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Christmas has rolled around, and sending Christmas Greetings to you all.  It certainly was a different Christmas this year, without my beloved Robin by my side. I drove up to Kiwitea to spend Christmas Day with my daughter and her family, about a 75 min drive away.  I left home early at 6.30am and nearing the Whirokino Bridge, spanning the Manawatu River, just south of Foxton, the road was enveloped in river mist, quite a spooky feeling so dropped my speed right down.  After all, I could hardly see a thing.  Once over the bridge and away from the ...

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 ...

This week we attended a family wedding.  The venue is so popular that Saturday bookings are not available for the next two years.  So Robin’s niece Hanah (daughter of Kaye and Jan from Nelson where we spent a wonderful Christmas) and her bridegroom chose a Tuesday wedding, followed by a casual BBQ lunch for all the guests on Wednesday.

It was a garden wedding, with guests from as far away as Ireland  from the groom’s side of the family.  When the ceremony was concluded, and the photos taken, we sat outside in the sunshine with drinks and nibbles ...

I’m getting there with my baby quilt, using up some of those multitude of flag blocks I made a while ago.  This week I’ve been assembling the blocks, adding borders  and making some scrappy binding.  I keep pieces of leftover binding in a basket, and found a length of pink which will go nicely.  Being Murphy’s Law, not nearly long enough of course,.  But I could work with that,  I chopped it into smaller lengths and added various pieces of pink to make it a long scrappy binding..

Dark blue floral borders

The weekly physio sessions are ...

Robin has just turned 75 so of course he needed to celebrate.  We had a family lunch on Sunday, and both of his brothers and wives were able attend, as did my younger sister and her partner.  Daughter Nicky and her hubby, Emma and Megan our two granddaughters, plus Emma’s boyfriend.  Quite a crowd in our little house.  We were so lucky with the fickle Spring weather, it was warm and sunny so it was very pleasant out on the patio with  extra seating, sheltering under the archgola.  The blokes joined Robin for a beer or two outside as ...

We are away on another caravan trip, this time for three weeks, from Urenui in New Plymouth down to Waikanae with the ICA (International Caravan Assoc) group.  I’ve found time to do some handwork, stitching a little more on the tea towels I’m making for my grand-daughters.  I’ve got this far on the pink one, and still have the boy fish slice to stitch.

Tea towel stitchery

I’ve got my knitting bag with me, and thought it would be a good opportunity to start stitching up a pair of burgundy socks I completed a while ago ...

We’ve been away about a week now on our travels and starting to head for home.  After leaving our caravan at the Leisureline factory bright and early on Friday morning, we packed up Gemma, and parked the car under a shady tree for Gemma’s comfort, deciding we could safely leave her there for a half  hour while the temperatures were still relatively cool. Now, what’s for breakfast?  There weren't too many customers at that time of the morning, so service was very prompt.  We decided on French Toast for him and poached eggs for her, both ...

So...where did we leave off?  Oh yes, the rest of the retreat!  First up was our trip to Sarah's in Lawrence.  This is Traci modeling in front of the shop. This is inside the shop.It was a great shop and one everyone should visit!Paula found the cutest pineapple pin cushion!After some shopping we went back to sew.  I managed to snap a quick selfie with Mel.  I may not have said it, but I missed

I’ve taken both knitting and stitching projects away on the trip.  Must admit I often do knitting in the car while we are traveling, and have finished two little sleeves on the toddler cardigan I’m making and have now started on the back.  I’m not in any hurry with this project, and I’m using up left over wool from my own jumper finished recently.

Knitting in the car, and two sleeves finished

After the Covid scare in Auckland we changes our travel plans are have been moving slowly southwards. We drove along the Desert Road and ...

Gemma let her feelings known, Christmas is over and it’s time to pack it all away, she thinks.  Why else would she be taking a swipe at Santa and knock him over?  She does look a little guilty, doesn’t she?

Poor Santa

So the last day or two I’ve been packing the Christmas  things away, and putting the normal things back in place.  The brass needed a bit of attention, so I sat outside on the patio, rubber gloves on, cleaner and cloths to the ready, and started a little polishing.  These jugs usually reside on the ...

I spent several hours on Sunday afternoon, making a few masks.  Have to say I really admire those ladies who have been churning them out by the dozen, or hundreds, don’t know how you did it.  Previously, I had stitched a couple with triple pleats, and my friend Dot found out about a new design, tracing a circle with a dinner plate, of all things.  After seeing her sample, I decided to give it a go, luckily I still had some elastic tucked away, as it it in really short supply these days.  So I made four, two for ...