Moment Junkie

Now, weddings aren't high on my agenda, (I've never had one!), but I've stumbled across this site that's good for a smile every single day. There's no denying that the wedding day is a day of love and laughter and magic moments.

Here's the proof. Glorious, brilliant photography to make you smile. Check it out.

Moment Junkie

Treasures

There's always something of interest to be found on Trade Me.....

A collection of vintage sewing patterns....they look to be from the 60s. Very "Mad Men". Alas, too small for me and I really don't need any more too-small-for-me vintage patterns.

A vintage table cloth. Gloriously hand embroidered. Each corner of the cloth is the same. Beautiful bright colours, it must have been in storage for many many years.

A double wedding ring quilt top (my favourite traditional design) incomplete. I suspect the quilt maker is selling it, because the arcs, and pieced wedges have their anatomically correct names...all the pieces are in the sale, it's begging to be finished.

If we don't use the things we are stashing, will they end up being sold for nowhere near their real value on some website?

Inspired!

I have a secret love of two colour quilts.

Look at this one photographed at Quilt Market by Kathy from Pink Quilt Studio.

And even better, look over here, where there are instructions for free from Moda. It's very very clever, I was expecting triangles to cut and piece, but it's made of strips.

Thanks Kathy, I'm inspired!

today

Completely unrelated picture from perfect weekend in Ngawi recently

Today I have not gone swimming (again!), but am about to paint skirting boards. Yesterday I painted a room, twice. Half spanish white, boring I guess, but looks great with the fireplace and the need-to-be-done-again stripped timber windowframes and the if-only -I-could-afford-to-get-them-polished floorboards. It's a lovely room. Today it will have gleaming white skirting boards, and I'll rehang the cream curtains.


Currently it's my bedroom, but by the end of the day it will be the studio. Music studio. I'm swapping rooms with youngest, who currently resides down stairs in a room just big enough for my queen sized bed.

So youngest is going to move in upstairs, with the drum kit, keyboards, a mixer of very large proportions loaned by the boyfriend, numerous electronic devices which connect to laptops which are completely beyond me but make nice music, two or possibly three guitars and room for a piano which is much desired. He might just squeeze his bed in there too, and a chair from the lounge. His brother is hatching a plan to buy a tv for them to hook up the Wii. I shall have to ban the consumption of food in there, or they may never come out. They say they will have friends around for musical sundays, and apparently we really need some better speakers. And a piano (which may have been mentioned once or a hundred and twelve times recently).

I'm also stripping the wallpaper in my new room. Sealer coat should go on the ancient plaster today. It's going to be light and bright with dusky blue curtains (on sale! at spotlight!) and it will be a bit pretty. Unlike any other spot in this house. Cos it will be all mine. Although the boyfriend and Kitty will be allowed to visit.

Because really, youngest is a musical genius, and his big brother isn't too shabby either. Eddie is a finalist in these awards. Yesterday I took him to be interviewed and record a track for the very formal awards ceremony in a couple of weeks time.

This way I'll get my lounge back. And I'll get a double wardrobe and a pretty, private space. And really, how cool would it have been if your parents had given you a perfect space to pursue your favourite thing when you were a teenager?

points...

On the beach - Hoi An, Vietnam June 2011

• 
  

  My food blogging friend back in Wellington for a few days from far away suggests we meet in a cafe. "What's good near you" she asks. I work out that I have eaten out three times since I came home from Vietnam in June. One Vietnamese restaurant on the Tory/Vivian Street corner (it was good, I'll have to go find it's name). The Tinakori Bistro, in a private room with a set menu. Seriously good, greatly enhanced by the company and the superb wine. And Hede, in Cuba Street. Gone a little upmarket with its prices and it's new plywood backed menu sans pictures. Not as good as it used to be, and not as busy either. Shall search out better Japanese option. I don't even go out for coffee much, but have a favourite Mojo in Bond Street, where the owner knows my name, mostly cos of the wine I've drunk there on Friday evenings, but not so much this year. There have been the occasional fish and chip picnics, and some thai takeaways. I'm not counting room service salads in Auckland hotels. They do not count. I buy my lunch maybe once a month. Maybe.




