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.

I was going to.....

I was going to:

• join in colour week, but I couldn't find a yellow picture, so I kinda just gave up
• spend the night sewing, but I seem to have spent it on the phone with my brother
  
• go swimming, but my car is still with the mechanic. I think they're inordinately fond of each other. I'm trying to separate them.
  

So you know, things aren't quite going to plan around here. I made bacon and egg pie for my dinner. There's enough left for lunch. That's good. And Sooz showed me this. It's good for a laugh, so that's good too. Got anything else we ought to see to keep us going this week?

Distressed

The bedroom walls are distressed.
It's growing on me. I could leave them like that.

Up high

I took my visitor way up high above Wellington on a remarkable, windless Saturday, to stand under the wind turbine, to look at the view.

Kinda stylish, one white turbine in an endless blue sky.

Anzac Day

It's Anzac Day. Poneke writes about it, and deserves to be heard.

Nice.

I love the whole world

This is from Blackbird. I love Blackbird. She's on my bloglines. My blogroll needs some work, but that needs time. One day Blackbird loves the whole world, and the next day she's having a rant about the kinds of blogs that interest her. That's life, huh.

Oh the Places I Go (2008 No. 2)

I love airports. Travelling at the weekend for fun is a whole lot different to travelling during the working week, when fun is usually low on the agenda. You know that beginning sequence from Love Actually. That one up there. It's so true, and it's a little more true at the weekend.

I've been to Christchurch, welcomed with enthusiasm by the Sagittarian, the Stud and their girls. I was treated to some beautiful meals, good wine, love and laughter in abundance. Hugs from long haired, long limbed girls the same ages as my boys! The very funny photo albums with us as schoolgirls. Great music. Dreams and schemes. A few secrets divulged. A little delicious misbehaving. Oh my! I booked this trip on a low day, remembering it will keep me smiling for a long time.
Saturday breakfast, served by Miss youngest doing a classy waitress/assistant chef act was so good, I didn't eat again until dinner.
Homegrown tomatoes and basil. (Damn, I forgot to bring home a bunch of basil).

We'd planned to go out on Saturday night, but the babysitter cancelled so we stayed home. People always gather where the food is good, wine flows, and converstion ranges far and wide. The Sagittarian and her family make it look effortless. So the house filled up with people, and staying home turned out to be a great idea. We sat outside with the brazier glowing, empty wine bottle pile growing, until...well, you know that funny glow in the sky? It's dawn. It's been a long time since I stayed up all night, talking and laughing.

I like this one better

It's for Stomper's dare. Which was started by Soozadoo.
Oh go on, show yourself, I dare you.

Stripping

Wallpaper that is. In my bedroom.

I've just finished reading this. Well, re-reading, probably for about the 5th time. I bought it in 1985, according to the note I wrote on it. It was published in 1984. The bone people won both the Booker Prize for Fiction and the Pegasus Prize for Literature in 1985. I wrote essays about it. I remember that I loved it. When I picked it up, I remembered there was violence and sadness and hope within it's pages. But that was before I had sons. This time I found it compelling, and disturbing. Harrowing. It gave me nightmares, it changed my view of the world, I had to make myself remember it was a book I was reading, not a life I was part of. I cried. I was late a few times, most unlike me, because I couldn't put it down. It's poetic and beautiful, the language is rich and sings a story of a beautiful New Zealand landscape.

Keri lives still in Okarito, on the West Coast of the South Island. One of my most favourite places in this big wide world. I'm not keeping that book in my bedroom though. I need some peace and calm in there, now I'm done turning it's pages. Maybe I'll read it again, in another 20 years time.

The hopeful pixie....

You are The Star

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Star is one of the great cards of faith, dreams realised

The Star is a card that looks to the future. It does not predict any immediate or powerful change, but it does predict hope and healing. This card suggests clarity of vision, spiritual insight. And, most importantly, that unexpected help will be coming, with water to quench your thirst, with a guiding light to the future. They might say you're a dreamer, but you're not the only one.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Writing letters to my friends....

...telling them all about Split enz......

I went to see Split Enz. The ex and I took the boys. It was a real nostalgia trip, a little bittersweet, there are some memories associated with many of those songs, but mostly it was great fun. Famous for their outlandish costumes, this time the Enz wore toned down distressed linen suits. Bathed in white light, they looked like they'd been dusted in flour or something, but hold on....it's just that they've gone grey, like many of their audience. Trust those kiwi brothers Finn to write love songs with such in-denial lyrics. Neil sang "I don't wanna say I love you, that would give away too much...." and Tim ...."and you know that I love you, here and now and not forever.....". Beautiful songs though, so we'll forgive them.

Photo from Stuff

Tim was in great voice, best we've heard him for a long time, and he can still whistle! He remains the king of silly dancing. Eddie Rayner is a genius. Noel played the spoons and I nearly cried....Jack loved that music when he was about two, and would go running to get spoons to play along. ha!

