Skilly 1996 - 2011

We had to say goodbye to Skilly today after almost 15 years. She had an incurable cancer that was suffocating her slowly at first but then really fast at the end. She was put to sleep today to stop the suffering and I still can't quite believe that she won't be on our feet tonight as usual. She was found in a rubbish bin at only a few weeks old. We lost her for 3 months when we shifted 7 years back and thought we wouldn't see her again then but she found her way back. Now she will stay in the back yard under the strawberry plants.

viv

The last photo I seem to have of Skilly is also the last photo of Chainsaw. Its almost like they couldn't live without each other even though they didn't do more than tolerate each other.

We will miss her,

viv

Symposium

I had a really great time at the patchwork symposium in Queenstown. I am only sad that I didn't get to spend some time with Ms Lottie but at least I did get to meet her.

We spent the first few days at the crib of a friend (holiday house) The views were great and it was nice to be out of the tourist area for a bit. We were up early every morning and I did quilt angel for a couple of days as well as trying to see other things. The angel job was pretty straight forward and mostly consisted of fetching lunch, morning tea and anything else people needed. It allowed me to see what others were up to without being up to it myself and, in some ways ,this suited me better than actually doing the class. I did get a class at the end of the week and this was useful if not quite my thing (the class was booked by a friend who couldn't go).

So now I have an oilstick and the need to add a few more as finances allow along with a few new skills. There are some photos for the second class I angeled for which I will post for them to see and this class would have been my pick really - lots of modern stuff and abstract stuff and fooling around with fibre - right up my street :)

I think this site will temporarily become a travel photo place for a bit as I got lots of nice pics and want to talk about them rather than just shove the lot up all at once.

viv

Potatoes

These are some of the spuds we got from the garden this year. This particular batch came out of one straw bale which Matt used as an edge to the main garden. He dug two little holes in the top of each bale and planted a seed potato in each hole with a couple of handfuls of soil, watered a couple of times and left them to their own devices. So this lot is from just two seed potatoes.

I think you could say this is a success :)

viv in nz

Worstershire sauce

This is for Mickle and anyone else who likes a sharpish sauce on things.

I made around 6 litres of the stuff just because we use it lots. The recipe I use is very easy and requires no special effort but it will smell out your house. Great if you have a cold :)

I mostly use my somewhat elderly Edmonds cook book recipe and then vary it a bit. I also double the recipe so I only have to make it about once a year.

3 onions (chopped)
4.5 litres malt vinegar (1 gallon)
4 tbsp salt
3 pounds apples (chopped cores, pips, skins and all)
2 pounds brown sugar
1 orange chopped skin and all
2 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp cloves
A good splosh of fish sauce or oyster sauce if you like

Put everything into a large pot and boil slowly for 3 hours.
Strain and bottle. Seal when cold.

I used cooking apples off our tree, bugs and all and strained it all through a calico bag I usually use for shopping :) The bag is now an interesting shade of brown with splodges. I did squeeze the bag too as clarity is not necessary to this. I used recycled beer bottles with those resealable tops to store it in. Matt has made a point of getting his beer in these just for the bottles and even though he probably only gets beer about once a month, we now have a good collection of them.

enjoy

viv in nz

This is Chainsaw.

We do miss him even if Skilly doesn't!!!

This week I....

Got the oven installed and working. Made a huge batch of apple preserves. made 14 bottles of worstershire sauce, helped James make apple ketchup.

I also found a good local source of soap nuts and lots of other stuff too, went to the farmers market (where we succumbed to bacon butties) and did a short supermarket trip (3 items only).

Tomorrow the boys are going to ride out to visit their friends - one at Port Chalmers (14 kilometers approx) and the other at Aramoana (lots further). They have to ride home too but we will take them to the top of the hill to give them a head start going out. The only rule (apart from road rules) is that they get back by dark and have their cell phones with them (emergencies only). This will be the first really long run they have done so will be interesting to see how they cope. It'll be interesting to see which way they come home. The short way has a huge hill, the long way has a good bike path for half the distance and is flat. Their choice :)

The photos are holiday ones from china town in Arrowtown.

viv

Work even

Its been an odd sort of week. I filled in with an elderly friend because her normal carer (also a close friend) had caught a cold. That was two mornings and then I got a sore ear/throat and figured I might not be a good risk either so Matt filled in for the third day. Then I did my normal classes who are doing well with their knitted socks. Then I got a relief day at the kindy (fun) followed by the funeral of my favourite Uncle. Not the way I like to finish a week!

