Gone to ground...

The professional keeping it real!

 There now, I'd nearly disappeared...! Nope, yep, everything is fine, just life, you know?
Work and home and all that...
My man is doing Great! Excellent even! Bloody Marvelous!
He is loving his new business, even sub-contracting others!
We can pay for our mortgage and bills and the cupboards are full. So far the winter has been kind, not many really wet weather days on which he can't work.
He's happy and fit.
The universe provides yet again.

Our Fox at 16 years old.

 Home life has had some changes; one of our friends needed a place to live for a while, as she was going through a separation from her husband, so we offered her one of the rooms downstairs. She stayed for a few months while going through some harrowing times, including major surgery.
So N. stayed with us until somewhere in May. And she was a wonderful houseguest.
Immediately followed by our brother T. from the South Island, and it was great to have him to stay, too!
 Then when he left, our youngest daughter also decided to leave, and live in with her boyfriend. Not that we are completely happy with that, but she is 19 and must learn about life in her own way.

And so in June we find ourselves together, just me and my Love in our own house, with our 3 geriatric cats. Just in time for winter, so we can cozy up by the fire at night.
We can have dinner when we want, and eat what we want, and go out anytime, or stay in.
 Utter bliss!

Sick of those dark bricks!

 Just before the fire-season started, in those 4 short weeks of Autumn, after 6 months(!) of Summer, my Love decided that part of those fireplace bricks just had to go! Too much light-swallowing darkness from the 1970's interior fashion statement. We wondered what kind of wall paper might be behind it...

The D.I.Y.Meister in his dust tent.

 After a morning session of satisfying destruction, he found out what was behind it.
Nothing.
 We could look straight past the building studs to the outside wall.

Much lighter already.

Well, at least he could fill it up with some insulation now... And putting on some plaster boards was easy enough.

This will be our last year of wood stove warmth. As we have always had free firewood through his former work, we now don't have that luxury anymore. In this house we also have to lug all the wood up the stairs outside, and there is no easy place to store and season it.

 Our firebox is becoming illegal in 6 months due to it's inefficient clean air workings, and the local council will subsidize newer and eco-friendlier models. Including gas fires. The newest energy efficient, high heat output, with timers and (get this!) remote controls....

No more screwing up newspaper, then putting on bits of kindling and bark, a few firelighters, then placing the dry pieces of wood in strategic places, lighting it all. ( I am very good at lighting fires you know, I pride myself on being able to coax a roaring fire out of a few glowing cinders in 10 minutes without accelerants. )

No more dust and wood-chips everywhere, and splinters in your finger,  and diving into the woodshed with a torch in the pouring rain. Or knowing you still have to do all that when you come home to a cold house from work.

 No more chainsawing, and filling a trailer, and unloading it and chopping it with the ax, then stacking it, in the heat of summer.

And cleaning the ash out of the firebox every week, scrubbing the little window. Or going up the roof a few times per year to sweep the chimney.

A fire place: Romantic... sure.

 But I'm over it.

I really like the idea of that 1 little button!

My turn at show and tell, felting retreat feb'13.

 Somewhere during my 4-day annual felting retreat in February,( to which I took my friend N.), I ended up volunteering as the blog-keeper of the New Zealand Felters' Blog. There seemed to be quite a large amount of techno-angst in our members, and I couldn't bear listening to them all freaking out about it, when it was announced in a meeting that it would close otherwise. So I put my hand up...
Well this felting blog needed quite a bit of tidying up and refreshing. I even prettied it up some. Luckily I am getting some guidance and advice from the other editor.
I guess it was also part of why my own blog was neglected somewhat.
 The felting blog is now getting good traffic from around the world, so that's brilliant!
I'm still having a few issues with the font, but no doubt it will sort itself out at some stage.
I'm just a volunteer.
Go check out the NZFelters blog, it's in my bloglist on the right hand side of the screen.

Kereru in the cabbage tree.