• 
  

  Said food blogging friend will now have big grin on her face. I'd suggested Thunderbird in Featherston Street, but I stood her up. Stayed home with my cough and my sneezes. I met someone there a coupla months ago. (another friend from far away!) I liked it. But I drank peppermint tea. Do you eat out? Am I just weird?




• 
  

  I like to cook. My favourite cooking happens on Wed (for my boyfriend/partner/significant other what on earth shall I call him?), and on Sunday, slow food usually, for the teenagers. Usually more to my taste than to theirs.



• 
  
  I went to Cambodia and Vietnam in June. Oh my! It was heaven. I had the best time. Yes I should blog it. I should.


• 
  
  I turned 50 in September. Hooray! I had a birthday party. The last time I did that I was 33.



• 
  
  I have grown 6 asparagus spears from my 5 new plants in their brand new bed. It's going to be a great harvest next year.



• 
  
  I spent a weekend in Christchurch recently. It was a sobering kindof visit. The roads! The rubble! The displaced persons! The empty houses! The rest of us just have no idea. We must keep on being supportive and strive to understand the difficulties they face, even though it's not headline news any more.



• 
  
  I am on the public hospital waiting list to have my gall bladder removed. The anticipated 6 months of waiting are up in January. I expect I won't hear from them til Feb or March, don't you? Nah, it doesn't hurt too much, but I've lost 4 or 5 kilos. When it does it's becos I ate something I shouldn't have (though I didn't think tonites chicken noodle soup would give me a pain - blah!)



• 
  
  I made a quilt. my only one for the year. and a dress. I should blog them too.


• 
  
  I'm home alone...it's very rare these days. I have complete control of the tv and the laptop. I'll probably go to bed early, cos there's nothing on tv.


• 
  
  So, what's new with you??




The formatting has gone nutso, and my laptop has developed a black line across the bottom third of the screen. yes, I'm definitely going to bed early....

Hijacked

My blog got hijacked.
The Sagittarian alerted me to the fact.
When you went to my url, it flashed the blog up for a second, then went to some random blog setting up site (not blogger).
EEEEEK!
Happily I was able to fix it, with some help from those people who's answers came up after a trusty google search. I was able to delete the offending code in my setup. I deleted some good things while I was figuring it out. But how did that nasty code get in there???
Double eeeeek!
I have now changed my password too......I hope it doesn't happen to you.

14.5

Seriously cool.
So excited I may burst.
Eddie was one of two opening acts for Liam Finn, playing to a sell out audience in Wellington last night.
He played 6 songs, 2 covers, 4 of his own.
His first 7" vinyl on sale at the door, alongside Liam's new album.
The venue is R18, he's 14.5.
He said 'thanks Liam, for letting me play' on stage.
Seriously cool.

Disproportionate pleasure

The vegetable garden is giving me a totally disproportionate sense of achievement and pleasure.

Most nights I pick something for dinner. Salad leaves and spring onions one night. Silver beet and carrots the next. Beetroot and baby leeks will be ready next week. I grew pumpkins! Small, but delicious pumpkins! I even picked a couple of strawberries yesterday, the plants are still flowering. They get every ray of sun that's going in their hillside garden spot, I guess that's why they're so happy. I've let them grow leaders and will plant another row when the bleak weather that is forecast passes. Beans and peas are growing well. I've just planted artichokes.

I'm eyeing the front lawn. It needs some citrus trees at least. And I'm no huge fan of lawn-mowing....

Youngest son, served with garden fresh carrots for the first time a few weeks ago pronounced them "too full of flavour". Sheesh. He's over that now

Vegetable still life photography skills needs some work!

The carrots and silver beet went into a lamb byriani. Delicious.

