Oh, and...

The internet dating is going pretty well, thanks! But if I ever meet a man who actually spends his weekends in Wellington it will be a miracle!

I keep forgetting to tell you Eddie did win the music prize at school at the end of the year, and was suitably chuffed. He's doing music in the year ahead at high school this year....so he's on his way! He went to a NZ music gig about a month ago, and hung about til he could meet Liam Finn. Liam recognised Eddie from his You Tube cover, and told him that he was really impressed. I think I may be more excited about this than Eddie was. I'm not allowed to wash the beautifully autographed tee-shirt though. Heh!

I found a Hardy Aimes Saville Row suit in an op shop. It fits oldest son as if it was made for him. Amazing

Garden blues

This is the view from the seat at the end of my vege garden. Isn't it great? This isn't a good day, the southerly is rolling in, see those clouds and that rain over there? The sun sets behind those faraway hills. That's my roof at the right edge of the picture. We're facing the wilderness that is my down-hill neighbours garden. They never ever set foot there. Honestly, not in 10 years have they been there. I clamber over sometimes to cut down the gorse and the fennel. If I live here for another 20 years I'll claim it and plant a native forest or something.

We have our backs to my uphill neighbours. A nice young couple with their almost 2 year old moved in about November. Before them, the house was empty for 12 months. Before that it was home to an old lady, who'd lived there for over 50 years. She told me tales about the neighbourhood and the garden...she had great photographs of when our houses were built (in the 1950s). Well, of course, because she was in her 80s, and then it was empty, there was no gardening going on next door for a good 10 years. Over the last 6 weeks, the new owners have been making up for lost time. They've slashed and chopped and utterly changed the landscape.

It used to be that I couldn't see their house. Now I can see all of it. There is a public path that goes up past their house, and last week I realised that you can now see my garden and my house, right into the lounge, from the public path. I've begged them to leave alone two of the pohutakawa trees that march up the boundry between us. They've cut down kitty's favourite limb of another pohutakawa. He keeps going over there and sniffing around it where it lies on the ground! I've told them quite firmly but politely that I think they should leave one tree alone (although they've trimmed it heavily) because I think it's holding up their property above mine. They were sad when I pointed out they'd chopped down a pretty good apple tree and a beautiful rose. I managed to save the pear tree though!

Actually, writing this is cheering me up a bit. I'm devastated about losing all that privacy. I loathe how they can now walk up and down their path and look into my lounge. I have been playing more music, loud, because I can hear all their conversations at their front door with no trees in between us any more. I went into the garden to take the pictures before and scurried inside again becos I didn't want to get into a conversation with them.

The worst thing is, that just as I was getting to be able to plan new planting, and maybe buy a beautiful garden seat, and start living out there, rather than just working my butt off out there, it's become - well, not what I expected I guess.

On the upside, they're good people, I like them, and I've let them know, gently and without confrontation, a bit about how I'm feeling. You'd have to stand still, on their path, or the public path, to have a really good look at my garden or house, and not many people are going to do that. The light's changed at my place, there's probably more sun, so that's probably a good thing on the whole (but not good for one quilt that used to hang in a more shaded spot).

And the moral of the story is, be careful what you wish for. Because I used to wish I wasn't surrounded by gardens that no-one cared about. Ha!

But hey, look at that view. Come have a g&t up there with me sometime.

Come and see my garden

Everyone who knows and loves me has been bored silly with tales of how I've worn myself out, hurt my back, given up swimming on Saturdays.....all because of my garden.
Here it is. Best it's ever been.
While I've had bursts of gardening over 16 years in this house, I never made it a priority. And then I moved out for a year, a couple of years ago now, during which time the lawns weren't mowed, nothing was trimmed....well, you can imagine. So I have toiled for about 12 months now.....let me show you around.
This is the very top of my long skinny section (block to you Aussies) and it's the home of my vege garden. The wind has wrecked the beans, the peas have fallen off their stakes, but there are beetroot, spinnach, carrots (must thin them out), leeks and lettuce. It's the third time (different houses) I've made a vege garden. This was a very low budget dig-up-a-patch-of-grass kindof garden. It's fun! There's a seat at the end there, it has the best view, photo to come in another post, and gets the absolute last of the sun. Sunset and a glass of wine, here I come.

