bee

Its been an interesting week round here and I seem to have reached perpetual motion territory.  The weekend was full of patchwork mostly with a dash of Farmers Market (of which there will be more coming up) and a lot of heat.

It has now cooled off a lot and I have resorted to a woolly jersey.  We were supposed to be taking a boat trip this afternoon but the sea was too rough so it has been slated for next week instead.  I cleared up the kitchen and fancied up the potatoes for dinner instead. Not much of a replacement activity really but it needed doing.

I am down to the last 11 rows on my quilt which is good.  Only about 460 pieces to go.  It looks good - well I think so.  I promise to post a photo when its a bit more complete.

Sprocket chased a bee and the result was...

He is fine now

 As you can see...

 This is the beach at Wakaouaiti.

We had tea on the beach (hot chips) on the way back from holiday.  I have a special other holiday post for later too.

viv

holiday/new stuff

I am still keeping my art school options open but it doesn't look financially possible at present.  I have picked up a bit of work though and been made redundant from my old job unfortunately (on my birthday no less!) so I've kinda lost what I gained.  Oh well...

Anyhow, here are a few more pictures from holiday,

 The Arrow river is only a very short distance from where we were staying with Grandma.  There is a very beautiful walk/bike track on both sides of the river here with a footbridge at each end of the part we use.

This makes it a great place to walk grandma's dog Poppy.

Who likes water...

and running...

And looking at other dogs.

We did this walk almost every evening and sometimes in the morning too - although the boys mostly took Poppy at this hour.  William also did a lot of bike riding on these paths.  Swimming is not an option really as the water is absolutely freezing cold.

viv

holiday

 Finally got some holiday snaps up so you get to see some of the really great trip we took.

I'll do this in stages as they occurred :)

This is the view from the top of the back road we took from Oturehua to Alexandra.  It is all gravel but well used and I got William to use some map skills to get us to the right place.  (I have been here before but I let him get it wrong a bit too :)  There is lots of wild thyme and a rather good waterfall where an irrigation channel takes a walk on the wild side.

Some of the rocky tors were pretty spectacular too...

Then there was the obligatory family photo shot outside Cromwell before getting to Arrowtown for tea with Grandma.

And that's stage one :)

Enjoy

viv

I'm still sitting on that mission statement but at least I now have the photos to go with it.  However, in the meantime, the school holidays got in the road along with a long overdue renovation of the bathroom and the kitchen.  We decided that since we couldn't afford to move the toilet out of the kitchen, we would have to transform the kitchen into the bathroom and move the kitchen into what was supposed to be the new bathroom. (still following???? :)

So stage one was to remove as much of the kitchen furniture as possible into the entirely unstarted bathroom (which James was using as a bedroom) and shift James into Matts office where there is a loft bed (which he inhabits anyway as that is where his computer and the music keyboard hangs out. Still with me :)

Then we had to remove a wall and a door (unfinished because the bathroom never got any further) carefully so that they can be reused in the old kitchen which will be divided in half - one end becoming the bathroom and the other retaining the kitchen bench for laundry and dyeing purposes. (It's a long narrow lean to that was probably the original outside laundry/toilet). Then we replaced the (way too small) bathroom window with a recycled one from a demolition yard - larger by far and lets in lots of light.  It came with a type of frosted glass which we could have replaced with clear but we rather like it and the view is straight into the bank so why would we bother. This is now installed and I spent a couple of days cleaning up the dust bunnies and their families and finding places for all the stuff which now has nowhere to go (Question - how much stuff can you fit under a double bed?  Answer - lots if you move it up to its highest notch :).

We now have the job of moving the electrics for the hob and getting the plumbing put in.  Fortunately the shower hangs out in the new hallway so will be operational at all times (if a little public) and the toilet will remain where it is although it will get a much needed facelift (new pan etc).  There will finally be a handbasin and I get to crazy tile another shower :)

The present job is to remove the very rotten window in the new bathroom and replace it with the fancy one from the might have been bathroom.  This is creating some headaches as rather a lot of the wall (inside and out) is also very rotten and we have no idea where the leak is coming from. We will have to live with black building paper for the moment as the budget is non existent but at least the rot will be gone.

