The Angel and the Pukeko

Stuck for a gift? Look what I found…..

2009-12-11T23:08:00.001+13:00

Sweetie Treatie Tree
The Sweetie Treatie Tree is fun and easy to make, it can be used as a gift as well as reused at home year after year.

You will need:
A small terracotta pot
A sturdy stick or piece of dowel
A polystyrene ball
Plaster of Paris
Double sided sticky tape
Wrapped sweets and treats, chocolates, mini choc bars, candy canes, truffles, bags of m&m's…

Make up the plaster of Paris according to the packet directions; pour into the pot (you may need to plug up the drainage hole in the bottom of the pot). Insert the stick into the centre of the plaster and leave to set. When completely dry, whittle a hole into the polystyrene ball so that it fits snugly and securely onto the stick. Cut strips of double sided sticky tape and wrap all over the ball, press individually wrapped treats onto the ball until it is completely covered.
Take the sweetie tree to other peoples houses as a gift or after dinner treat, use at birthday parties or as a table centrepiece.
To reuse, remove old sticky tape and replace with fresh tape and a new stock of goodies. Our sweetie treatie tree has been in use for around 10 years now.

And just in case you have nothing today, here is another picture to inspire you and the link to get all of the details. I think that I will definitely have to have a go at these. The look fun.

http://www.destitutegourmet.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=35&Itemid=69

Only 17 days to go….

2009-12-08T21:07:00.001+13:00

and I have already eaten far too many rum balls!! AND these were plain rum balls not scrummy ones with marshmallow centres like our friend Cathy always has (sad face), not that it stopped me obviously!

I am so naughty…. but nice….

Hugs from the growing Deb.xx

Just a quickie because I forgot to show you something…

2009-12-05T22:09:00.001+13:00

Just a quick post people as I forgot to show you what I sent Sally for my swap with Snickerdoodles. I was so excited with showing you the goodies that Sally had sent me it entirely slipped my mind. I sent her one of the felt decorations I showed a couple of posts ago and this…….

a Christmas card hanging holder. I was quite pleased with way it turned out as it was just one of my own ideas I had thought about. The wee drawstring bag at the bottom holds the tiny wee wooden pegs to use for hanging the cards with. In fact I might make us one for home, not that we have as many cards as we used too. I think with the introduction of emails we have all got a bit lazy but I decided if I didn’t see the person regularly then I would send a card, but if they are “day to day” friends I would be speaking to them.

Of course with all of our lovely blogging friends from around the world I’ve posted a few more this year.

Hugs in Stitching,

Deb xx

OMG Look what the postie bought…..

2009-12-03T19:32:00.002+13:00

Well today’s event (the funeral) went well. What an amazing man my managers husband had been, his commitment to the community was incredible. He had been a dedicated policeman for many years and also played a huge part in St Johns Ambulance being awarded the Order of St John, and the Higher Order. He was a wonderful family man and the service represented who he was beautifully. Lots of tears and many smiles.

On a happier note I arrived home tonight to the mail. Wow-wee. I received a parcel from Sally Giblin containing my ornament swap for the Snickerdoodles swap I mentioned a couple of posts away. I was blown away. Sally spoilt me rotten.

Here are my gorgeous ornaments and the card she sent……

and on the tree. How did she know I adore Santa’s, aren’t they adorable. BUT wait there’s more…..

…… yes , Sally included six of her Rivendale Collection patterns. Who’s a happy girl then? Me of course!

I must tell Sally when I write tonight to send my Thanks, that with her being such a generous spirit she fits the description of a blogger and she should really get a computer and start a blog!

Hugs in Stitching Deb xx

What a week….

2009-12-02T21:47:00.002+13:00

Well since I last posted the week went from bad to worse. As I mentioned I started with a migraine last Monday, well I finally got back to work today, yep an 8 day migraine that was absolute hell. I am used to migraines but this was a rare one and one I don’t want to repeat any time soon, god willing. The pain was incredible and my head felt as if it was truly going to explode. On Saturday I went through our cupboards and I was at the stage where if there were any pain killers in the house I wanted them, I didn’t care. Sunday I ended up on narcotics and then Monday I was back to the doctor asking how long do I leave this and have to put up with this pain. She advised more narcotics and if things didn’t settle then I.V fluids and drugs to really kill it. So Tuesday morning came around far too quickly, I phoned asking her to phone me as nothing had settled and the top was about to blow. Then all of a sudden the pain was so intense I was sobbing and then it disappeared. Gone thank goodness. Please, never again.