They played Shark Attack and Give it a Whirl. That glorious swirling instrumental lead in to Six Months in a Leaky boat got everyone on their feet, and they played I See Red so fast the crowd could barely keep up. Tim sang Charlie just perfectly. That song will always be special to me because it is one of the first that youngest learnt to play and sing, beautifully, from beginning to end. Of course they ended with History never repeats. They seemed to be enjoying themselves. Neil remembered having his 21st birthday on stage in Wellington. Tim kept telling us what a beautiful day it had been.

In the programme they remember Paul Hester with love....saying he understood the magic of music and mirth. Which sums them up perfectly. Music and mirth. By the spadeful. So funny, but such musicianship too.

Here's a link to "Voices....." with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, a long while back. Which I guess is the last time I saw Split Enz songs played live. There are lots of links to that concert.....beautiful music, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6Qm1T3lCec

and here's Eddy Veder singing it, with Tim on piano, at a concert I should've gone to. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC48fcPlAfc

Because the Australian is too far away.....

Okay peeps, what do you think of this picture? I'm going to sign up with an online-dating thing. I need a picture. Maybe I need to actually wear make up for a picture? Maybe I need to lose the glasses? I dunno. Filling in the forms feels like applying for a job. But worse. I have this nagging feeling that the men I'm interested in really want someone who is under 30, thin and blond. Sigh.

A long weekend

It was too short, wasn't it? I moved a load of firewood, from down on the road, up the hill, up a few steps, and stacked it (roughly) behind the house. I felt fit and strong, and I'm very pleased with myself. The boys helped a bit. I'll probably need another load, but I'll ask friends to help with that one. The fire is going to be great!Gratuitous Kitty picture. Favourite cat on favourite quilt. I didn't used to let him sleep on it....

I bought this, from a remnant bin. I was cheeky and offered the shop owner half of the price it was marked at. She agreed, but told me not to tell anyone. So I won't. They're designers guild cotton sateens. Great colours. I think I'll cut them up into 2 inch squares, but there's probably only enough for a cushion. Or maybe a doll quilt. Now there's an idea.

do you remember when this used to be a craft blog?

enjoying....

• ohh, that last post was number 222 and I didn't notice.
  
• Questionaut thanks to Ampersand Duck. So beautiful. I like the questions, I can answer them pretty much.....
• this little story, by the Sagittarian.
  
• Amy Winehouse. Yes really.
• fantails in the garden. They like that I did a little clearing of grass and weeds to make a place to put the firewood. It makes the bugs fly about for them to catch.
• Easter weekend coming up. I'm staying home, the firewood is ordered, and like Shirley, I'm gonna have to shift it. But I've got four days. Just gotta figure out how to get the wheelbarrow tyre pumped up. I figure if my back or hands object to the heavy labour, I'll quit and hire some nice young men to do it.
  
• the work of Lisa Call. I love her quilts so much, I'm seriously thinking I should take her off my bloglines for she shall influence my work too much. Either that or I'm gonna blow the money I'm saving for a new bathroom to buy this one.
• and best of all? I'm in love. I'm in the totally infatuated, can't get enough of you phase. It's drop dead sexy, and I'm not sharing. I've got a pretty silver one. Maybe I should've got that pinkish one, to ensure my boys would keep their mitts off.

• 

done dinner

Dinner was great fun. I enjoyed all the cooking, all day, even though it was one of Wellington's sunniest days in March. I joined my sewing table to the dining table so it would seat 10 easily. I set the table extravagantly with my blue and white china collection, and lit lots of candles, the house looked good. The wine and conversation flowed, the food received lots of compliments. Dessert turned out to be a pavlova that someone brought with them, with icecream someone else brought. While we would have all loved a glass of port, I forgot to ask anyone to bring that, so we drank liquers over ice, and talked more and more into the night. I had a great time. There were enough leftovers for Sunday dinner, only just.

Funny though, a whole lot of people who hadn't been to my house before, and the men (single, unattached, I wouldn't say no.....) said the same things .... "oh, my (ex/aunt/mother/sister) does patchwork" "I see your wetsuit, do you.....???"

I'm cool with the wetsuit conversation, it hangs behind the bathroom door after all. But this patchwork thing? I am not your ex/aunt/mother.

Oh no, that's not what I want you to be thinking about me at all, at all.

Oh, and I'm a bad blogger. No photos. Not even one.

The menu

Dinner for 10, chez Pixie, Saturday night.

• beggars bundles (ham and herby things parcelled up in filo)
• platters, with prawns (I'm still missing Melbourne), sun-dried tomatoes, char grilled things, olives, and crostini

• slow slow slow roasted lamb. It will be marinating from tonite, in wine, brandy and herbs. This party is all about the lamb.
• mushroom risotto (cos I don't want to be making mashed potato on the night, and there won't be room in the oven for roast spuds.....)
  
• green salad

• dessert? yikes....do I have to make them dessert too? I need to think about that one some more....got any ideas?
  

