Seasons Come and Seasons Go

As I read blogs from the northern hemisphere I am aware that spring is on its way and with that the wonderful birth of new life as gardens spring to life after a long, cold winter.

For us, autumn is drawing to a close. Leaves are turning to the ember colours of a dying fire and the flowers of summer are beginning to fade.

A few weeks ago we changed the plants in the pots at the front of our house from the petunias of summer to pansies.

It has taken a while but suddenly the pots are being filled with the lovely, happy faces of the pansies that will cheer us through the winter months ahead.

Moving to Higher Ground

Our recent influx of visitors necessitated a few things being changed around and so our huge roll of quilters wadding ended up on our work table in our quilt studio area.

Cats love warm soft places and Cici thought this was just the best place to be.

The wadding had to be returned to its home, otherwise I am sure she would still be sleeping there.

After our visit from Ricky, James and Amba came to stay.

I realised after they left that I had not taken any photos of them together.

The next best thing I could come up with was a photo of Amba with Linda.

How is this for a Saturday morning? Lying in bed with the two best cats in the world by your side, laptop at your feet and Saturday newspaper for a leisurely read.

I thought it was lovely that Amba felt comfortable enough to lie on the bed next to Linda and chatter away to her like they had been friends for years.

It was a lovely visit and we look forward to more of the same in time to come.

Time to Come Home

It is always lovely to welcome members of the family home for a holiday.

Ricky needed to 'chill' for a week so we enjoyed his company and he took advantage of the autumn sun on our lawn overlooking the river.

In between sleeping and relaxing, watching a few movies, Ricky also took cooking lessons from Linda and went home inspired with new recipes in hand.

Ricky's respite is over but brother, James, is on his way over this weekend and we are looking forward to that as well.

In the garden......again

Nasturtiums do not feature often at the top of the list when talking about annuals but they do have a loveliness all of their own.

They are supposed to be easy to grow, in fact, the worse you treat them the more they are supposed to reward you. Such has not been the case for us.

Nevertheless, we tried again and this summer we have had some measure of success.

I bought a couple of punnets of nasturtiums and planted them without separating them and within weeks we had a mass of nasturtiums showing off lovely yellow, orange and burnt red flowers.

To see the yellow ones pictured trailing over a retaining wall was truly delightful.

We hope that now we have managed to get them growing this summer that they will continue to self seed in coming years.

Ruby thought............

Ruby thought that maybe I was being mean to Kaiser by depriving him of the sunny spot he had found on my laptop table.

Does he look deprived stretched out in comfort on my bed?

A cat might get the hump temporarily from being taken away from a nice spot but it is amazing how quickly they can find comfort somewhere else.

This cat is worth a photo a day around our home.

Lap Dog, Lap Top or Lap Top Cat?

Our Kaiser cat could provide us with a pose a day with the many different spots he finds to while the days away.

Today he found a lovely sunny spot by jumping up onto my laptop table attached to my Stressless chair.

I am not even sure the table was made to bear his weight but he seemed comfortable enough.

However, I did think we needed a solution so I closed the curtain and he moved to a new location.

Worth Replanting

When we lived in our previous home, we had a small garden and so plants in pots became the thing to do.

We have a much, much bigger garden now and so pots are becoming less important in our lives.

One of the plants I had success with in a pot was a calibrachoa with beautiful deep pink flowers.

I asked my brother to plant it into our garden here and in the last few weeks it has taken off and is looking more splendid than ever.






But wait, there's more.

Lurking behind the calibrachoa is a concrete cat in a very relaxed state and he just happens to be positioned next to the catnip plant that some cats really love and have been known to get high on.

Could our concrete cat have been indulging? After all the catnip is reaching, tantalisingly so, towards his mouth.

Mug Rugs

I understand that mug rugs have been around for a while but they are new to us.

A small quilting project, they provide an ideal way to try out new quilting designs whilst being able to complete relatively quickly.

Somewhere between a coaster and a place mat, they provide a nice snack place for your coffee/tea with space for a treat to eat as well.

You can make them in any colour and any design that you choose. Just for starters Linda made a few:-

This one Linda made for me with fabrics of my choice - love it!