Now last week I received in the mail my SSCS from Jeanette .It was exciting. I opened my parcel and then the small one which was the decoration. The other parcel I have placed under the Christmas tree near the back so that when I pass I don’t see it as my willpower is non existent, if it wasn’t I wouldn’t be the size of Mrs Claus. But here are my goodies. See my gorgeous little elf…

See I have hidden it…. Thank you Jeanette.

Now also about 10 days ago I decided to order myself a couple of books from Fishpond which I have looked at for awhile and finally I thought “Blow It”, I’m having them.

Here’s the first one…. Sew Sunny Homestyle, a Tone Finnegar book…… talk about yummy goodies inside this one.

The second one arrived today and I am absolutely thrilled with this one too.

Its Quilt a Gift by Barri Sue Gaudet from Bareroots Designs.

Both are “must haves” and I can’t wait till the New Year cause boy I am so going to get organised for birthdays etc next year, wahoo.

Well working Thursday and Friday this week to make up for being sick Monday and Tuesday which in some ways is great as it means I don’t loose any pay.

Sadly tomorrow our team at work are going to a funeral as our lovely manager had a call at work on Friday to say her husband had passed away suddenly. Talk about devastating, I know its going to be very sad as they have known each since they were 16 and got married when they were 18, have 4 boys and have been married 42 years. Absolute soul mates. A very rare marriage.

Sorry on that sad note I will leave you all, go and give all those special people in your lives a big hugs cause life is not a rehearsal and we don’t know what could happen tomorrow.

Thank you all for being who you are.

Many, many hugs in stitching,

Debs. xx

Swaps ready to post tomorrow…

2009-11-24T18:45:00.001+13:00

Finally my gift for my SSCS is already to put in the post tomorrow and send it on its way to ………. who lives in …………..

Bye, bye SSC parcel, had fun making you, hope your new owner likes you.

I have also finished my decoration swap for Snickerdoodles. This was a fun swap as my swap partner is Sally Giblin , designer of The Rivendale Collection patterns. When Darlene, from Snickerdoodles told who my partner was, my comment to her was “Right no pressure then!”. Now Sally does not own a computer, is not at all internet savvy and doesn’t have a website for her designs or a blog and has never been part of a swap before . Yep so to introduce myself to Sally I had to do that old fashioned thing- write a letter. I am sure that when she received it she thought “who is this mad woman?”

So I received a lovely thick envelope back and was quite excited as Darlene had told me that Sally loves writing letters- WRONG DARLENE!!. The thickness in the envelope were the photocopied pages from magazines who had done profiles on Sally and she had sent them to me so I could read all about her, now I call that clever thinking.
Anyway Sally’s decoration is all ready and will be posted tomorrow with the SSCS but I’m not going to show you a photo of what it is yet as I liked what I made so much I am making it for another gift and that person does read my blog so sorry…….

Today in the post I received a lovely gift from Julz as I won a giveaway on her blog where we had to guess the amount of buttons in the jar. Well things like drive me crazy and I had to have more than one guess, determination in my quest. Anyway this is what the lovely Julz sent me……

A beautiful felted wool heart with a little wooden stand/bottom. Looks great in our lounge area – Thanks Julz.

Another hot , windy day here today and I have spent the day at home with a migraine that started at work yesterday. I thought because I had got through the day yesterday with taking my migraine tablets (and a couple of visits to the bathroom) it was finishing but no, this morning at 2.30am it was back with vengeance. I had such a good run without migraines and now have had them back visiting again, I hope they aren’t here to stay.

Hope you have all had a good day and to my friends in Aussie I hope the hot weather is not causing many problems and those fires are staying away. I will leave you with a lovely photo of our garden fence on which DH espaliered this rose onto, fantastic isn’t it.

Hugs in stitching, Deb

Adopted pumpkins, and busy,busy,busy….

2009-11-21T18:23:00.001+13:00

Wow,where on earth has the time gone? This week has been quite momentous for this household, we have had three new members added to our family. Yes we have adopted…….. and they are English. We are so very lucky as our new family members have fitted into the family so easily, its like they have always been here.

So you obviously want to know more, I can hear you asking. Well we were so lucky as a dear friend of mine who lives in the U.K , Wendy, kindly offered to organise this adoption for me, well I just couldn’t say no. They are just so adorable, smell good and really snuggly squishy. Do you want to meet them…… you do….. well here they are…….