2 sides

There are, of course, 2 sides to every story.
At the moment I am surrounded by 2 scenarios. There is the buying of rental properties for investment, the 10 week holidays in Europe with the family, the new job, new house, new baby, new car......
And then there is the unemployed, the business going into liquidation, the chronic illness, the suddenly single......

I am reminded to be happy about little things. To celebrate the here and now. I went and invited 12 people for dinner on Saturday night. I even told them where I live. Guess I'll start cooking tomorrow.

Islay girl posted this quote. She says Miles said it, in Risky Business.
I had to Google 'Risky Business' cos I had no idea what she was talking about.
I'm in a 'what the f...' kindof headspace. Readers of a more sensitive nature may say 'what the heck'.

"you wanna know something? Every now and then say, "What the fuck." "What the fuck" gives you freedom. Freedom brings opportunity. Opportunity makes your future"

Hotel encounter

I got back to my room about 11pm. Tired, but happy, after a really great dinner with much loved colleagues who really should be called friends. It's great fun to have fine food, wine, and conversation that ranges from the academic, the operational work issues, to what the kids are doing and how the rennovations are progressing. They're passionate about what they do, some people in my line of work. But I digress.

I had one of those rooms with a connecting door. It was locked. Next door, a man is playing the guitar and singing. Occasionally he plays a harmonica. I had to listen hard to figure out if there was just one person or a whole band in there. He's good. He's really good. At midnight I bang on the door, and he stops playing immediately.

The next night, I came home about 10pm. I'm really tired now. I've been working hard, and days of enjoying Melbourne's fine food and wine is catching up with me. My neighbour is home already, and playing his guitar again. Sounds like he is learning a new song. Maybe he's writing it. Maybe he's a famous musician.

I don't want to be a grumpy old bag, cos really, it's very pleasant. I push a note under the connecting door. "Dear neighbour, you make beautiful music, but I have to work tomorrow. Please stop at midnight".

A note comes under the door from his side. "I'm sorry, sometimes I forget I'm in a hotel. I'll stop now".

I replied. "Nah, don't stop, I've got a good book, midnight is fine".

He pushed a reply back. A clean white page with a big smiley face. He played me a song or two more. The one he was working on, and a new one.

I hope he had a nice neighbour the next night.

Body movies

http://www.lozano-hemmer.com/video/bodymovies.html
(that's the long version)

http://www.nzfestival.nzpost.co.nz/visual-arts/body-movies
(that's the short version, go there first)

Went out to play with the boys tonite. Body movies is projected onto a wall outside at Te Papa. It was a warm still night, lots of people about, and lots of laughter. Playing with strangers! Eddie made an emu shadow and pecked at peoples hair. We chased each others shadows about, and very big feet stomped on very tiny people. Well, I guess you had to be there, but we had lots of fun.

Ahh, Wellington aint so bad I guess!

Oh the places I go (2008 No. 1)

Oh, Melbourne, you're such good fun!

• I spent lots of time on Southbank. Hadn't been there before really. Lots of useful, inspiring work and mad Aussie colleagues. Plenty of Kiwi Sauv Blanc (they seem to be over the Aussie chardonnay now.....)
• drinks in the Atrium bar at the casino, which was all decked out for chinese new year. I felt like a big city girl!
  
• Introduced a new Brissie bloke to my favourite kiwi Pinot.
  
• Yes a couple of hot dates (insert very big smile) with the Australian. Nice. But.....
• Drinks with Kirsty lime leaf, just squeezed in. It was a breeze, like meeting a friend I hadn't seen for a few months
  
• 2kg of blue swimmer crabs, 1kg of prawns cooked by AOF's not boyfriend. It was slow food, messy eating, a meal I'll always remember
• drank Rose. I've forgotten the label already, but it was delicious, and just right with the seafood and the hot summer night
• caught a tram to St Kilda on a cold windy night. Swordfish for dinner, intense work related, and not work related conversation. v. good night.
• drinks at Seamstress.
  
• dinner here there and everywhere.... (argh, links to come.....)
  
• I went to Ikea. I did. On the tram without getting lost, and I bought a doona cover. Only it lives in NZ now, so it's going to be called a duvet cover. I'm sure it will cope.
• fell in love with a gizmo. got music. I'll show you when blogger decides to co-operate.
  

This post bought to you with underlining by blogger. I dunno why. and it won't go away. and no pictures either, cos blogger is stubborn.

I've got post-trip blues. I've got 'em bad.

I am going....

I'm going to Melbourne for 10 days. To work, to spend some time with the Australian, to hang out with AOF. She's written a beautiful 'I am from...' post. I'm going to lead her astray from her no-alcohol month with a good NZ sav blanc. I reckon she'll forgive me. She thinks it's very funny that I want to go to Ikea. Ha!
Oh yeah, I'm going to work mostly, did I mention that?
I love my job :-)

and when I come back, there's going to be sewing.....really there is.

