Summer Holiday Sewing

In the hols I plan to:

1   Get more of Lucy's Meow quilt done ... maybe even finished. No, that's too ambitious given I don't enjoy making all the half square triangles in this quilt. (I probably should have thought of that before I started it.)

2   Work on this cool quilt. I have had the fabric and pattern stashed away for a few months.

3   I would love also to get this one started. It's from Jane Brocket's The Gentle Art of Quiltmaking.

Mocha the neighbour's cat has been my cat friend this week - sleeping all over the washing I should have put away when I brought it in off the line rather than dumping it on the spare bed! 

Lucy the Cat has been sick and to the vet four times in six days. Blood tests, anti nausea injection, anti-inflammatory injection, x-rays and four teeth extractions later ... she is returning to her normal self, although the pharyngitis (on top of the 'feline oral resorptive lesions' issue) means her meow is still a bit croaky. Hopefully, that's it now until her annual warrant of fitness in March.

No Sewing ... but holidaying

I haven't done any sewing for weeks. I took my navy sampler on holiday thinking I would maybe get some done at nights. But no.

Had a week in Brisbane. Four days of holidaying and then three days of conferencing.

Both were good. I had not stayed in Brisbane as an adult. It's a busy but navigable city. It was nice to get an early taste of summer too.

Here are some holiday pics - the city Botanic Gardens, somewhere in the city, the Treasury Building, Riverfire Festival from hotel and ferrying back to Eagle Pier at night. I did love the ferry trips.

I was joined by three colleagues for the conference (Australian Council for Education Leadership) which was also good. Quite thought provoking and really re-energising. So much so, I haven't made time for sewing since I have been home as I have been working on projects for school. It was good to have the time and space to be a big picture thinker and talker. (Conference photos consist of numerous ipad shots of powerpoint screens.)

Then I had a few days with my family. I met Baby Lucy. My now 19 day old niece. One of my works in progress is her quilt. Another of my works in progress is the other quilt I started for her.

It's a long weekend this weekend. I might feel like sewing.

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.

When the Moon ...

.. hits your eye like a big pizza pie - that's amore.

I always thought that the moon and sun couldn't be on the same side of the Earth at the same time. I imagine that when we can see the moon and the sun, there's nothing on the other side.

Pekapeka Wetlands

We made a brief fieldtrip to the Pekepeka Wetlands just south of Hastings. It was quite scenic on an overcast day. (I think the photos look better bigger than they are below.)

Shopping and Eating in Hawaii

Because we'd both been to HI before, we'd done all the touristy things like Pearl Harbour, Hanauma Bay, the North Shore, Circle Island Tour, Punchbowl National Cemetery, etc. So this holiday was spent shopping, at the beach, at the pool, lying around reading and eating out. Relaxing.

No trip to any state of the US is complete without a trip to Walmart. We probably spent 90 mins wandering around Walmart marvelling at things like the 'wikimop' - a mop you wear on your feet so you can walk and clean the floors at the same time - giant gatorade and giant milk and the pyjama jeans.

We got The Bus out to the Waikele Outlets for bargain shoe shopping. Made at least three trips to Ala Moana - the world's largest outdoor mall a mere 1 mile from our hotel. And visited Nordstrom Rack at the Ward Centre. Clothes, shoes and cosmetics are soooo cheap in the US - about 1/3 of what we pay in NZ.

We made the obligatory trip to the Cheesecake Factory - ginormous meals and about 30 types of cheesecake! I had white chocolate, caramel and macamadia nut cheeesecake. Almost overwhelming. It's the kind of place you can only go to once in the holiday.

My favourite pudding place is The Coldstone Creamery. I love icecream, so love Coldstone where I choose my icecream flavour and they chop and mix and moosh other ingredients into it. Mine had banana, caramel and nuts in it. Here is a photo of my $7US icecream!

We also loved California Pizza Kitchen and ate there twice.

And at the airport on the way home I ate at Pinkberry where I chose my frozen yoghurt flavour and then the toppings. I like it when yoghurt does not taste like yoghurt but tastes like icecream!

The Hawaii Holiday

I love Hawaii. This time we stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village right ON the beach. Pretty nice.





The view from the lobby at sunset looking across the Super Pool.





The beach in front of the hotel.
 



The view from my lounger at the Paradise Pool.



Sunrise from our lanai on the 35th floor.



A dusk view from our room. 

A New Machine Cover

My clever cousin, Moana, made this for me. I picked it up when we visited her in Palmy on Monday.

It is a perfect replacement for the plastic cover that came with my machine. Moana is a very creative sewer and quilter.

The Manawatu Gorge is still closed, so we travelled over the Saddle Road and stopped for a cameratunity at the Te Apiti Windfarm. Amazing machines.

It has not been very Spring-like. The apple and pear blossoms are two weeks behind last year. Orchardists are busy on their sprayers keeping blackspot away. It only needs 15 degrees C to thrive.

Time

One year ago today, I woke here ...

Not literally on The Strip but in our hotel in Las Vegas. Then drove through Arizona seeing this ...

(The Hoover Dam) and this ...



and this ...

And slept in a dodgy little town called Twentynine Palms, California after eating Mexican at Del Taco - super handy right next to our Motel 6 in the middle of nowhere.

Today, I went to work. I had one meeting at 8.30am, another at 3.15pm and have to go back to school at 6.15pm. Guess where I would rather be?

The last 365 days have passed quickly.

A Frosty Day

These East Coast mornings can be a bit chilly. However, the days turn out to be blue sunshiney ones. Yesterday I got 14 blacks made for the next border of The Little Patchwork Village. I am not yet half way - lucky it's a two week holiday!

Some Holiday Treasures

The buttons I bought at the new Hospice Shop. I chose the most colourful bag.

The teapot and the milk bottles come from the best 'traders' ever in Hastings. I now have blue, green and yellow teapots. I love going there and digging around on and under the tables. If I was so inclined, I could have bought several sets of NZ Army salt and pepper shakers. Maybe next hols.

Tomato Harvesting

Our neighbour Richie leases one of their paddocks to Watties to grow tomatoes. We got down there with our bucket just before the harvesters started on the last few rows. Sauce or soup, anyone?

Autumn

I got a bit arty with the last shot! Check out the zoom lines.