Aren’t they just the cutest and they fit in beautifully with my rooster family in the box window of our kitchen…….. yep they’re my 3 little pumpkins which Wendy made and sent me. I’m such a tease aren’t I? These are the type of family members I like to adopt, they don’t make a lot of noise or leave a mess. (Okay so I know things will change when grandchildren come along but that's a long time away so in the mean time I’m just saying …)

Also this week I have busy crafting, my poor sewing room looks like a bomb has hit it…

…… ~~crap~~ stuff everywhere. I did make all of these decorations though…..

And well this weekend has ended up being a real stinker weather wise. As I have said many times I hate the heat so how you girls in Aussie bear it I have no idea. But to do something which wasn’t to taxing today this is how I spent my afternoon…..

Yep I’ve put up the Christmas tree (or DH put it up) and I decorated it and started putting the decorations around the lounge. The lovely hanging above Melanie made for me last year and my little knitted Christmas Carollers below my Auntie Lorna knitted and when she passed away I was asked if I would like them as we always chatted away about crafts together. Aren’t they just the best.

And apart from that its sewing, sewing, sewing and I have two Christmas swaps all ready to wrap and get in the post in the next couple of days.

Hugs in Stitching, Deb xx

Xmas swaps, the garden and a purchase

2009-11-15T18:56:00.002+13:00

Hi team, well as we are so aware the silly season is sneaking up quicker and quicker. I have completed one swap gift and am working on my SSCS gift, almost completed and ready to post. I can’t believe how the time crept up on me, I had prepared everything, knowing exactly what I was making and thought I had heaps of time then all of a sudden its only 5 days till posting. Needless to say I have had a lovely weekend stitching.
Since I can’t show you a photo of what I have been stitching I thought I would show you my gardening angel.

I made her when I went to my first Symposium and did a class with Jean Wells Keenan from the Stitching Post. It was a brilliant class and what an amazing lady.

Well I went to Borders Bookshop on Friday as they had 30% off their non-fiction books. I said to DH “Come on, I can get Julia Child’s Book so much cheaper.” Anyway we arrived at the store and I found a couple of magazines I wanted to send away to a friend, and off I went on a mission down to the cooking shelves.

There sitting predominately in view was “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” by Julia Childs etc BUT sitting on the shelf above it was a book called “The Thrifty Kitchen”. Mmmm I thought to myself, that looks a very nice book, so as one would expect I picked up both of the books, rounded DH up and said , “Come on, buy your wife a coffee so she can decide between these two books.”. He shook his head thinking here we go again.

So finally the decision was made , I bought “The Thrifty Kitchen” and decided Julia could stay on the Christmas wish list.

The decision was swayed a) because of the price, it was more expensive than Julia, so I felt it was sensible to get it whilst 30% off and b) having looked through every page there was very little that I would actually have to go out and buy in the way of ingredients. This fact was the decider. The recipes are lovely and the only things I bought in the groceries to cover myself were some curry pastes and some other spices.

Last night I made “Slightly Spicy Salmon Cakes” for dinner and they were yummy. DH is having the leftovers tonight. But they were so easy.

Well we had our bimonthly breakfast out this morning with the friends who I went to Intermediate School with- yes I was 11years old when I meet these friends and now 38years later, we still get together but with our spouses. Its fabulous and we are all such good friends.

So today we went to a lovely garden centre which has a cafe attached. Normal meals all round, eggs Benedict and bacon but DH shocked the socks off me and had Chocolate Chip pancakes with raspberry coulis and vanilla ice cream. Yes this was at 9am this morning he was eating ice cream!! Sometimes he can be a naughty, naughty boy. But whilst we were having our coffee’s and waiting for our meals we had a look around us and WOW, this place had some wonderful kitchen bits and bobs. I came home with these…..

….aren’t they gorgeous. My little red “Top Cat” rubbish tin (do you remember that programme, Top Cat and Officer Dibble?) and my little red scrubber which you fill the handle with detergent and push the button on the top to release it when scrubbing those nasty pots etc. I did actually have a plastic bin on the bench for my organic wastes but this one is soooooooo much nicer, the other one is a gone-burger! So as I said to Melanie, this is the beginning of me bringing in red to my kitchen. I’m wanting red and white spots but this is a beginning and will blend easily. (lol) .

