Season's Greetings.

        Friends gave us these lovely flowers yesterday.

Our weather forecast says rain tomorrow but never mind...we'll have to stay inside.

Wishing You All a Merry Christmas.

Down the Garden Path.

Last evening quite late I went for a walk down our garden path to the water as the tide was in.
Come and have a look.

The Albizia tree is in flower. ( there is a rustic seat under it and the jetty to the left. ) It looks like this close up.

Very peaceful down there when it's not windy. A lovely calm evening.

 Some colourful flowers are out in the garden.

dahlia  hypnotica 

hydrangea

Hebe Wiri Charm

dahlia 

Hydrangea

Its our 52nd Anniversary today. ( how did we have time to get married at this time of the year.....ahhhh things were at a slower pace back then  - NZ closed for the weekend.)

A Finish and Gardening

The felt ball with teapot motifs is finished and being wrapped in my sister's Christmas present along with the usual book and other bits. ( That was ball # 29. I wonder if I'll ever make ball # 30 ? )

Grandson's little garden is doing well. His beans are flowering the radishes already eaten ( by the adults ) and the peas are climbing the frame R put in for him.

 For a 4 year old he has considerable garden knowledge and loves helping and picking and preparing things we and he grow. He eats almost every vegetable which is great  and every fruit I can think of.

Here he is eating the biggest strawberry we picked on Wednesday.

The first scarlet runners have set on my beans.

It's always good to see the feijoa trees flowering well...come April we will be enjoying the fruit.

 My flowers are all doing well. The dahlias are out I will show you the pics next time 

The Garden.

We had quite good rain the night before last and the garden got watered which is a help. There are many bright spots and I have been working hard to keep it all weeded and pruned and leaves picked up and generally growing well. 

 Abraham Derby smells so good but the heads droop with the weight of the rain.

 Its neighbour in the same patch holds its heads up easier. It is Golden Wedding which was a gift from my sister when we moved here. It lived with her in a bucket for some time so is flourishing now it's roots have room to spread.

The dianthus are all doing well. Carnations are my favourite flowers so any members of that family that do well are a delight.

Dancing Queen.

I've been training and tipping the grape vine and little grapes are now setting.

 It is quite a long vine near the house. We cut the other 4 out as it was just too much upkeep and the birds took all the grapes. This one I am prepared to net if I have to.

 R chose these gazanias when we were at the garden centre. ( I already had pink ones nearby ) They are growing atop a wall near the clothes line and are looking very bright. They open and shut with the daylight.

The native Renga Renga lilies in front of the Photinia hedge are out.

( Sideways sorry )

Things in the vege garden are starting to produce and we have enjoyed a couple of yummy stir-fries of them.

 There is always plenty to do with such a large garden, but I love doing it. 

*****

 Thank you ladies for your kind comments on the previous post. The ball is almost finished. I am saving the last few rounds of chain stitch to do at P and Q next week. I haven't any other hand stitching on the go so need something to do during that time as well as talking.

The Same But Different.

I had thought maybe I had made my last felt embroidered ball, but as I have lots of felt and threads left, why not make another?   
# 28 !  
  It's something I can still see fairly easily, compared with other projects, so maybe one more? ( It is a good portable project.) 
 I then had the idea to vary it a little. Instead of 12 different coloured pentagons; just one colour - blue (in different shades ) . I could make it for a grown up instead of a small child. The idea grew. I decided to use fabric motifs using Broderie purse style. I found a fabric with many different teapots or services, that were about the right size. I reinforced them with iron on and cut them out. Using cotton machine thread I blanket stitched them on.

 I then inserted the wound batting inner leaving some seams open to get it in.

 Using a contrasting thread from my left overs 

 I tacked / laced  firmly the last seams shut.

 I then proceeded to blanket stitch (with a double wind that stays firm )  the final seams - from the outside this time. ( undoing the tacking as I got to it )  

This is how it looks all sewn up.

 I then chain stitch over the seams 2 rows on either side and it covers the seam stitches.

