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 This is another long winded RSC finish, which started off as another completely different project, way back when we lived in Upper Hutt.  I found my big bag of batiks, and decided to make Cobblestone blocks instead, and there it floundered again.  Eventually added it to the RSC list and started making Cobblestone blocks in the colour of the month, working away until I had stitched sufficient blocks to give me the required number for a large quilt.

 This blog is brought to you with help from Gemma.  She is excellent at holding the lap top bag in place while I'm tapping away.  And it makes such a good place to have a comfy snooze.

Gemma is a big help

Our four days in Christchurch seeing my son Michael had come to an end, so then it was time to hitch the caravan up to the car and travel slowly back up to Picton to catch the ferry again.  We had nearly a week to do this, so we planned several stops along the way.

One lunch ...

 Our last night in the South Island was quite a worry.  A storm came rolling in as the day wore on, and was fully fledged by night time.  We could swear that the thunder was right over head, and each noisy clap spooked Gemma.  She ran around the van looking for a hiding place, hunkering down on the carpet at the foot of the bed, with the overhanging duvet giving her the illusion of cover.  Lightening cracked around us, torrential rain came down, and the caravan was buffeted all night by strong wind gusts.  Dear oh dear, what would our ...

 We traveled down to Christchurch to spend some  time with my son Michael to celebrate his 60th birthday.  He had a busy week as he had flown up to Wellington to spend a couple of days with his Dad, then flew back down again in time for our arrival in Christchurch.  I had booked a table for dinner on Friday night at the Platform Brew Barn, a riverside establishment in Kaiapoi, quite close to where we are staying at the NZMCA park.

 Our Sew Wot Tuesday rolled around again, and rather than have us all drive way out into the country to her rural home, Helen arranged for us to meet at the LQS Fox's Cottage again.  Only five of us could make it this time.  We gathered in the class room at the back of the shop, and Helen had brought morning tea for us and to share with the shop staff - no wonder they are always so happy to see us.  

There wasn't so much show and tell this time, although Helen stunned us with her glorious black ...

 You may remember that I stitched pretty little quilt featuring unicorns a while ago.  It started like this, a cute panel that was looking for a new home, courtesy of Sew Wot member Helen.  The unicorns popped into my bag quick smart - I was sure that I could do something nice with them.  Gemma thought so too, as she inspected the panel.

Approved  by Gemma

So I cut the panels apart, sashed them with different fabrics from my stash, assembled the blocks and added a purple border.  Then one sunny day I pinned the three layers together on the patio ...

 The last four days have  been spent in our caravan at Napier NZMCA Park.    There was a sad reason for our trip, to attend the memorial service for my brother-in-law Dennis.  My sister Kathleen passed away three years ago during Covid lockdown, and her husband Dennis died last week.  We were pleased to attend and support my niece and nephew, and their adult children.  It was a nice service, sad at times of course, but plenty of happy memories.  Dennis enjoyed writing and several of his poems were showcased, I particularly liked this one, very apt at this stage in ...

 There's a new baby in the extended family.  Robin's siter Kaye recently became a grandmother for the first time, when baby Jack arrived.  That was exciting news, making Jack our great nephew, I think.  I had already sent the new Mum and baby a colourful baby quilt, and then decided to knit him something.  Time was moving on, and babies grow so quickly, don't they.

I decided to knit the cozy little Jessie Jacket, designed by Kiwi Stitch and Knit Co..  This is knitted in a combination of stocking stitch and garter stitch, and has a little ...

 You know what it's like when you set off on holiday - you seem to have all the time in the world and then it's all over.  We were attending our caravan club rally in Napier, with plenty of plans, people to see, things to do, plus a little shopping.  It didn't all fall nicely into place though.  On my "must do list" was a visit to Skeinz, a local company which spins their own wool.  I had found a pretty 6ply cardigan pattern for myself and was after some yarn.   Of course there were several lovely colours ...

 Happy Valentine's Day to all.  I had to educate Robin about St Valentine - he didn't realise that there was indeed such a person.  St Valentine was martyred on 14th February in the year 269 under instructions of Emperor Claudius 11 for helping Christian couples wed.

I like to bring out my bed quilt "Hearts of Love" for the months of November, our wedding month, and again in February, for Valentine's Day.  The heart blocks were received some years ago when I took part in a block swap.  Then I assembled the quilt using star blocks as part ...

