Ahhhh

Don't you just love computers!! Mine has just told me I have run out of storage space in Google photos, I don't even know what google photos is, but I need to buy more space apparently and because of that I can only upload three photos to my blog today. I have spent the last hour deleting photos from google photos, but still I do not have enough space. My next move is to turn of the computer give it a chance to catch up with itself and try again!! Oh the joys!!

I have been doing some secret sewing the last couple of days which I can't share, but I can share this.

I made a table runner in the week, I should have been doing many other things but this was what I felt like doing! Ingrid gave me this fabric, a pack of charm squares I think she got in the US, it is from Cotton and Steel and the range is called Kaikoura. Kaikoura is in the South Island of New Zealand and is well know for its whale tours, hence the fabric is all things fishy.

A few octopus's the computer wont let me write octopii which sounds more fun to me! 

Here it is on the dining room table.

Ok that didn't work, I will leave this post here and try to come back and edit later.

Happy stitching.

FNWF + Chookshed party

Here we are Sunday morning already...this weekend certainly is flying by.

I joined in with Friday night with friends and sewed the two centres of Old Time Kaleidoscope blocks together

You can see the other Friday nighter's projects over at Cheryl's.

Yesterday I joined in with the 8th Chookshed party hosted by Chookyblue

Last year Raewyn and I had a special visit the Chookshed after we had been at Baradine

This year because of the virus Chooky couldn't have her usual gathering on site so instead invited us virtually. Chooky set up a Zoom meeting which started at 7 am my time, now I have to say I have not seen much of 7 am for the last few months and have definitely not been up and functioning by 7 am!! I was a little late to the start but had a wonderful day, met some new to me bloggers and got to chat and listen along with ladies from from Belgium, France, the US, Canada, New Zealand, Germany and Australia.

People came and went thru the day depending on what they had one and their time zone

Sylvia in the yellow highlighted square was up, dressed, had her show and coffee and the kitchen cleaned by 4am and joined in!! How is that for dedication. Sylvia lives in Germany.

Janice and her hubby Mick made a birthday cake and lit the sparkler!  Photo top row, second from right.

I spent the day sewing hearts into rows, four rows are together, then I joined another three rows of hears together, then my hands said enough! I had a break to have dinner then went back to the party

and traced cut and glued the epp pieces for the Old Time Kaleidoscope blocks

I have these three to do and then go onto the side pieces. The tricky fussy cutting is next to be done, when I have a clear head!

Today we have #2 son and his girlfriend visiting, so I need to do some house work, we were planning a BBQ lunch but so far the weather has not been good, it is cold and wet!!

Have a wonderful day and happy stitching.

It is Friday

and Friday, the first one in the month means Friday Night with Friends, hosted by Cheryll an enjoyable evening of stitching.

Also this weekend is the celebration of the anniversary of Chooky opening her sewing space the Chookshed. Usually Chookies friends come and stay and the rest of us sew along and blog our progress, but this year it is a zoom connection.

Tonight I think I will do some more kites for the Old Time Kaleidoscope, I am three blocks behind and have received the side fillers so need to get a wriggle on.

It is a beautiful sunny but cool day here today, so I am off to hang out the washing, we have a strong wind warning for today so it is perfect for the washing. Then I am off for a walk, and then have an appointment with the hairdresser, then home via the supermarket to sew. Not a bad day.

Happy stitching.

Bright, bright sunshiney day

It has been a beautiful day today, calm, slight breeze and sun shine, there are hundreds of boats out fishing taking advantage of the weather. Not a lot of sewing has been happening here today I must admit. But I have spent time on the phone with friends, nothing better. Thank you very much Chooky for helping me with the comments problem on the blog, it was very helpful to have someone to talk to and nut out ideas of what to do.

The Picnic Quilt is finished, I didn't do too well with this, the centre came out bigger than it should, so I cut the sashing longer to fit, then was not sure what would happen with the last sashing, I thought I could make the corner stone blocks bigger if necessary, but they came out longer than I needed, so the corner stones had to be cut back...not the best finish but a finish. The quilt, once quilted is going to be the tablecloth for  the table on the back deck when we have a BBQ. I was careful with measuring and the quarter inch sewing, so not sure where I went wrong here.

I thought I had better give the machine a bit of a clean as it was messy when I changed the bobbin, I think I did it just in time!!!

Later in the afternoon I had a thread race, I am sot sure if that is the right word, but you know when you have sewing to do, not that much, and you are not sure if the thread will go the distance, so you sew faster to beat the thread?? 

I had two sides of free range quilting to do on the teal coloured section, it is about 11 inches.

I am pleased to say I finished the quilting with this thread to spare.

Earlier in the afternoon I finally took a pair of gumboots out of my car, they belonged to Eve and had been there since last September when I helped sort out her clothes. I was going to take them to an op shop but then had the idea of gluing them to a brick, filling them with potting mix and putting in a plant. I got some zygote cuttings, watered them in with worm wee and now we will see what happens. I drilled holes in the bottom of the boots so any rain water drains out. I have another old pair up the back of the garden so if this works might do the same with them,

Hubby ambling off up the yard, he decided to mow the grass yesterday afternoon.

Late yesterday I was having fun with free range quilting, going around leaved, the birds and berries, in one place I think I got too many stitches together and broke the needle! Did a good job didn't I!! I was using that invisible mono ploy thread, and not long after this broke a second needle. Time for a break I think.

So I moved on and made Anthology blocks, I thought I had cut fabric for two different blocks, but as I was sewing them together realised I had cut two the same! Oh dear! Not quite sure where my brain was yesterday.

I had better go and introduce myself to the sewing machine, it has not seen me today.

Happy stitching.

New interface

Thank you everyone, I think I have solved the problem (she says quietly,) not wanting to temp fate.
I had to change the comment moderation section, so now the comments come to my emails to be moderated and I can then publish them to the blog. Have not been able to see any other way as the settings page has changed. I have to say I really don't know what I am doing but we will see what happens. Thank you again everyone for your help and support, it is much appreciated.

Happy me!!!

Happy stitching.

New blogger interface

I have inadvertently switched to the new interface, I knew I shouldn't have gone to have a look!! Now the comments I get on the blog do not come to my emails, does any one know how to change this please??

Chooky's birthday party and care update

The Chook shed birthday party is going virtual and is coming up next weekend, you can read about it over https://chookyblue.blogspot.com/ 

This is an older update but one I would like to keep

Radius Matua Update: 28 May 2020

Isn’t autumn a great time of year, as you drive into Radius Matua grounds the colours of the trees and shrubs look spectacular.

It is the best time of year in my view. We are very proud of the way our grounds are kept and I want to give a huge shout out to Brenda (our one and only gardener), who works tirelessly keeping the grounds looking beautiful. Brenda absolutely loves her job and is often telling me how she wants to add this, or take out that, to keep everything looking appealing. Thanks Brenda. A vital team member.

6 days in a row of zero Covid cases, but sadly one death was not added to the list, until today. It brings it home to you when you remember that another death is not just a number, but a person (and someone’s relative and friend). That is what we are fighting against.

Activities Today:

Falls prevention class: - 15 residents attended this run by our amazing physiotherapist Andrea

Van trip (rest home residents): - went down to the Tauranga Marina to see the boats – I am not sure how many times “lotto” and “imagine if” were mentioned!! The residents thoroughly enjoyed it.

One on one: - were held in the rooms (the activities team love this special time with the individuals).

Comedy Movies: were held in the hospital wings.

“Pick a song” on u tube:  was on in the main hall for the residents. It amused me that last week the residents chose the comedy movie “Last foot in the grave”, and today for their song, they voted for Céline Dion’s “Life must go on”…perhaps they are a little bit more cheery today than last week J

Lavender walk : - Our Lavender residents went out for a lovely walk around the grounds and have made some of their own crowns for Queens birthday Weekend. They also attended the event listed below.

Farewell afternoon tea for Kitchen Manager:

The highlight of the day for the residents was a special afternoon “high tea” put on by our departing Kitchen Manager Diana. What a spread!! We had triangle sandwiches, home-made sausage rolls, cream puffs, lamingtons with fresh cream, meringues with cream and fruit. It is no wonder I have put on so much weight in this job, so much so that my wife once put a sign on my office door saying “Please do not feed, endanger of extinction”.

As mentioned before Diana has been the backbone of our kitchen for nearly 19 years, she is an amazing cook and managers, and has been a pleasure for all of us to work with.

Here is a photo of our staff and residents feeling very sad about Diana leaving us:

 

 

As I mentioned yesterday, tomorrow will be the last daily update but I will be putting one out every Friday for residents and their families, I hope they have been useful and helped make you feel part of our Radius Matua family during this stressful time.

 

Craig Shipton

Facility Manager

Radius Matua.