Wildlife in our street.
A kereru is a protected wood pigeon, as fat as a small chicken ( and according to former Maori cuisine, just as tasty! That's why it is protected now). A lot of native plants rely on this particular bird eating their seeds and berries for the plants' reproduction. If the kereru dies out, so will those plants and trees.

Proper Summer Days.

Good-Morning!

Every morning these last 2 months I opened my bedroom window to this exuberant bougainvillea. It has been an excellently hot summer holiday, full of days on the deck, reading books, late afternoons going for a dip in the sea, cold drinks, shorts and skirts, and sleeping under linen sheets.

Like an old-fashioned Hawke's Bay summer.

 Although we didn't go anywhere these holidays, except a couple of days in Wellington to see our daughter, our house still feels like a holiday home, even after 20 months. 

We think that has something to do with eating breakfast at a sunny table, and the deck outside at tree canopy-level, an easy walk into town and cafes, and especially; nice neighbours!

"Virgil" at the movies.

 We stayed in our eldest daughters' flat, and enjoyed having both our daughters together. While there, we took the opportunity (at last) to watch "The Hobbit" at the movies. We saw it at the Embassy Theatre, where the big premiere was held. They have the best screen and sound facilities, and we got superseats. Here my man is showing off how good he looks in the 3-D glasses. Ahem...!
We loved it, and yes, I rather liked the character of Radagast the Brown.
My creative mind loved his hat, and definitely his rabbit-drawn sleigh.

Wellington vintage architecture.

Our daughter loves showing us her favourite things in her city. This building is one of her favourite architecture. I quite agree.
 But I am not sure it would stay standing in an earthquake, all those bricks...
 A lot of buildings all over the country are getting big and expensive overhauls, since the Christchurch earthquakes have pointed out how quick it can all come down. Especially the older brick buildings.
We know all about it here in Napier too.

Window shopping.

I spotted these delightful porcelain lamps in a little gift boutique. At a price I can ill-afford of course, I think they came from France. They look like Fairy-God-Mothers to me. I imagine when they're on, they'd glow with twinkling stars and moons in their skirts. 

 These are really inspiring me to make felt lamps and use the materials' ability to filter light through. Wool is also flame-retardant and could handle the heat of a lightbulb easily.

Tapestry-canvas challenge.

Now that I am back in a fibre-craft club, I have been given a challenge with a square of tapestry canvas. I guess they are for cushions for the chairs at the clubhouse.
 So I tried my hand at locker-hooking.
This is done with a crochet-hook, which has a large eye on the end of it, like a fat needle.
You thread the eye with a thick yarn, and with the hook you hook up either wool-sliver or strips of fabric trough the holes in the canvas. After you have hooked up a number of loops on your hook, you then pull the hook right through with the thick yarn then anchoring the loops of fabric. And providing more bulk as an end result.
 It was super easy and fast, I finished this canvas in 1 weekend, while watching telly.
 It was a very relaxing activity and fun to make my own design.

Locker-hooked cushion cover.

I hope they like it!

New signs on the Man's Truck.

My mans' own gardening business is starting to take shape. He is pretty busy most days, and already has some steady addresses, and has already drawn plans and done consultations.  

In the next few weeks he is having lots of work from an advertising campaign he organized, and hopefully that will lead to more work and more word of mouth. He (and I ) are in good spirits and excited about the whole thing. Although often quite tired from the physical work, he wasn't used to it anymore.

New entrance walkway garden.

Last week he took the opportunity to redo the little garden by our entrance path, using mondo-grass and 2 spiky plants. 3 terra-cotta pots with succulents created a pleasing contrast. They'll do well in this dry area. 

O.K. if you are sqeamish in the 8-legged variety, don't read the next bit!!

Breakfast companion...

Last Wednesday was Waitangi Day, a national day off work for all NZ-ers. I started the day slowly with putting the washing in the laundry down below the house, then breakfast at the sunny table. I put my dishes away and then thought I had dropped some toast-crumbs down my pyjama top and looked down to brush the tickly crumbs away. Instead of crumbs I saw this spider slowly clambering out of my t-shirt.