Its been a beautiful weekend weather wise here and we had a holiday on Friday for the Canterbury Anniversary Day. DH pottered in the garden when we came home after brekky today and bought in our first lot of radishes and spring onions from the garden. Yummy, every time I have walked by the kitchen another radish has lost its life. I have been out cutting more roses for around the house, I so love it when my roses start to flourish.

So my very dear friends, I hope that you have all had / are having a lovely weekend where ever you are- a shame that tomorrow’s Monday isn’t it?

Hugs in Stitching, Deb xx

What a brilliant day….

2009-11-12T15:20:00.002+13:00

Well I did something today that I have thought of doing many times but just couldn’t do it. Why today was different I don’t know, but now that I have achieved this I can’t believe it took me so long. What was it you ask? Well……..

I went to the movies on my own…. pathetic isn’t it, but it was something I couldn’t do unless I went with a friend. So needless to say there are many times when I desperately wanted to go to a movie but DH or one of the kids weren’t interested so I just waited till it came out in DVD.

But I really, really wanted to see Julie and Julia so today was the day. I grabbed a large latte and went to the 11.40am session. There were about 12 people in the theatre, one other woman on her own, everyone else in pairs.

What a movie. I was totally engrossed whilst it was on and unaware of anyone else in the theatre. Absolutely brilliant movie, loved every single minute of it. I came out of the theatre with a smile like a Cheshire cat that I could feel across my face but I couldn’t stop it. I had a really light feeling throughout and I wanted to cook. I went to the bookshop at the bottom of the escalator from the movies and there was “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”, Julia Child’s book. It was $50.00 so I think it will have to be suggested as a Christmas present that maybe the kids could give me together.

• COVET (verb)
The verb COVET has 1 sense:

1. wish, long, or crave for (something, especially the property of another person)

So finally I have something that I can say I “Covet”, and sadly its just a cook book but a good cook book.

And if you haven’t seen the movie yet, go, hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I did. Go here http://www.sonypictures.com.au/movies/julieandjulia/ to see the trailer.

The other great thing that I can tell you is the Jennifer who I was a Stitchers Angel for has let me know that she has received her parcel which is great as I was worried it may have gone missing. These are what I made for her.

Of course the roses theme- so inside the carry bag was a coffee mug with a hugger and coaster and a journal all covered in roses fabrics.

Hugs in Stitching, Deb xx

Stitcher’s Angel swap gift received

2009-11-10T20:42:00.001+13:00

I was extremely spoilt this week as on Monday morning at 7.30am the courier delivered a parcel to my door. It was my Stitchers Angel gift from the wonderful Veronica. I have been really lucky and been a swap partner with Veronica before so when I found it who was my Angel it was a lovely surprise. I had absolutely no idea who it was by the couple of emails Veronica had sent me as she had used a secret email address too-very sneaky, lol.

Anyway talk about spoilt rotten! I know we say it all of the time and repeat it over and over but blogging friends are such generous people. Just look at these amazing gifts, I was really blown away.

This is the beautiful magazine/book /sneaky goodies holder that hangs down the side of the bed. Veronica had even included the latest Quilt magazine. I remember seeing it on Veronica’s blog and thinking how lovely it was. Veronica used a colouring technique to fill in details, what a great time she must have had, just like colouring in when we were little.

Then this photo shows my magazine, a lovely covered notebook to keep all of my secret blogging business in, a gorgeous sewing dilly bag with 4 pockets round the outside and each individual pocket contained a different packet of crafting buttons AND inside the bag was a yummy, yummy bag of Peanut Butter Brittles which I can tell you went down an absolute treat………

But wait there’s more….. This amazing bundle of fabrics was inside the sewing bag also. I was absolutely speechless and I can assure you it takes a lot to render my speechless.

Aren’t they beautiful. Veronica, thank you so very very much, you have touched my heart.

And just to finish this post off here is a photo of my first vase of roses for the spring , cut from the garden to have in the lounge. This is DH’s rose which I bought for him when we were first married, First Love, but sadly it has no fragrance. The things which are acceptable when we are first married eh, …. not anymore..lol.

Hugs in stitching, Deb xx

Christmas is definitely coming and more….

2009-11-08T14:07:00.001+13:00

Well a busy weekend but a wonderful sense of satisfaction reigns thank goodness. I thought for awhile I was way behind with things but I’m not so that’s good.

Firstly I received in the mail on Friday from Carole a piece of tea dyed calico for me to do a stitchery of some sort on which Carole is going to put together with other quilters/stitchers pieces she has sent out, and make a quilt. Isn’t this a fabulous idea? When Carole asked for people to do this for her I thought, I’d love to.

