Something Soapy.

 I have now used up all my   left over hexagons  from my Garden quilt of 2 years ago.

 They are in between size . Either large coaster or small place mats. I have lots this same size I put under pot plants and dishes on any surface that might get scratched or stained.

 I now need to start a new hand sewing Project!

Below is a photo of a gift I was given. Anyone tried it?

 It is hand made in NZ.by Brentwood Lane.

!00% plant oil based soap wrapped in NZ Corriedale wool.

 Apparently the wool felts up as the soap get smaller. It says it is a good exfoliant and anti fungal.

 As you can see I haven't wet it yet. I will report back 

 I looked on their website and there are lots of  different soaps. This one is Charcoal Detox. - it smells interesting - not unpleasant. ( the only worry I have is the wool blocking the drain? )

 Getting a little rain.

 I have only my quilt to layer and quilt and my knitting to finish. ( new project ??? )

Made savoury scones ( yum ) and leek and potato soup this morning.

 I have posted this using new Blogger. I also fiddled about a bit and discovered I can read your blogs if you are listed on my right hand side bar under My Blog List.

 I cannot read your blogs if you are on my Reading List which is on the entry page to blogger - that involves being redirected to your blogs ( 2 more steps ).

 If that continues I will need to list all blogs I want to follow on my My Blogs List.

 I also found out if I click on New post from my blog it does it the old way. If I click on New Post on the previous page it is new Blogger.

 I need to retrain myself!.

Gone to the Recycling.

This very tatty, ripped,  passed it's use by date poly house is no longer. No more flapping plastic.
 R and Son pushed it over on Sunday and all the cut up parts were taken to recycling on the truck this morning.
 R is going to rebuild similar using wood and ?  At the moment the back of the asparagus cage and the blueberry cage is wide open..but there is nothing for the birds to steal. Behind it is the biggest most prolific feijoa tree..

 I have been trying to insert a video of it falling over but it won't open.

 So a short post.

Queen Protea.

All Put Together.

Thank you Molly Lou, Mary, Kiwikid and Deb for your Good Wishes.

 Today I have worked hard vacuuming, mowing, weeding the asparagus patch and the blueberry enclosure.

 Yesterday I sat at my Quilt top till I finished it. Here it is viewed from both ends.

 It is as bright as the top photo shows.

 Tomorrow we are going back to Patchwork and Quilting Group in Tauranga. For those who feel it is safe enough to do so.

 I am sure there will be a lot of Show and Tell. ( ans Talk! )

A Very Floral Day.

Yesterday I was spoilt with wonderful flowers , lunch out, cards , texts, email and gifts.

 ( click to enlarge ) 

 Knowing how I enjoy my garden and flowers and growing things all my family and friends decided flowers would be the ideal gift, for my birthday (75 ) ..and they are but  I was hard pressed to find the ideal  vase and place for them all. I have now and will endeavour to make them all last as long as possible. The cyclamen will probably out do the others for 

lasting but I have my eye on several chrysanthemum cuttings that may grow if I'm smart.

 The apricot and orange flowers are sitting in a small metal bucket inside the kité. 

 In the 3 lots of flowers there are:- lilies; chrysanthemums; sunflower; gerbras; roses; flannel flowers banksias; leucodendrons; carnation;  cymbidium orchids; gloriosa lilies ; dutch iris; an anthurium ; a floral cabbage. and 4 types of foliage.

( so I was doing my bit to support local businesses especially florists. and restaurants ) Very spoilt!

Rain = Sewing and Blogging

 From my 9 patches I decided on the simplest pattern where the block is cut horizontally through the middle then vertically through the middle. Shown here the 80 blocks that resulted. In each case it was the bright solid middle block that was made smallest.

 Here I have sewn the blocks into rows of 10 vertically then joined two together side by side and then repeated. Here the two lots of 2 rows are pinned together.( that's why the little coloured squares look too small down the middle. ).  That will be half the quilt.  I hope to get back to join that seam today. Or do I go for a walk while there's a break in the rain????      I am also making bread. 

 Below is the view I see from the upstairs bedroom This is the brightest leafed  flowering cherry. Another one obviously not quite the same species is starting to flower....hey,  it's not Spring yet.

 PS . My proper photo Driver's Licence came in the mail!

Waiting My Turn.

                      First some flowers to brighten a dull day.