 Big spider...

 Long creepy legs spider...

A scream started burbling out of my mouth, but I kept it closed ( spider was way too near...) while pulling my t-shirt far away from my face. Then I screamed for my Hero while kind of dancing with my shirt around in the kitchen.

He just gently grabbed the creature.

 My poor heart was pounding wildly and I got the shakes. 

How long had we been having breakfast together already, spider and I?

All cosy and warm on my chest...

I am pleased we didn't hurt it though, it really is a beautiful creature with its velvety body, and completely harmless.  Just don't get so close to me...!

Zoning out and Framing in.

Collaging the cover of my 2013 diary.
My humming-bird girl is humming a tune.

A Happy New year to you all!

  2012 Saw me without a little diary to jot down important dates or places I had to be, at a certain time.

 It felt a bit chaotic in hindsight, so this year the little notebook is back. I also want to keep track of what and how much I make. I forget that sometimes, and it is uplifting to see what you have accomplished. 

 However, those little commercial, plastic covered diaries are very boring to look at. So the first couple of days of this New Year when I had a bit of time, I played with old magazines and colours and glue. Totally zoned out everything, did not listen to the news even.  

 And I do usually like to keep up to date with the world. When I turned the news back on yesterday I realized I had missed out on hearing about murders and assaults, and very stupid drunk people and mysterious fiscal cliffs, with people talking and yet not achieving anything...

Glad I zoned out...

Working in miniature this time.

 I have been doing those collages the size of a fashion magazine page, but this time I had to find little pictures. Her dress skirt was a picture of a crystal goblet. And the clouds were pictures of paper lanterns.
The collages I did last year, have all had words added to them and a layer of glaze paste. This dries up matt, making all the different papers look the same, since some were glossy and others not.
 And it is a good protective layer too.

These words seemed right.

 Treasure Hunt Showcase.

I got more than I bargained for.

Yesterday I popped into town for a walk, and visited one of the only opshops open around this time of the year. Apparently they get lots of cruise-ship tourists in! Who would have thought; you go on a cruise and you visit the opshops in port, hilarious!

We get a lot of cruise ships in Napier now, a lot of Australians and Americans too.

Anyway, I was looking for some frames, as I have 3 things to frame. I took my measurements, but nothing much in the shop. I mentioned it to the op-shop-keeper ( who is always full of jokes) and he said I could have a look in the back, if I bought a hundred... So I got to have a look there. 

Wow!... lots of different rooms , all dedicated to different things, 1 whole room full of discarded toys.

I know that they run a scheme for people who suddenly find themselves in strife or without a roof, clothing, furniture, food even. Lots of ladies were milling about sorting things.

And there were 5 boxes full of frames, with or without glass or pictures. I started sorting through, measuring tape at hand. Found some gorgeous little ones, quite old, with decorative frames, one in Art Nouveau style and a white plaster one, and....then I get a shock!...; snowdrops painted by my Mum.

I went all hot and cold at the same time. 

I hadn't expected to still come across something from Mum after 6 years. 

 Maybe my Dad had donated some more things last year before he left for Thailand.

 I think of both my Mums a lot, but I haven't devoted a particular time of the year to it.

 But sometimes grief hits you totally unexpected.

I took the little painting home of course. 

Actually, I bought 8 frames.

 Not a hundred though.

Kitschy gold frame and faded roses print overhaul.

 A while ago I had come across an embroidery tapestry kit, that had never been made. It dated from the early 1970's. I wanted to give it to my eldest, since it looked really Frankie magazine style, which she adores. But of course in my usual way I didn't explain myself properly, and she looked a bit uncomfortable; she thought I wanted her to make the embroidery. Hahaha!
Nono, I said, I want to frame it as is, with a nice colour frame.
Relief on her face!!

