birthday cake with 60 candles, which would take a bit of lighting them all.  So out came the trusty blowtorch, which soon got the job done.  Perhaps not really recommended though, there was concern that all those 60 wax candles would be melting into the top of the cake.  In fact there were two birthday cakes, plus dessert!

Shane had 60 candles to light

During the evening while chatting to Shane’s family and friends, I realised that I was the only one in the room who knew Shane as a new baby and toddler, before his siblings came along.  His Mum, my sister Kathleen, had passed away and his Dad is not well so could not travel.

Robin, Jenny, Shane and Kirstie

While in the area we drove out the next day to find the Whatawhata Berry Farm we had read about.  Seems every man and his kids where here too, the car park was full to bursting.  Pick your own berries was  in full swing and seemed to be a family favourite thing to do in the Christmas break, we saw lots of family groups carrying their cardboard baskets into the strawberry fields.  That idea sounded like too much hard work for this pair of oldies, so we purchased some berries from the farm shop instead, blue berries, raspberries and blackberries, yummy.  And ordered a mixed berry ice-cream each too.  With such a crowd, it took a while, but certainly worth the wait, they were delicious.  We found a seat under a sun shade and got to work on those ice-creams.  The weather was so hot that the ice-cream was melting as we did our best to consume them before it all ran down our fingers!  Luckily we won the melting race, with just a few drips here and there.

Ice-creams at the Berry Farm

Back at camp Robin had a job to do.  We had purchased a kilo bag of fresh peas for Christmas, but they were not required for our Christmas meal at my daughter’s home.  So Robin set to and shelled them, we blanched the peas then put then in a container in the freezer.  That will do us for a few meals, we certainly didn't want to waste them.  Robin commented he used to shell a lot of peas grown in the family garden when he lived at home with his parents. 

He’s an expert at this

I think the heat was getting to Gemma as she lay stretched out on the bed for the rest of the day, too tired to do anything.

It’s been a very warm day

While towing the caravan here and there, I’ve been doing a little knitting, working on my blue socks.  And also working on my stitchery project when I’m sitting outside the caravan under the shady awning.  But nothing much to show just yet, progress has been slow.

Where are we now?

We have moved on from the family small holding after four very pleasant and relaxed days.  Before we arrived, I was a little worried about the family dog and how he would react to a strange cat on his property.  Noodle would come and look at Gemma through the closed screen door.  Then one morning Robin had the screen door open, Gemma was on her lead, and the two met nose to nose!  I was amazed that nothing untoward happened.  It may well have been a different story if Gemma was outside the safety of the caravan door.

First meeting between Gemma and Noodle

After meandering up and down hills on a minor road, it was then straight up SH1 passing through Waiouru.  It was clear that the school holidays were in full force as the carpark in the Waiouru Army Museum was full to bursting.  Kids were everywhere, climbing over the tanks in front of the museum to their hearts content.  A little further along the Desert Road we got a reasonable photo of Mt Ruapehu.

Mt Ruapehu

And to the right of Ruapehu was Mt Ngauruhoe, which featured as Mt Doom in the Lord of the Rings films.

Mt Ngauruhoe, Mt Doom

We were heading for Lake Maraetai, at Mangakino, a freedom camping spot for a change, we don't often stay at these.  The first area we checked out was full of campers and day trippers, no room for our long caravan here.  Before we moved on to another area I stopped to take a photo of this interesting set up.  How about is cute little tear drop caravan!

Parked at the lake side

We found another area not too far away with plenty of room for us to get set up.  But…….. on arrival when I was moving Gemma from the car to the caravan we were set upon by the  neighbour’s off lead little dog!  That's one of the reasons we don't do freedom camping, people don't care that their dogs run free into other peoples camp sites.  And the reply when I mentioned that we had a cat and could they please keep their dog under control?  “Oh”, she said, “Our dog is trained not to chase cats, and we can’t find the lead”.   No wonder I get upset!  Just as well we are only staying for one night.