I am from...

I am from coal, from beech trees, mountains, and the rain that thunders on a tin roof.
I am from the roaring Tasman, the untamed coast, damp, verdant.
I am from the blooming rata, dripping ferns, gorse, the vegetable garden, the plot of carnations and irises.
From the widows, Bertha and Nellie, and from Ella.
I am from toil and sacrifice, from hardship fled, from adventure.
I am from those who have no time for religion, from the weekend half G’s of beer and a wee sip of sherry, from weekly trips to the library, from the silent reading books by the fierce heat of the open fire.
I am from Yorkshire and Glasgow, from fresh dug spuds and beans and strawberries eaten straight from the vines before we got caught, from cake tins groaning with baking, from home made jam and preserved fruit lined up in jars on shelves. I am from knitting, knitting, knitting, and beautifully embroidered everyday linen.
I am from the coal mines and gold dredges, from letters and treasures from ‘home’, from far away relatives never seen.
I am from wild beaches, silent lakes, babbling rivers. I am from long backyard cricket games in the magic dusk, from bicycle rides all over the place, from regular excursions over the hill to the big city. I am from long car-sick journeys that end in picnics and cold water swims in lakes and lagoons under endless blue skies.

I am, I am.

I am grateful to the brave Grandfathers that foresaw a better life and crossed the globe to untimely early deaths.

I think they'd be proud.

another go see....

Saturday:

• swam 2k as usual
• poached eggs and long black for breakfast. perfect.
• cricket. We lost. Again. It was exciting, the last 6 runs. One of my most favourite things to do, watch my boy play cricket.
• contemplated the school camp list. blah blah blah.
• helped friend prepare her house for open home tomorrow. cleaned. I laid vinyl flooring tiles in the kitchen. It was a good use of my patchwork skills. Looks good!
• boy free night subverted with her son round here to watch tv. There's only so much house tidying and cleaning a boy can stand after all. And a mother can move a lot faster without a boy around.
• have strong soppy feeling that this is what love is. Putting things down, plans aside, working hard with friend to help her, and knowing it's appreciated.
• what goes around comes around.

Go see Kirsty . She's been writing an I Am. Go visit, follow the links. There's a template/guidline in there. I'm thinking about mine.

Stirring stuff.

Wanna play?

Go see .....

go read this, the funniest Valentines Day post I've read.
http://missceliespants.blogspot.com/

I'm busy trying to (or not to) play the game myself. I'm also reassessing why so many people I know and love simply opt out of the game.

sigh

They said sorry

The Australian Prime Minister apologised today...

"We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.

For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.

To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.

And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry."

Good job. That's powerful, history-making stuff.
About bloody time huh.

The lounge pic

Here it is, Sunny in the lounge. Yes the floor needs cleaning, don't be rude. The blue vase came out of a skip. It's been broken at the narrowest part and glued back together, but the colour is so good, you have to forgive it for that. That chair is going to be beautiful one day, when it has new fabric, maybe a cheery cherry red. Oh and the floors will be polished, and there'll be a fire roaring in the fireplace. Sunny is going to keep me warm in the winter!

Music

I need some music.
I didn't get the cd collection in the property settlement. But that's okay. I got a few cd's which he obviously doesn't like or are clearly mine. If I bought an ipod or something he'd copy anything I wanted for me. But after living for such a long time with someone who loves 'new' music, who reads about it and talks about it, well, my own music loves got kinda subdued. I came to love silence.

funny that.

Now, what I really love is jazz and blues and wild stirring orchestral stuff. But I don't know how to find it any more. The boys and I play beatles and crowded house and U2 and that's all good, but I need something that's mine. and I'm bloody sick of Norah Jones (sorry Norah no offence, make us some new music).

I love Gershwin, and Ray Charles and Tom Waits. but I like cold play too. Could you ever get sick of Louis Armstrong singing "what a wonderful world". and Frank Sinatra, loud and clear, singing "I get a kick out of you" which has always struck me as the sweetest compliment. Oh and Van Morrison. I need some Van Morrison for sure. and Sting. even though I didn't see him in concert when he came to town.

Anyway, the point of this post is to ask you what you're listening to. What do you recommend? I need some music, and I need it now!

this post brought to you without capital letters in most places they oughta be. Ahhh, don't be fussy!

Weta

See, a fine specimen. The question is, if I'm busy destroying the flax bushes they live in, where are they going to go? There are a couple of bushes left, and so far they've all been rehoused.

I'm losing weight, simply by unconciously undertaking all this extra activity. Gardening and throwing things away, and stripping walls and floors and shifting furniture and stuff. I can't eat enough. Youngest keeps telling me "you need to eat". Guess I get grumpy when the blood sugar runs low. My neighbour keeps making me cups of tea and tells me I don't have to do everything at once. I guess she's right. But I simply cannot stand it the way it is.