 I just picked these late Graham Thomas rose blooms for the kitchen bench. Everything in the garden has had a drink from the rain ( about 40 mls plus in the last few days (and nights )

 There seems to be a big cross over of seasons as it is Autumn by the calendar and leaves all on the ground particularly under the flowering cherries. In the garden below them are Jonquils and Paper whites flowering. ( the 1st of Spring Bulbs )

 Anyway they are both welcome spots of colour and great perfume when inside the house.

*********

Second is my experience yesterday as I waited my turn first at the Doctors then at the AA.

 In less than 2 weeks I will be 75 so therefore have to renew my Driver's Licence.. I made a Drs.. appointment by phone on Monday. and get one the next day .No my previous doctor no longer works there ( that has happened so often. ) (I last was at the Drs in February 2018. - that's part of the problem - I'm not sick )  But you may see Dr. J.  - OK. 

 I arrive about 10 minutes early. R drops me off and goes to do some other errands.

 I dutifully read all the covid Notices at the door.then enter to be told to not approach the counter but call out my name, sanitise my hands and put on a provided mask. All of which I do and stand near the door where told.to wait. An old man pushes past me and goes to the counter where they get shouted at to move back and stay in line. Unbelievably this happens twice more. None did as they were asked and all pushed  in ahead of me in quite close proximity. I elect to wait out the door on chairs provided - . it is quite chilly.  I get beckoned in by the reception lady....... she doesn't recognise she has already asked me all the questions SO Again I tell her my name and which Dr I think I am seeing. Oh you could sit over there now she says as the waiting area is empty. After 25 minutes waiting in total the said Dr calls me in. He is young and pleasant. We talk about how his small under 5's coped during lock down while he takes my blood pressure ( which is good ). then he listens with his stethoscope through my clothing and says, sounds good to me. He takes my pulse. 

 He asks me if I am happy to be driving still. I reply yes but hate the traffic...so does he. Then we have to do the eye sight chart.. I have to say well either I read it with my glasses off  ( and fail ) or I take my mask off cause my glasses are all fogged up. He laughs ( cause he's not wearing one. )  I pass the eye chart and the peripheral vision test and he says I could get a truck driver's licence with that result haha. 

I am sorry there is an additional charge at the moment. I say that's okay but am astounded when I get back to reception to be charge NZ $77.50

R is back and waiting . We go home for lunch.

 Feeling that I would like to get this all sorted I go to town to the AA. I wait in a queue on the pavement standing on the marks provided for acceptable social distancing. A very "with it" young lady gets my details and mobile # at the door...then 2 minutes later texts me to tell me I am in the queue. ( she had all the skills the Medical centre  receptionist lacked ) Slowly, ever so slowly we move to the next mark on the floor. 5 ladies are working behind the counter. WE can hear all the conversations. My legs are getting tired from standing still so I do some on the spot exercises. I chat to those around me. We all look at the display stands we are weaving our way around. It is quite social but so, so slow.

 My turn takes less than five minutes - photo an all . I had all the forms filled in correctly and 45 minutes  from the start I have a temporary licence till my new one arrives in the post That was only NZ$18..

 I now realise going to the supermarket was a breeze. Some businesses are taking almost no precautions; others' systems are a night mare. And they are ALL different.

 Anyway that little exercise to be a current Licence holder took up a large chunk of yesterday.

Day 50 ( 14th May 2020 )

 My hand holding up one of the Christmas cactus ( not in NZ its a Zygo Cactus ) flowers.

Day 50  but  the first day at Level 2 in NZ. ( less restrictions )  A week since I posted anything.

 Some progress has been made however ...small steps. Yesterday I went and shopped by myself at my usual  NW. I hadn't forgotten how to drive or how to shop...it ended up being rather a big order but at least it was all stuff I needed.and the right amounts. I even got a carry bag of hi grade flour so I can keep making bread.. The sparsest area in the  shop was the Magazine section where we no longer have the NZ Listener or North and South mag  or NZ W Weekly etc etc. We previously got  the Listener on Subscription so I must watch they don't continue to charge for it. No refunds on copies we didn't get.
( all were being published by an overseas company so they don't give a .......    I do hope some of the writers decide to start a new in depth enquiring publication.)( they must all be out of jobs? )

 The Spider lily is all out now.

This planter is looking quite well. It has very little soil in it.

*****

Just to take a photo of my progress I laid the 9 patch blocks out. The ones at the bottom are sewn together the ones at the top not yet.

I moved them to show how wide and long I think it needs to be

 ( 4 by 5 )

 I have enough of the coloured middle blocks ( pink, blue,orange etc) but need to go to my stash and find some more light greens. The tags just say top left block one etc.

 This may not be their final place.

