Saturday, February 08, 2025

COUPLE OF THINGS TO DO

 


ANOTHER hot 'n' sticky day ahead ... luckily we don't have too much on our agenda.

I'm going out to Tis The Season, in Matangi first thing to get some Gutterman Thread for quilting the Dragonfly Wall Hangings/Table Toppers.

Shit, I better check out if they are even open on a Saturday eh?  .... Just checked, it's open, yaaa.

Next on my list, get the house ready for it's Open Home this afternoon.  Not too much to do there as ya know, I keep this place tip top all the time.

Stew will go to the supermarket for the week's supply of Diet Coke etc.  Then he has to do the lawns/gardening etc.  

He's utterly thrilled about the gardening I'm sure.

ABOVE: I spent a bit of time mucking around with fabrics last night, working out a couple of line ups for Square Table Toppers to make this coming week.  I will also be making another Dragonfly Wall Hanging before the next market.

Looking at that photo above, I can already see that the one on the left is too busy!  Photos are great for sussing out how things look eh?  😊


Groceries  - tick.

Gassed up the vehicles - tick.

Tis the Season for thread - tick.

Bought something I didn't need - tick.

ABOVE:  If you ignore the fact that I DON'T RUN... it was too cute not to buy.
I shall put it on something I wear.   I got two of them. 

It's now time to do the fluffing around the house, Stew is outside doing the yard... and after all that is done we are going out to Taco Bell for lunch.
We have not been there in AGES.

We will get home in time to do the last minute things before the Open Home.

ABOVE:  1.20 pm.  Lunch was super nice.  We thoroughly enjoyed it. 
After leaving Taupiri, Stew accidentally left the roundabout at the wrong point... which meant...

ABOVE:  We ended up heading to Auckland!  The first opportunity to get off the Expressway and turn around was at Ohinewai, 16 kms up the road.
Oh well... at least we were not in a hurry to get home.

Now we are home, Stew is assembling a new hose reel, while I go around opening windows etc.
Just under an hour till the Open Home.

I'm just so glad we don't bust a gut for Open Homes anymore!  There was only one person through today.
We have a Private Viewing booked for Tuesday morning... some family from Auckland coming down looking for a home in this area.

Another Open Home tomorrow midday.  
For now, we are just going to chill out for the rest of the afternoon.

I might venture into the sewing room a bit later on, if it cools down a bit?  Right now it's STINKING, STINKING HOT, with hardly a breeze at all.  

5.12 pm:   I was really tired, but couldn't just sit and do nothing.
So I did go into the sewing room and did some work.  I will show you what I got up to... tomorrow.  Stew said 'OOOoooo that's lovely Darling", so it got his seal of approval. 😌😊

End of the day, and I'm currently watering gardens.  3 down, 2 to go.  Then I can truly relax for the day.
I'll be back.  Tomorrow.

Friday, February 07, 2025

DID I DO THE RIGHT THING?

 


Well... I talked about this last night.

The Dragonfly panel.

I had ONE MORE option to try out.  It was an ombre fabric that was a part of the Dragonfly line.  I thought it would be far too busy to use with the panel.

ABOVE: See?  VERY, VERY BRIGHT.

And would I cut it in vertical lines, or across the whole row of colours?

I laid it out both ways... and DANG!!

When I added a thin black strip, then the ombre fabric, it looked fabulous!

So I took a deep breath, cut it up, and stitched it, hoping like hell my intuition was working...

ABOVE:  Did I do the right thing?  Do you like it?  I know it's A LOT of colour.  But none of the other options screamed 'YES' to me.  This did.

It will become a wall hanging, for sale.  I love it, but simply won't have room in our eventual new home.  

It is always fun to make something different, and this certainly is different.

Today I will be quilting and binding the panel.

Then I want to use some of the other Dragonfly fabrics to make a Square Table Topper.

So, I have plenty to do today.  YAAAA.  I love being busy.


10.42 am:  Slowly making progress on the Dragonfly Wall Hanging.
Just so ya know, I DID need your input yesterday.
It helped me realise that everyone had differing likes, and you can't cater to everyone's taste.
It also made me think about that other fabric, and how it might work, and cover all the bases.


I had some plans for this afternoon, but they might not work out as the sun is not out.  I wanted to go by a certain house to see how much sun it gets in the afternoon.  How typical that it's a cloudy day today.  Grrrrr.  Might have to wait for another day.

