Dear Judy

Yes, it's about time I wrote.  (I love those leaves you are stitching by the way).

I want to show you this place.  It's a little piece of paradise. It belongs to me and M.   (M is my boyfriend of 4 years.  Did I mention him yet?)

Look!

It's a wild bit of eroding coastline.  I love it for its ruggedness. And the view of course.

We've owned it for a year and a half.  It really is painted that crazy turquoise colour.  A real 1950s exterior colour in these parts.

And at least one of us goes there every weekend. It's a less than 2 hours drive from home through some lovely countryside.  Currently lots of lambs and just-beginning-to-fade daffodils.

Love.

I shall try and be a better correspondent.  I've missed you.

Hxx

Hello

Hello
This used to be my blog that I loved dearly.
I met some good friends here.

I can't believe the date on that last post.

Stay tuned.  Or come back. Or something.
Cos I might just rev it up again.

Hxx

Caravan

One day I'm going to buy a caravan.
And park it at a beach.
This one is extraordinary.  It was built in 1937.

you could buy it if you have a spare $33,000 NZD.  I think it's worth it.

It's here, on TradeMe.  Check out the pictures!

You're kidding, right?

Dear Jaqui E

http://www.jacquie.com.au


you have got to be kidding.

Pay hard earned cash for these pants, even on sale??.....only 59.95 AUD that is.

The model is - well  -  model-thin and they look awful on her.   So imagine how bad they'd look on a real woman with curves.  Ridiculous.

sorry for the blurry picture.

Happy new year

It's almost 2013 already.

I've been telling everyone this is going to be the year of good health.

But I have a cold.  My ears are ringing and my sinuses are filled with concrete.  It's a  perfect still day and I want to go swimming, but instead I shall throw open the doors and windows and sew.  Eventually the teenagers will get out of bed.

I started last year with gall bladder surgery and ended it with a type 2 diabetes diagnosis.  In between I tore my achilles (just  a tiny little bit) and hurt my back twice , including the worst back injury ever.   Oh and I'm going to see a cardiologist in Jan and Feb.  But I'm pretty sure that will be fine, but good to be sure after 18 years of relentlessly high blood pressure.

I'm pissed off about the diabetes becos I am 'atypical'.  I am active, I am not obese.  But I can get even more active, and I can lose some middle age spread and stave off the prospect of medication for as long as possible.

So I thought if I wrote that all down I could stop stressing about all the things I want to do, and get on with what I can do. 

Sew!

A couple of new dresses to show you soon.

Kitty is ready to help. 

More Treasures

These beauties are all for sale on Trademe right now.

I love this carpet. There was a similar one in my childhood bedroom.
Have you seen the ripple blanket craze that was doing the blog rounds over the last year or two? Rescue this vintage one and you can have your own.
A Singer featherweight sewing machine. Kindof sewing mecca for quilters. This one looks to be in great condition and it's got a buy now of only $350. Bargain!

I'm bidding on some vintage sewing patterns. I'm not expecting to win them, but I'll show you if I do.

Inviting happiness

During our Christmas trip to the South Island I had more than a few moments appreciating these two (aged 15 and 18) in the beautiful great outdoors. Walking on beaches and in the bush, exploring caves and admiring flowering forests (the Rata was amazing!) isn't something they'll do with me very often these days. And they will never let me take their photographs! So I greatly enjoyed our exploring, and their company. Their sights are set further afield now, and perhaps if I travel with them both again, it will be in Europe. This picture is from the bottom of Trumans Track, near Punakaiki, West Coast, South Island. One of my favourite places.

Here's a lovely post about inviting happiness. Thanks Diane.

How's the garden?

I love these purple beans. They didn't climb as high as expected, and they go green when they are cooked, but I usually eat a couple between the garden and the kitchen. They've been a great crop.

I pick this many strawberries most days, battling the birds and the slugs because I didn't get around to building the strawberry fortress this year. There's lettuce too, all sorts, heaps of it, picked and eaten daily.

Now the garden is becoming overtaken with pumpkins...the vines grow like triffids, fast and strong. There are about 5 plants, self seeded from my compost. I'm going to let them go and see what happens.

There's some beetroot, grown from seed that seems to be doing quite well, and a pitiful display of spring onions. And sweet peas, because I rebelled and planted them along with the beans. They're very pretty and sweet indeed. I was away for 3 weeks during Wellington's finest summer weather, and have not been capable of going near it for the last four weeks, so the weeds (nightshade! wandering willie! dandelions!) are rampant. I continue to be the best fennel grower in the world. Yes Nicola, I still hate fennel.

Rocks!

They're quite nice aren't they? They'd make good beads or something.

There are 16 of them, and they were in my gall bladder. Yuck!

So no wonder it would hurt a bit most days, for the last 6 months or so....but if I'm really honest, for a year or two at least, on and off. And they were probably the cause of that little incident on a plane about 4 years ago. Pain! Luckily (??!!) I was diagnosed in June, in the middle of about 10 days of major pain, when my gall bladder it got itself infected. Oh lordy! It was like being in labour...the pain! The doctors and nurses and their painkilling injections and pills were very good. So then I waited 6 months (almost exactly the time they predicted) on the public waiting list, and I had a text-book straight forward laparoscopic gall bladder removal.

And now, close to 4 weeks on, I feel less like someone has kicked me in the stomach, and more like I've done 200 sit-ups. It's getting better all the time. It's a bit of a miracle cure really. Nice.

(Pointing out research that suggests increased risk of bowel cancer strictly forbidden and all suggestions that fat free diet is even more necessary now shall be ignored in favour of happy icecream eating).

Trade me treasure

This is for sale on trade-me

Isn't it lovely?

It's currently selling for $13.50 and there are no bids.

For crying out loud!! I wonder what a quilt dealer would value it at. I might have to buy this one ... unless you do.

planning not dreaming....

I fell in love with this fabric before Arthur Toye (in Wellington) had it's sale. Now it's reduced to $15 a metre. But I didn't buy it becos I couldn't figure out what I would do with it. It's a sneaky cell phone pic. Take my word for it, the wide spread red, blue, green, yellow stripes on creamy white are gorgeous. It's a little sheer though.

But then I searched about and I found this dress on Polyvore. It's by Tobi.com and the site says it is $76 NZD, but I'm not interested in buying it (even if they would ship to NZ, haven't checked).




I could whip one up with either the Cynthia Rowley pattern by Simplicity, or the New Look 6723 which has just the right princess seamed bodice. I'm not sure it would suit me though, I don't usually go for pooffy skirts (pooffy is so a word!).
Then again, there's this stripe on sale too....which might be a bit more subtle and go well with my new navy blue jacket to wear to work.

So what do you think? Should I just set myself the challenge and make the dress?