The whole thing is turning into rather a marathon effort but the result should be a wonderful bathroom and an adequate kitchen which will turn into something much better if we can ever afford it. And no more washing of hands from the toilet in the kitchen sink!!!!! And no more washing machine in the middle of the back door to sidle around to get to the kitchen and toilet. And no more washing machine blocking up the floor where you want to get dried from the shower. I even get to rip up the horrible lino in various places and give our house a proper 100 year old birthday with some nice new clothes :)

viv

And I washed the socks......

Mission statement

Objective - to build a body of work extending my love of landscape and the bones that lie beneath.  By this I mean the rocks and soils as well as the real archaeological evidence that exists throughout the planet we call home.  I find rock formations of any sort fascinating and am trying to draw out the essence of my experience and make it accessible to others in an emotional/spiritual way as well as a geological way.

Materials - I have an affinity for textiles and all that pertains to the various crafts that come under that heading so it is natural for me to use these as the medium for my explorations. I like to experiment with whatever is available including things that lie outside of textiles.  I have looked into more three dimensional media but am much more at home with minimal input from this as I prefer surface detail and raised surface detail.

What I would like to gain from the proposed course is input from others as I find I don't really like to work solely in splendid isolation. I need to refine what I am aiming for.  I have the beginnings of what I am after but need more to achieve whatever conclusion is out there to be found.

I have been working with the art fibre group for about 4 years now and think I am ready for a new and bigger challenge.  This is something I have been aiming at for years and the time seems right to continue what I have started.

Vivien Dwyer
2012

In case any of you are wondering how this ended up on the blog - it is part of my entry attempt for art school next year.  I did art school several decades ago before fibre art etc was even on the horizon so now I want to continue what I did then with stuff more appropriate to where I am now. The rest will mostly be photos of recent work.

Speaking of which, these are some experiments with marbling and a lino cut ginko leaf which I made a while back.

viv

Spring blossom

Well, Spring has sprung and here are some photos to prove it.  The early blossoms are almost finished already and my bulbs are flowering madly too.
And a random photo of Sprocket:)

viv in nz

Wow!  I didn't realize it was a whole month since I posted.  Not that an awful lot has happened apart from William's birthday (can't believe he is 14!) and the olympics of course.

William did get to do a small part for 'Cinderella' as a page boy with a cart with a fancy orange tree on it for about 5 minutes max :) He is getting a bit large for those parts with the Royal NZ Ballet though so this will most probably be the last page boy he plays.  However, I have been wrong before :) I got the odd photo so here he is -

I should add that we had to use a heap of hair jell on him to get his hair into shape as it isn't long enough yet to tie all of it back.

Apart from that James is facing his first serious school exams with his usual style - no work to speak of because he thinks he knows it all!  These are practice exams for now so I'm making no comments until the results are out.

viv in nz

My room

I was answering a post at Frugal Kiwi and decided to actually do a proper inventory of the stuff in my room along with its history if I think it is interesting enough.  I'm not going to do this all at once though - that would be epic!!

I'll start with the front wall. There is a large double sash window looking out onto Baldwin Street and the small garden (weed and bulb bed) with a picket fence in need of a touch more white paint. The curtains came with the house and are the only ones I actually kept.  I use them to pin up larger pieces of work in the evening.  They spend all the cold parts of winter closed as these are not double glazed and they take up half the wall. 

On one side is an upright oak desk gifted to my Dad by an elderly client who I used to talk to a lot on my way home from school. (She was often out in her garden)  I was sad to lose her.  This contains oddments and photographs mostly.  At present the top is home to a couple of moth eaten maiden hair ferns which got forgotten and which I am now nursing back to life. There is a shell and a set of cups and saucers, a fire alarm that needs a new battery and some elderly and retired hand knitted socks that have been washed (I will felt them a bit more and cut them up for flowers) and a small being made from an orange pom pom. There is my nice new apron I got from the apron swap over at 'Down-to-Earth' and the handbag I use when I think I might get a sketch done (its got my art notebook and aquarelle pencils in it) hanging off the side.