Ummmm..... the Dragonfly Wall Hanging is SOLD.  Now I just have to finish it.  😂😅😊

ABOVE:  Guess what I did?
Yep, I went out and bought more of those panels.  Three in fact.  So, I suppose I'm making three more Dragonfly Wall Hangings. 😆😅😂

After that little trip, I stopped in and had a very interesting talk with some people about 'a house' we had our eye on.  It is now 100% off our list!  UPDATED elsewhere.

ABOVE:  And it is done.  There's loops at the top to thread a piece of dowel through for hanging it up.

It is now 1.35 pm, and I'm starving.  Time for me lunch.

Ha ha, well lunch was a few hours ago and all I've done since then is work on my jig saw puzzle.  It's slowly getting there, but it kills me back.  It is enjoyable though.

Stew arrived home, and the telly got switched on.  Something I don't usually turn on at all during the day.  There's bugger all on it worth watching during the day.

I doubt we will get up to anything much this evening, just the usual.  TV.  Yakking.  Jig saw. Bed.  

10.00 pm, and the day is done.  Stew  has already gone to bed, and I'm watching Location, Location, Location, a programme I do enjoy.  
I will be off to bed once it's finished.
Catch ya tomorrow.


Thursday, February 06, 2025

WHICH ONE??? HOLIDAY TODAY

 


It has only taken me 66 years to realise I prefer WINTER to summer!

In summer you just have to sweat it out, there is literally no getting away from the heat, 24 hours a day.  Unless you are in the pool.  And well hell, ya can't SLEEP in the bloody pool can ya?

Even having my fan on me all night long does not help at the moment.

Gimme winter, where I can rug up, snuggle under the blankets and be warm, but not STINKING HOT.  

AND I can go walking, cos it's COOL.  I can't walk at all in summer, which sucks.

And with that little revelation behind me, how about we venture into today's agenda.

First up, the options for the Dragonfly Panel's border are:

ABOVE: One of these two different greens?

ABOVE: A vibrant RED, or a spotty blue?

ABOVE: What about a multi-coloured mid blue/green?

ABOVE: The nest option, a blue/green/purple Paua?

ABOVE: The last option, no border at all, just a black edge, or even a solid purple, or green???

I have pretty much already ruled out the spotty blue.  And I was quite sure it was going to be the top left green, but now I'm not so sure. 

And there I was thinking I didn't have many fabric colours to choose from!

Now, while you ponder my choices, Stew and I are going to get ready to head off to enjoy a bonus day off work.  Well, he gets a day off work.  I'm just a kept woman at the end of the day.  😂😅😏


10.20 am, and we are on the road.



ABOVE: The Karangahake Gorge.... where are we going?

We are at Waihi Beach. Having a really lovely time. There will be a photo dump once we get home. 

Before then... we have more places to go.

ABOVE:  We went to ... Waihi Beach.   First stop after the gorge was a walk along the main street, looking in a few shops.   I'm happy to say that when that seagull dropped a shit, it missed me by millimetres!  Wasn't my lucky day.😂😅😆

ABOVE:  I fell in love with this coffee table!!!  But Stew said 'NO'.  Fair enough, we have enough coffee tables.  *sniff*

ABOVE: Bowentown....  it almost rained, but held off. Then it cleared up altogether.

ABOVE:  Overlooking Matakana Island.  Quite a rough patch of water there between the 'mainland' and Matakana.

ABOVE:  Kiwi kids, climbing a pohutakawa tree.

ABOVE:  I can't decide if this photo was an accident, or I took it like that on purpose!  lol

ABOVE:  I think I'm finally used to him wearing THAT hat now.
It's grown on me.

ABOVE:  I liked it.

ABOVE:  Looking north on Waihi Beach.

ABOVE: A tyre swing at the far northern end of the beach.

ABOVE:  I like how the fallen branches look on the beach.

ABOVE:  I was eyeing up these rocks at the end of the beach... and Stew said "NO, we are moving remember?  You don't need any more rocks!"
Well, those ones WERE far too big anyway darling.

ABOVE:  I got a little, itty, bitty one instead.  He couldn't complain, he didn't have to carry it.  😄😂

ABOVE:  Looking south towards Tauranga.  Waihi Beach is beautiful, and best of all, no where near as crowded at The Mount or even Raglan.

ABOVE: Another one, just because I could.

ABOVE: Clean up after leaving the beach.  I detest sand on my feet in the car.

ABOVE: The kebab cart... where we got a very yummy lunch.

ABOVE: Our kebabs were so fulling, I doubt we will need any dinner.

ABOVE: We stopped at Karangahake Gorge on our way home, thinking of taking a walk along it's river bank.  It was CRAZY BUSY, with no car parks anywhere.  You had to drive around and around until someone left, and hope like hell you got the car park.  We did eventually get a park.


