Patience carries a lot of wait...

Glorious colours from the south Wairarapa coast; I love this area with the row of trees, such interesting shapes in silhouette, aren't they?

How do you like my pun in the title?  I'm living it right now; last Monday week, I moved awkwardly and pinged a muscle in my lower back.  Rest and time are the only cures, so I believe, and I'm finding it difficult.  The good side is that I'm sleeping very soundly, maybe helped by the painkillers, so it's a matter of gentle movements and patience
which has never been my strong suit,

It's a good opportunity to catch up on sedentary occupations, so knitting and watching TVNZ on demand is filling the bill.

I couldn't resist picking a few of these, some sort of wallflower, I think, with a variegated leaf, but so good to have all that colour on the one plant and with the oh so variable weather, we can do with cheering up.

Wellington Quilt Guild has just had an exhibition, right in the city on the wharf at the Academy of Fine Arts - which I think is a beautiful venue, but then as a Wellingtonian and Life Member, I would!

Also as a Life Member I have the honour of awarding a prize, and it's completely up to me, I don't have to mark it or justify my choice.  To me, scrap quilts are the ultimate joy and hand quilting - though I do realise less and less quilters are doing so. 

This quilt just ticked all the boxes for me :-

Scrap definitely, it had such appeal and warmth that I wanted to wrap myself in it!  And such a surprise as the quilts were all anonymous, it was made by my fellow Life Member, Jane Dagger.

Another quilt I want to share is one that contains quite a bit of my fabric!  Made by a friend with whom I enjoy coffee and chat once a week, most weeks, in the colour wash style -

 

Bother, I can't remember what she called it, made by Jann Pearce that I do know! 

This is "Waste and Renewal III" by Fyvie Murray, our talented President - I just love those colours; somehow it reminds me of Art Deco...

After we'd picked our winners, a friend and I went for a short walk along the wharf to One Red Dog for coffee and a snack;  we chose potato skins, very tasty - though next time I'll ask them to put the dressings on the side; one was too spicy for me.

Time to watch "The Chase" and enjoy being able to answer a few questions, it also reminds me that its been a long while since I watched British TV, the celebrities are unknown to me!

So I'll say cheerio, and leave you with another of Phil's photographs,

great sillhouette - and I believe she was caught by a wave soon after!
And the thought that "The world is round so that friendship may encircle it." Chardin.

Thanks for reading my blog,
June

Just Do it!! Advice to myself...

How's this for a view from your window?  No wonder Phil loves being in South Wairarapa.

Had a few hiccups recently with my internet access and computer, do hope it's been sorted; it was a long frustrating story and I've ended up with not just one, but two desktop computers.  The old one "died" and then came back to life with the techie was installing the new one and I've now decided to change my supplier which should save me quite a lot of money. Fingers crossed...

There's lots going on in the local quilting world, great meeting of Capital Quilters on Saturday when we held a competition; several teams had been given a bag of fabric from which they had to make a quilt top.  They could pre-cut but no sewing until the meeting started and at least one piece of each fabric had to be used.     

http://capitalquilters.blogspot.com/  is the website, I'm sure they'll be posting photos of the amazing tops that were made - I was too busy rushing around gossiping with friends I hadn't seen for months.

This caught my eye from the crazy mom blog, bright cheerful colours and strings - I love that the strings are actually itsy pieces - and who doesn't have a lot of those.

I'm enjoying TVNZ on demand - re-discovering old programmes and seeing if I do still like them or have my tastes changed.  ER is standing the test of time; it was made in the mid-nineties when HIV was very much to the fore of hospital issues. Did you use to watch it?

Wellington Guild's exhibition opens later this week, as a Life Member I get to chose a quilt for my award which is always a thrill, and funnily enough not difficult; usually one jumps out at me when I walk around. 

 

A glorious sunset at the 'ponds' near Ngawi and the thought, "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." Mahatma Gandhi

 Thanks for reading my blog.

June

Trees and clouds in the south Wairarapa, photographed recently by Phil, not far from where he now lives.