So one of the kitschy frames was a fake gold, no glass. Yesterday afternoon I cleaned it, gesso-ed it, painted it in Resenes' "scandal" blue. ( I love test-pots.)

My favourite colour blue!

I trimmed the tapestry canvas, glued it down by the corners on the black painted background. And popped it in the frame.
 Now I am just wondering, did I replace kitsch with other kitsch......?

1970's Embroidery tapestry without the embroidery.

A very Berry Xmas to you!

Our garden is full of flashy red pohutukawa flowers, and very busy tuis, bellbirds and silvereyes, all having their seasonal feast.
 Our Christmas today was at my brothers' house, not far away.

This is the dessert table, what a summery spread!
Our sis-in-law is such a good hostess, she makes the most wonderful traditional concoctions.

A marvelous trifle with alcohol drenched cake, custard and many different berries. Boysenberry jelly and my contribution were organic Dawson cherries.

A summer bread pudding with boysenberries and cream, beautifully presented.

Oh we all ate too much, especially after the prawn cocktails; roasted new potatoes, kumara and pumpkin; pasta salad; chicken and b.b.q.-ed scallops, and b.b.q.-ed lamb chops with rosemary and mint; and the first sweet corn of the season...
Luckily there was a big break between the 2 courses, and some vigorous games of outdoor ping-pong.

We had expected a proper rainy day, as had been forecasted, due to a nasty cyclone passing New Zealand. And it was a bit moist in the night, but it got quite hot and muggy today, and all doors and windows were open. We all sat outside on the deck, and this was our view:
(Of course I didn't put the new house being built right next to the fence in this picture...)

The light was gorgeous when the sun started setting this evening, and made the landscape look like an old painting.

What a lovely relaxed day we have all had!
I hope you had the same, wherever in the world you are.
Merry Xmas to you all!

Open door...

Heart of a pink lotus.
(I love my camera..)

 We are in need of this Bali lotus tranquility.
 We have had a weird week; my husband was made redundant last Friday. This came as a surprise, as he thought that he would surely get one of the new positions at his work after all the team leader and supervisor positions were made "disestablished".
But, no...

As if a light radiated from within this lotus flower.

We have a breathing space, due to his redundancy money. He has worked there, with a few years break, since he was 19. So a surreal feeling for him at age 47...
Now what?
Well, he knows all about gardening and dealing with staff, paperwork, machinery, grass, trees, sportsfields, dealing with the public, traffic, planning and designing, not to mention his botanical knowledge.
Plan B has sprung into action: Gardening as his own business.
 The pamphlets are looking good, ready for dropping into the right letter boxes; he bought a small truck yesterday, which today was getting an enormous clean; he has been talking to a lot of people; and tomorrow he'll be doing 2 gardening jobs already.

Breath-taking beauty rising from the mud.

We really believe that when 1 door closes, another door opens. Or a window or 2.
 But you have to make yourself go through it. You can't quite see if there is a deep step behind it or if you have to leap, or a soft cushion to land on.
But sitting on the doorstep, looking back and wringing your hands doesn't work either.

Bikeride in the local vicinity.

So moping was not an option he decided.
Sunday was beautiful weather. We grabbed our bikes and headed to our towns' lovely bike-tracks.
Discovered some new areas we hadn't yet been to before.
And grabbed a coffee and a muffin, closer to home.

Hawkes' Bay looking northwest.

Oh, we do live in an awesome landscape, if I may say so, in a completely biased sort of way.

Bird estuary.

You can tell it has been good weather lately, the hills are drying out and becoming yellow.

Looking homewards across the silty pond.

Our house is close to that big pinetree on top, middle-left.

We do hope we can keep on living here, we are getting attached to our house now!

And speaking of Hobbits...

My Halfling Home all finished.

At last I finished something I started quite a while ago, my hobbit hole had been languishing in a corner for ages. 

Much sculpting was done on the corners to look like a tree-root system. I think it worked very well. The difficult part was the front panel, it had to be fitted onto the front of the Home, yet needed to look like it had grown there. Then a hole needed to be cut behind it, big enough for a child to be able to put their hands inside the play-house.