So this is what I did this weekend and it will be in the post to Carole tomorrow, so one less worry with the silly season approaching.

Hope this is what you were thinking of Carole.

If you are looking at Carole’s blog you will also notice that she had a wee visitor inside……… well I went into the sewing room Friday and look, Frank had also bought something in for me to see….

Yep, that’s feathers. (I removed the actual body before the Forensics team started photographing.) The suspect is in the holding basket sound asleep with an extremely proud smile on his little cute face. I have since been out grocery shopping and came home to find all evidence of any homicide vacuumed up by the suspects favourite partner in crime- DS. Great job too Jack, thanks mate, anytime you need a job give your Mother a call.

Now, last night since the house was sooooooo peaceful as DH is away “bonding” (drinking beer and telling lies like boys do! Nothing at all like our ladies weekends away!!), and DS was socialising and DD was working, and the only things I had to do was watch the last 15mins of the rugby on TV to say “I saw the game hun, yeah great game…”, I sat with fore-mentioned suspect curled up beside me and stitched.

I completed this which is going to be part of a little something I just whizzed up for Christmas……

and then I copied a whole lot of these out , ironed on weave line on the back and then started stitching them.

Now the other thing I must say girls is that I was reading Vikki’s blog the other night and she was discussing how we all have trouble or seem to at some time or other doing our posts in blogspot. Well Vicki, (yes another one) left a comment about how she uses Windows Live Writer for all her posts now. So I downloaded Windows Live Writer and have used it for this post and the previous one and HECK YES girls it is a doddle. So much easier to use and it just transfers the post onto your blog lickitidy split without any problems such as trying to open blogspot or being unable to load photos. FANNYTASTIC. So thanks Vikki for mentioning it in your blog and thanks Vicki for giving us the solution. Marvellous ladies.

The only thing I have to find out is how to get my signature back …. will let you know.

The Final…….Canterbury Wins Again.

2009-11-07T21:38:00.001+13:00

Well it was a tough game but Canterbury did us proud once again. The Air New Zealand Cup stays in the provence. This is their 5th “Final “ Game win, they made history. Bad luck Wellington , I will admit I felt sorry for all of your team, you looked gutted. Great effort .

I am sitting watching the television as the boys are given their medals for winning and its so cool as they have young kids , obviously budding footballers , presenting the boys with their medals.

The only thing that always makes me question the celebrations, “Why give them a magnum of Champagne to celebrate when all they can do is shake the bottle and spray it all over each other?” What a waste. Boys that’s what it is , I sure.

Crochet and a swap.

2009-11-05T14:50:00.005+13:00

Well it may seem that I have been idle of late but I promise you I have not.

I pulled my crochet hooks out of hiding, have wiped off the dust and cobwebs and decided they needed an airing. DS asked me if I would make him a blanket for the back seat of his car. Well................ I thought as all mothers do, why does he want a blanket for the back seat of his car and then I very quickly thought, do I want to know. Hell no, of course not.
So we toddled off to Spotlight for a mother /son bonding morning, he picked out the burgundy wool, I made him buy me a coffee and we sat and chatted catching up on whats happening with him which was so lovely
Then he chauffeured me into town and told me he needed new undies. Now he told me as he knows I won't buy him cheap undies in the 7 pack or whatever from the supermarket or Warehouse, I buy him the nice undies like Bendon mens or Jockey brand. DS and I have worked it out that I can buy him 4 pairs of quality undies which last for ages and he literally throws them out when the material has worn holes in them because it has got so thin. Now cheap pack undies don't last a quarter of the length of time, they literally fall apart, seams rip, elastic comes out so we just don't go there anymore.
Anyway as I said to DS if his plans happen as he is talking and he ends up going flatting next year he will be buying his own underwear in the future so he will be parting with his money not mine!!

So where was I, I digressed from crochet didn't I, sorry about that. So here is his blanket, I finished it Monday night and stitched all of the threads in Tuesday night so he now has it for his car.

Now that it is finished and DD has decided she wants one for her car. She wants her's in navy blue and thankfully I have just brushed off a few more cobwebs and dust and found some bags of navy wool and white wool in the garage so thats what she will be getting. She knows that hers may take a little bit longer as I have some Christmas sewing to complete.

