cape

Look, I made something.
I finished it.
The designer really does like it.
It's swirly - as requested.
Wow, maybe there is life beyond stripping wallpaper.

stuff

A pretty tree in Napa. I went there once!

• we figure the Orca knew we were there for a lot longer than we knew they were there. Not sure how I feel about that. They like to eat stingrays in Wellington harbour apparently. Haven't seen a stingray yet!

• a colleague was knocked off his motorbike on Thursday night and died in intensive care on Friday. Another good man, an engineer with a cheeky grin, sparkly eyes and lots of good stories to tell. Shocking, and scary. We gather in disbelief for coffee and cake and tell stories about him through the morning. Bugger. (Don't worry Ben, I don't think your paths would have crossed).

• went to osteopath. my wallet hurts. and my back hurts even more. he found places I didn't know hurt. but I trust him, he's a genius and eventually I'll feel good. and he's a swimmer.

• I took myself off the internet dating site. Now really, no-one, not one person, that I contacted responded, even with a no thanks. I seemed to attract 35 year olds. Hmmm, what am I supposed to do with a 35 year old? Oh, don't be rude! I seem to have found someone for myself, with a little help from my friends. So that's nice.

• my car goes. It feels smooth and quiet and nice to drive, but it makes me very very nervous.

• I'm off to a swim meet, not to swim, but to do a little timekeeping and some partying. Yay.

• I've got a job interview on Tuesday. I ought to be preparing, but something is stopping me. I better figure out what that is and get on with it. I need a pay rise!
  

Sharing the water

It's Sunday, swim in Oriental Bay day. The water sure is cooler, but it was calm today and we enjoyed it. (Have I mentioned lately that I love my wetsuit?). The first 25 yards is hard on the face, the lungs and the heart rate, but after our feet and hands warm up, it's fun. The air temperature is cooler than the water. No more swimming to the lighthouse for a while though, it will be real cold that little bit further out, and the weather can change too quickly. So today we swam from beach to buoy, to buoy, to the fountain, back to the first buoy, and back to the beach. We wallowed about in the shallows a bit, and commented how there were no little fish or starfish to be seen. Too bloody cold for them we decided. Amble up the beach to the car park, stop for a chat with our much loved coach.

"Look, what's that out there, by the fountain?"
"It's a dolphin.....two!"
"That's too big for a dolphin, it's a whale."
"They're Orca!"
"Look there's another one. It's huge."

Errr, but we were just there, by the fountain, 10 or 15 minutes ago. Wallowing under the fountain spray which was cold and heavy. Next thing we know there's an Orca by the raft that we sometimes stop and jump off, close to shore. Not quite breaching but swimming high to make sure we see his handsome white patch. Eventually we figured out there were 3. Looked like mother and calf, and the big daddy one. You know, big, meat eating Orca. We don't look like seals in our wetsuits. Of course we don't!

It was very exciting to see them. They were big and beautiful, and we all agreed, it's their water after all.

I would've like to add some pix to this post....but I'm having copyright concerns!

Not going smoothly

I'm stitching fire. It isn't going well. You can't be having lumps and bumps in your flames can you? Especially when stitching for a 10 year old client/designer. I think it's going to be quite lovely when I stitch it again, more carefully, maybe with some stabalizer to stop the lumps and bumps. I don't have any occasion to wear a red cape with orange flames. Do you?

I'll be on the sofa by the fire (for inspiration) with the unpicker. Perhaps I need a glass of wine.

Very big sigh.

Myanmar

When I was in New York, (yes, I do like saying that), I saw people protesting against the violence in Myanmar (still Burma to them) outside the embassy. I hope the protesters are back.

May some God or Goddess help the ordinary people of Myanmar who are living through extraordinary difficulties, and those bloody generals let the rest of the world in to help.

Feeding boys

Feeding those boys of mine at dinner time seems to get more and more difficult. I dunno what they want to eat.
Saturday - roast chicken, they devoured it. One even ate kumera. v I made soup the next day with the bones and the leftovers, a cup of soup mix, and a few veges. I loved it. Boys had toast for lunch.
Sunday - meatballs. An Alison Holst recipe. Gobbled up. (Those Holsts need to update their website).
Monday - 3 bean stew. From the current Taste magazine. Well I admit I was pushing my luck here. It even had spinnach in it. I loved it. Boys had toast for dinner. Banana muffins, whipped up after dinner and before Desperate Housewives started. They've had 3 each.
Tuesday - I'm gonna make home-made fish and chips. Cheap fish, battered and baked. I think they'll eat that.

Oh well, 3 out of 4 isn't so bad I guess. The rest of the week it's their Dad's problem. And I'll be eating leftovers.

Got kids? Teenagers? What do they eat?

Sewing

I'm sewing.
Look. You can almost see the red light that shows the machine is turned on.

I'm making one of these. New Look 6515.

I might even show you the finished product one day.