Birthday Blocks

Yesterday I managed to piece the top for the birthday blocks. It is just a little quilt top 45x45 before borders but it is so nice to have the top pieced.
Most of the blocks are Dresden Plates but the other blocks have been placed at the corners.

Today we decided to have a Lobster feed, it was so good. Graham and Patti shared with us. Claire has some soup, she loves Nana's soup. I made the Chocolate Cake for dessert. It was delish!

I start physio again tomorrow, I had the cortisone injection last Wednesday so have started my passive exercises again.

We both had the flu shot too! I can do without getting the flu this winter.

Post- Election

Well we just went through 5 weeks of ho-hum drivel and BS from politicians , spent millions of dollars and everything is about the same.
What a waste of time and money.

Last night, watching the tube, I did manage to make 4 Dresden Plate squares for a UFO from long ago. So I guess yesterday wasn't a total write off.

Another lovely NS fall day, blue skies, little wind and gorgeous leaves on the trees.
Jake and I had a great walk yesterday and we are going out again in a few minutes. Maybe today he will spy the ducks paddling along the lake shoreline.

The Curried Pumpkin Apple soup was so tasty I am making some more for supper. We shall have that and a Potato Turkey Casserole for supper. I cheated on dessert and bought a McCain's Marble cake.

Thanksgiving Day

A wonderful time of the year. Our family has much to be thankful for... good health and loving family and friends. The four-legged furball as well.

We are having a the traditional turkey dinner today, and invited some of our friends to share it with us. The smells coming from the kitchen are very enticing.

We are starting off with Curried Pumpkin-Apple Soup. Then the Mashed Potato Casserole and Carrots Caprice, and Mashed Turnip, I always add some applesauce to the turnip so it isn't bitter. Barbara is making a Broccoli Casserole and Eileen is bringing dessert. I made Cranberry Chutney,full of cranberries, apples, raisins and all those wonderful spices. Yummy!! It looks and smells gorgeous. I am sure it will taste as good as it looks too!.

After enjoying all that great food we shall have to take a walk along the trail by the lake.

Last night I managed to get blocks 9 and 10 nearly finished. Then all I will have left to do are eleven and twelve. I think I will do the large top piece after Halloween.

My online quilting group are going to start a UFO challenge on the 18th. I am the COO (Chief Operating Officer) so have to get it organized. I have listed five UFO's and will be very happy to get working on them and most importantly completing them. The end of the Challenge will be June 30th.

My pattern arrived from Sew-Karenly, it is lovely. I am dying to do it but I will have to get a UFO completed first.
And my new Judy Martin books, so many great patterns, sigh.

Dreary Day

Oh it is hard to believe it is October already, time sure flies when you are having fun!!!
Cloudy and overcast today but no rain, Hurricane...aka Tropical Storm Kyle didn't cause us too much grief when it arrived Sunday night. Most of the damage was in the South-West area of NS. Power outages etc.

Yesterday I peeled apples for pies and applesauce, all prepared and placed in the freezer. I had a tender shoulder after all that cutting, peeling and rolling pastry. So I iced it for a while. It is less cranky today.

Jake had to go to the vet for blood work too, he didn't enjoy that but soon forgot about it when he got a treat. The vet called today and all blood work results were within normal limits.

Today I managed to do Block#7 of the GPQ. I laid the pieces all out in the correct order on my Applique sheet and had the darndest time getting them transferred to the block base so they could be ironed down. Then I thought about using my rolling pin to move them intact, and it worked, just like transferring pastry to the pie plate.

I am eagerly anticipating the mail for my Anne pattern and two new quilting books I ordered from Judy Martin.

I also managed to get some pictures posted on my blog from my trip to NZ. They are fun to do but tricky so that I can get them placed in the right spot.

Margaret wrote me today from Murla, Spain. She is heading back to England today and should be airborne about now. Her reunion is this weekend. Then she will be heading back to New Zealand. Here she is getting ready for her helicopter flight over the Fox and Franz Josef glaciers.



And in less than two months Sheila will be back home, I imagine she will love to welcome another winter. She was very busy buckling up for her flight.

This is it

I have gone far too long without writing on this blog, suffice to say I made it home from NZ and have now settled back to enjoy a NS autumn and the shorter days which will lead to another winter. Yuk!!!