Lake Maraetai

I've taken both my knitting and stitching bags away with me, but so far haven't much to show at all.  Before we left home I made sure I had completed the heels on my 4ply blue socks.  As a  very average knitter, I think whoever worked out how to design and shape heels must have been very clever indeed!  With that done, it’s all plain knitting till I reach the toe shaping.

Blue socks so far

We will be heading further north each day, we like to keep our drives short while towing if we can.  There is a family 60th birthday to attend on New Year's Eve, which should be fun.

Christmas, here we come.

The caravan was packed, and we were on our way to Kiwitea, to stay with my daughter and her family.  Santa Bear and the Christmas cushions were coming away with us on this trip, and we mustn’t forget the bag of Christmas gifts for the family.

Christmas in the caravan

Expecting the holiday traffic to  be very busy, we kept off SH1 and drove along some quieter rural roads. It’s always good to be safely off the roads in the busy holiday period, and we were soon parked up on the property.  My bacon and egg pie went down a treat for our evening meal, with baby new potatoes and a salad.

The next morning we drove down to Feilding for a family and friends brunch.  Friendly Feilding, as it is   known is a rural town in Manawatu, and the iconic clock tower is slap bang in the middle of town.

 

Feilding clock tower

Our group all enjoyed a nice brunch, I ordered waffles with fruit, so yummy.  There was plenty of happy chatter around the table as we all tucked in to our breakfasts.

Brunch time

We took a little tiki tour on the way back to Kiwitea, and stopped in at the local honey business, Down Under Honey.  What a cute little shop it was.  We were after some comb honey, and also purchased a jar of Kamahi honey too.

Down Under Honey

And we certainly weren’t expecting to see ostriches on this property, but there they were, right by the driveway.  If you didn’t know, a group of ostriches is called a herd.

Ostriches at the Honey Farm

Christmas morning dawned rather wet, and much cooler than the previous few days.  After the traditional family breakfast of croissants with ham and cheese, it was time to open the gifts.  Granddaughter Emma loves Christmas, and dressed as a Christmas Elf, took over the responsibly of handing out the gifts.  Lots of lovely gifts changed hands, with cries of “just what I wanted” from the happy recipients.

Emma dressed as a Christmas Elf

I had knitted the granddaughters a cozy pair of socks each, which will be put away till the colder weather.  Knitted with double knit together with 4 ply sock yarn, they knit up as triple knit and don’t take too long to make.  Pink socks for Megan and green socks for Emma.

Socks for the granddaughters for Christmas

And amongst my gifts from Nicky was a lovely skein of pretty pink sock yarn.  How nice, I’ll be using this to knit socks for me!

Pretty sock yarn for Christmas

Of course, the next big thing was Christmas Lunch.  Robin and Robert got the BBQs cranked up for roast pork and chicken and bacon roll-ups, another family Christmas tradition.  Lovely smells of cooking wafted around from the BBQs.

Cooking Christmas Lunch on the BBQs

The weather cleared up late morning so we could eat outside on the deck.  Neighbours arrived, and we settled down to lunch.  With pork, chicken, various salads and the neighbour’s home made rye bread, we were very well fed indeed.  Glasses of bubbly were raised in a toast, and everyone was quiet as we enjoyed our delicious meal.  After a respite it was time for desserts.  Granddaughter Megan had made a layered berry meringue dessert, simple but so delicious, I’m certainly going to borrow this recipe for the future.  She also had made a chocolate cheesecake, and the neighbor had brought along a chocolate mousse.  We  were certainly well fed.

It was a lovely afternoon indeed, and I have to admit that we both sneaked away from the festivities for a quiet nana nap in the caravan.  Too much food and bubbles in the middle of the day out in the sunshine, I think.  Merry Christmas to all our friends and readers, thanks for reading and wishing you all a lovely day.