That got me through to Friday where I found another friend had lost her boss suddenly to a heart attack.

On top of that I was trying to finish up some preserves and jam and the oven had to be prepared for installation which meant the kitchen has been out of operation for a couple of days - the sparky hasn't showed up yet!

So there are two massive sheets of jib board in the kitchen blocking all the cupboards and all the shelves are off the wall and stacked in various parts of the house. The breakfast stuff is on my work bench and I can never find what I need when I need it. One of the good things was a trip to the warehouse where for once, I got a pair of sandals which fitted - that was freaky as my feet normally fit nothing and then, when we came to pay for them, the price was $2.20....Huh!!!

Oh and there was a bunch of men running up and down the street clad only in wigs and scarves. I got some photos but my camera isn't working properly so they aren't as good as I would like. Living on Baldwin Street can be 'interesting' at times :)

viv in nz

preserves

That elderberry jelly lead to all sorts of other things - like bottled fruit and a free preserving kit from a friend (yay) and 20 odd bottles of preparation etc, etc. So now I'm a bit tired (to put it mildly).

Tomorrow is our first real session creative art wise for this year - mostly due to the rooms still being painted after their flight over the fence. I have exactly zero things to do (not counting the odd ufo of the more mundane variety) so I will take my knitting (James rather boring but necessary sports sock) and the felting gear. Buzzing round like a flea in a fit does exactly nothing for my creative side, just makes me tired!

Anyhow here is a photo or two of the community centre in flight to add to the one I posted before.

viv in nz

Elderberry jelly

Matt picked a lot of the elderberries along with most of the pears so I am busy making elderberry jelly and bottled pears. I think my hands will remain a sort of muddy purple for ages. The next thing is all those apples falling off the tree. I'll use some in the elderberry jelly as a setting agent and the better ones will get themselves bottled. There seem to be a good number this year too. Last year was so poor I let the birds have what there was.

I strained the elderberries through a nice piece of cotton which I have sprinkled with salt. Hopefully there will be a dye result from that. Probably muddy purple :)

We also cut the first bunch of celery - very nice and crunchy. I intend to use some of the tops for soup - I have a soup base in the fridge (ham bone from christmas, boiled) so it might be vege soup for tea round here.

The potatoes from the front gate did exactly one dinner. Better than nothing I suppose. They were very nice though. I'm of the opinion that potatoes are not the best thing to grow in a small garden because they just don't give enough back that is special for the area they take up. I'd rather grow greens and other roots and buy the potatoes from the market. However, a small number for special events (christmas etc) is always welcome.

The corn James planted has actually developed a few flowers! You never know - there might be some sweet corn yet :) The lettuce is still going strong and so is the silver beet (swiss chard) much to the disgust of the kids :) However it can be disguised suitably with a bit of effort and it is free so they just have to live with it!

And that is the news round here :) I can't wait to see if that elderberried cloth works out!

viv in nz

The photos are from Karitane last year

Earthquake

Well things are moseying along same as always round here. The new exhibition has been up just over a fortnight and seems to be popular with the tourists which is good. I have handed out lots of cards and I think we may get one or two new members as well.

My Uncle says that the house owned by my cousins in Christchurch is green stickered which means it is liveable - just! There is a sea of sandy silt in the back yard which their small dog thinks is great - beach day :) The house is fairly extensively damaged but, being an old Victorian villa in wood, they will repair it. Their street is mostly impassable but they can get out. They now have power but no water or sewage. They do have a well in their backyard though and have built a long drop toilet.

The set of flats next to them are so badly damaged that they will have to be demolished along with half of the city as far as I can make out.

The positive is that only one person known to our family has been badly hurt (The brother of a friend of my sister) so it is property damage that will be the biggest loss. I haven't heard anything about the state of the other relations houses but they are ok. I shall no doubt find out in due course.

My brother in law has driven his tanker up there several times and says that it seems as if the ground is always on the tremble but there was only one mild 'real' earthquake whilst he was there. He had a number of stories from people who were there at the time and I gather it was just unbelievable how much things moved around. It will be a long time before things even start to get back to normal I think.

viv in nz

The photo is Trotters Gorge just out from Palmerston

Photos of the exhibition

The main site is taking its time due to the people concerned being away so here are a few pics taken with a decidedly downmarket camera.  They didn't come out so badly though:) The link has a number of other photos - mostly by James (14).