In the mail today I received a parcel of loveliness from my dear friend Melanie. Melanie and I did a swap between the two of us - The Seaside was the theme. We decided we would make each other 2 cushion covers. Here are the two I received from Melanie, they are absolutely fabulous.

The Seashells.....

The Ice cream cones...... Aren't they lovely. Have a closer look at the fabrics they are gorgeous.

Melanie also sent me these goodies....
some more of the lovely printed fabric she used, some cream fabric with ribbon through it, 2 lots of laces, some lovely coasters which have been made from the fabric she used on the back of the cushion covers, a fresh water pearl necklace, some seaside charms, a bookmark from Southport where she lives and some shells which she collected from her own wee beach.......

and a tea towel showing Southport.

I was so absolutely spoilt, Melanie is such a generous soul and I love her to bits.

Thank you hun.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend., I hope to be head down, bottom up stitching my wee heart out.

Fabrics, smiles and progress.

2009-10-31T16:05:00.006+13:00

Isn't Spring grand... these is our first rose popping its head out to the sun. It unfortunately has no fragrance, so its actually very lucky to be owned by me as I normally only have fragrant roses in my garden. This one is a standard rose which sits on our deck called "Matawhero Magic". The colour is so intense, its beautiful.
Also popping up in the garden is my first lot of Lily of the Valley. I adore this small delicate little plant. The fragrance is too die for.

Just a wee bit of shopping has been done lately but I just couldn't resist. I saw this card below and had to have it...... it is so true and left such a smile on my face....

.... its rue for all of us I am sure. "I was born to make quilts then forced to go to work." Sad isn't it....

We went to the garden centre today as darling dog kindly dug the cucumber plant out of DH's glass house. He was not impressed so off we went to replace it. I saw this whilst there and bought it for DH as once again the words said it all.........

....it is now hanging from our back door. LOL

Earlier this week I saw these fabrics which were absolute must haves...... Victorian Toy Attic Panel. I have an old Pedigree dolls pram which I intend doing up and having sit in one of our bedrooms with my china baby doll in it. I thought I might make up this panel into a cot quilt/pram quilt and use it in the pram. I think holding onto to it until we are proud grandparents is probably testing fate.....

.......we would probably have all boys or none at all. Think I'll stick to the pram.

This is some of the other fat quarters I got in the same range, they are so lovely.

Now before our trip to the garden centre today we had to pop into Spotlight to pick up some Clover Quick Bias for Shiree as she was unable to get it down south. So as one does when one is in a fabric shop one has to browse the fabrics (of course there was a definite goal in mind).

These are some decorating cottons which are quite heavy and I thought how they would make up a gorgeous bag, black band round the top and the patterned bottom......mmm, I'm feeling it.

So apart from those little purchases I have been a good girl and had my Stitchers Angel goodies posted about a week ago but it had to fly to the States so might take 10-14 days and I have another swap all ready to go which I was doing with Melanie. The theme for this swap was " The Seaside" and we were doing 2 cushion covers for each other. So I will post that off tomorrow, then its time to finish my SSCS gift and some decorations for a swap and then send of my Christmas fat quarters, buttons and ribbon to my partner (when I find out who they are) for Jenny and Vicki's Quick Christmas Swap. So you'd better have a quick look at Jenny's blog cause if you blink you'll miss out on the swap, its happening quickly.

The final holiday post... I promise.

2009-10-23T08:00:00.000+13:00

As I have mentioned before, I was staying with a girlfriend and her husband who had built this house on 4 acres in Paihia over the last couple of years. I had followed the build with everything Jane had told us but I had never actually seen the home. I was expecting their house to be big but perhaps not quite this big, it is fantastic although of course when you are actually living in the house it doesn't feel large at all.

This is the first view I got as we turned into their driveway.

As we got closer and further along the drive....

This end of the house is the apartment which is rented out for homestays. The bedrooms to their living area start about 1/3rd of the way along, then into the living and kitchen areas. The jutting out bit on the right end of the house is the conservatory which opens onto the pool area.

The french doors on the left are from the apartment onto the verandah then the other french doors are off two of the bedrooms.

Its such a lovely house. They have planted fruit trees galore which produce absolutely scrummy oranges-no pips and lots of juicy delightfulness. They also have lemons, grapefruit, passionfruit, figs and a huge vegie garden. It also really nice as Pete works from home so they actually get to enjoy their surroundings 24/7.

The day before I left we went to Waitangi. This is the massive waka on display at Hobson Beach.

This is the tree which the waka was carved from, isn't it truly amazing. Look at its size.