I'm sure many clever words have been written about putting off doing things, I just love this one - courtesy Bonnie Hunter, quilter extraordinaire -

After I posted the last blog, I was so enthusiastic to get back into communicating with everyone that I started sorting out photographs - then I thought, no, don't rush into it, leave it a few days, people don't want to get too many - that was four weeks ago...     We'll see...

It's been a busy time; I've been invaded -  by ants!  I'll spare you the photographs, sufficient to say I've never seen any ants in this house and I moved in late 2000.  I saw a few - haha - on the kitchen bench, my granddaughter googled ants and raided the kitchen cupboard for cloves which we put along the window ledge...

Next morning there were thousands marching in lines from the front window, up to the top of the wall and along to the kitchen, crossing over the end wall, under the window etc. etc.  I grabbed a lemon from the dish, cut off one end and drew lines - the ants simply walked around the juice.

An sos brought the rest of the family, complete with a tube of ant repellant, we used my masking tape - usually for holding down the quilt sandwich - and dotted the sticky stuff around the rooms.  Next day there were no ants to be seen, but I'm keeping a watchful eye...

As I mentioned last time, the kumera is doing very well -

with a little help from the wooden horse.

 I missed the quilt meeting last weekend, but do have some photograph to share from the previous meeting - and my sincere blanket apology, if you'll excuse the pun, no names were recorded -

 I wish I'd spoken to whoever made this, fascinating - see that almost nine patch at the top?

 Very modern, big pieces - I'm a fan of straight line quilting.

 What do you think? for a much loved family member?

 Great how the touch of red and subtle green add so much to a black and white quilt, imho!

This I do remember as it was made by one of the Shut-in Stitchers, DTU.  Good to see, I really miss going in to teach at the prison; they could use more volunteers - hint, hint!

Did you see the list published by the Washington Post of the  latest alternative meanings, my favourites are: balderdash (n), a rapidly receding hairline and lymph (n),  to walk with a lisp.

I'll leave you now with the quotation, "Don't mistake activity for achievement," John Wooden  and a photograph of the Wairarapa, east of Masterton.

Thanks for reading my blog
June

Some Daily Bread

"The sky is the daily bread of the eyes"  Ralph Waldo Emerson

So, with these reflections in the rainwater ponds near Ngawi, we get a double helping.  I've been fascinated by clouds for a long time; I remember lying on the front lawn of the house I was born in, back in the UK, probably enjoying the scents of the grape hyacinths, watching the clouds, 'seeing' all sorts of pictures and making up stories about them.

Phil took this photograph recently.

The weather is milder today, very chilly yesterday with a heavy frost on the lawns though not enough to rescue the man-made ice rink in town.  It was supposed to be the venue for an ice hockey match but the final straw was the wind blowing over the fences.

 A Canadian friend, Gill, has posted photographs of the wild life in her garden, recently a chipmunk - not something we see in NZ unless it's the kind I saw on Facebook recently -

It's so cute- beautifully done [sorry I don't know the name of the quilter]



I had a birthday last month and this is the cake my family brought round -

Isn't it a beauty?

I will have to empty out the vegetable basket more often; I found a sprouting kumera the other day, not sure if it is advisable to eat it when it's sprouting, so I popped it into a container -

 



a mug I gave to my late husband -  I think it's a perfect container.  Since I took this photograph it's grown considerably!

I went to a meeting of Capital Quilters recently and was again impressed by the number of quilts shown, these took my eye -

 

Half square triangles are a big favourite; I've made several quilts setting them in different ways though it's difficult to beat Barn Raising.  

The simple looking squares are actually pieces of needlepoint tapestry, or maybe commercial tapestries, either way, it's very effective.

Something about the cute little foxes is hard to resist - though my sister who lives in the UK and keeps chickens wouldn't agree.

The last quilt I know as Inner City - really beautiful.
  
I came across this little book when looking for something else in the bookcase recently, as one often does, and wonder who else remembers them?

 
 Funny though, I was sure the School Journals were around when we came to NZ back in 1958, if so how could this be No. 1? Maybe I'm confusing it with another publication.