 The rows of chain go in opposite directions. I will vary the colours used but stick to those appearing in the motifs. Just the straight forward easy part to do now - the rows of chain around each of the 12 pentagons. 

**********

 ( the eggs have hatched - more on that when I get photos!)

But Wait.

But wait. There is 4. I climbed back up with the camera to check on progress and found 4 thrush eggs. I also googled how long it takes for them to hatch. It seems 13 - 15 days after the last eggs is laid.

 So that could be any time soon. We saw her this morning and its possible she is feeding something.( time wasting activity! but when they are so close out the window I can't help noticing ) 

 Some bright spot in the garden. pink Gazanias  and yellow Geums ( Lady Strathenden ) just beginning to flower.

 On the kitchen bench , my favourite carnations ( pinks ) ( Dianthus Dancing Queen; Sugar Plum and Memories )

 The Graham Thomas rose was broken out by the wind. It is tied up tighter now.

Still Complaining about the Weather.

I suppose its cause we both like to garden that the relentless wind is so frustrating.
 But still we try. Some success too. 

 5 caulis have so been eaten by the family. One yet to mature.

 Finally I'm getting a reasonable pick off the red flowered Broad beans.

We have been eating petals and leaves off the nasturtium in salads. They are thriving despite the wind turning the plants upside down again and again.

 We have also been watching Mrs. Thrush valiantly struggle to make a nest on top of the wooden beam in our BBQ area. Finally it stayed there. I climbed on a seat and held the camera above my head to see into her nest.

Fabulous coloured eggs.

        *****

 My sewing has consisted of hand sewing a different type of felt ball and machine sewing little dresses for Dress a Girl Around the World, project , that we were asked to help with. So far I have done the skirts of 2 but need help on how the sleeves are done.

 Some ladies are going to work on them on Saturday when we have a UFO day. I might go and get some assurance that what I am doing is what is required.( its a good way to use up fabric from my stash!

Fickle Spring Weather.

After a fabulous warm weekend, (that I could become very fond of ) the weather is certainly throwing everything at us today. There will be a brief spell of sun then the rain pours down the wind rushes through lifting things in it's path including these avocados that I collected from under the 2 Hass trees.

 From the house I could see them swinging  like pendulums so no wonder some just snapped. Some fell stem and all some had their stems ripped out.( I so hope we don't loose the avo trees themselves )

 These windfalls may be a bit bruised but at least they are mature enough that we will use them when they ripen in about  8 to 10 days.

 The sun popped out again so both of rushed to do some garden jobs, BUT then had to rush for shelter a short time later. I got stuck in the old poly house for quite some time....no weeds left in there now...finally I made a dash for it. Too windy for an umbrella today.

 The first of 5 Unique Rhododendron is flowering. The wind doesn't seem to be trashing that.

 We both decided that the rest of the day most definitely was an indoors day.

 I have been knitting ( beanies ) and sewing an adult type felt ball and sorting my fabric stash to find material suitable for little girls dresses. We are being shown this Friday at P and Q what is required. In an all boy family that will be fun for me.

Even More Quilts.

Here are some other quilts and hangings I liked from our recent Exhibition.

 Jan Nicholson's Taste of the Orient. It was the colours and the fabrics I liked.

 Karen Livingston's My Secret Garden, made from a pattern by Geta Grama from Romania .

 Also by  Karen and the cushion made from old blanket wool by Melanie Martin.

Rae Champion's, A Handful of Scraps was hand pieced and machine quilted.

 There were of course many more lovely pieces of work but I don't have photos of . This was just a selection.

More Quilts.

Dorna's beautiful fun quilt has toys in pockets and things to play with.She made the toys as well of course. Clever lady.

 Muriel Brown's  Puzzle hanging.

 Helen Mckeon's beautiful quilt of Kaffe Fasset fabrics is on its side ( sorry )

 3 brilliant vibrant hangings.

My Carmichael Walkway hanging at the front of this row.