It's raining, but the cut-everything-down neighbour is building a retaining wall. The timbers are currently overhanging my vege garden. We'll assume he's going to trim them off back onto his own section. Of course he is.

ready for spring!

This is Falstaff, I planted 20 of these.

This is February Gold. I planted 10. These two are in the back garden, near the clothesline and the veges, and near my nice sunny seat.

This is Commanding. I planted 60 of these in the front garden kindof on the edge of a bank. I'll be able to look up at them when I slog up the hill, and down on them from inside the house. The (lovely) neighbours will have a good view of them too.

It's such a battle this gardening lark-wind, water, bugs, neighbours, weeds....
I reckon the daffodils will inspire me to keep on going.

A host of golden daffodils

While most of the blogs I read are celebrating spring and posting pictures of bulbs bursting into life, it's just bulb planting season in my little corner of the world.

I have 100 daffodils to plant. I'll finish planting them today. I have three varieties. I'm going to let them naturalise down the bank on the front lawn, and down a bank on the back lawn, and I'll have some near the front door. I hope the lack of lawn mowing that will result won't look too scruffy.

I bought them from here.

I've planted some bluebells under a tree too.

The pesky cut-everything-down neighbours have a brand new baby girl. It's nice to hear that brand new baby cry out in the garden.

Hmm, blogger won't let me show you any pics. I'll try later.

Red red red

Ohh, that's right, I have made a red quilt recently. Completed in Dec 2010 for someone's birthday.
An important birthday with a '0' in it.
That's me on the right, birthday girl on the left.
Hand delivered to Christchurch in time for the birthday party.
Lovely weekend.
Love this pic!

Technical details......It's a 16 patch. 11 blocks by 11. two inch squares. Huge! But looked amazing on their beautiful bed. There are some stars in the middle. Kind of hidden, secret stars. One for each decade.

Lovely bamboo and cotton batting.....my new favourite. Stipple quilted.

ohhh look, do you think the blog might be alive again???

I need to go to New York

Really. I do.
Want to come?At the American Folk Art Museum there is an exhibition of 650 quilts. Red and white quilts. All from the collection of one woman.

It closes tomorrow.

making me laugh

Blackbird often makes me laugh. She linked to this post which is laugh-out-loud funny, and I wish I'd found it a couple of weeks ago.
This woman, says Blackbird, is genius at telling other people how to live their lives. How to get over a broken heart in 7 easy steps.

And completely coincidentally yesterday someone left a new comment on this post of my very own from 2006 Letter to a Heartbroken friend. What good advice!! and that gorgeous friend is coming to visit me soon. Yay!

(Please note, my heart wasn't actually broken, more of a tiny crack that damaged my hopefulness and optimism, it's pretty well healed over now).

Sunday thinking....

I'm thinking about this post by Chris Brogan (found via Lisa Call)

"We all work a lot of hours. Are we actually doing anything? Is what you’re doing worth it? Are you doing something that’s going to grow the world? Are you adding to the solutions that are out there?

Or is it noise?"

I'm lucky in my day job, I'm doing lots that's "going to grow the world". But what am I doing otherwise? I'm not doing a very good job of growing my own world. I get mad at myself becos I spend Sundays exhausted most of the time. I get a bus (I don't have a car - madness!) at 8am, to get to the beach at 8:30. We swim for about an hour these days, the water is getting warmer at last! We go to breakfast. I get the bus home and I walk up the hill about midday. I eat lunch and I potter about and the day disappears in the dull old domestics. My gorgeous boys come back to me this day usually, and I like to make a big sunday dinner that we share, at the table, with knives and forks and even candles sometimes. But I have this nagging feeling that I don't do enough with Sundays. Do you?

What do you do on Sundays?

WOW

It's World of Wearable Arts time again. Here's the winner.....made of merino felt. Pretty cool huh? Lots of pics and the winners names here, with grateful thanks to the Dominion Post. Click on their blue text, there are over 30 pics.