I will add more tidbits of my NZ trip as I get back into the groove but I will probably be doing the day by day stuff more frequently.

I just found out I won a pattern on a fellow bloggers site. Sew Karen-ly Created http://sewkaren-lycreated.blogspot.com/ now how do I highlight that?

I picked out the Anne of Green Gables pattern, I think Claire would like that!

I am starting block #7 of the Great Pumpkin Quilt. This baby won't be finished for this October but it will be for next year.

I am also making the Cassia Bud pickles, this takes 13 days and the crock full of pickles and brine and now the syrup has been sitting on my counter top for 12 days. Tomorrow is the last step, boil the syrup and then they will be bottled. Ready to be enjoyd.

Now I am going to add some sugar to the mix, boil it and pour it over the cukes.
It certainly makes the house smell yummy.

Napier

The babes in this photo, Julia, Jane, Margaret and Sheila are looking over the Port of Napier out into the South Pacific. It sure is a beautiful colour compared to the North Atlantic.

Napier is the Art Deco capital of NZ and what a great city. The architecture is mainly Art Deco and this came about after an earthquake in 1931. the whole city was devastated and when the city fathers decided to rebuild they did so in the Modernistic style. It is world-class and a pleasure to visit. I have taken some photos but really couldn't do justice to the place. This one is of the ampitheatre and some young people were having a impromptu concert.





The fountain was really lovely.





This photo shows Cape Kidnappers in the distance, it was beautiful with the setting sun shining on it.



We also visited the Mission winery for a lovely lunch and a couple of samples of their product. Definitely nothing the matter with their NZ reds.

The scenery on the route there was lovely and lots of sheep were grazing. Julia, who went with us told us mostly they were pregnant ewes, and sure enough we started to see the tiny lambs in some of the paddocks.
This little fellow appeared to be ill and spent most of the time bleating at Mom, who was ignoring him. We wondered what his final outcome was going to be?





Today I head to Christchurch to visit with family for several days and then unto Greymouth and the West Coast until the 19th. I plan on taking the shuttle to the West Coast so I can see the sights from the highway instead of the rail-line or the air. I will fly back from Westport on the 19th.

I will post more later on about my trip.

Canada Day in NZ

Pretty much a non-celebration here, but I did wear a red sweater and my socks had some Maple Leafs on the top of them.
I called the Canadian High Commission to see if there was going to be any sort of a celebration but the Commissioner was away so no go....
Too bad, it might have been fun to celebrate it in a foreign land.

We had a roaring Southerly storm on Sunday and part of Monday. Lots of high winds, rain and crashing waves on the rocks. These storms come straight from Antartica and NZ is the first land they hit.

The flights were cancelled, as well as ferry service across the Cook Strait most of the day but by 2100 the planes were taking off again and a ferry crossing was made.

We went out with some of Viv and John's friends and they took us around the bays to see the full fury of the wind and waves. Actually it didn't seem any worse to me than some of those lovely storms we get , minus the snow.



We were invited to their home for supper and had a lovely meal, roast lamb again I love it. It is so tasty.

The weather finally cleared late Monday and today it was beautifully sunny. We had another trip on the buses to the shopping center away on the other side of Wellington. But the gods were with us and we made good connections.
The trees and flowers didn't seem to suffer too much and they are blooming furiously and the leaves look so shiny on some of the trees you would think someone was polishing them.
We thought we might get to the Botanical Gardens but time will tell.


I haven't managed to find any sewing/quilt shops but the fabric is so expensive I really don't feel the need to try and find one.

I have gotten my ticket changed when I leave so I won't have to go to Wellington/ Christchurch/Auckland. It was like the tour of the cities. And the gal who fixed my ticket (Viv's friend who works at Air NZ) is the person who handles complaints, like torn luggage etc. so she said she'll replace my suitcase. So that is a good thing!!
It isn't who you are but who you know.

Cooking

The good night's sleep motivated me today I got a Corned Beef and cabbage dinner prepared for the crock-pot for our supper and Sheila made Curried Pumpkin and Mushroom Soup. We really enjoyed that for our lunch.
I did a laundry of dark things this morning and before I could get them on the line it was raining, so they hang in the laundry room. No electric dryer in this house!
It is sunny now but cooler than the past couple of days but I couldn't be bothered hanging them out because the sun disappears behind the hills about 3PM.