Someone came here for the first time a couple of days ago, and said some things, not in a negative way, but enough to make me realise this house wasn't saying much about me, or saying the things I'd like it to anyway. So I hung up Sunny today, and I think it looks great. Then I shifted my sewing out of the lounge and into my bedroom. Out of public and into a private space. Then I spent the day wondering why I felt that was so important.

I've always been a bit of a closet quilter. I've worked in male dominated fields, and I wouldn't have been seen dead with a needle or a quilt book in a work situation, especially in the 90s when my skirts were shorter and my hair was longer and blonder. I've rarely shown other people my quilts unless they were quilters too. While my CV quietly notes I am an award winning quilt maker, I've never celebrated those awards beyond my quilting community. Why don't I have more confidence in sharing my work?

Come see my lounge now, and you will notice there is art on the walls.

I made it, and it's beautiful.

I'd show you a lounge picture, but the camera battery is low. It's full of pictures for a stop motion animation production. The lego guys are reading the news now. Then Beckham, Elton John and a famous chef stop by to be interviewed. There's art all over the place in this house!

Me and Flibbertygibbet

Flibbertygibbet is so disappointed not to see my friends the wetas, I think you should go visit her, and commiserate.

Flibberty and I got single about the same time. It was tough times, but baby, just look at the pair of us now. 12 months on. We both have our own homes, she is spoilt for choice with jobs, she writes, she's still sewing, and wonder of wonders, she knits too.
Well done Flib, from someone who knows.

nothing happened

Today was significant in that something I kinda hoped would happen, did not.
probably significantly did not.
damn.

I did however change the answerphone message. This is no longer the number for ex, and me and offspring. It now says, "Hi, this is Pixie, we're not here.......blah blah blah".
Would be burglars should note however, that I am likely to be here and not answering, becos I'm doing something more interesting.

Or plotting how I might be.

Or just being.

Youngest reckons the camera cable is at his father's house. So still no wetas.
Shame.

Playing with Wetas

I've been playing with wetas today. You may also call it gardening. It's gardening of the "what can I chop down next" variety. Quite satisfying, but tends to result in large amounts of debris which must be got rid of. Bugger. More work.

I quite like wetas, they're quite beautiful in their weta way. Amazing what having two sons does to a woman. I'd show you a weta, but I've lost the camera cable. Not happy. Actually, youngest son has lost the camera cable. But he isn't here to be interrogated. Guess I'll go to bed then. Oughta sleep well, all that weta wrangling, and swimming too.

Happy Waitangi Day.

list

• 10032 visits. Number 10000 was probably Ben or the Sagittarian which is nice, cos they're both friends from pre-blogging days
• I've written 204 posts
• a hedgehog came to visit, we watched him through the window
• tomorrow is a holiday, and I don't have to be anywhere until 10am. This is unusual
• thank goodness for the treaty of waitangi. It is the reason I can be a New Zealander
• there are 66 pictures of a lego concert on my digital camera. apparently I MUST not delete them
• It's February, and I've sewn not even one stitch in 2008. Also unusual
• There must be only about 1000 carpet tacks left to pull out
• I'm spending too much time here, but so are 69,000 other people, right now. Madness.
• there are 15 sleeps until I go to Melbourne for 10 days

I gave up dairy

I gave up eating dairy products.
Only I forgot.

I bought beautiful marinated cows milk feta, for making lunches to take to work. I always take my lunch. It's part frugality and part diet control. So I buy beautiful things, like expensive marinated feta, to put in salads, which taste like a treat, and still cost much less than buying lunch.

And I bought ice-cream (for the kids you understand). It was cheaper to buy a 2 litre tub than it was to buy them icecreams. So I served up 3 bowls, and about half way through, I remembered. I don't eat dairy any more.

Can I tell the difference? Ask my colleagues. I'm coughing again. Dairy really doesn't go with one of the drugs I take. Medicinal, prescribed drugs that is, of course, every bloomin' day!

So, guess I'll start again. I've given up dairy products. I don't eat them any more, from now on. Well, maybe when the feta is all gone. It's raining and gloomy today, so giving up the icecream doesn't seem so bad.

9977

There have been 9977 visits to the Pixie Post.
No, not all of them are from me.
Blogging is ..... is.....well, it's more bloody use than Tim's list by the looks of things.

wow. 2 picture-less posts. wonder where the camera and the cable are?

wardrobe essentials

Happy New Year! Yes, I'm a bit late, the New Year is 1/12th over already. That sure went fast. The Pixie Post was closed during January. Thanks for coming back.

I'm thinking about clothes. I got rid of heaps while I was moving, so my wardrobe is pretty much pared down to things I actually wear. That's a bit scary. I'm gonna have to stop procrastinating and do something about it soon, cos I'm rapidly running out of decent things to wear. I'm planning to sew. I used to sew clothes, and then I started making quilts. So my plan this year is to get my clothes sewing mojo back.

Today I've searched out Tim Gunn's 10 essential items every woman needs. Do you have them? (Well you know, assuming you're a woman of course...)