I'm going this year, haven't been for a couple. Am looking forward to it. I'm taking the 16yo, and we're going to a fancy schmancy restaurant to enjoy their pre-theatre menu before hand. Lovely. Ohhh what'll I wear??

awake

It's 1:49 am. I oughta be sound asleep. But I'm wide awake. I've been asleep for a few hours. Is that all I get? It's not going to be enough.

I'm sad. It's not major, it'll pass. But I'm pretty sad. I'm probably sadder becos it's ..... ohh .... time passes and it's now 1:51am !!

I swam today, like a mad woman. I was fast! That was after I made all the swimmers give me hugs. They were very obliging. I didn't tell them why and they didn't ask, even when I cried a little. Maybe hugs made me swim fast! We had breakfast and planned trips to swim races. It will be a fun summer.

I went to the garden centre for retail therapy. I got blueberries and raspberries and a kowhai tree. Oh, and a rose. Hmm. That doesn't sound like the actions of someone thinking of selling up and moving into a city apartment does it? Oh well. It was right for today. I didn't plant them tho. I'll get around to it, it's a bit dark just now.........

I've read all your blogs. Completely up to date now. I've read my horoscope, and the forums on the stupid dating site - so lame. I've read the New York Times and all the kiwi news sites. I can't think of anything else to read.

Ohhh.......facebook. Maybe some o-seas friend is awake. OHHH!
thanks for listening! See ya!

Kitty

Kitty, says the vet, is losing his fur on his tummy, tail and back legs because he is stressed.
STRESSED!
You thought I was exaggerating about the garden devastation next door, didn't you? But Kitty and I are now officially stressed. Poor Kitty. He has a new place he sits these days. I thought it was because he liked it. But he is obviously anxiously watching over his domain, looking at the spot his favourite pohutakawa tree used to be, and wondering, like me, what they will cut down next.

Poor Kitty. I've given him some cat nip. He's sitting beside me purring. I think I'll have chocolate for lunch.

Friday things

Everyone is watching this google map that does a time lapse thing to show you the quake activity. Yikes. Hang in there Cantabrians, it's gotta stop sometime.

Kitty and I are going to the vet tomorrow. Poor itchy kitty. His fur isn't as nice or thick and soft as it used to be. Hopefully it's an easy fix.

The crazy cut everything down neighbours cut down the honeysuckle hedge (very sad face) and have replaced it with a timber fence/retaining wall. So now I guess I can now grow something over the fence. Passionfruit? Some berries? Wanna come to the garden centre with me?

And while we're out, I need to buy this new pattern from Kwik Sew.

So I can make me one of these.....
I reckon it would take 3 hours tops, from start to finish. Easy!

This one is from Max, and it's lovely. Except I live in Wellington. When am I going to wear such sleeveless-ness???

quake!

The two people that commented on my last post are in earthquake country. Sagittarian texted to say they were fine but lots broken. Cesca is probably in the same situation.
Yikes!
There are good pictures here
On the radio people are saying they've never felt anything like it, even compared to the San Francisco earthquake.
Happily there are no reports of any injury. I guess it's lucky it happened at 4:30am ish, rather than at midday when the commercial buildings were all full of people.

See? Thankful! You never know what will happen next.

hello

September already. Hmm let's see if I can get my blogging mojo back, shall we?

• I turned 49 yesterday. I am, frankly, full of the joys of life (mostly) and thankful. Went to another funeral of a fine (young like me) man a couple of weeks ago. Enough said I guess.
• I've been sewing - clothes. I'm getting good at it. Just one special quilt on the go. Pictures to come soon. Really, they will.
• My vege garden is great. really. I grow the best spinnach, and beetroot. The broad beans are going to be extraordinary, and the strawberries are so keen they need to be pinched back.
• My cat appears to be allergic to fleas. Hmm. Weird.
• I joined a gym. I'm loving it.
• I weigh about 78 kg. which is a lot different to the 85kg I started the year at. Nope, it wasn't easy at all.

Thanks for listening. I'll be back. I think we need a spring clean around here.