Next to that and mostly hidden by the dining room round table that used to be my sisters is an old book press that my grandfather got from somewhere. There are three chairs with the table.  One came from Dad's office (oak upright) one came from my sister with the table and the third was recycled from the local rubbish dump for $2.  The fourth person uses my computer chair.

Then there is the old two seater couch which is in the process of falling apart and has been used by three generations of cats as a scratching post.  There are two dragon cushions on that which were originally given to my mum by a Chinese friend from Hong Kong. Above that is a lovely pen and ink tree sketch by a very good friend from art school (about 30 years back!) and one of those small wooden things that hold tiny bits and pieces.  They are;

A wooden animal from a stall
A miniature car that used to be in my handbag for wriggly kids to play with
An ancient tiny cocoa tin
A row of ducks my Aunt gave me
A pottery chinese pagoda thingy belonging to my grandmother - she used it as a pot plant decoration along with a bridge.
A porcelain house
A clay duck and boat made by James when a lot younger
A wax dragon - also James's work
Two chinese pottery boys
A brass tea set (eastern style)
A wooden boat - William this time
A wooden duck from the Steiner fair
A porcelain lady - I made this one.
A wax question mark! William never could decide exactly what it was he made
Another small car - more recent and one of a set
And a knitted chick by my Mum which had fallen onto the floor when I took the photo!

All this in about a foot square!

Hidden in the corner is a Kauri chest containing mostly knitting needles and embroidery cloth and on top of that is a basket of ufos and another fern - this one is in good order despite being 36 years old.  All the ferns are in pots I made during my years as a potter.

All this along just one wall!!!

Enjoy,

viv

Cover

I took some photos of the finished hot water bottle cover - it came out really interesting.  I made an I cord for the neck.  Amazing what can be done with a large number of ends. The whole thing is just double crochet stitches with a shell edge and at this point I am almost out of coloured ends. The second one will have to be made in the scrap ball of homespun which is also quite large thanks to the weaving ends from a friend.

viv in nz

I'm running a bit behind at present. It's been just too cold to think of much other than keeping warm.  I also inherited the cold J brought home from school.  It's already been round Matt so now it's me and W who has gone all hoarse and has an end of term performance tonight! I just cough a lot. The photos are from a walk around Lake Waihola that the boys did a few weeks back.  Next time I will go too :)

I have been saving my wool ends for a while now and decided to put them to good use.  I need a couple of hot water bottle covers so I got out a crotchet hook and, using the hottie as a measure, began the process.  I'm about half way through now so I might be finished by the time winter is over!!!  I use all the ends from other projects this way.  Anything over about 6 inches gets tied on.  Anything over 4 inches ends up in my scrap hooked rug. Only the little bits get either discarded or used for stuffing depending on what I'm doing. I'll post a photo or so when I've got a little more progress!

viv

bread buns

This is a little something that is completely off the wall.  My hubby has been making ginger beer for a month or so now and every so often he has rather more left overs than are required for the next batch.

Well I looked at the sludge and put a plateful in the fridge just in case :)  A couple of days later I decided that this was yeast wasn't it and could I not use it to make a batch of bread buns (oven is broken and toaster oven won't do loaves without burning but does manage buns).  So I got out my large bowl, added the sludge with a cup or so of warm water and waited to see what would happen.  It did froth a little so I added a glug of oil and some salt and flour and kneeded the stuffing out of it until it started to feel about right.  Then I left it to rise.  It took around three hours to double in size and I'd had about enough of waiting by then so I gave it a light kneed and made up the buns which I left for another hour or so (I'd lost count by now) until they looked about right and then baked them as per normal.

They actually came out perfectly!!!!!  Not too heavy, not too light but really good.  The first batch never made it out of the kitchen but I did manage to photo the second batch before they too evaporated.  They did taste strongly of ginger beer but then most of us like that anyhow.

A new and yummy use for what would otherwise have been wasted :)

viv in nz

Sunsets are grand

This was what I saw out of my living room window so we took some photos outside to avoid the power lines. Then the telephoto function to bring those wonderful trees a little closer. The last one is using the flash and from normal distance.