This is to the right, and below the vege garden. That's a nice sunny seat to sit on. See that sloping bare earth? I'm growing to sow grass there, and plant 60 daffodil bulbs and let them naturalise. My very own daffodil lawn.

This is directly below the vege garden. It's a very steep bank. I've planted hebes, that are low growing and will spread out. 'Otara' which is a deep purpley blue, and 'champagne' a small white flower. I planted spreading rosemary too....so eventually it will all be covered. There's room for a ground cover rose I think. I'm going to find a yellow one.

This is my lovely yellow tree, in the front garden this time, taken from my bedroom window. That's an old bathtub I uncovered from the grass and weeds, with great crops of parsley, sage, chives, mint and a cute little bushy basil - Greek basil I think it's called.

and then, looking just to the left of the herb bath planter, here's the front lawn, and the bin I filled today, in one last big clean up. it's the third bin I've filled, and I've driven my packed car to the tip over a dozen times. Bamboo grows madly on that patch I've cleared today, so there'll be spraying and digging for a long time to come til it's gone for good.

Haven't I done well? And you know what, I did every single bloody inch of it ALL BY MYSELF!

But suddenly, just as becomes less toil and more pleasure, it's going horribly wrong. Which I shall have to make another post to tell you about.

Quilts make the best presents

This is a special little quilt, recently given away.

The centre block was beautifully x-stitched by my co-worker, and I put it into a quilt, which we gave to our project leader to mark the end of our collaboration. Each of the fabrics has a special meaning - there are vegetables, pigs, wine labels, words, and cars and trucks too. I can't explain them all here, 'cos we don't blog about work.....nope! Those are 2 inch squares on point, so you can see it's pretty small. I was glad I got my quilt maths right and the design worked out. The recipient was uncharacteristically quiet after we gave it to him, and he hung it on his office wall immediately.

Quilts really make the best presents, even when they're very small.

Want

Mad Men Barbie.
Cool!

via Obsessilicious which is one of my daily reads, pure inspiration!

I need to go to London

I need to go to London.

I was last there in 1986.

Yes, exactly...high time I returned. To be honest, I've had lots of other places on my list of places to go, until now that is.



"The V&A will present its first ever exhibition of British quilts, with examples dating from 1799 to the present day......Earliest examples include a sumptuous silk and velvet bedcover, with an oral narrative that links King Charles II's visit to an Exeter manor house in the late 17th century. Recent examples will include works by leading artists such as Grayson Perry and Tracey Emin and commissions for the exhibition by a number of contemporary artists including Sue Stockwell and Caren Garfen."

Read more at the V&A website here
and check out what's in the V&A shop in support of the exhibition here. Fabric! Books! Oh my!

My house doesn't really need a new roof does it? There isn't much rain getting in, really there isn't.

I need to go to London!

Sewing clothes...

This is New Look 6976.

I made myself one!

It's a lousy picture (I don't have access to any editing software), but I love my top. It's a viscose chiffon, very fine, kinda floaty, but it's nice, and it fits!!

I'm getting better at that. More to come.

I think I should get contact lenses. What do you think?

I sure do need some new glasses anyway.

Dreams are free. Actually, let's call it a planning discussion.

Yes, I'm auditioning photographs for my internet dating profile. Sigh!

A sunset coloured quilt!

Think I might hang this on the bright bright yellow wall in my lounge.

Lovely

Autumn sunsets are often pretty, maybe it's just that they're getting earlier so I notice them more.

Hello, my name is Pixie, and this is my blog. Possibly someone is still around to read? I'll try posting and see if you turn up.

Dotty

Hello.
It's 2010 already. I shall start it by remembering my Auntie Dorothy, who broke her leg on Christmas day, and died, a few days later.

I can't stop thinking about her, obviously I guess.