• Basic black dress (yep, but it's probably a bit fancy/low cut to be 'basic'. I've only worn it a couple of times, but I love it)
• Trench coat (nope)
• Classic dress pants (well, yes, but they're a bit shabby)
• Classic white shirt (I don't usually wear shirts, do I have to try to find one?)
• Skirt (now skirt I can do, quadruple skirts, easy. I like skirts)
• Blazer (Oh Tim, style icon, you don't really use that word do you? I got jackets, but not a perfect jacket. Just that's-not-too-expensive-and-it-kinda-almost-fits-me jackets)
• Day dress (yep, and it's lovely, really it is!)
• Cashmere sweater (no. could we maybe settle for mohair? Oh that's right, I had one, it was beautiful, but it got washed and you wouldn't believe how that stuff can felt and shrink. sigh)
• Jeans (well, yes, but they're a bit shabby too)
• A comfortable alternative to a sweatsuit (what? there's an alternative to track pants and hoodies? Oh. I'll have to find out what that is)

What do you think? Just one shirt with the pants and the skirt makes a wardrobe? I dunno if that would get me through the working week. It's not a bad list to start with though, is it?

How did you do?

stuff

There's been a lot of stuff going on:

• pulled the carpet up
• took it to the tip
• recycled a whole lot of clothes
• cleaned the oven
• cleaned the bathroom
• cleaned the fridge
• paid some bills

and it's only lunchtime! Sheesh. Tomorrow I'm driving to the beach. So I'll be gone for a week or so. I'll be swimming in the sea, lying in the sun, hanging out with my kids and drinking with my brother. Yay! Now, off to get the vacuum cleaner out.

Moving right along

I knocked down the wardrobe so I could shift the bed, and today I'm going to pull up the carpet. Then I can make a place for the sewing machine and the computer. See, it's all a question of priorities. How can I move into my house without a place for the sewing machine and the computer??

Oh yes, Christmas happened, squeezed in between work and moving. It was very pleasant. There was turkey and roast vegetables, it was all very simple, the least gourmet Christmas dinner I've ever cooked, but it was very very good. The boys got a Wii, and I love it, a lot. Good job it's gone to their Dad's house with them. I got lots to do today. Thank goodness the beach holiday is booked.

I've got another car load of things to shift, and then I have to clean. Clean everything! Moving right along.

Here's a NY photo, cos it's one of my favourites. Taken on Broadway. Glad I looked up!

Saturday

The birds love the flax flowers. See this one, a starling I think, with his beak deep into the flower....and here he his, looking around. The orange on his head is pollen. No wonder it makes some people sneeze! and here's the same flax bush, at sunset. These pictures are grainy, pushing my little camera to its limits, but I sure do love that camera. What did we do without digital cameras?
There are lovely garden pictures to be seen over at the quilting orchardist. Tell her I said merry christmas!

Oh, I bought the house. Obscene amounts of money have been in and out of my bank account in the last 24 hours. It went a bit pear shaped along the way, the bank made a mistake, and my lawyer earned her money. But I bought the house. I'm going to MY house to sleep in MY bed on Christmas Eve. Nice.

I forgot to tell you, I now have a Graduate Certificate in serious work stuff, from the Queensland University of Technology, ahem, with distinction. No more essays. You can help me fix up the bathroom and the laundry instead.

I'm trying to show you a picture. Playing html. Well, here's a link in case that didn't work. I swam a long long way on Sunday. From Hataitai beach (where it says Evans Bay Parade on the pic, to Oriental Bay). It was great, I loved it. Yes, I'm quite probably mad. 3.8 Kilometres. took over 2 hours. Felt like a real achievement. Phew. Love my wetsuit!

Have just about bought the house, from my former partner. We're finalising property documents. It's okay. We had a very funny laughing conversation today because the documents required us to write down when our 'long term relationship' began. We settled on the date we kinda think we first moved in together. February 1989. Shucks. Ahhh life!

NY

Just indulge me for a minute. Here're some NY photos. Some things I don't want to forget. Look, out the window of my plane. It can't be! Surely it's not. It's Central Park. OMG!! I can't believe it.


Where's the hotel? I can't find it. I'm wandering the streets of Jersey City, looking over the river at Manhattan. So beautiful, a perfect night. Where's the &%$#@&* hotel though? I found it eventually, by retracing my steps back to the train station and starting again. But I'm kinda glad I got lost and spent some time (at least an hour!) with that stunning night time view.

The Staten Island Ferry. It's free? really? I just get on here, and gaze at the view? And suddenly there's Liberty. There aren't even many tourists around, we're almost alone. Now that's an icon. That really is.

And this place. Just like in the movies. And right next to Anthropologie. Oh my.
And this view. Just a smidgen of it in this picture. It was fabulous up there. No King Kong about though, except in the gift shop.
Central Park, Strawberry Fields. A pilgrimage on behalf of the Beatle- loving youngest son. Thank goodness he sent me there.