There's a delightful story called "Yuck" by Marilyn Duckworth and the traditional poem about The House that Jack built...this is the cat, that killed the rat, that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built...etc.  I think my ggd will love that one!

I'll leave you with the thought, "Let us go singing as far as we go; the road will be less tedious." Virgil and one of my favourite - heck, they all are - photographs Phil took on our recent road trip around the south 'Rapa.

 
From a distance, I thought they were buttercups, not sure what they are, just beautiful!

Thanks for reading my blog,
June

It's a whole new world.

A different view of one of Phil's favourite spots, Castlepoint,  the lighthouse is waaay in the distance and that's where most of the photographs are taken.  This gives a good view of the spine of land along the outer rim; if you've got Google Earth you can see exactly what I mean...

 Did you see the TV programme yesterday evening about the group of Birders, as opposed to bird watchers or twitchers, who went to North Korea to see the birds that fly from Alaska to Foxton beach,  then on the way back, they stop off on an island between China and North Korea? - ooops, that sentence is way too long!

I found it a fascinating documentary, as much for what wasn't shown or talked about as for what was.  I do hope that, now the ice is broken, we will get to see more of what appears to be a very interesting country.  From the glimpse of colourful clothes, their art appeals to me.

So does this, by Edrica Huirs [do hope I copied that correctly] -

 

It's called "The Palm House".

Have I mentioned that I used to collect rocking horses?  It started when I was in Canada and I saw a folk art piece, a small blackboard, or slate that was used in schools - many years before my time I hasten to add - something about it appealed to me which I believe is the start of the slippery slope.

Then I  began to wonder whether this was how I saw myself, as someone unable to run freely....hmm so I bought this Pegasus from a junky type shop, can't get much more free than this -

Not exactly a pretty face, but a happy one I think.

It feels good to be talking to you again, thanks for being here, time for my lunch, so I'll leave you with another of Phil's photographs and the thought, "Gratitude is the heart's memory," French proverb.

Closer to the lighthouse at Castlepoint.

Bye for now,
June

The times they are a-changing!

What a glorious sunset - photo taken by, Phil and I think that's the South Island in the distance, maybe the Kaikoura Range...

Yesterday I went to the monthly meeting of Capital Quilters; what with one thing and another, I haven't been for months so when I noticed I was down for library duty I knew I had to make a big effort and it was well worth it to see so many quilting friends, including the speaker, Pauline Cave, a fellow scrap quilter.

Part of the big effort was caused by the fact that I am not allowed to drive my car for a month! no, I haven't been a naughty girl... just had some weird sensations early one morning and I wondered about telling my doctor, you know just in case she thought it was important.  So, easy peasey, I put a question on the Health 365 site then jumped into my car and drove to the library, did a bit of window shopping in Jackson Street, had a coffee then drove home.  The phone rang as I walked in the door,  it was my doctor to tell me she had ordered an ambulance to take me to the hospital for more tests! 

Bless them they came quietly and I sat by the phone ready to tell them if anything changed - feeling an absolute fraud, but I do understand they must follow best practice.

 

I know it's been ages since I posted but this is ridiculous!  the photos have a mind of their own - but since it's here, this is a photo from one of my favourite tv programmes, Cash Cowboys, two Canadian pickers - I have a soft spot for Canada - and in one episode they were picking this very crowded house and in the attic were several dusty boxes, this we one.  You can imagine I was surprised to see the family name on a product in Canada.  Those were the days, cleaning the grate with black lead!

This quilt caught my eye, using a block I used quite a bit in my Five Inch squares class.

On the quilting front I have finally finished the backing for the Venetian Dream and decided on the binding - photo to follow.

Time for bed I think, lovely to be back, I'll sort out the photo problem, hasn't been the same since I had to change to gmail...I think they've all been saved to My Drive - no idea where that is...

Ok, here's another photo from Phil,

I love that old tree - and the thought, "It's a funny thing about life, if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it." W. Somerset Maugham.

Thanks for reading my blog.

June