Look at the size of this punga tree. It just keeps on growing towards the light, I would hate to guess how old it is.

This sculpture below is in KeriKeri, north of where I was staying about 15 minutes. It was incredible to look at. There are pieces of metal in between the rocks which have water coming out of them in places like a waterfall. There are truly gifted artists living in this area of New Zealand.

And the pictures below are of a shop we went into which I thought was just the most lovely place. The lady kindly let me take these shots to share.

Yummy chooks above, comforters below.....

French giftware.......

and lots of lovely fragrances wafting around the shop.

And finally because the little girl in all of us pops in to visit occasionally I had to take this shot for those of us who believe in fairies.
Such an adorable little faerie dell (but you need a really little bottom to sit on those seats.....)

Well thats my few days away, thanks for your patience whilst I shared. Now life returns to normal and I will get back to my stitching snaps.

The important visit and a potty fit for royalty.......

2009-10-22T08:00:00.001+13:00

Day 2 of my visit we went to this place.........

......... after all if its not a fabric shop, second best will just have to do. Mmmm....yummy!

The photos below show you that it is possible to go potty like a princess!

These are the toilets in Kawakawa in the Bay of Islands. These were designed by Friedrich Hundertwasser who was an internationally regarded architect and ecologist and who was commissioned in 1997 to build them.

The Kawakawa toilet block with its ceramic columns, garden roof and curving, colourful exuberance has put the Northland town on the international tourist route and travellers from around the world pay homage to the man and his unique, architectural charm.

Tiles used in the project were made by students from schools in Kawakawa , bricks came from local buildings and the windows in the block were constructed using old bottles from the district.

These are certainly impressive toilets and as sad as it sounds they smelt beautiful and were absolutely spotless. The people of the town are certainly proud of their "landmark".

More holiday photos.........

2009-10-21T13:46:00.003+13:00

Whilst away Jane took me to see the Stone House in the Bay of Islands. What a beautiful building.

Here we are inside ........

......mmmm yummy reproduction fabrics too.

... gorgeous linen nightwear, old fashioned toiletries, lovely jugs with linen covers .....

huge bars of soap and great bundles of wooden pegs. I bought 3 bundles, couldn't not.

The area was lovely and I must admit there were many things tempting me to open my wallet but I was strong. The pegs were only $3.00 a bundle so they didn't break the bank (whew!)

Because I have so many photos to share I am doing small posts so in my next post I will tell you all about my visit to the local toilet in KawaKawa, I bet you can't wait for that......

Hi hunny's, I'm home........

2009-10-20T14:40:00.009+13:00

Well arrived home late last night from a very relaxing 5 days away in Paihia, Bay of Islands at the top of the North Island of New Zealand.

I arrived in Auckland to drizzling rain on Thursday morning but as always very warm. My girlfriend Janey was there to meet me and we then had the 3 hour drive to Paihia ahead of us. As we headed north then drizzle stopped but then without any warning we were driving in torrential rain. Talk about make up your mind would you......

We stopped on the way home to Jane's at The Apple Basket Patchwork shop in Kaiwaka. What an amazing shop. The quilts hanging around the walls were stunning and absolutely beautifully made. Didn't take any photos sorry, just didn't even think about it as I was so busy looking at all of the goodies they had.

Yes I did manage just a wee purchase, in fact I was extremely restrained.

I bought Rosalie Quinlans book "the Gift" and some lovely pastel gingham fat quarters.

Then we continued on our merry way. I must admit it was lovely to arrive at Jane and Pete's place and relax. Was so good to see them again.

On Friday morning this was what I first saw when I jumped out of bed and opened the curtains...

These gorgeous Pukeko's, a Mum and her 3 babies. Is that karma or what? I text DH at home and told him and he immediately said that Joyce (my Mum) had gone on holiday with me.

Actually, sadly they are a pest and have to be culled occasionally to keep them away from crops and being a nuisance around the farms etc. I made it very clear there was to be no culling whilst I was on the property though.....

This is also the view from the bedroom window I was in.

Wouldn't you love to wake to this view..... it was tough let me tell you.

Back to reality........

2009-10-11T19:50:00.002+13:00

Okay so DH doesn't look anything like ANY of the members of Il Divo, but I promise I tried my hardest to make visualisation work but no luck. I don't know what it was that finally triggered the fact that it wasn't going to happen, whether its the bald head, the protruding tummy, the fact that he can't sing, that he's 53 , nope none of those it was the simple fact that he doesn't own a suit. What was I thinking............