Tomorrow is Mom's birthday it is hard to think she is going to be 89. I'll be giving her a call to help celebrate, but I will do it on Monday here.

I attempted to fix my handle on my suitcase which was broken on the Transpacific flight but ended up taping it with duct tape so the handlers wouldn't be tempted to use it. And that will stop it from flapping when I am pulling it behind me. The rivet came loose from the frame, it must have happened because they pulled it too hard.

Queensgate

Friday June 27, we decided we would try to get to the Queensgate Mall in Lower Hutt. It was a breeze, just two buses and an hour later and we were there.

A lot of the shops had 50-75% sales so I managed to find a couple of sweaters, slacks and a dress. All suitable for a Canadian winter.

Then we got some suishi and took it home and enjoyed it for supper.

Shopping is tiring by 2100 I could hardly keep my eyes open so toddled off to bed.

The Chocolate Frog

I am just back from our lunch with some gals at the garden center.


We had a lovely lunch at the Chocolate Frog which is in a garden center. I think that is a great place to have a cafe. Lots of nice plants and gifts to browse through. I'll bet they do a good business because of it. Maybe the garden centers home should try it.

The gals were very nice and one of them, Gail used to live in Vancouver and had been in NS. Actually spent 5 days staying at the manse in Middle Musquodoboit with the minister of the United Church and Sheila knew the minister. So it was a source of wonder that someone actually knew where Musquodoboit was!!!

The other lady was a nurse in her former life but hadn't worked for years. They owned a supermarket.
She and her hubby are heading off to Melbourne, Australia next week to house sit a dog for four months. Last year they went to London for a period of time. It sure sounds like it is the perfect way to travel and limit the expenses and Louise who lives next door and got us all together quilts...

We all had quite a bit in common and conversation wasn't a problem.

I had salad that was delicious, Smoked Chicken with fennel, pears, walnuts and blue cheese and mesclun. i couldn't identify the dressing but it was delish! I could have licked the plate. It was so yummy.

Coming home we could see the Southern Alps in the distance, way across the Cook Strait, they were magnificent in their snow-capped splendor. Unfortunately I didn't get a shot with my camera the car was travelling too quickly!

Winter

Well these past few days we have seen some not so pleasant weather, but this is winter in NZ. It has been rain, rain squalls, occasional hail (in some areas of the city) and sun with fluffly clouds.
But we didn't have to shovel anything and we weren't freezing our patooties off so it is very bearable

Yesterday we visited the National Museum of Natural History, commonly known as Te Papa. we spent about 5 hours there and to see the whole place would take days. An exhibit I really enjoyed was entitled The Scots . It featured the migration to NZ by Scots since the early 1800's.
It was interesting to note that the Kicking Horse Pass through the Rockies was discovered by James Hector, (who named it after he was kicked by a horse) he was a geologist working on the route for the CPR. After his Rockie Mountain adventure he moved to Wellington and started collecting samples etc and was really the founder of the museum.

Also there was a feature about the Highland Games in Waipu. They started about 130 years ago and have been going strong ever since. Waipu was founded in 1840 by Dr. Norman MacLeod and his group who emigrated from Cape Breton via Australia. I guess they were seeking the promised land.
The video showed dancing., piping, caber tossing, and the Nova Scotia flag and the Canadian flag were briskly flapping in the breeze.

It made me wish I was going to see the Royal NS International Tattoo this year.

Today the sun is beautiful and at the moment I don't see eany clouds, but they might be forming out on the Cook Strait.

We are going to lunch with several of the gals in the neighbourhood. it will be nice to meet them.

New Look

Gee it was interesting and exciting to see the new look of Pastiche this morning, many thanks to the creative gremlin who did this.


Sunday we had an enjoyable day with Margaret and Tony who live in Wellington. They shouted us for brunch at the cafe at the Civic Art Gallery and then took us on a scenic tour of Wellington. We enjoyed vistas from Mt. Victoria and also the Turbine, Wellington's only wind turbine (so far).
It was really interesting to see the views from different areas.
Then, they took us for tea at their daughter's home. She doesn't live far from us here in Seatoun, but the drive and walk to her home are very steep. She has the best view of all. The harbour entrance, airport and Cook Strait to the South Island. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so didn't get any photos. Perhaps when Margaret visits us in July we shall venture up the steep slope again.

Yesterday was a rainy, rainy day, but this is winter. We stayed put and read, napped, talked to cats and enjoyed the smells coming from the slow cooker. I made the Saucy Pot Roast, a favorite from Chatelaine magazine. it was tasty and just the thing to have on a cold evening.

We will be heading out shortly to finally post the mailers, the sun is peeking through but the forecast is for more rain this afternoon and possibly hail. So we shall make hay while the sun shines

Thanks for the comments DH and Char.It is exciting that the plans for the Italy trip are finalizing, that should be a wonderful time for you.
Another place I'd love to visit.

Today

We stayed home today and vegged. Slept late and eventually made my way to the coffee.
I knit a bit on the never-ending poncho for Claire. I sure am struggling with it but hopefully I have had the final restart and am on my merry way to completion. I knit this same pattern for Char when she was two so I do know it is possible. I guess it is a case of too much sewing and quilting and not enough knitting lately.

We walked to the corner store to get mailers to post stuff home so Char and Patti keep your eye on the mails. I haven't sent them yet though, probably tomorrow.

This is Gavin's birthday today. I'll celebrate with him when I get back to Vancouver
I can't believe that he is __ years old, it seems like only yesterday that he arrived and DH put hairspray on his underarms instead of deodorant becuase he was so excited.

A little cooler today it almost feels like late September. The moon has been shining brightly the past two nights. It reflects off the harbour and looks ethereal. I must try to take a night shot this evening.

Tomorrow we are going shopping into Miramar with the gal next door. She is going to introduce us to her Greek market so we can buy some delish foods.
There is a cat show in the afternoon too! We may go and check it out, we are not taking the cats no matter how much they meow to go.

On that note I am out of here.

Out and About

Visiting Wellington and exploring the city is very easy. The transit system is very good and I can buy a $5.00 ticket for a day pass and hop on and off the buses until 8PM.
We are doing the downtown today and visiting a few of the trendy shops along Cuba Street. It is breezy and I need to wear a sweater but this is pretty good to my mind considering it is winter.
We took a hike along a harbour trail yesterday not far from the house and the view was once again spectacular. Lots of climbing and the cliffs were near by, we didn't get too close to them. We looked over Breakers Beach, the nude beach in Wellington, but it must have been too cold for the hardy. The only critters on the beach were feathered.
This is a view from the headland looking towards Breaker Bay.



The folks left yesterday and the three cats are finding we are the substitute parents. Sitting on our laps in the evening.
Sheila and I made a Butternut soup last evening, trying to clear out soem of the stuff in the fridge. It was quite tasty and felt nice to cook again after my brief hiatus.
The computer at the house takes a dogs age to boot up so I am once again at the Wellington libray using a large screen monitor and faster speeds.
I managed to find a sewing machine store selling Husqvarna and some fabrics. Colossal prices, the fabric was $28.00 a meter and the machines were about $2500 more than home, for the top of the line models.
Fun to look and realize how lucky I am to be able to live in Canada.
NZ is a great place but the gas is $2.12 a litre and the food prices seem more. They are complaining about cheese prices but it looked to be on the same level as home. Restaurants are pricey a sandwich and coffee, always a struggle to find a decent cup. will run about $10.00.
I will sign out now before the computer disappears. Love to read the comments from all of you.

Resting

I am taking it easy today. Did a little wash and got the maple syrup sweater washed. the view from this home is lovely. It looks right over Wellington Harbour and you can see the ferries and freighters and every other kind of boat plying the waters.

The gardens around the house are beautiful and the winter flowers are blooming. I even have my sandals on instead of shoes, and this is winter?

I was going to try to post a few photos but I don't have the USB hookup to use for this pc and it doesn't have a spot for the memory card.
So that won't happen!
I think I have taken about 350 shots, some good some bad. Mostly scenery.

I am running out of adjectives to describe NZ . Wow, awesome, spectacular. stupendous don't seem to describe it all.

I had a nice chat with DH and all seems well in Dartmouth. Marg has called twice too to see how we are settling in. I think she is missing being the tour guide

South Island travels

Well, what a week. We saw so much of the beautiful South Island my brain is spinning!

I forgot to write that on the first day we climbed a very steep road, thank goodness she has a Camry, to the Mt. John Observatory which is run by the University of Canterbury and looks at the stars etc. It was 1017m high and the breezes were blowing. The view was fantastic, I did buy a DVD about it and some SI views which will be nice to see when I get back home.

We did the scenic route while making our way to Dunedin and eventually arrived there at about 1930.
Bill and Yvonne were very hospitable hosts and we had a hearty dinner of roast lamb and roasted potatoes , kumara, which is our sweet potato and pumpkin. And for dessert Yvonne gave us some berry pudding and ice cream.

We each had our own room and enjoyed a great sleep. Their home is about 2 years old and has the latest gadgets . Bill has a large motorcycle so I sat on it and had a photo taken. I might even consider going for a drive on one like it since it seated me comfortably.

June 4 we toured Dunedin and visited the woolen mill factory outlets.Ii bought myself a outerwear vest. There were lots of things to buy but I restrained myself. We settled in with the hosts for a quiet evening and enjoyed a lovely chili and Duke of Cornwall tart for our dessert.

June 5 we headed out towards Queenstown and saw lots of mountains and breathtaking views. And sheep, too numerous to mention. We made it to Queenstown at 1730 and had a bit of trouble finding the holiday home we were to stay at After travelling right down to the main part of the town we discovered we had to go back to the beginning of the town, Eventually we found it. we were hungry so enjoyed soup and rolls and a nice bottle of NZ wine. The house was right on the lake so we had spectacular views of the town and the mountains, the ski hill was lit up. and the gondola etc.
It is a pretty commercialized place and lots of shops etc. Lots of young people as well. It is very much like Banff.

The next day we visited Arrowtown and enjoyed a nice picnic there and later a lunch.
It was fun to know that I was seeing some of the same spots Charlotte had visited when she was in NZ.
I tried her Mac Gold ale and Sheila and I both liked it.


The weather was forecasting a major blow so the next morning we got out of town fast. Lucky we did too since that area of NZ had about 15 cm of snow and high winds.
The skiiers were happy though.

We made it to Haast that day and had a nice evening with the locals at a cafe and even looked at 1/2 of the rugby game between Ireland and NZ. The all -Blacks won 21-11
The motel was basic but clean and fairly warm we used our hot water bottles and extra fleece bankets Margaret had sent us.

We drove towards Fox Galcier and found the Mountain Helicopter folks, we were going flying. Wow was that fun. Margaret and I were in the front with Mike the pilot and Sheila was in the back.
Now this is a little Bell helicopter with the large plexiglass front and a metal bar to put your feet on. When you look towards them you see treetops. Anyway I held on to the strap for dear life and only closed my eyes when we made a turn to the right or left.
I just kept snapping the shutter on the camera and got some great shots.

After we landed we couldn't believe that we had actually done it.

Later on we saw a film about the glaciers and had a nice supper at a local restaurant.
There were a few tourists in there so we had interesting conversations with them.

This is a good time to visit because there are so few people about.

Monday morning we headed back to Greymouth, saw Margaret's apartment, met the cats and her Mother and caught the TranzAlpine for the trip back to Christchurch.

Another spectaular trip. it was raining and foggy when we left but cleared when wwe got away from the coast. Some snow at Arthur's Pass but it seemed to be melting.

We were met by Jon at the station taken home fed and in bed early.

We had to catch the TranzIsland train at 0700 so we were really up early. It was lovely too, as was the ferry ride to Wellington. John met us, he was looking for two ladies with pig bags. Margaret had given us some carry bags with pink pigs on them and the log which said Like Pigs not Pork...


We had a lovely meal with them, met the three cats and being quite exhausted headed to bed early.

Travelling the South Island

The trip was long and I didn't sleep any more than 3 seconds but we made it. Once we arrived in Christchurch, had along nap and felt refreshed.We stayed two nights with Brenda and Jon and met two of their critters. Ringo the rabbit and I believe the guinea pig is Jesus.
The jet lag hasn't seemed to affect me although I am writing this in the middle of the night.
It was really nice to meet my Christchurch relatives. Louise and Mike hosted all the family for a wonderful supper and Sheila was an honourary Anderson for the evening.