The top is one of mine and so is the bottom.  The middle is one by Rowena that I just love :)

View the rest of the gallery here

The big event

Well, we have finally had our bi-annual exhibition and I have spent the last couple of days setting it up here in my shop space.  It looks good but not as good as it did in the bigger space in town.  Still, its not half bad :)

I let James leave his one club today on the understanding that he find another closer to his tastes to be a part of.  He really needs to be out there and somewhat social just to balance the acres of time he spends glued to that darn computer!

Things have been somewhat mad round here and I can't really believe it is so long since the last post so I apologise for that.  However, things will get back to normal (if there is such a thing) now and probably not be as interesting either (but somehow I doubt that).

Anyhow, there should be some great photos coming up at the other site artfibredunedin.blogspot.com so if you want to see what I have been up to - go check it out.

 

Lake Hayes

Meanwhile I will find a photo or two for here :) The top one is us and the house.  The council has replaced the messy street planting since then so no more free rosemary.

viv in nz

Back to school

William is back at school today and James goes tomorrow so a new year is started - the last we will have with primary school as William will be at high school next year too.

That means less expense for school but probably more for other things. Also it means I get some time to myself except on Tuesdays when I teach. In fact Tuesday looks like being booked up solid for everyone except Matt.  I think that might be out take out or left over night somehow.

I have finished the sewing for the end of the middle section for the quilt but have yet to join it in. Today has been a bit of a no hope day - no energy, a blood test for me and mum, the plumber inspecting a couple of what I hope will be minor leaks and Matt going out to a client.  I think I forgot to take my asthma meds which hasn't helped either.

Oh well, there's still some of the day left :)

viv in nz

The photo is one half of our community center in transit across the fence.  The other half followed and they ended up just behind the crane on the left.  This means that we no longer have to go through the main school grounds to get to it which is a vast improvement (or will be when its finished ).

Another year

Well, as usual my birthday was wettish and generally nasty.  This happens nearly every year as we always seem to get bad weather around this time.  So now I'm one year closer to 60 but I still don't exactly feel any different except for not being very agile and having the usual trouble with hands (that has been ongoing for around 20 years now so nothing new there).


We have a large exhibition of our work coming up in early February which will be good.  It is an accumulation from our first two years as a group with one or two challenges as well.  There will be photos on the other blog :)

Nothing much else to report except that the oven should be here sometime next week (possibly) so I will be able to bake again and make bread properly (I've been reduced to making buns for the last 7 years).  It will also mean that the kitchen will get a mild rearrangement too - or things might not fit.  Can't see that extending to the floor though, or changing the door so it doesn't go through Williams room!  He will just have to live with it for a bit longer. At least he doesn't have to share a room with James. (Too much mayhem that way lies!!!)

There are some photos of the quilt top I am assiduously hand piecing at the moment. This is only at the half way mark on the second round.  There will be one more round after this so that it gets big enough for our bed.  I may yet go completely nuts and hand quilt it too yet.

viv in nz

Weekend mayhem

I spent this weekend at a working bee with the group so I was out from Friday night until late on Sunday and only came home to sleep. Consequently I didn't see the house until this morning and then had to spend quite some time clearing up the muddle. However, we have managed to get a new (secondhand) oven and a new toaster (flybuys) and a new (secondhand) hand mower and a benchtop oven (guess what - secondhand!) which will do until the oven is fitted and hopefully nothing else will break!

The to be fixed list read like a houseful of appliances but, so far, the cost has been minimal for which I am grateful. Only the washing machine has cost a bit in repairs. We have been lucky and have some great friends too which all helps :)

The list so far....
My sewing machine
The petrol mower
The benchtop oven
The electric mower
The toaster
The washing machine
My camera (cry!!!!)

The only thing I haven't been able to replace is my camera and I really miss it big time as I never have liked using Matt's one.

Now we are aiming to get James room finished as it is rather damp and we found two tiger slugs, which are enormous, on his floor! Fortunately he rather likes wildlife :) They have been given new homes outdoors. Once that is done, we can aim for the new shower and then there will be no place left for wildlife to creep in except by the actual doors and windows if left open.

Anyhow, 0ver the weekend I got into the hand pieced quilt I have decided to do for our bed and I think it is going to look really good (especially if you like a cheerful orange :). I put some of the bigger panels together just to see and I think I'm going to like the result - I certainly do so far.