And that was the point where I got stuck for a while. I couldn't vision it, and I was afraid I would ruin it. Since the whole thing was just an idea in my head, I did not of course have any instructions or a pattern.

Coming in for a cup of tea?

 I rang the bell, and look who opened the door!
Of course designing the wee Halflings was the best fun ever, and I had actually already cut out all their little clothes before I saw the Movie Hobbits last week.

A view from the back of the halfling home.

This is the back of the Halfling Home, it has 4 windows in all. 

That's the boy and girl of the family, they're very friendly!

Unlike my "Bush Babies" their hair was done with a variegated boucle yarn, instead of Mohair curls.

Meet the whole family.

 And meet Mum and Baby Halfling too. Lots of greens and yellows, cause hobbits like those colours.

The Halfling family off on a Tookish adventure.

Here they all are, probably going to see the wood-elves. They are wearing their warm travel cloaks, which close with a little hook and eye.

Opening the round front door with its' brass knob.

The size of this Play-house is a bit deceptive in this picture, I actually need 2 hands to hold it up, although it is very light-weight.

Halfling Home with the front panel opened.

The front panel closes with small strips of velcro fastener. Light comes in through the windows, which i love.

Dana the cat frightening the hobbit children!

 She just had to be nosey and she would have gone right inside to curl up; nice and warm in cosy woolen felt! But luckily the little girl hobbit shooed her away...
And yes, this glorious Halfling home, with the dolls will be for sale very soon! I will notify you when I will list it.
Please leave me a comment to tell me what you think of this, I shall try and respond to all comments!

"Hobbit" Film World Premiere Day.

"Squash them into jelly!"said Bert the troll.
 I had to be in Wellington to support my daughter  with something and in the afternoon I took the opportunity to walk into town to experience the big Hobbit-fever. Spotted my brother and his team of Tolkien enthusiasts, too. He and his wife were having an awesome day, to put it mildly!! Fully booked with interviews and a surprise premiere ticket for him as well. Good on you mate!

Trolls in Wellington!
Tom, Bert and William about to squash Hobbit and Dwarves, but luckily it was a sunny day and they had been turned to stone!

Red carpet crowds.
You couldn't even get close, thousands of fans were lining up the half a kilometre long carpet, and had been for hours. Splendid weather for it! The atmosphere was very festive and good natured.

Mr.John Rhys-Davies and companion. There he was, just getting out of the entrance tent, and hardly anyone standing there, so I got a great picture.

Evangeline Lily. She will be in film 2, playing a new character as a  warrior elf. She looks very fit.
Good to have strong female characters, unlike the book.

Evangeline working the crowd. Very energetic and generous.
And that is a super tall girl standing there.

Mystery v.i.p.s looking serious. No I really don't know these people, but was wondering about the sensibility of taking a wee child in to see a 3 hour movie with scary scenes, starting after her bedtime....
(It's the mum and teacher-aide in me, can't help it, haha)
Is the guy with the leather jacket the same one that was on the oliphant in the big battle, L.O.T.R.3 perhaps?
Jack, please tell me...

Then I got tired trying to spot stars. They're just people you know...But all of a sudden I spotted a dozen hobbits laughing with the crowd. A chance to see them up close and check out their costumes, Fantastic!

Proudfeet! Where does the latex stop and the real feet start?

A jolly well-to-do hobbit. Marvelous coat!

Lovely soft pink dress with boning and lacing, petticoats and cap.

Embroidered skirt material, a laced waistcoat and an up-cycled vintage doily as a handbag.

Soft moss green velvet waistcoat, made to look as if it has been worn for years, with wrinkles put in on purpose. Marvelous brass buttons.

These feet looked very realistic, as if they'd seen much wear and calluses. The toes were not floppy and could move individually. Well, I think they were latex....Maybe they were real!

Yep, this was definitely the highlight for me!