So back to my second love. I have managed to finish my embroidery around the outside of my charm square quilt and now the top is complete reading to sandwich and quilt. So its been added to the pile!

What else have I been up to you ask?

Okay, well I am attempting to crochet some dish cloths and I am getting myself organised for a trip to visit a girlfriend in the Bay of Islands on Thursday. I'm so looking forward to it. Jane and I have been like sisters for many, many years and we really look forward to catching up as she lives near the very top of the North Island and of course we're down South.

I haven't even seen Jane's new home which they have built. From the photos I have seen which have been mainly in building stages its huge. They have an apartment attached to the house for homestays and another apartment attached to the garage. I hope the weather picks up as they have been having terrible rain up there lately although it doesn't get cold like it does here. Jane suggested I took my swim suit as they have a pool but I think I might give that one a miss, wouldn't like to shock the natives too much.

So I fly into Auckland early Thursday morning and fly home late Monday night then have all of next week off work so wahoo.......

Jane even suggested I may like to look at some fabric shops in Auckland before we travel north??? Now why would I want to do that........... HELL YES PLEASE!

So I will post when back and hopefully lots of photos.

Have a great week.

I know this is overload but I think I've found a new hobby ..........

2009-10-06T20:15:00.001+13:00

Just home from Il Divo and O.M.G........

2009-10-05T23:23:00.004+13:00

What an absolutely incredible evening. Those 4 men besides being absolutely blimin gorgeous to look at have the most amazing voices. To have been privileged enough to be able to sit and listen to them live in concert is something I can honestly say I will never, ever forget.
The music draws the listener into its depth and you manage to loose yourself totally. Where their voices come from amazes me. It seems no effort for them.....
The songs they sang were in English and Italian/Latin and also one in French. If you were unable to understand the words it didn't matter, you felt like you were swimming in the words.
Their latest songs from the album "The Promise" left me sitting there with the silliest smile. They sang a song called "Mama" which had such moving words and the hidden meanings and reached right into the soul and heart, at the end I had tears streaming down my cheeks.
The most special song for the night for me was "She" which was originally sung by Charles Aznavour. This song DH and I had playing at our wedding as I walked up the isle on Dad's arm. Another cascade of tears rolled down the cheeks.
If we are privileged enough to have them return to New Zealand I will be there again in a flash, it was an experience of a life time and to top it all off of course, not only did the hearing sense enjoy the evening but the sense of sight was tuned in enjoying everything it saw!!

Off to bed now to dream of songs running around in my head and a smile on my face.

Have a wee listen, hear the smoothness....

2009-10-04T13:32:00.001+13:00

Mum, this is for you. I love you. xxx

2 sleeps...........

2009-10-03T22:30:00.000+13:00

....... sigh.......

What wonderful people bloggers are.....

2009-10-01T20:27:00.003+13:00

Yes, I mean all of you lovely ladies out there.
Bill and I were absolutely blown away by the fabulously generous and kind comments that you left wishing us a wonderful wedding anniversary. I think Bill was shocked, he said "Boy you have made some friends with this blogging thingy!" He of little faith and yes, I still mean those words I wrote a week down the track-lol.

Another finish and 22 years today......

2009-09-25T17:10:00.004+12:00

Happy Anniversary Willy,

It has flown by quicker than I could ever have imagined.

I love you as much today as I did 22 years ago, if not more,

My respect for you has grown with every passing day.

I adore the way you smile when you are up to no good....

I love the father you are to our two wonderful children.

You manage to keep me under control,

Okay so maybe not my spending but you try very hard........

You make me laugh, you make me smile....

You cry with me when watching girlie movies.... and you admit to it.

You are my best friend, you are one of the girls at times and never bat an eyelid.

You have held me when times have been more than I can handle,

You have been there always, in sickness and health.

You love me for who I am.

I thank you, I adore you, I love you.

I hope and pray there will be 22 more years ahead.

xoxoxox

I have finally managed to get this wall hanging finished ready to get it in the post. I am really pleased with the finished result and may even think about doing this pattern again, but for myself.

This morning whilst lying in bed I scared myself by having to jump out and get a pad and pencil.
I had this thought for a design to make so must get onto it as I think it will make a great pressie for one of my Christmas swaps. No pattern, just a drawing and a verse at the moment........ wahoo how exciting.

WATCH THIS SPACE ....

BUT DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH.