The Elephant has been Consumed!

Well I am happy to say that not before time I finally managed to hang my Xmas quilt at about 4.30pm yesterday. When I first started this I suddenly was overwhelmed by the amount of work in it. Upon phoning my dearest friend Veronicah to discuss this dilema she simply said to me "What have I told you before - How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!" So with these words of wisdom in tow some months ago I set out on this journey. I am pleased with the result - although of course I can see many things wrong with it - as my darling husband says - no one else but you will notice it! He is quite right and once I had hung it on the wall I realised that all those little things I had agonised over aren't even visible to the human eye when standing and looking at it. Anyway it certainly has created some "spirit of Xmas in the house". I will also post some pictures of our Xmas stuff - not to mention of course the catastrophe last weekend when the real tree we brought decided to fall over and throw water everywhere - not to mention breaking a couple of decorations along the way. Thankfully although precious they were ones I had purchased myself. I am looking forward to a lovely Xmas evening with my family - I am even cooking turkey this year - a first for me. We are going to have a nice relaxed evening together. Historically we have usually done lunch but dinner means that Rodger and Vicki can do their normal breakfast rounds and then be ready to eat again by tea time :) My darling husband is in the wars again - rolled his ankle last night that he did all the damage to earlier in the year and was in the most excruciating pain. We went today and had it looked to and they have plastered it as a precaution until he can see the orthopaedic surgeon on Thursday. I feel so terribly sorry for him - he is not normally a man who shows a lot of emotion but the pain was so bad last night that it took his breath away and he couldn't speak. We will keep our fingers crossed for a positive result on Thursday.
The weather here is particularly bleak at the moment as it is around the country. I guess the farmers will be pleased.
I was so saddened today to have Mum tell me that a neighbours Huntaway was mauled by two pitbulls and had to be put down. I can't even begin to imagine that happening to our boy. It is something that is always in my mind when I take him walking. I really don't know why those vicious animals aren't outlawed. I do realise that some of them are probably fine but the majority are fierce predators. I just don't see how owning a dog like that can bring you happiness.
We went on a dog walk yesterday in the rain with Onyx with one of the local vets and donated toys which they will deliver to children in hospital on Xmas day.
I wish you and your families a blessed Xmas and a safe and happy New Year.
Take care my dear friends and live happily.

BOO

Well I managed to get my small wallhanging finished and am pleased to say it is up in the entrance way of our house. This is it:

I also checked with my lovely friend Veronicah and she was ok with me posting a picture of her Anzac banner that she is doing for symposium - here tis:

That's my little man helping in the corner!

This weekend I hope to get my 12th and final block finished for my Night Before Xmas quilt. Next weekend I am off to Auckland for Calico Xmas I am so excited I can't wait! Have a great weekend everyone. Live Happily.

HALLOWEEN APPROACHES

I have had a lovely long weekend. We had our dear friend Veronicah visit for a couple of nights which is always great. Didn't get a lot of quilting done but there were important things like Christmas shopping (good grief it is only two months away) and Halloween to get ready for. Before she left today we got my things out and decorated the house for Halloween, I hope I get some trick or treaters this year - last year we didn't get any. I am just about finished another little Halloween wall hanging so hopefully it will be done in time too! Only the binding left to go so I really should get my act together instead of contemplating an afternoon siesta. My final block for my Xmas quilt has arrived so I am looking forward to getting on with that. My friend Veronicah was working on an Anzac banner for symposium which I think is just gorgeous. If you want to see it in progress you can check out her blog: http://intuitivetextilejourneys.blogspot.com/

Here are some pictures of my Halloween stuff. Enjoy.

My Colour swap parcel

I heard from my partner that she received her colour swap. Her colour was "colours of the rainbow". One of our items had to be handmade so I made a Christmas ball - it took a lot of work, you sewed all the circles and gathered them by hand - I lost count of how many I had to make. I also sent an olive dish, some coloured piping, some coloured Xmas balls, two fat quarters of NZ icon fabric that were vibrant colours & some sequins and glass beads. She said she liked it but I noticed she didn't include it in her blog. Oh well it was a bit of fun anyway. Here is what I sent:

I have a million things I want to try and achieve this weekend so I should get on to them. I want to finish my 11th block for my quilt and a couple of Halloween wallhangings as that is fast approaching again. I also need to find a couple of birthday presents for dear friends & clean out my "junk" draw in the kitchen. Not to mention there is a 21st scrap book album I want to make a start on! I guess sitting here at the computer won't achieve much so I will away and get started. Happy weekend everyone.

More Blocks

Well I have finally gotten around to photographing the three blocks I have finished towards my quilt. I have block 11 here but haven't started it yet. Block 12 was supposed to have arrived at the beginning of the month but Cottage Flair are waiting on the sashing fabric - just as well or I would be really having to get in to gear. Life would be so much easier if I didn't have to work full time! I went to my quilting group yesterday and had lots of fun. Here are the photos of Blocks 8, 9 & 10. Happy Quilting.

Oops I am having trouble - my pictures keep loading upside down etc - ahhhhh I give up!!!

COLOUR SWAP

I recently signed up to take part in a Colour swap. For this I had to say what my favourite colour was and then I was partnered up with someone. The idea of the swap was to send 6 items as there are six letters in the word Colour. One of these items had to be handmade. You could choose to send an item representing each letter if you wanted to. Creatively this is what my partner did. My partner lives in Australia and her name is Clare. I received her parcel yesterday and this is what I got. I will look forward to using all my goodies. Thank you Clare.

Lost for Words

Well it has been a while since I last blogged - I keep meaning to sit down and get on with it but don't get around to it. I took the photos a couple of weeks ago so am sitting here at work having a cuppa and thought I would get my act together.

On the 28th of July I had a fantastic day out with a local quilt shop. (See the picture of my stash I picked up along the way) There were 33 of us that went by bus. We started in TePuna at Village Fabrics where we had breakfast. Next stop was Cushla's in Waihi - wow well worth a visit - I could certainly do some damage there. Next we went through to Waihi to Patches & Cream, lovely ladies and we even got a pressie - a fat quarter each as we left. We then hopped over to Hamilton for lunch and a visit to Donna's quilt studio which was lovely. However I think we spent too much time there as it left us with only a half hour stop at our last two venues - Cambridge - great shop & last but not least Tirau Quilt Cottage. My day wouldn't have been complete without my lovely new friend Joan - quilting has brought us together and she is a real treasure. We happily sat and chatted away for hours on the bus inbetween stops. I have been busy quilting and am now eagerly awaiting arrival of block 11 for my xmas quilt. I have joined my local quilting group - Papamoa Patchers and hope to get along to one meeting a month with them - they meet during the day on a Monday so I have to work it in around work. I have also taken on the challenge and am part of a "Colour Swap" - I send 6 presents to someone - my partner is in Australia - and they send me 6 things. One of them has to be hand made - shold be fun - that Veronicah she gets me in to all sorts of things!

I spent the weekend just gone at a Scrap booking retreat in Otumoetai which was fun as my SB has been neglected of late. I got quite a lot done and really love this page of my beautiful man Nitro who we lost nearly 12 months ago. I haven't quite found the right words to add yet so have decided to post the picture anyway.

take care and live happily. XOX

Presents from Veronicah

Block 7

Block 6

Cuddles with Mum

Morning Time

The Cafe Scene

Well it has been 7 weeks since I blogged and I have been getting a hurry up about it so thought I better get my act together and do something! Keith goes back to work tomorrow after having 7 weeks off. I think he is more than ready for it. We had a lovely visit from our friend Veronicah while he was off which helped give him a change of face to chat to - and drink bourbon with :) . Veronicah made us some gorgeous Halloween / Christmas runners & coasters which I will post a picture of. I haven't done a lot of work on my Xmas quilt - I have the words to finish on block 8 -which I will be doing tonight, then I have blocks 9 & 10 waiting here for me. I was so excited yesterday to be phoned and asked by the Papamoa Patchers to exhibit my bugs quilt in their exhibition next weekend - what a boost to my confidence that was. I have also booked to go and do a girls road trip with one of the local quilting shops later in July. We are starting here with breakfast and then heading off to do a loop through Waihi, Paeora, Te Aroha, Hamilton & Cambridge. I am sure it will be a lot of fun. An absolute highlight for us has been the addition of Onyx to our family. We went and picked him up three weeks ago today and he is just so special - we feel so blessed to have him. He is just the most amazing boy you will ever meet. He loves cuddles and as you will see by the pictures is just spoilt rotten. He certainly is a delight to have around. This weekend him and I have started walking down to one of the local cafe's and getting Keith to meet us there for coffee. It is so much fun - takes a while getting to and from though with all the people he acquaints himself with along the way. He is so good he doesn't even need to be put on the lead - I take it for just in case! I am sure he will find tomorrow a little strange being in his kennel for so long but we will make up for it when we get home - it is great for me as it means I get the exercise I need now as I can't let him down. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Introducing Onyx

I thought you might like to see some pictures of our new "baby". We are so looking forward to the 11th of June when we go and pick him up. These piccies are of him when he was a lot younger - but are just so cute I had to share them. He will be three in July.

Keiths new name is "Crash"

Well last weekend was supposed to be a nice trip up to Coromandel - Keith riding up with Mt Motorcycles and me meeting them up there in the car. Friday night was shocking here - Thunder and Lightning and torrential rain. It had eased off Saturday morning but I felt uneasy about Keith riding and asked him to come up in the car with me - not a chance! The guys went up through Whangamata, Whitianga and then across to Coromandel. Keith phoned about 11 just as I was leaving and said it was beautiful weather up where they were. Great :). However upon my arrival at Coromandel I found a very sore, worried looking Keith sitting having a cup of tea. He had failed to take a corner on the bike. So back down to Thames hospital we went, returning 6 hours later with Keith in a cast from wrist to elbow & a bandaged ankle - luckily no break just tendon damage. Long story short he has now had the plaster changed to a half one by our own doctor as apparently both breaks are down near his wrist so no need for the full cast, and now we are just trying to work through the logistics of him getting to work as he can't drive - well he can physically but isn't covered by insurance if he does! Oh well it was nice to catch up with Rosalie and John in Coromandel - and the crew from Mt Motorcycles said they had a lovely meal on Saturday night - we had a burger at about 7.30 from a takeaway shop in Thames - not a lot of choice in that town on a Saturday night. Roll on the next ride :) Looking at the photo of the bike it is hard to tell there is any damage, he wiped off the front screen, mirrors & indicators - except for the front right hand side one, and has scratched the paintwork. It will be interesting to see what the assessor has to say. Happy days.

What a great weekend!

Keith and I had the most wonderful weekend. Our friends Rob & Helen came to stay along with five of their precious fluffy kids. They were showing in Kawerau. We were very excited to have Onyx come and visit - Onyx is the beautiful boy that we are going to take on as he needs to be rehoused. It almost seemed a little unfair to Brooke's memory for it to be happening so soon. What we needed to remind ourselves was that this had always been the plan and at New Year when we stayed in Napier Rob and Helen said it would be about 6 months - so here we are nearly 6 months down the track. Onyx spent the day with us on Saturday and slept outside in one of the kennels on Friday night, however Saturday night he seemed a little unsettled so Keith brought him inside to SLEEP IN OUR BEDROOM - can you believe that cos I surely couldn't. Nitro would be turning in his grave and muttering very loudly - he was about 12 before he was even allowed in the bedroom - let alone allowed to sleep in there all night and as for the cuddles up on the bed well we won't even go there :). Needless to say it appears that he has won our hearts and we can't wait for the 11th of June to come around so we can pick him up and bring him home with us to live. I am going to arrange to work mornings only for the first week as Onyx is used to having 8 other dogs around & Helen & Rob as they work from home. I am sure once he adjusts to being on his own he will be just fine. I wonder if he will be allowed to continue to jump up on the bed and the couch for cuddles - I guess time will tell. Once I get some photos of him I will post some. The photo above is him and Keith at the weekend - you can see they are happy together.

RIP Shezzam Brookby Star

Today has been a truly awful day. We had to put our beautiful baby doll to sleep. We took Brooke for a check up a week ago today and had some blood tests done as she had lost a lot of weight. We thought it was just an age thing - however it turned out she had a tumour in her liver. We planned to just keep a really good eye on her as she was still doing all the things she should be - eating, drinking etc, however yesterday morning she started vomiting bile and blood and it just progressed over the 24 hour period. Her dad held her in his arms while she was put to sleep. Now she is free from the pain and I am sure is happy to be reunited with our beautiful man Nitro. May the two of them run through the fields beyond the Rainbow Bridge happily until such time as we meet them again. We love you Brooke more than you will ever know. RIP my darling Angel.

Block 5 completed

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter . .

Block 4

The children were nestled all snug in their beds . . .

Block 3

The stockings were hung by the fire with care . . .

HAPPY EASTER

Happy Easter everyone. I hope you are having a fun filled long weekend - with lots of chocolate:). I have managed to get the next three of my blocks completed with the hand embellishing which I told myself I needed to to before I started on Block 5. I am really pleased with how they are turning out, however the "Letter to Santa" on block 2 has caused me some grief to say the least and I have given in and am going to buy a fabric pen and write instead of trying to embroider the lettering - this hasn't been completed yet. We have had a nice weekend so far, I had a nice time catching up with a friend from Auckland on Friday afternoon and then yesterday we went for a drive in the Z3 for the day to catch up with some more friends and family. Today a friend is having a family celebration for her 60th birthday which starts at lunchtime and lasts until we decide we have had enough. With the change in daylight savings time I was wide awake at 6am so got up and did the salads and things I needed to. I have walked my baby girl and an now about to embark on Block 5. I hope the rest of Easter weekend treats you all well. Take care. Loreen

TNBX Block 1

Well I finally received my rhinestones and was able to complete the block by embellishing the trees. I had been told that you needed to invest in a $50 bejeweller applicator & a $44 pack of stones but I did some research and found a company called http://www.rhinestonz.co.nz/ who for $14.90 plus P&P sent me my pack of 100 stones & advised me how to put them on with the iron! Far more cost effective & I was most interested to know that you could use an iron. All you need to do is place the stones where you want them, cover them with a piece of cloth and put the iron on top. Just make sure they are well stuck and you are away laughing. With Easter around the corner I hope to make headway on the others - I have three just waiting for hand embellishing & another three waiting to be done!

I hope you all have a happy and blessed Easter.

Live Happily.

Weekend Blues

Well driving home on Friday night took me an hour and twenty instead of the usual 20 minutes so I had lots of time to sit - just as well I happened to have my Bugs with me. I managed to almost complete the rest of the handstitiching on the binding that needed to be done. Saturday I ended up with an earache and felt miserable so was able to sit and finish the Bugs off. It looks great and I am really pleased with it. Now back to my Xmas quilt which has been severly neglected over the last month - I have made great headway with block number three. Roll on those dark winter months where my evenings will be spent whiling away the hours on it :) We had friends for dinner last night - an unexpected last minute call which was very nice - sometimes the spontaneous things are the most delightful. Anyway I hope you all have a great week. Take care & live happily.

Ice Warrior

Well all I can say is TGIF - it has been a particularly long week. I am hoping to chill out and get stuck into some of my quilting. I have got all the bugs onto my Bugs quilt now and just need to do the beading and then put it together. I now have four blocks sitting waiting for my attention for my Xmas quilt - even though I got one last month and Lorraine was kind enough to send me two - my March one arrived in the post this week. Guess i'm gonna be "Busy as a Bee with a bum full of honey". I must say that having my machine serviced was just the best thing. it is running like new and the chappie that serviced it said that they were a really good model.

It is also hard to believe that it is 6 months on Sunday since we had our precious boy put to sleep. It still breaks my heart when I think of him. I have him on my computer at work and home as the wallpaper - he was a beautiful boy. We recently discovered that his full pedigree name was Tobolsk Ice Warrior - I think this was very fitting for him - he certainly was our warrior. Hope you all have a happy weekend. Take care & live happily :)

My journey begins

For a long time I have followed my friends blog and she suggested I do one myself. I have finally taken the plunge and set one up.
I am currently working on some quilting projects - one is a block of the month through Cottage Flair in Rotorua - "Twas the Night B4 Xmas" - those of you who know me will understand that this is right up my alley :). On Monday I attended a class with Quilt Artist Mary Transom. It was great and I can't wait to get my machine serviced so I can get it finished - poor machine it is 25 years old and I don't think it appreciates all the work it has been receiving of late. Over Xmas Veronicah and I completed a quilt to send to a dear friend of ours in Madison Wisconsin - the aim was for her to "snuggle" under it but she has decided it is too nice to use and instead is going to hang it on the wall for everyone to see. How nice for people to think so much of your work. My scrapbooking has taken a bit of a backseat at the moment - too many projects and so little time. However I have a friend coming to stay for a few days who is an avid scrapbooker so who knows maybe I will get some done after all. I hope you enjoy the pictures.