 Last weekend we had a caravan trip away to Whanganui, stopping overnight on the way at Duddings Lake.  What a pretty, peaceful place this was.  We decided to camp off power so left the crowded motor camp behind and parked up around the lake on a large grassy area.  There were several caravans and campervans parked here, but plenty of room  between is all.

Our lakeside camping spot

The lake must be very healthy as we noticed plenty of bird life, and the frogs serenaded us in the evening.  How often do we hear frogs, we commented.  Their calls are ...

The lazy, sunny days at Napier were coming to a close.  There really is nothing nicer than sitting under the awning, doing a little knitting or stitching, and chatting away with our friends.  Gemma discovered one of the locker doors open, and wasted no time jumping in to see what she could find.  Sorry Gemma, there’s nothing very interesting in there at all, just a cozy place to curl up.

Gemma in the locker

On our last day in camp we arranged to go out to lunch with Helen and Owen – where to but the Silky Oak Chocolate café ...

Generally, we spend New Year fairly quietly, but we had a family birthday celebrate.  This year we spent a very wet New Year’s Eve with my nephew Shane who was turning 60.  Shane is the eldest grandchild on the maternal side, the first child of my late sister Kathleen and hubby Dennis.   It is a tradition in this family to prepare and cook a hangi for special occasions, and this Shane did with a little help.  Not a “hole in the ground” traditional hangi, but rather one cooked in a stainless steel container, heated with gas, but still using ...

We have moved on from the family small holding after four very pleasant and relaxed days.  Before we arrived, I was a little worried about the family dog and how he would react to a strange cat on his property.  Noodle would come and look at Gemma through the closed screen door.  Then one morning Robin had the screen door open, Gemma was on her lead, and the two met nose to nose!  I was amazed that nothing untoward happened.  It may well have been a different story if Gemma was outside the safety of the caravan door.

First meeting ...

Pre Christmas is such a busy time, isn't it.  We had another caravan trip planned, about 8 days this time, to attend the ICA Christmas Rally, up at Te Aroha and Matamata, quite a drive away for us.  Most of the ICA members live much further north than us, so depending on where the rally is being held, we generally have the longest drive.  Our first stop was at Turangi, a well known fishing area.  There was a tap  on the door, and a lady asked us if we would be interested in a trout fillet.  My goodness, of ...

I have another finish to show, and no, I haven't whipped this up after returning home last week from our Anniversary trip.  This was completed a week or so earlier.  It all started with a unicorn panel looking for a new home  from Sew Wot buddy Helen’s stash.  Gemma thought those unicorns were well worth checking out.

Unicorn panel

So I cut the panels apart, sashed them with different fabrics from my stash, assembled the blocks and added a purple border.  Then one sunny day I pinned the three layers together on the patio table outside.

Next step ...

Our Anniversary Trip was winding down.  But I did have time for a little shopping therapy.  Not much really, I was after some cream  wide backing for a project nearing completion, and while there picked up two half yard cuts of pink and green fabric for my daughter’s upcoming big birthday quilt. Nicky doesn't like “bright – in your face” types of colours so I found a couple of muted shades for her.

Holiday fabric purchases

You know you have arrived in Rotorua when that “rotten egg sulphur smell” hits your nose.  Not all the time, just here and ...

Sunday arrived, our 40th Anniversary.  After breakfast, we drove out to one of the things on our “must do” list, the Redwoods Treewalk.  Driving into the carpark, we noticed walkways in the trees above criss crossing overhead.  Tickets purchased, we were given a briefing about allowable numbers on the walkways and platforms, and don't touch the trees as it can harm the bark, we were on our way up the spiral walkway.

The start of the walk

We weren't sure how we would both manage up in the tree tops, but it was very easy walking indeed.  The ...

Our 40th Anniversary was fast approaching so we needed to decide how we wanted to celebrate.  I'm the social secretary in this household and after throwing a few ideas around, we decided on an Anniversary Trip, ending up in Rotorua.  This is where we spent our honeymoon, all those years ago!  But first, we needed to drive through to Ohaupo, Hamilton, the collect the caravan.  Our caravan Romany Rambler had been driven up to Leisureline Ohaupo just a week before Robin’s knee replacement operation, and left there for some work to be done.  They kindly stored it for ...