 It doesn't matter a lot as this is stage one. In stage 2 each 9 patch gets horizontally and vertically  cut through the middle and this creates some much smaller pieces . It ends with a totally  different appearance.  I can then decide on one of about 6 different layouts.

Day 43.( Thursday 7th May 2020 )

This afternoon I got the chance to go on a different walk. One I used to do in years gone by but not since we moved here. (I got dropped off and collected later. ) Its a lot more overgrown than it used to be ) 

It is through native bush beside shallow wetland ponds with a lot of weed.

 Near the far end it pops out behinds some lifestyle properties.This one busy felling trees and cutting firewood.

 Then you come to this point where you can turn to the left and return on the  other side of the ponds ( to the car park ) or if you go right the path continues out to another road.

At the end there is a sign and I turn left onto the road.

On this road are a few steep hills to climb and I pass orchards , flower growers with covered protection ( mostly hydrangeas - usually for export )  and horse paddocks.

 ( gosh those 2 horses have been eating a lot and ....... a lot !)

 At the top of the hill  I turn left onto a more main road and almost reach the end of it when R drives up and collects me. I think I walked for 45 minutes mostly in the sun,

Day 41

My potted Spider lily is just starting to flower. It is a tiny Nerine bowdenii ( or Guernsey lily ) .
 It is in a dark blue ceramic pot and was sitting on an outside table. I had to bring it in where there was a light coloured background to take the photo. It is one of my most special plants as the bulbs came from my Mum's garden about 45 plus years ago..

 I think it is having 14 flowers heads.

We have had rain and  wind and yesterday thunder and today drizzle. Altogether over an inch or 27 mls. of rain. Good, we needed it and I put replacement grass seed on some bare patches on the lawn so haven't had to water for 2 days.

 I have started making a community quilt out of some of the 5" squares I cut from my scraps.  There are a lot of green ones so green will be the dominant colour. ( dark ,medium and light ) . I am making disappearing 9 patch that I have done before. The middle square of each 9 will be plain mauve ; pink; lemon  or orange. These are the squares that later get cut  and rearranged.

 I choose the 5" squares ( could have used 4" or 3" ) as  I didn't want too much work for a Community quilt. What is a community quilt you might ask...we used to call them charity quilts but were told that was not PC - no one wants charity! .. ( .I bet they do if they are cold enough ! ) ( anyway they are quilts we donate to someone who needs bedding ) 

Day 37 Friday May 1st.

One of two  African Violets that sit on the coffee table in the lounge. I have one upstairs on my dressing table too. They all have purple flowers....must look for a white or pink ( have had them in the past )


My machine that I made the cover for. I can assure you the cover IS square, its just the machine is higher at the right and wider on the left.  Here it is with it's new cover. Note the pockets.

 I think anything too big or heavy will make the pockets gape. I'll know after I've used it for a while.

******

 Nice to hear from you Molly. The bread recipe is very simple. I use a Breville Baker's Oven Bread Maker and cook this on the first option Basic Bread.

* make sure you paddle is sitting upright.

 Into the bucket put in this order:

 1 tblsp of oil

1 tblsp of Sugar 

1 teaspoon of Salt. 

 1 1/2 cups whole meal flour

 1 1/2 cups plain strong flour

 1/2 cup of sultanas

 2 tablespoons of all spice

 1 tblsp of cinnamon

 2 tblsps of sesame seeds 

 2 tblsps of sunflour seeds.

2 teaspoons of granulated yeast

 1 1/2 cups of warm water

 set going  - machine will do the rest.

 You could alter the quantity of spice or seeds or add something else

 ( bonus - it smells great while cooking ) 

Day 35.

I know I said I was having a break from this but I did find a couple of things flowering that I hadn't shown here. These wee ones are blue cornflowers. Blue is not a common colour in flower especially not such a clear bright blue. They grow easily from seed.

 I made a different bread today. A fruit bread with sultanas sesame seed sunflower seeds and some spice and cinnamon. The bottom didn't break out so much this time. I tried it and declared it delicious. ( yes I still have flour! )

 I said I might have to go to the supermarket and shop as normal but I returned to the on line ordering for my New World and found it had saved all my quite long list from yesterday and today it was quite happy for me to complete the order and pay for it so that didn't take long. I cannot pick up till Friday morning though...we can wait. So the only thing I lost was my place in the queue.

 The binding is being  hand stitched down today so the end is in sight.

Day 34. The first of level 3.