This one belongs to our Mum - perfect for her.











Just for fun. This one was made from scraps from a quilting project featuring Kaffe Fasset fabrics.









Maybe you like the concept but not for your favourite mug. Another use could be for a home base for remote controls.

Bringing Back Memories

When we were young tomato sandwiches were a real treat.

In those days tomatoes were seasonal and with the warmer weather and fresh tomatoes available what could be better than thick sliced white bread, butter and fresh sliced tomatoes sprinkled with salt and pepper.

Linda planted a Super Tom in a tub on our patio this spring and yesterday harvested the first of these tomatoes so that we could have a real taste treat right down to having the white bread sandwiches.

Homegrown, no sprays, fresh from the vine - delicious!

Sometimes the simple things in life are the best.

The Present That Gives Year After Year

Four years ago three of my sons came home for Christmas and one of their gifts to me was a lily.

The seasons come and go and when it is dormant I forget about it altogether, and then, each Christmas it surprises me with its return.

It is a wonder I have not thrown it out during the winter months but it is a survivor and gives much pleasure with its lovely bold colours.

Likewise, my sister was given a lily plant as a free gift when she made some plant purchases from an online gardening company. Just recently the lilies have returned on this plant and they are magnificent with the the added bonus of a lovely scent.

Moments of time..........

Christmas 2010 was relatively quiet for us - no visitors - just the four of us, but it was lovely and relaxing and we enjoyed the occasion.

On both sides of Christmas we had a succession of family visiting and so, over the past six weeks we have seen all five of our siblings which has been really, really lovely.

Nice to share these moments of time with our family and also nice to capture moments of time from the flowers in our garden.

Yesterday I took this photo of these beautiful, velvety flowers from our garden and today they were spent. I was really pleased I had captured the moments they were able to give us.

Clown Quilt

I have shared before some of the amazing quilts that our friend, Debbie, has been making.

This is the latest and it is just super.

Bright, cheerful and big enough to fit on a queen size bed.

It could make an wonderful wall hanging.

Debbie wants to sell this quilt and has listed it on Trade Me in New Zealand.

Generational Change?

Recently we were visited by our niece, her husband and three children.

The eldest, Jason, approached me with a small pack of cards and asked if I would like to watch him play solitaire.

I thought we could go one better than that and he could play solitaire on my iPad.

The fascination and concentration was there - I wonder if playing with real cards will ever be quite the same for him again.

Our Silk Tree

The previous owners of our home did some excellent planning with layout of the home to maximise on things like sunlight and views.

In the patio just outside our sun room there is outdoor furniture and a silk tree was planted to provide shade in the summer and allow the sun to come through in the winter.

The silk tree has just come into flower and has the most delicate pink flowers which glow against the light green foliage.

When I look at the contrast in colours it is the sort of thing that makes me want to do a bit creative embroidery, it is so pretty.

The branches in this image are just outside our sun room door and seem to be saying let us come in to share your world.

We are glad the silk tree does its bit to make the patio a better place for us.

Part of the Cycle of Life?

When I watched the movie, The Lion King, I really liked the opening song, The Cycle of Life. Always thought it to be very pertinent.

What that has to do with a kettle you may well wonder.

The first time I went to visit with David and Lisa in Dallas they had a kettle on their cook top for heating water for cups of tea.

It always seemed to take ages to heat up the water and so I recommended to Lisa that they get an electric kettle as I felt it would do the job more efficiently.

Lisa bought the kettle and to this day they still use an electric jug.

However, Linda and I recently acquired an induction cooker for our kitchen and discovered that water could be heated faster on the cook top than in the electric kettle, so guess what we bought? A kettle for the cook top.

It clears some bench space and works efficiently for us - so it would appear that we have gone around one cycle of life.

One of our brothers came to visit recently and was coming to terms with the workings of an induction cook top. He wanted to know if he could use a 'real kettle' (meaning the electric one) but too late, we have entered the new cycle of life and there is no going back.

Our very own river

There is always something of interest to be observed overlooking the beginnings of the Waikato River from our living area.