Top photo: Louise and Brenda
Middle: Sheila, Margaret and Bob
Bottom: Gwen , George and Bob



I am in Dunedin now and today will be exploring this city. The road trip here was spectacular and we saw lots of the mountains etc. we even ventured to the Mt John Observatory in Lake Tepako.


Very high and very windy. And what a road! I am sure it must have a website, it is run by the University of Canterbury in Christchurch and scientists worldwide come to look at the stars and heavens.

My camera battery died so I had to find the adapter pronto and charged it at Marg's friends during lunch in Timaru.

The weather is cool but nice for traveling and my hat and mittens are close by... my wool sweater has a few splats of the maple syrup but I am flicking it off and by the time we get to Wellington it may be all gone.

I miss Canadian news but I am not hearing any NZ news either!.

I will try to update tomorrow and then it may be a few days before I can do it again.

Vancouver

Well I made it this far without too many mishaps, the main one was the jug of maple syrup which leaked in my suitcase. Luckily not too much leaked but some stuff had to be laundered. Most was contained in the Baggie but some managed to find its way out. What a mess!!!
Gavin is the recipient of the remainder.






He showed Sheila and I the Vancouver sights and we had a great meal in a Thai restaurant. The photo above shows a carved melon. It was amazing to see.

Last night I had a wonderful sleep so hopefully it will help the marathon ahead.

We are going to have suishi before we head off to the airport at 6PM. Our flight is 9PM and we arrive 14 hours later. Sunday, June 1 down under. This is a photo of Gavin and April outside the suishi restaurant.

I'm ready

Well today flew by, last minute things to pickup and prepare. The young ones were here for supper. I cooked a Roast of Beef and veggies and anything left over went home with them. Including the rest of an apple pie. Hugh wasn't too crazy about leftovers so Patti will make Shepherd's Pie.
I left three potatoes for DH, he will probably not need any more than that for a couple of weeks.
Claire spent last night in the IWK with her breathing and wheezing and is now on a regular schedule of puffers for the next 8 weeks. She was a busy girl at suppertime, Jake loved everything she threw down to him! She ate all her blueberries though.

Up and at it early tomorrow morning for the first lap of the trip. Vancouver seems close compared to the hop across the Pacific.

Later...

Almost packing

It is actually warmer today, 17C as I write this. It may be my last warm weather until the end of July. Oh, I forgot Vancouver at the end of the week. It is supposed to be 28C. I'll have to take a summer outfit and leave it at Gavin's. I won't be needing it in NZ. It has been rainy and cool for the past while and the weather will only get worse.

Today I had to run a few last minute errands. I was going to get an adaptor to plug in my battery for my digital camera but the buddy at BestBuy told me to get a plastic thingy when I arrive at the(a)airport in NZ. Cheaper too!

Also picked up some wipes and handsanitizer for the flights.

I haven't packed yet but stuff is in piles and ready to be placed. Actually I am not taking much. I have my Ipod loaded and lots of memory cards for the camera.

Breakfast

Claire took Jake for a walk in the rain last Sunday. Aren't they cute?

Marg has written to see what I like for breakfast while we are travelling in Queenstown and area. I am a toast and coffee person so as long as I have something that resembles it I'll be happy.

I have also had a note from a quilter in Wellington who is going to contact me. I would love to attend a meeting or two and perhaps a Bee.
I am not planning on taking any projects though, perhaps I should get something small together to work on. Darn, darn, that I can't do it on the long flight.

My sewing room has been tidied up, all machines have been bedded away, scissors hidden etc. I don't want Claire to play with something and hurt herself. Plus when Gavin gets here in July he will be sleeping there.

It rained here overnight but a tiny bit of blue sky now. Hopefully it will be a nice weekend, it is DH's birthday tomorrow... cake and ice cream.

Later,
J

Getting ready

Next week I shall be heading to New Zealand. It has been a lifelong dream to take a trip there to visit my cousin and penpal of about 50 years.
Now what shall I pack?
It is winter down under.

I hope to be able to enter comments regularly over the next two months.

C-Ya