It was supposed to be a preparation time for the upcoming exhibition but I already have most of my entries under control so I just beavered away in the corner with my bits and pieces. It was nice to have the uninterrupted time just to get on with things.

This is the bus stop at the Arrow junction where we caught the bus home and yes, it is the middle of nowhere.

Have a nice week

viv in nz

Trip to the Catlins

We did a trip down to Blaclutha first and visited the local handwork group where we saw lots of objects made by others which is inspirational for our own work too. We had lunch with them and then the whole lot of us went to a local workshop for wood turning. There were lots of interesting things here and I was given a set of lino cutting tools to try out for wood cuts. I will have a go at this at the upcoming long weekend for our group and I cannot say how grateful I am for the loan.

We then carried on to Owaka where we visited an exhibition at the museum (I'm not convinced about that stuff but it was interesting) and then went on to a small local shop/home belonging to one of our members.

There we were regaled with chocolate cream cake and tea and there was a lot of general chit chat about this and that. I borrowed a book on handwork and have already made my way through the accompanying manual for a mystery quilt. My effort is looking good but very orange at present. The next layer should tone it down a bit. I'm thinking this will be a good addition to my library so I am looking for a copy online. The technical stuff is excellent.

All in all, the trip was extremely useful and I'm glad I didn't miss it.

Photos for the trip can be found on the link so I will just add a few holiday snaps here. The hat beard combination is one of six I made as Christmas presents, all different and all warm and silly :)

viv in nz

garden stuff

I finally got round to taking some photos of the garden with the main gardener and (non) helper. The back yard is finally beginning to look more like it should and may give us a few veg later but more likely, no much until next year as it has taken a while to get it dug. I might even have my long promised steps by then and not have to risk sliding down on my behind :) (It has happened)

My confirmed convolvulus hunter hard at work :) The old apple tree looks to have lots of fruit this year so there will be apple jelly again with luck. The pile of gravel was scraped off the other garden bed because it used to be the end of the driveway but, being that the last vehicle to go there had to be removed with a tow line, it hasn't been used. It makes a really good garden and Matt is going to extend it further up the drive yet to give a bit more space.

Feel free to visually edit out the weeds :) And the very large, overgrown hedge which actually gives a lot of protection so it will stay although it might get trimmed back a bit.

I also finished one of my felted pieces which has been waiting since forever - at least it feels that way. I haven't completely finalised my list of pieces for the exhibition yet so will need to get onto those too. I won't post photos of those because the exhibition photos will be far superior to anything I can do.

For those interested the site is artfibredunedin.blogspot.com so you can see what other stuff I get up to.

viv in nz

I'm baaaaack:)

The holiday was great if a trifle hot! We walked by the river, went up the gondola, swam in the lake and caught up with the odd relative or so and generally had a good time.

Poppy, my mil's dog, will miss William who walked her at least twice a day. I suppose we ought to consider a dog but it is really too small round here and I don't think the finances will stretch to it anyhow.

The boys swam in the river and in Lake Hayes but it was very cold so they didn't stay in long and took ages to actually take the plunge and go in. They also swam in the indoor (heated!) pool for an entire afternoon and successfully turned themselves into prunes :)

I did lots of drawing because it really is a spectacular place. The new pencil is really nice and gives a softer effect than the old one although it isn't as delicate.

The bus trip was long but bearable and we did walk quite a lot when we were there although the car got used too mostly because everything is so far from everything else. Lots of photos to follow along with a few here from the day we went up the gondola.

viv in nz

Holiday

We are off on holiday for a week starting this Friday. I have a friend to look after our place so my triffid of a tomato will be ok along with Skilly and the hens.

We will be spending Christmas at home though so that should be good too.

I spent most of today working at the kindy which was fun. I only do the odd relief stint there and hadn't had anything for several months so it was nice to catch up with the children who have grown out of all recognition since my last work. It was fun and we all made Christmas bells along with the other stuff. I am getting a handle on what these age groups are capable of and hope to have a little input too so that when they get to my senior classes, they will have the skills I am presently having to teach, already in place. Which, in turn, means that we can really tackle some great projects without worrying about who can or can't use scissors properly. (There seem to be more left handers than normal in my upper group and they really need different scissors to get good results.) Correct use of tools should start very young as it is annoying to learn when older and far more difficult to master.