 Today a little bedding dianthus ( same family as carnations ). I am struggling now to find new  flowers out  in this garden. I have thousands of older flower photos but I started this showing just ones flowering now.( I don't want to repeat myself ). ( yes it does have a cerise centre but gives the overall impression of being pink. )

 Level 3 for us starts today - no change for us at all except the local garage was able to open with social distancing and they finished fixing the old blue truck...poor old truck locked up in the dark for 34 days...seems none the worse for it. So I have driven down the main road today about 4.5 kms and back so R could drive the truck home.

 R ordered a meat box from the Bethlehem Butcher by phone and was able to collect it so he's happy  (he's the bigger meat eater ).

 I tried again to put in a grocery order for later in the week. It was sizeable but   something was wrong right at the end  ( over loaded I suspect ) and so all that time was lost...my order was not placed.

 I will give it a quick try again tomorrow and if it is the same I will be brave and go in person to shop.

 Today I  hosed all my flower gardens, I haven't had time for a walk yet...that might also be pleasant but I'm rather sick of the same old same old places to go.

 Like Raewyn I don't quite know why I started Blogging every day of lock down. I will ease up now and only post when I have plenty of time and something different to talk about.

 Thanks to those ladies who have kindly supported me during this time. Cheers Ladies.

Day 33.

                                                        Gazania - Copper sunset.
 Sorry  Pam D it's orange but changes colour shades as it ages,. I got over not liking or wanting orange flowers in my garden ( I still dislike cerise ones ) I has nasturtiums under one cherry tree and they did too well.                                             
                                                                       ******

 I did 35 minutes sewing this morning and got  my machine cover to this stage. The pocket will sit at the front bottom edge and is at this stage in 2 parts. I could make one side into 2 smaller pockets. I'll see how it works first. The pocket itself is a folded double layer of fabric and I have double stitched the dividing line so it won't rip out if it has weight put in it.

 Now all that remains is for me to trim it and add the binding and sew that down

  Stage 3  of lock down starts at midnight tonight.

 It sounds like progress. I hope it is.

 Thanks All for your comments I enjoy getting them and reading them.

Day 32 Sunday.

                         24 hours later and sun all day can do this to a rose.

 This is Golden Wedding and it has been flowering continually all Summer. Not a lot at a time but just a steady ( pickable ) number of blooms. It has a light rosey perfume.

Today we have been able to give away fruit to 3 neighbours and Family  -Feijoas,apples. walnuts and avocados.

 It's lovely to have nice produce to share around.

 The BOP weather today has been magnificent. Still and warm with clear blue sky. 

 9 new covid cases in NZ today No more deaths.

 ( total to date 1470 with 1142 recovered. )

Day 31 ( ANZAC Day. )

                 My flower today is of course Papaaver or Poppy.

I am also wearing my handmade poppy.

 We made them at Patchwork and Quilting group in 2015.

 We used candle heat to curl the petals.

 Many Kiwi Families have been very creative in making their own Poppy display for their letterbox front garden or Driveway.

 Last evening I was so thrilled to see a nursery flower grower donating huge beautiful buckets of flowers for South Auckland War Memorials.  Tonight's News will show us how people around NZ  did Remember 

 ANZAC Day.

Day 30.

A gazania  ( with an interesting face ) that grows at the edge of retaining wall. It is drought tolerant so a suitable place for it and its mates with prostrate thyme growing around them. The lime tree growing above and behind them constantly drops leaves and fruit on top of them. We don't actually use many of the limes much preferring lemons.

 This morning I made Anzac biscuits, I think it was a year ago I last made them. That's the end of my coconut though so a good timely  use for it.

 I am impressed with how much sewing some of you are doing.....I keep sneaking out to the garden as my first preference when the sun is out. Stay well, be happy.

Day 29.

A little mauve Larkspur. Not a very large or vigorous specimen. I think it grew from seed from a packet of mixed cottage garden seeds.,thrown over everything already growing in the flower bed. I will let it seed again for next year. I also love its relative the delphiniums but don't have any at the moment

 I finished the scary book and have started a new one by an author I read before and liked. She is Australian Belinda Alexandra. . I am reading Wild  Lavender set in 1930s and war years in Provence France then Paris then Berlin then New York. So far so good. The previous one I read was called Sapphire Skies.

 The day was dull and cloudy but the sun appeared for a while . I was out gardening again but R started mowing then a neighbour so I had stereo mowing...not my favourite loud tune!

 I think everyone had the same idea cut the grass now while it's dry because we have had just  enough rain to make it grow again.

 Hope you are all okay. Some sunshine certainly helps the mood . Nights and mornings much chillier now - Autumn weather.

 Thanks for your Comments Ladies I do appreciate you making them.