The water coming into the river from Lake Taupo is managed, not far away, by a control gate.

In these photos, firstly of a lone fisherman and then of some prospective swimmers, the water is low but when the water is released the beach and the rocks where the fisherman is standing, disappear under the water.

The colour of the water in the image with the swimmers is more true to type. Most of the time it is more aqua in colour than rich blue.

In addition to would be fisherman and swimmers there is the constant flow of kayakers as well as people stopping off for a picnic or, sometimes, a bit of freedom camping.

We are in the middle of the Christmas/New Year holiday season and this spot is a frequent stop off point for visitors.

Vegie Gardens and Christmas

One of the lovely things about moving to our home was the established raised beds for a vegetable garden.

We still have a lot to learn to make the most of this asset but we have already had some lovely results.

I planted peas and beans on each side of the trellis to the right of the garden. The peas took off but the beans had to have a second planting to get some results.

The peas have grown sufficiently to give us fresh peas for Christmas dinner - the beans have a way to go yet.

Our brother planted Cliff Kidney potatoes for us and again, there was sufficient for us to be able to dig and get fresh potatoes on Christmas morning.















The result - Beef Wellington, served with crushed new potatoes and fresh peas with carrots. Linda says it is one of the easiest Christmas dinners she has ever had to prepare and it was just lovely.



The white with gold trim Christmas table linen was enhanced by an arrangement by Linda, of red and white petunias, also from our garden.








Christmas would not be complete without dessert and it certainly looked as good as it tasted - pavlova roulade with fresh strawberries soaked in a little cointreau.

Pike River Miners

The Pike River mining disaster in November of this year will have a huge impact on the West Coast community of the South Island of New Zealand for some time to come.

As is often the way in times of tragedy many people rally to help and we have heard many stories of those helping the families of the miners in whatever way they can.

Shirley Goodwin of Rangiora, Christchurch offered to make quilts for each of the members of the miners families and has been inundated with heart blocks and quilts.

You can read more about the responses and see some of the lovely quilts and heart blocks Shirley has received in her blog:-

http://shirleygoodwin.blogspot.com

Linda offered to quilt a quilt top for Shirley and this has now been completed as pictured.

The challenge for Shirley to complete remains huge and if you know of anyone who can help in any way I am sure she would love to hear from you via her blog.

What would I like for my birthday dinner was the question.

Pasta with meat sauce was my choice and very nice it was too.

A local shop, The Merchant of Taupo, stocks a most delicious Pavlova Roulade and this with brandied strawberries topped off the meal very nicely.

Cactus Flower

The winter just gone was extremely cold and we have had some very hot late spring weather and as a result our cactus plant has been flowering like it never has before.

Our Mother has had this plant for a number of years but we have never seen it flower like it has for us this time around.

Until the flowers have gone it can take pride of place at the front door and then it can hide in the garden until it decides to give us more of its beauty.

Breakfast for One - or was it Brunch?

We went out looking for some garage sale bargains and in the process I neglected to have breakfast.

By the time we got home I was very hungry but it seemed too late to be having breakfast.

Instead I made pikelets (small pancakes) for morning tea but when I came to the end of the mixture I made one large pikelet, topped it with sliced banana, muesli and golden syrup.

I guess my breakfast became brunch and it was very nice.

Pikelet recipe:-

Heat fry pan to moderately hot and, using paper towel, wipe with small amount of melted butter

Melt 30 grams butter and hold

1 cup self raising flour
1 dessertspoon sugar
1 pinch salt

Place ingredients in bowl and add -
1 egg
1 cup milk

Mix thoroughly with wire whisk and add the melted butter.

Put dessertspoons of batter into moderately hot pan (6 to 7 for each lot) and when bubbles rise to the surface of the batter they are ready for turning.

When nicely browned on both sides put aside on to a plate that had a tea towel folded in half. Place the pikelets between the layers of the tea towel while you continue cooking.

Keeping the pikelets like this in the tea towel ensures a little bit of steaming and keeps the pikelets nice and soft.

Serve with butter or butter and jam of your choice and enjoy.