The top photo is my baby cherry blossom tree doing its thing beautifully and the other is the side pocket of my strawberry tower which I colonised with these tiny pink things which had been living in a broken pot for some years.

viv in nz

Holidays and garden bits

The boys only have a few days of school left now and we have already planned a holiday at Grandmas new house in Arrowtown. This will be the longest time we've been away for over three years and I am hunting round for someone to water the triffid (tomato) inside and feed the animals etc. I am hoping a friends daughter will live in for the week.

Matt has dug the garden free of gravel (it was supposed to be part of a driveway but proved a bit steep for general use.) and planted two rows of potatoes. It is a bit late for general planting but we will try a few things as you never know. James, at 14 is into computer games etc but has also claimed a plot to plant things in and has done a really good job of laying it out, weeding and planting. He has yams and sweet corn in his plot and they are all sprouting merrily. William has merely shoved a couple of extra strawberry plants in his plot so far.

The lettuces are still producing madly - poor James! He really doesn't like lettuce much! There are also peas and garlic although not in large amounts yet, along with a large contingent of parsley plants from the ones that went to seed last year. We all like parsley chopped through our mashed potato so no doubt it will run out as usual :)

We are down another elderly hen so there are only three left now. I think its time we sourced some more but not until we get back. Skilly has decided that the big chest in the front hall is a good spot to view everyone so I gave her an old rug to keep her off the rather elaborate carving and she now thinks it just purrrrrfect :)

The photos are one of the more interesting cars to go up the street and almost the last photo of Chainsaw with Skilly lying in front of him.

viv in nz

Baldwin Street

We do live on the steepest street in the world so things can get interesting at times. There are a number of photos of crashed cars as well as a plethora of weird and wonderful happenings, some of which predate us and some of which I have witnessed over the seven years we have lived here and the 30 odd years I have spent in the Valley.

There is the Jaffa race of course. That is a yearly event in July and coincides with the chocolate festival. There were two races this year - one with the normal orange jaffas and one with lilac ones to celebrate the 10th year of the race. We scored some chocolate to compensate for the inconvenience of having our street access blocked for half a day. I'm not sure on the numbers but it was standing room only - estimated at about 8 thousand.

In the last year there have been two car incidents. Neither were serious fortunately. The first was tourists who lost it further up and took out a large chunk of railing, garden and left a big hole in the neighbour's hedge. The second was some nitwit trying to do a u-turn after light rain on the very steepest bit. He wrote his car off on a lamp post (which was undamaged and so was he).

There was the idiot sliding down the street in a recycle bin (not a wheelie bin) which broke. I reported that one as it wasn't their bin and they cost to replace. And finally there was the stupid teen who was riding down on his bike without using his hands - he ended up under a parked car with some fairly nasty injuries but fortunately not fatal or permanent damage. Just broken bones and gravel rash.

On a happier note there was a segway -I think there's a video on u tube - an electric wheelchair, a pair of stilts, a pogo stick and various skateboards, bikes, unicycles and a pair of training ski (he was no fool and decided not to go from the top).

There was also a world record attempt to ride a motorbike down on one wheel. He then rode back up still on wheel just for the fun of it. He was a proper stunt rider though and got a fairly massive audience as it was reported in the local paper.

Then there are the 40,000 odd tourists....

This street is interesting to live on!

Our house is on the wiki page but the photo needs an upgrade. We have been doing it up slowly and the roof has been renewed although the colour is still white with lacework. It was built in 1912 so I think we will need to give it a birthday party for being 100 fairly soon :)

viv

Boats

I haven't been doing very much recently so I thought I'd share an old story of a family trip to the Falls Dam when I was still a teen.

The dam itself is a fair way off the beaten track but it is quite attractive in a barren kind of way with a group of fishing huts as the only hint of civilization. This construction was made for mining and then used for agriculture. It is only a very small lake by most standards and takes about 30 mins by sailing boat (slow sort) to get from one end to the other.

It was a warm day but heavily overcast which is unusual in central. The water was mostly pretty shallow so it was also warmish which made the idea of sailing on it pretty good. My brother was crewing for a sunburst dinghy belonging to a friend and we had the optimist because Dad hadn't finished building his sunburst yet. We also had a picnic lunch and the whole family and various other people too so it was a real outing for the Maniototo Yacht club.

Things got off to a good start and the boats were launched for a short sail before lunch. Dad took the first go as it was his boat and Phil went out with his friend. The rest of us set up the picnic and decided that the rocky shore was not a good place to swim - too many weeds and heaps of jagged rocks. We then sat down to wait for the sailors to return.