Hey girl, what's it like to be in New York?

New York City.

Imagine that.

Can't get that song outta my head!

I did it!

swam like a mad woman, from Devonport to the Viaduct. very pleased with myself. navigation skills need some work, but I did okay. floating around in the middle of the harbour thinking 'good grief, look at me, there's the sky tower, and there's the bridge' isn't the most competive behaviour. lots of good food, friends and a little drinking did me no harm! it was a beautiful Auckland day, the water was warm, 1200 swimmers finished the race. The next one is in Wellington, I ought to know where I'm going there, and knock 10mins off my time. no trouble.

busy this week. big work stuff. buying a house, maybe...perhaps...depending on the valuation, and agreement with the ex. This could turn into a diy decorating blog.

won't it be nice when this year is over and the next one starts afresh? didn't I say that last year?

The Mom Song Sung to William Tell Overture with Lyrics

Have you seen this?

oops, I need to practice the video thing. But look at the next post. The clip's been viewed over 4 million times, hmmm, so perhaps you've seen it already. But it's fun.

The risotto of the day is asparagus and chicken. It's good! Especially with Gershwin playing loud, and a nice cold sav blanc. I've saved you some.

I'm going to pack now. Wetsuit, goggles, swimsuit, cap, towel. I'm going to Auckland in the morning to swim across the harbour on Sunday morning, from Devonport to the Viaduct Harbour. What was I thinking? Kindly send 'swim faster' vibes when you wake up on Sunday.

swim swim swim. Photo by Reuters

trains

I've spent much of the day listening to train talk. Me oh my, the things I do! Here're some trains for the train lover (though you'd deny that, wouldn't you?) that visits here on rare occasions.

The Napa Wine Train. Sounded like fun.

The commuter train, from Menlo Park to San Francisco. I counted 18 laptops from my seat. My laptop-less seat. Get on the train, get on the net. Looked good to me.

Nice station.

This Napa bus thinks it's a cable car.

A real San Francisco cable car, with turntable. There was a friendly policeman helping to push.

We came down there....down that Wellington-like street. The cable car driver was great fun, giving all the tourists a laugh. 'Move on down', he said, 'there's coffee and donuts down the back!'. He enjoyed himself at the top of the first downward trip, taking hands off hand holds and repositioning them safely, and getting strangers to hold backpacks belonging to the standing outside passengers, so they weren't sticking out too far into the traffic. Very cheery.

The foody post

There were some memorable meals on my US sojurn. In Menlo Park (which is close to San Francisco but is a whole other place) I had the best Indian takeaways I've tasted. Really. They probably came from Palo Alto, nearby. We went on the beautiful drive to Napa Valley, via Pete's coffee in Berkley (I was so spoilt!). We saw a beautiful olive oil shop in St Helena, up the highway from Napa. They had tiny cubes of bread and little bowls for tasting. Lovely infused oils and vinegars. It was lots of fun tasting them all. Almost every store seemed to have a 'help wanted' sign. Plenty of jobs going......
This is my very decadent chocolate kahluah cheesecake, enjoyed at the end of a long lunch with fleagirl. Couldn't eat it all. You must go visit her and read about the tour of the San Francisco seafood spots that she took me on. It was a great day, we laughed a lot. (I'll tell you more about the people later, they need a post of their own!).

I had some great diner breakfasts in New York. Dreadful coffee, as everyone warned me, but some great eggs and bacon and fried potato things. I love going out for breakfast. In New York there was also dinner in china town, in a restaurant that had a little english on the menu in it's window. Lots of fun, plenty of stories and laughter, and the best tofu I've ever had. It was perfectly silky, with chilli flakes, and just the right amount of green! We had a sweet and sour pork dish, and beautiful, beautiful eggplant and peppers stuffed with a shrimp mixture. It was fantastic.Look, I found some crab in New York! This was a sneaky picture taken at Whole Foods in Chelsea, New York (near the quilt store). They had cheap NZ Lamb in there. I thought the store was beautiful, but it wasn't organic produce like I know it. The organic fruits and veges looked very processed to me, I'm used to associating organic with produce that looks like it came off a tree in the backyard. Lumpy and bumpy and irregular, like it ought to grow. They had a beautiful bakery, but it was the crab that was hard to resist.

I had a hot-dog from a stand in Central Park. It felt kindof compulsory. It was dreadful! I had a hamburger in a cafe which was huge and delicious. I did have some good coffee in a french cafe near Washington square, and I managed not to set foot in a Starbucks. Oops, no, that's not true, I went to one in the Rockerfeller centre. Far too busy with far too much to do to spend much time sitting still in cafes or restaurants. I did rip an apple cake recipe out the New York Times in a cafe at JFK airport though. I hope no-one noticed.

On and on

I broke the lawnmower blade.
The cricket loving boy had a massive tantrum and refused to go.
The ex has got a girlfriend.
One of my favourite colleagues has resigned.