ABOVE: The river is very low, but still quite pretty.  We decided it was simply too hot to go for a walk, and left.  Next time we will do a walk there, on our way to the beach, instead of on our way home.

Now that we are home, it's time to just relax.  I Think Stew is going to have a swim.  I'm too lazy to even do that!  edit:  I did end up in the pool... it was so good to cool down.

THE PANEL:  No clear favourite on the border options. So I shall ponder it some more before making a decision.  Thanks for your input.

7 pm:  Well Stew is at the pub, and I chose to stay home.  I'm just to hot and frazzled.

I bought a fabric that 'matched' the panel yesterday, but didn't think it would look good as a border.  I thought it would be too BUSY.
So I didn't even lay it out as an option.

All day, I've been reading your comments, your opinions, all the while thinking ... "WHAT WOULD THAT FABRIC LOOK LIKE?"

So I laid it out, like I did with the other fabric options just now.

I will show you what it looks like tomorrow, and you can give me your input AGAIN.  lol

I'm going to sign off for the day now... it's been such a nice day.  I hope everyone has had a good day as well.

I'll be back, tomorrow.

Wednesday, February 05, 2025

MID WEEK

 


Today I am going out to Bower Bird (fabric shop) to get a panel I've been waiting for.

I was supposed to be rung when it arrived... but that didn't happen for some reason.

Lucky I spotted it online.

I plan on turning it into a runner... one I might even keep for myself.  We'll see.

Tomorrow is a public holiday, so Stew and I have been trying to think of something 'different' for us to do/go.

Any ideas people?  We seem to have DONE most things in our region, places to visit, bla bla bla.

ABOVE:  This bulb has not only grown, it's flowered.  It's one thing that I will be digging out of the garden and taking with us when we move.  I will probably put it in a big pot.


ABOVE:  I love seeing the flowers coming out in the garden.   


ABOVE:  I have no idea what this plant is, a succulent of some sort.  Is that it's 'flower' I wonder?  It's rather fetching, even though it has no colour.  Maybe it's still thinking about getting some colour?  Dunno.  😊


Right, that's me for now, I'm going to do the housework, get myself ready and go out for that panel.


11.21 am:  Well, I almost talked myself out of going to Bower Bird this morning.

I was like, do I really need any more fabric right now?  

But, I decided to go, because I had been waiting for that fabric to arrive for months and months.

SO GLAD I WENT!

She was having a 25% off sale.  BOOM.  I was meant to go.

ABOVE:  I'm not sure what I shall do with it yet, but I'm leaning towards a small quilt for the top of our spare bed now, instead of a runner.  

On my way home I took Coco for a walk along the river.  Marley was at Steve and Bex's, I hate walking both dogs at the same time.  They get all tangled up, no matter what I do to avoid it.




ABOVE:  There is a river walk just down from Steve and Bex's which I'm coming to love.  It has a couple of hills, which are OK.  And it's fairly open, so I feel safe.  Some places are too secluded, and single walkers have been warned not to put themselves in a position where they are not visible.  There's some nasty arse people around.  Sad.

Anyways, I'm home now, and about to make an early lunch.  Then I am going to ponder the new fabric... but not make a decision on what to do with it yet.

5 pm:  And I've spent a good bit of time on my jig saw this afternoon.

Then I ventured into the sewing room to suss out what to do with my new fabric.

I think I will make the panel into a wall hanging (thanks for all the suggestions 😊).  It took me quite a while to think about what to use as the border.

I've come up with some options, bearing in mind I don't have many fabrics here at the house any more.  It's ALL in storage.

But ... I'll show you tomorrow what the options are.  Then you can give me your input.

6.21 pm:  Stew arrived home, and we discussed tomorrow's plan.

And we have come up with a place to visit, somewhere we have not been in many years.  It's a beach community.  We love visiting beaches.

So happy we came up with something to do.

Zealong Tea Estate was a nice idea, if you actually enjoy tea.  I loathe it.  lol

So that idea got thrown out the window pretty much immediately.  I understand they do a lovely High Tea there, but yeah, nah. 😂😅😉

ABOVE:  What the hell purpose do Cicada's have in this world, other than to drive me crazy with their incessant noise????
I swear I want to kill them all.  Slowly.
My ears have been ringing with their noise for hours.  Grrrrr.

Marie:  You are nuts... said every so lovingly!
lol
Right, it's bedtime.  I've been doing me puzzle for a couple of hours, while watching tv.  Can't see straight again!
I'll be back.... tomorrow.