Dad was first back and he called for some help so that he wouldn't bash his newly painted dinghy on the rocks. We went down to help and he decided, whilst sailing up and down along the shore, that he would throw us the painter (rope) so that we could guide him in. ( I might add that we were fairly new to sailing at this point and about as far from expert as is possible without actually tipping the boat every time we got in it.)

He aimed carefully at the shore and made what he considered a good throw. It fell way short so he gathered it up and by slowing down the boat to almost a stall, he managed to stand in the centre, hanging on to the mast with one hand to help his balance. Then he threw the rope....

The precariously balanced boat (for those who don't know what an optimist is - its about the size of a one man rowing boat) promptly turned turtle, captain and all, backwards. There was a loud splosh and the rope reached the shore.

We pulled the bedraggled captain out of the lake along with his boat and gave him a towel. Fortunately he had left all his valuables in the car because he didn't want them getting wet!

At this point the other boat hove into view carrying two more casualties. Their mishap was out of view from where we were but must have looked hilarious to the wildlife. Phil had been manning the jib amidships whilst his friend operated the tiller. They had rocketed down the lake in fine style with a few jibes which required split second timing. The idea was that the main sail was allowed to fly across to the other tack while Phil had the job of releasing the jib sheet and flying across the boat width changing ropes as he went and then leaning out as far as possible using the rope as support.

This was fine and allowed for much speed but on this one occasion, Phil missed the rope in passing at a million miles an hour and went completely over the side.......loud splash!

To keep the boat upright, his friend had a firm grip on the main sail but with the disappearance of his counterweight, the boom slammed back across and gave him a nasty blow on the head. He was lucky not to be knocked out. He regained control of things and picked up Phil and in a sadder but wiser way, they returned for first aid and dry clothes and lunch.

After lunch, Dad decided to go out again and do a spin round the lake before giving me a go so, still in his somewhat soggy clothes, he hopped in and, mindful of the rocks, asked Phil to push him out a little before getting under way.

You have to remember that this is an artificial lake so when Phil went to push him out, he got three steps into the water and then promptly disappeared. Apparently there was a small, invisible cliff just off the shoreline. So Phil got another impromptu bath!

Things settled down a bit after that until it was my turn. This was the first time I had sailed a boat on my own and I was a little nervous. Not for my safety, we all had life jackets and we all were very good swimmers, but for my pride!

I got a good start and sailed round the lake doing quite well I thought. Then I had to come in but every time I turned in, the following wind pushed my bows under the water and the boat started to act more like a diving submarine. I yelled for instructions eventually as I was by now sitting waist deep in water (there wasn't a seat at this time). Dad had to run up and down the shoreline yelling instructions at me and try to boost my confidence until I got the nerve to do what he was saying. I got very wet but I did make it back to land under my own steam. Needless to say, I never forgot that set of instructions!

By this time everyone was either wet or damaged so we set to packing everything up. We left just as the foreboding clouds decided to rain heavily but it was accounted one of our most successful picnic days despite the various accidents along the way.

Unfortunately I have no photos available of the yachts so the photo here is on our street and just shows the end of our veranda.

viv in nz

garden bits with felt

I did a few more small landscapes in felt inbetween filling a little of the skip - Matt did most of it. I think this felt thing has rather become a fixture especially as I have no sewing machine at present - it broke a couple of weeks back and I haven't heard about it since (and am not enquiring too soon because there is no money to pay for it anyhow).

I have to say I like the small wet felt pieces which I can compose at about the size of the average postcard with lots of detail. I'm still perfecting things so there is the odd mess where something has gone a bit weird. I can embellish them too if I think they need it.

Apart from that - I've been getting into some christmassy things for the children to compose during the last few weeks of school. They will make a nice change from the grandma's garden quilt which we finally finished about a week back. Its off being quilted now. I'll post a photo when it is finished.

So far I have got them making little christmas trees in fabric (polar fleece at present as it doesn't need backing and these are my 8 year olds) and the 11 - 12 year olds are knitting a small angel although I am considering letting two of them (the worst knitters) make trees too. Its all good fun and will give them one or two nice things to use as christmas presents.

The two photos at the top are from a rather nasty forest fire over the back of the city. No housing was involved but we were drowned in smoke for several days. This was last summer and I forgot I had these photos - they look pretty spectacular but the smell was much worse!

viv in nz