Oh well.
It's fixable. It's over now. I must reap what I sow. He'll keep in touch.

Which second sentence goes with which first sentence? Life goes on.

The trouble with travelling is that you have to come home. I've been amazed to realise how much of me is used up by work and kids. By just doing the things I must do. I'm still okay. It's still hard work being okay. Does it get better, or do I just get used to it?

Yep, more travelogue to come.

The New York Quilty Post

I flew into New York on the night of Halloween. The train rides from JFK airport to my Jersey City hotel were particularly memorable. I was just about the only one on the subway not in costume, and not headed for the parade in Greenwich Village. I had a great time on that little journey. People were friendly, chatty, fun, and sober....or they had me fooled. "Where you from, you not from round here" "Nooooo Zealand, howabout that".

The next day I walked the length of Broadway, and took myself to the American Folk Art Museum to an exhibition of antique quilts titled A Legacy in Quilts: Cyril Irwin Nelson's Final Gifts to the American Folk Art Museum. They were extraordinary. Worth my trip. Really. Many were familiar, I'm sure they've been much photographed, and I've probably seen them before. To get so close, to such works of art, of such great history. Well, I enjoyed them enormously. This was one of my favourites. You can see more on the museum website.

Then I went to meet Mary. I was late, I got the subway in the wrong direction. Didn't make that mistake again. Anyway, Mary kindly loitered and eventually spotted my lime green bag, so we had coffee and talked and talked and walked off to a lecture she'd heard about. We went to the Fashion Institute of Technology, to see Kaffe Fasset.

Kaffe was promoting his new book, which is about knitting. He's a great speaker, the slides he showed were extraordinary. I confess I've seen him speak before, here in Wellington, but I enjoyed seeing him again. His messages remain the same....colour, glorious colour.....and just do it, focus, and get on with it. Yes sir, doing my best. Mary wrote about it here (scroll to Nov 6). And Kay wrote about it here (scroll to Nov 2). The next day we three went shopping. I met them here:

(after I spent the first part of the morning taking myself up the Empire State Building. Well, me and 100 other tourists).

I bought this book. This wonderful, beautiful, heavy book. It's here on Amazon of course. I can't recommend it highly enough. It has quilts from 10 years of the Quilt National exhibition. It's just beautiful. And it has lots of the quilts I saw in San Jose, so that makes it even more special to me.Then we went to Soho, to Purl. Ahhh, Purl. First, the yarn store, where Mary and Kay bought beautiful things and I took photos. Kay interpreted for French tourists also buying yarn. She should've got a commission I reckon.

And Purl the fabric store, just up the road.....both very small stores, but perfectly formed. You haven't heard of them? You're not reading enough crafty blogs then. Here's the link to their blog. You can find their online store via that link. Yes, I bought fabric this time, pinks, chocolates, and teal/duck egg blues. Beautiful. Soho is where I'm going to stay next time I'm in New York.

The San Francisco quilty post

I had Saturday 27 October twice. Once in NZ flying out of Auckland on an 8pm flight. It was fun to meet some old friends in the departure lounge, on their way to NYC to run the marathon. In San Francisco I had another Saturday. J picked me up at the airport at about midday. J is one of my email buddies, we recognised each other instantly. It was like seeing an old friend you hadn't seen for a year or so. Easy, relaxing, heartwarming, lots of non stop conversation. It's a real joy to have friends who welcome you into their home.

J whisked me off to the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. (Driving on the wrong side of the road. Oh my!) It wasn't a big gallery, but it had an important exhibition titled Saturn Returns: Back to the Future of Fiber Art, to celebrate its 30th Anniversary. I saw this!

Constructions 77 Nancy Crow

There were also memorable quilts by Susan Shie, and Ruth B. McDowell, Katie Pasquini-Masopust, Yvonne Porcella....lots of famous names. Side by side! I tried hard to behave, but it's quite possible I grabbed J's elbow and said "oh my stars" in a very gushy voice. Quite possible.

The next day we went to do all the touristy things in San Francisco. (Another post!). But she also took me to Britex fabrics. 4 floors of beautiful, perfect, fabulous fabric. The website is beautiful, you must go look.

The shop guy made me take a picture with him in it!

Can you believe I didn't buy anything there? No, nor can I. I was completely overwhelmed, I couldn't make a decision. A couple of fabrics linger in my memory. I should've bought them. Perhaps it was jet lag. But now I know Britex exists, and they have that wonderful website.....well, I'm making no promises.

Yes, I am home

No, I don't know that guy, but he wasn't moving!

I know, I need to tell you all my stories....I think there'll be a whole series of posts. See, I'm full of promises.

I spent 4 nights in San Francisco, and 4 nights in New York, and I met up with lots of friends and saw all the famous sites. I loved it. I had the best time. The best.

The Love sculpture is in New York on the corner of 6th and 55th. I was there. I can hardly believe it. Travelling does nothing to ease the wander-lust does it?