Life

is slowly getting back to normal, we came home to a beautifully clean home (many thanks Robyn and Dennis) and a very happy chowdy dog

as you can see the Supervisor is relaxing after his morning walk!!

Yesterday I did a little more  on the Christmas quilt, I hope to get back to that today

this is my progress with Doing the Rounds, all sewn down, the poor hexies looked a bit worse for wear after I had wrestled them off their card!! But they have ironed up and sewed down ok. Now to start fussy cutting the next lot of hexies.

I had a brain buster this morning and decided I needed somewhere to keep the little hexie bits once I had them cut, so I combined bits of idea I had seen around

two quilted and lined pieces of fabric that I had been going to make into a zipper pouch were zig zagged together and left over binding reironed and folded to cover the join.

zip lock bags placed along the centre, stick down with double sided tape...they are slippery little customers!!

another repurposed binding bit sewn down on the inside centre to hold everything in place

and binding sewn on..all ready to hand sew later.  it is a bit floppy but will do the job I need it to do so I am pretty happy with it.

While in NZ we met Mum while she was on an outing with some of the residents from the home, a cruise ship was in over at the Mount wharf, the idea was to have a fish and chips dinner and watch the ship leave at 6pm

serious business this fish and chips!!

Not the most flattering shot of Mum...the wind got up and the oldies got cold so they went back home, we found out later the ship didn't leave until 6.45, a bit late for everyone! One of the ladies, Willa, got into trouble for feeding the seagulls, she thought it was a great thing to do, but one of the carers discouraged her (many times) saying last time she did that several oldies went home with sea gull poop in their hair!!

Mount Maunganui from a different vantage point, there is a big cruise ship at the wharf but it is a bit hard to see.

I had a good find at the local supermarket

bags to put your fruit and veg in. Itried them out this week and apart from having to have them open so the check out person can see what is in them, they work really well and no plastic bags needed! 

I am off to do some more sewing and cutting.

Happy day.

PS. Just laid out and counted circles finished, total = 169!!

Pretty happy with that!!

This trip

to NZ is nearing an end, we are in Auckland tonight spending some time with Jenny. The last 8 days have been sorting and cleaning out my mothers house and cleaning up the garden. Mum had done some cleaning out but 65 years living in the one place means a lot of stuff gets gathered!!
We took one afternoon off and went for a walk around the base walking track at Mount Maunganui...it is a beautiful place. You start at Pilot Bay

This is the calm side

Then you walk around where the harbour entrance is

A tourist posed happily!! Behind him is part of Matakana Island.

We had to go up several steps and down ghe other side as the path has been washed out in a storm.

The pohutukawa tree was still in flower.

Two boats were heading out to do some deep sea fishing

The ocean was rolling in on the rocks

We came around to the surf beach at Mount Maunganui..there was a beach volley ball competition happening and lots of bodies out surfing.

We wandered back to the car and headed home to do more sorting.

A little sewing of circles has happened but not a lot, they are packed in my bag so I will do a photo next post.

Sitting at the airport

I am on my way home!! All is in place for Mum, she has a lovely support/carer in place who is visiting twice a week at the moment. That gets reviewed in 3 months, they will slowly build up to someone calling every day. They are keen to keep Mum in her own home and she is determined to stay there. I am a little happier now I know she is in the system and being checked on.
I drove from Tauranga to Auckland today and thank goodness it is a beautiful sunny day,

I had a stop at Krangahake Gorge and had a look at the river and a breath of fresh air.

Yesterday in between doing last minute messages, those ones you have been waiting 10 days for that suddenly appear as you are packing your bag, I went over to Mount Maunganui and walked around the base of the Mount. It is an extinct volcano, and all my life we have walked up (sometimes) or around (mostly). 

It was a beautiful day, sunny a little breeze from the south

The land off to the left of the Maori warrior statue is where my mother lives

Isn't  this a great way to spend some time !!

This is the entrance between the Mount and Matakana Island where ships and boats come in and out of the harbour.

In this tree is a tui, a native bird in NZ, there were lots of tui flying between the trees and eating the red berries here, I have never seen so many before.

Ship leaving the harbour.

And finally I came around to the ocean beach. The walk is about 4km depending on where you have to park the car.

I have been making more stars but they are in the luggage!! 

I am off to have a wander thru the shops, 2 hours more to fill in before the plane leaves. No delays with Emirates thank goodness, lots of flights have been cancelled due to the fuel problems here.

Happy stitching.

New Zealand Part 2

This afternoon we went for a walk around Mount Maunganui, an extinct volcano near Tauranga. It is a wonderful undulating track around the base of the Mount going from the harbour to the surf beach

We started walking at Pilot Bay, the harbour side

heading around  to the entrance where the ships and boats come through...I love these old pohutukawa trees....otherwise known as NZ christmas trees as they have red flowers in the spring summer time

Looking out to the ocean past Matakana Island on the left

around on the ocean side we saw a seal...his name is Oscar and he is a south island fur seal, who comes to the Mount for the winter, he looks like a floating log in the centre of the picture

Heading back around towards the surf beach now

looking down through the pohutukawa trees at the surf beach, I spent many happy hours here as a teenager. I met a lovely couple walking along the track, she had been married and lived in Brisbane for 20 years, he had been married and lived at the Mount, both their partners died about the same time, the he went to Brisbane three years ago and  brought her home he told me. They are both very happy together. Was a lovely story I thought.