Before and After.

Despite all the rain, the gang of 8 Punjabi Indians have finished the Kiwifruit pruning.They made a really good job. I am so Thankful I no longer have to do it! ( but the price had gone up from last year by nearly $2 a vine! so things will be tight financially around here for the year )( the $NZ doesn't help with what we get back on our export fruit either ) It all has nothing to do with how hard we work....who would be an orchardist or farmer....blah!

The photos show the thick, busy tangle before the pruners start ; the next how much is cut out and the few select canes that are left and spaced on the overhead wires. The third shot shows all the cut up pruned off canes on the ground. You can clearly see the buds on the canes where they will sprout in a few weeks time.

That means we are very busy at the moment.....so sorry those Bloggers who haven't had comments from me in the last week - I just haven't had computer time!

The next thing DH and I are doing is going along after DH has mowed ( mulched up ) all the prunings on the ground, and finishing....that is, cutting off all the missed bits; taking off the used plastic clips and ties. We are removing anything that could rub future fruit.In the after photo with just the few canes seen against the blue sky you can see the stalks left where the last crop of fruit was hanging. I break all of those off.....then there is no way they can rub marks on new fruit. ( it is all overhead work so I feel it in my neck and arms - I stop and stretch and pace myself! )

It is very wet under foot, as we got 110 millimetres ( about 4.5 inches )of rain on Sunday. Yesterday we got a fine afternoon to work in. Yesterday morning we spent in the shed shelling walnuts - we have 4 sacks to work our way through. So at the moment I am one busy person, BUT I do get to sit and sew hexagons after dinner at night while I watch TV. The number completed has grown! Last week I got nervous about having enough backing fabric so I had a cutting session and now know that I do indeed have enough as I cut out all the backing hexagons I will need. Yippee! I had to buy another metre of that particular batting to have enough. If I keep working steadily I will get there.I have the month of August to finish in. ( Some more photos of that soon.)

Strangely enough I have made a mark off list so I can count down as I go....an incentive for me.....I work very well with lists!

Well That Didn't Work!

It can't have been a bright idea to enlist some help to answer those questions; cause it certainly didn't work. I feel quite let down as I wasn't asking for myself I was asking for someone who genuinely wanted some information. Oh well. I'm sorry Georganna you will only get a little advice from me and some from Meggie ( who never fails in her support - thanks Meggie )

So South Island.

Meggie likes Christchurch, so do I. Also Queenstown and most of the places I went on holiday too ( refer previous blogs ). If you like isolated very natural beaches the Catlins area ( very southern South Island ) is like that.( see 3 photos here ) Be aware that the West Coast beaches are all black ironsand in both islands. The white sand occurs more on the northern facing beaches. ( that's a generalisation ) On the West Coast South Island the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes at Punakiki are quite different and spectacular. Most of the Southern Lakes are truly beautiful. As are the mountains and glaciers. ( oh so much to see ).

North Island. My favourite city is Wellington despite its reputation for windy weather. It has many faces and on a sunny day is hard to beat. It has lots to do and see and is a good walking city with beautiful harbour views.

For beaches I would have to pick our own Bay of Plenty beaches and those on the Coromandel Peninsula especially Hahei. ( Hot Water beach is also different but dangerously rough )The red Pohutukawa or New Zealand Christmas Trees should be flowering when you are here ) Also Northland has some lovely beaches and the area around Pahia is lovely.

Rotorua is interesting but rather commercial, so be careful to get the best deal. I love the sulphur smell there (not everyone does ) and the geysers, mudpools and springs are worth seeing.

Waitomo Caves are amazing so try and see them. They have boat trips in the caves so you may view the glow worms and the limestone( stalactites and stalagmites ) formations are spectacular.

My only other advice would be to spend time in fewer areas and have a good look. Too many visitors rush to see it all - which isn't possible - and spend too much of their time travelling. ( Hope that is a bit of a quide. )

( quilt shops etc next post ).

What Would Your Answer Be?

I received an email from a lady in Southern California, who is a log arm quilter, telling me she had found my blog while researching for a trip to NZ this coming Summer. I guess I tend to think only bloggers and particularly those who comment are my readers - it seems this is not so.....other people are reading them and we bloggers' sites are coming up on search engines.

What she wanted to know was would I tell her my favourites places to visit in NZ and what QUILT Shops should not be missed. Also were there going to be any Exhibitions on during Dec /Jan ? I will be writing back and sending some photos and info on local North Island places that I like. ( like Mt. Maunganui and a Kiwifruit Orchard - hehe )

She has been reading my blog for a while now so saw all the holiday photos I posted and is glad to report they are visiting some of those same places. Where else should they not miss. They have 22 days to go all over NZ. ( Not long really ) I had stopped putting South Is. holiday pics here cause I thought it had gone on for so many posts, but today I am adding 2 photos of Queenstown cause I am sure they will visit there. We liked it too. Oh there are so many places to go!

Now what I thought might work was if any of you who live in New Zealand, or have lived here or have visited here could add what you thought it might give a more rounded view. Will you help please?

Bloggers in Print!

Bloggers in Print!

Issue 60 of the New Zealand Quilter arrived in the mail today, I love that!

Inside amongst the many treasures are people I know. BLOGGERS!

The article "Speaking Out," shows Helen and Janice's "After the Party," quilt winner at Symposium in the Human Rights Challenge. Well Done Wanganui ladies!

Also we get Kirsty's Yo-Yo handbag and instructions to make it. ( Kirsty also has a website www.kirstenduncan.com.au )

That's so great girls.Thanks for also blogging so we get to become better acquainted and I think become on line friends all with a passion for things crafty.

This is a short post cause I'm off to make some coffee and read my mag! ( which I happen to think rivals any other overseas mag of the same type !!!) Well Done NZ Quilter. The covers are so different and varied - unique to NZ!

Rather Moist.

Like many places in the world this week, New Zealand has been getting lots of rain.
For us that was 170 mls or 6.77 inches in the last 7 days.

Trees and shrubs with evergreen leaves are washed very clean; deciduous ones are dank and smelly everywhere underfoot.This morning is just dull overcast and dreary, so I picked up my camera and went seeking out spots of colour. These are some I found in my garden. Mentioning garden - I need to get out there - I have lots to clean up. I am clearing a patch to extend some decking over when Spring and Summer arrive.

Deciding what flowers or leaves or berries to pick for the house gets tricky too. I love fresh flowers in my house, and always try to have some there for their perfume and to please the eye. I found 5 late yellow roses for a blue vase - poor dears won't last long I know, and I think I have sucked all their smell away as I bend to breathe it in every time I pass them.