She was in her mid eighties. Which means she must have been born around 1925. Imagine that for a minute. What must the world have been like then, some small town NZ place. She was an opera singer, she toured Europe, but she was never famous. She was a solo mother, she had a child to an American Serviceman, to whom she was never married. She took her son to all her concerts, or so he used to say. He died a few years ago. She married a man 10 years younger than her. He's pretty remarkable too, the son of a coalminer, he went to art school in London, and before he retired was sculpting mannekins (you know, the ones that shops display clothes on). He was a window dresser for department stores. Dot was a member of the Acadamy of Fine Arts in Auckland, and frequently exhibited. Their house is an art gallery, full of works by themselves and their friends. Their garage was their studio, and their bar. She had white white hair, and always wore a shock of bright red lipstick. What a remarkable life for someone from that generation, especially for a woman from NZ.

She was mightily disabled by arthritus, but she loved my borther's 50th birthday vineyard tour last year. She called us all darling, and swore she had a 'sense' about things. She would talk to you, holding your hands all the time, and ask penetrating questions. She adored seeing my sons, there weren't many young people in her life any more, and she enjoyed all that youth and vitality they represented. I wish I was going to hear the eulogy someone is no doubt writing. I have asked my uncle to keep a copy for me. Suddenly I want to ask her many questions. I am sorry Auntie Dot, that the pile of red and purple floral fabrics that would have been your quilt, will have to be used for something else now.

So, good riddance 2009.
Come on 2010, what else you got in store?

And now for some light relief.....
I have been reading Maria Kalman at the New York Times re The Pursuit of Happiness.
lovely!

progress hiccups

6 December 83.4
29 November 83.0

Hmm. Not going too well at the moment. Have skipped a few swims. Obviously that just doesn’t work. Planning a regular before-work-on-Thursdays swim. That should help. Or wear me out. One or the other.

My home PC has a major hard drive crash, probably terminal. So, my blogging days are about to slow down even further, and it may look like they’ve ceased altogether.

It is possible that I’ll never see my sons again if I don’t have internet access at my house, so that’s going to be very interesting. How will they cope? I’ve also come to realise, over this initial weekend adjusting period, that I really do love the internets, but it sure sucks some time out of my life, reading all your beautiful blogs and those design sites and the like.

However there were at least 3 occasions when I wanted to know something in the last few days….does the arun lilly die away completely or do I trim it? Just how do I go about hanging that first roll of wallpaper and could I make my own plumb line? What day is the school break-up prize giving concert thing??

I shall think of it as a social experiment. No internet at home. How long can a little family last?

Eddie told me (in a very rare show of whatever-it-is) that he would like to win the music prize. And my heart aches for him, because he and I both know that it is likely to go to his (very lovely) friend who is the showman of the two of them, who has performing in his genes, but probably not the musicality. Said friend won the music prize last year. I am rehearsing lines to say to Eddie after the prize giving. Lines like “I reckon you’ll be making music for the rest of your life Ed, while your friend probably will not”.

But then again, maybe Eddie and I will be wrong.

Happy Blue

Blue makes me happy.

I need to make a blue stripey quilt. That's a painting, not a quilt (via apartment therapy long, long ago).

This wallpaper would look wonderful on the wall at the head of my bed. I think it's from Laura Ashley, who's no where near as prissy as she used to be.

Then there's this, a quilt I've made specifically to sell, but I'm not having much luck so far. Must try harder. Not that I'll mind if I have to hang it on a wall around here, because I'm a bit in love with it. It's raining, so the planned garden blitz isn't going to happen today. Instead I am off to try to excavate enough bare space in Jack's room so I can get ready to paint it. It's going to be black and white, with a few natural timber accents, and (one fine day), a neutral carpet. No other colour allowed, because that's the way he wants it.
What colour makes you happy?

Beautiful

Image acquired from MadeByGirl who says she got it from WideOpenSpaces both of whom you should visit if you like to look at beautiful things.

21 November 83.0 kg
14 November 83.5 kg
7 November 84.2 kg
31 October 85.? kg

looking after myself

It's like this. I don't think I am looking after myself very well. Not well enough. Are you?