Enjoy :)

viv in nz

I just noticed that a whole month has gone by with nothing to say.  That is sooooo not the case as there is always something going on :) Lets see :

The car got crunched in the rear and mended - two weeks without it do tend to show just how bad our local bus service really is! Not to say expensive!!

Youngest took part in Stage Challenge - a musical dance/drama event for schools.  They get 8 minutes to do their best and our lot came second which was a good effort. We couldn't go as it was just too expensive so will have to see it through a dvd.  He is making a 48 hour film with a bunch of friends this weekend for another competition.  No idea what that will turn out like - a fairly typical beginner boys film I should think!

James got a late detention and is staring another one in the face - teenagers!

Grandma reached her 79th birthday - yay:)

We went on a trip to the recycle centre. Now that was an interesting event with sorting and belts taking this and that all over!  It was also rather loud. It's amazing what people put in their recycle bins - so much inappropriate stuff!

I've embroidered greek patterns on one side of three togas for when the class goes to the steiner olympics.  They have to do the other side themselves but time was going to be a problem. I have three more to go but they really look wonderful. The senior girls made ducks in felt for the playgroup kids.  Mostly to see how gussets are constructed. Hopefully this will translate to their main project.

I also did two printmaking days but more of that later.

And after all this, I think I get today off :) And three random photos as I can't make this new set up do what I actually want!

viv in nz

Apron

I joined an apron swap over on the 'Down to Earth' blog a few weeks back and sent my effort away and got this in return and very nice it is too. It is going strictly in the kitchen - no horrid dyes/inks/jels for this one :) Mind you, the subject wearing it is not photogenic and doesn't do it justice really.

And that was the better one too!

viv

Picture quilts

I finally remembered to take the photos of those three hangings above my mother this afternoon.

I made them about 5 years ago now. They are constructed using layers of coloured mesh that are then cut away to form the image. The mountain one has around 7 layers of dark blue mesh on a satin ground and a couple of layers of sky colours as well. It takes ages to cut all the various layers down to where you want them!

The beach scene has shells pushed in from the edge of the final layer after quilting and before the edge goes on. I did try to get them in before sewing on an earlier piece but they just interfered too much and several broke so now I plan the stitching so that I can wiggle them in later.

The third piece has a darkish blue satin and a more solid piece of sheer from an old dress as well as a piece of net from an old hat.

Mum picked these three pieces for her wall out of the dozen or so I made at the time. She also wanted the hooked rug I designed and hooked when I was rather a lot younger. I originally made this design for a cross stitch table cloth and adapted it for the rug later just because I thought it had potential and I liked it. (I still have the cloth. I think I was about 19 when I did it.)

They were a lot of fun to do and there are very few limits as to what you can push under the layers of netting. I like to put one overall layer on at the end to stop the edges from lifting before doing the final quilting. Some of these also play with different grades of net and with adding smaller, pre-cut pieces too. And its a great way to use all those shells etc that get brought home from the beach (incurable beach comber here :).

Oh, and my indoor photography sucks! Sorry for the blur and the poor colour.

viv

Capsicums

My capsicums are finally beginning to turn red. I was convinced we had some that simply grow green and stay that way so I am happy :)

This week has been busy with Matt finally getting the rest of the floor into James room so he no longer has a plastic lined conversation pit. Matt used some extra board to line the pit so it is now a secret storage pit with a lift up lid. That meant that I spent rather a lot of time clearing all James things out of the hallway and various other rooms so I can finally walk down there without gaining a few more bruises on all the stuff. Now all I need is for the 6 old computer monitors and the 11 old computers to go to their new homes and the house might feel more like it should. They are part of the school computer club stuff which Matt runs for the kids at lunchtime one day a week. They are going to refurbish them with Linux and use them for this and that. Eventually they will all be given away and the next lot will appear by magic I'm thinking!

I went to the knitting squad on Wednesday as usual and M came in with a certificate he had designed and printed out for my Mum who has donated all her left over (but new) baby knits (she loved to knit this stuff) to the valley project to be given as gifts to new arrivals as a welcome present. Sheila came to give the certificate yesterday and Matt took some photos.

Apart from that, I've made a batch of apple ketchup and thats about it for this week.

viv in nz