FWSG | Day 4 and The Proverbial Quilt | Day 5

I forgot to record yesterday so I am merging Day 4 and Day 5.

Yesterday started with my little run. Man, it was hard! The data from my Garmin confirms it was hard. My average heart rate was approx 15 beats per minutes higher and my high heart rate was higher too. Maybe on days when it feels hard, I will run as far as I can and then just walk. I think also I won't run every day just Monday - Friday.

I took a couple of photos of my Free Wheeling Single Girl to show progress. It was a beautiful sunny morning. It's a little wrinkly after living folded in the hot water cupboard for a couple of weeks!

After my scrambled egg on hashbrowns lunch, I had a siesta (maybe that's why the running was hard - I was tired) and spent the rest of the day watching movies on Netflix.

Last night at sunset it looked like the forest had been strung with Xmas lights the way the orange sun set was hitting the top of some of the trees.

This morning my run felt better. It was hard, but not as hard as yesterday. I saw 10 walkers this morning, two dogs with walkers/runners, and two runners. There was a lot of on and off the footpath for me. I like running on the road. It was not as quiet on the roads as Sunday morning. I then checked in with my school email and google classroom. Even though it's the hols, a couple of learners are doing some work and like to ask questions. Then I did a group exercise class via Zoom at 9.30am. I have spent the rest of the day, making words and letters for my proverbial quilt.

The proverbial quilt is very economical in terms of fabric. You don't get much waste. I am making words as I go, rather than 13 x A, 5 x B, etc. 

No sewing ... but gardening

The first day of the three day Labour Weekend was fine. I tidied, planted and mowed. There is a growing (ha!) collection of aquilegia (columbine) in the garden. Beyond the first one, I have no idea where they have come from. They seem to seed themselves easily.

On Saturday I planted sweetpeas, petunias, statice, cornflowers, penstemons and a few daisy variations. I also planted pyrethrum golden moss near my dahlias. The passionvine hopper that lives in the wisteria, that holds up the fence between me and neighbour, sucks the life out of the dahlias, so I am hoping that pyrethrum has some effect on them.

Now all they needs is sunshine. It is supposed to return about Wednesday this week. In the meantime it's raining again.

There's Pink and Then There's Pink

The next HST quilt has been sitting for a week or two. I was waiting for more teal to arrive, which it did about a week ago. But still it sat. I wasn't loving the pink ... it was a bit too magentary for my taste.

I was in Spotlight this a.m. getting fabric for another project when I saw a solid the colour of dark watermelon. Bought it. Cut it. Sewed it.

It photographs poorly. Think watermelon. Think dark watermelon pink. I like it a whole lot better.

So now all the HSTs are made, the next job is to sew the squares together. The baby shower is in 12 days.

Thankfully, the builders moved a little bit faster - once they finally arrived. Large patches of the deck were rotten. The builders discovered the boards had been laid straight on the dirt and old concrete terrace. Boards that aren't supposed to come into contact with the actual ground. Hence, the rot.

It's been interesting coming home each evening to see their progress.

It was even better to come home on Friday and find it finished.

Easter Monday: From Gumboots to Barefeet

It was a perfect day for 'Here Comes the Sun' sewing. I now have one complete sun and six quarter suns and I am out of grey-blue.

I had issues with the final grey piece in each quarter sun being too skinny, so I replaced them with full-size grey segments. I trim them and my sun inners back before joining quarters and then halves.

Now I am out of fabric, I am forced back to Wonky Log Cabin quilting. I am sick of that quilt and haven't touched it for weeks.

Cicada Season

From dawn till dusk. Deafening. The season usually goes for a week or so at the end of January. They are about one month late this year. Must be all the rain we've had and the sunshine we haven't had. The cicadas seem to favour the Cabbage Trees for shedding their skins.

Flower Girls

Kell's nieces made beautiful flower girls on Saturday.

P (age 2 nearly 3) decided to hold Kell's hand for some of the ceremony before she called for her camera to start taking her own photos.


T (6) did a good job of holding Kell's bouquet as well as her own.

Flower Picking

I have been back in Hawkes Bay for five days. My cousin, Kelly, got married on Saturday. On Friday, Kelly and her Mum came to pick flowers for the tables from my Mum's garden.

On Thursday the temperature was 31 degrees - about as hot as it gets in summer in New Zealand. On Friday it was raining and 13.

The cold snap was only a snap. And Saturday was beautiful day.

Typical

Typical. Just as the new school year is about to begin, summer arrives. Shouldn't be surprised. Happens every year.

Speaking of every year. Every year at this time, these flower. They were flowering the week I moved into my house seven years ago. No idea what they are. They grow wild on the edge of the 'forest' in my and my neighbour's garden. The plants are nothing to look at for 50 weeks of the year. The back of the green leaves is a deep purple colour. They are probably some prohibited plant I should be keeping under control.

It takes effort to take photos landscape ... I naturally go to portrait with my camera. I think I love the rule of thirds with portrait!

New

A new quilt started. It will be baby-sized.

New art work hanging in the hallway.

These are two photos I took when we visited Bodie State Historic Park in 2010. I think it was an unplanned visit.

We had driven over Tioga Pass (3000 metres above sea level) at the north end of Yosemite National Park. We were heading towards Lake Tahoe, but saw the sign for Bodie and veered off and onto the most corrugated road in the world. Eventually we came to the park entrance. Bodie is a 'ghost town'. It's in a preserved state of decay, so I don't think it will get any worse. It was quite a cool place to unexpectedly come across. Very photogenic.

Anyway, I finally got around to using my Grabone vouchers for Diamond Photos and got two of the photos put onto A2 canvas. I am quite pleased with them. (The bright white to the left is reflected light off a mirror, not some weird printing error.) Super quick service from Diamond Photos with the canvases arriving within 48 hours of ordering them.

Gardening

I am not sure I can call it gardening when I all have done is remove trees and plants. I should have taken a before photo so you could better appreciate my mega-effort. I managed to get all but one big long bit of tree trunk into the skip bin. I have given up trying to saw that into smaller piece so will drag it down into the 'forest' out the back.

I now have a really good view of the back of the neighbour's house and shed - blah. Weirdly, there is a paved patio area to the right of the red rose on my side of the fence - I am not sure who would sit out there where all the neighbours can see you and you have a view of the carport!

I am looking forward to replanting but need to be smart about it so it's low maintenance and it costs me about $150. I am thinking about three red flowering Manuka at the back, then maybe some small coloured flaxes and then grasses in front. I really should waterblast the fence before I do anything!

Pretty Ugly

Pretty.

Pretty.

Ugly!

Gross. This is the fabric for the AMQG 'Cushion Challenge'. We have to use half of it on the front of a cushion. I think the cushion will be used in the cat's bed when it is finished.

The flowers I bought at a daffodil farm just north of Hamilton.

I Heart Freesias

They remind me of my Nana because they grew in front of the terrace that went up to her front door. I didn't 'make' these, but I did grow them in my bulb garden.

Really?

Do I really need to go to work this morning? It's such a nice day.

A New Arrangement

I have homed my gift quilt.