As much as I tell myself the numbers don't matter, the simple fact is that I am overweight. I know lots of you don't own scales, don't want to buy into the whole diet fiasco and blah blah blah...but let's face it, the best, easiest measurement is the bathroom scales.

When I bought my wetsuit 4 years ago, I weighed 75 kilos. I know this becos the (terribly charming) shop guy weighed me to help him figure out which one and which size to sell me. I was surprised by what was/is a low number. The wetsuit still fits me and I love it dearly. Never mind the fact that I look bloody awful in it!

I want to weigh less. Largely for the good of my heart, although past experience shows my weight hasn't had much effect on the scary blood pressure numbers, it surely must contribute. Part of my weight gain is about changed medication, but really, I want to get myself under control. Health is my major motivation, but there's no denying I'll look better too if I weigh less. I'm reasonably fit, I swim at least 3 hours a week, and I spend at least another 3 or 4 hours toiling away in my diy madness and making my garden manageable. I'm trying to make myself walk up the steep hill to home more often. Seems to me I need to eat better. Less refined carbs and much less sugar.

Anyway, I don't want to turn this into a weight loss blog, but my theory is that if I make the commitment here, and I report in every weekend, then I will have your support and I'll be motivated because I know you're watching. Easy, right??

I've been delaying posting this cos I want to post a graph recording my progress, but geez, that isn't easy with dear old blogger! So here're the stats. So far so good.

14 November 83.5 kg
7 November 84.2 kg
31 October 85.? kg

thanks for listening.

Counting

I can now count a handful of people I have cared about, who have died, in their forties, of cancer.

They were all parents. One of them wrote in a letter to everyone she had to leave behind, that although she didn't know what happened when you died, she intended to be in her childrens lives forever. It has been my pleasure to talk about some of these people with their children, and to tell them stories about their Mum or their Dad. There's a garden seat at the local school that I cannot walk past without giving it a pat, because I spent a lot of time sitting there one year, first with A, then with J, who both made supreme efforts to be there to pick up their kids at the end of the school day, for as long as they possibly could. Without exception, their children and their partners have, on the whole, thrived. Maybe suffering really does make you stronger.

None of these people were heavy drinkers, they were active, none of them smoked, including the lovely man who died of lung cancer. None of these people were careless of their health as AOF puts it so well. I have decided I must take a little more care with mine. I shall talk about that with you at the weekend.

Meanwhile there are little bloggy tributes moving me to tears all over the place, and Facebook is temporarily unbearable, because last week, the Editter died. I shall remember always her big beautiful heartfelt grin, her knack of making you feel important, and her story telling. I hope my path crosses with that of her gorgeous baby boy as he grows so I can tell him that too, but I have no doubt that he will know how loved she was, and how very much missed. Cesca has a lovely post with great pictures, and so does Martha. Cesca, I'm going to look you up next time I'm in Christchurch.

I have hung a picture of you and your boy above my desk dear Editter, to remind me, life is good and must be appreciated.

So meantime, could the rest of you kindly take care, keep well, okay?

and go tell someone this....(I can't find a good clip of Van the mans version, but this is a goody, though I like it better if I don't have to look at Rod!!)

plate

I just bought this.
Cos I love daffodils, and it's pretty.
And it's my birthday tomorrow.
Yay!

Life is good

Not so long ago, I was relaxing with youngest son in Surfers Paradise. I went to an internet cafe to check my email, and I don't mind telling you, the news there made me a little teary.

So now, two or three times a day, I think of The Editter. I take a breath, I smile a big smile (probably passing pedestrians think I'm mad, but what the heck!), and I say to myself and to her, Life is Good, Editter, life is good.

Go and cheer her on, and send some positive vibes her way. She's a damn fine writer, and she has a story to tell, and a bit of a journey to take us on.

The Editter

Life is good.

and it's daffodil day, so go buy a daffodil or two.

He wants a new microphone...

awesome Eddie.

la la la

He says tomato
and I say tomayto
so............

well......almost, maybe, probably.......
Guess I won't go to Christchurch for a while anyhow.

sigh.

Must tell you about Brisbane. Gotta sort out the photos first though.