These have been a family favourite for years and years.

Best eaten fresh but can be frozen and eaten later.

Getting Ready for Christmas

Christmas will probably be a low key affair at our place this year.

We are not anticipating having and visitors so it will be just the four of us.

Nice to have some Christmas decorations around the place and this week we put up Christmas quilts and accessories.

The angel wall hanging is in the sun room where Mum and I spend most of our time.

A variety of Christmas ornaments adorn the bookcase on top of a Christmas runner.

Stepping Back in Time

Staying with my Aunt Grace this last week was almost like taking a step back in time.

When Linda and I were children, we used to go and stay with her and the cutlery and crockery in this image where what was used then so it all must be at least 60 years old.

The bedrooms reflected times gone by as well with old fashioned white cotton sheets, white candlewick bedspreads, wire wove mattress base on the bed,white cotton pillow cases tied with cotton tape, rather than the envelope style pillows we have today and wool blankets.

The washing machine broke down just as I arrived and there was a suggestion that we revert to the wringer washing machine that Aunt Grace is so proud of because it still works, but fortunately a modern automatic was bought to replace it.

I did miss not having a dish washer and microwave but all was well.

All in all a very interesting trip down memory lane.

Reunited With Treasured Gifts

For the last week I stayed with my Aunt Grace, 101 years old, so that her care giving daughter could have a few days of respite from 24 hour care.

Aunt Grace is our Mother's oldest surviving sister and a special member of our family.

It always give me a special feeling when I go to her home and there, on her bed, is the handmade quilt that my sister, Linda, made for her in 1997 and a hand appliqued cushion that I made for her for her 90th birthday.

Aunt Grace has children and grandchildren of her own and so it is rather nice for us, as her nieces, that she would give these gifts pride of place in her home.


Linda's quilt was made in the days before she ever dreamt she would do machine quilting and is machine pieced and hand quilted. It is standing the test of time well.
















I have not done too much in the way of hand applique so this cushion always surprises me when I see it again.

Quilting Group

Our quilting group was depleted in numbers this week, but it did not seem to matter. There was still plenty of chatter, lots of home cooked baking to share and quilting problems shared and solved.

Show and tell was part of the day as well:-



Debbie had made a quilt for her son's girl friend's 21st birthday.

She brought it along to show us but also because she wanted a heart quilting in the centre of the quilt and needed help from Linda.










Debbie also brought her clown quilt which is still a work in progress. She still have another 5 blocks to include so it will be huge, not to mention, magnificent, when it is finished:-

Some Girls Might Prefer Diamonds.................

Some girls might prefer diamonds but when you get given an induction cooker for your birthday it can be a pretty good alternative.

Linda and I have been using our induction cooker since August and we are very impressed.

Smooth glass top, no knobs, touch sensitive heating controls, fast reaction to changes in heating/cooling.

We find our cooking to be faster and cleaning much easier. Pots and pans seem easier to clean and the cook top itself is very easy to keep clean.

We did have to go and buy new pots and pans but that seems a worthwhile expense with such good results.

Linda cooked a Quick and Easy Sausage Carbonara in these pictures.

New Zealand cook, Sophie Gray, is known as the Destitute Gourmet - making good quality meals on a limited budget.

This recipe is a recent discovery for us and we really enjoy it. You can find it at:-

http://www.eggs.org.nz/recipes.php?rid=101

if you would like to try it too.




























Yum!

10th Wedding Anniversary

Trish, from our quilting group, has gone to Australia to visit with her daughter who is celebrating her 10th wedding anniversary.

She had seen samples of some of my crazy quilting and asked me if I could print her daughter's wedding photo on to silk and embellish it crazy quilt style.

I only had a week to complete the project but I got there and she was very happy with the outcome.

She feels sure her daughter will be happy with the result.

I includes wedding gown lace, silk and a silk covered button in keeping with the theme.

The Friendliest Cat in the World

I sometimes think that Kaiser would have to be considered the friendliest cat in the world even if it means he can be a bit 'in your face'.

Often when he hears the voice of visitors in the house he will present himself right in front of them and roll over on his back for a tummy rub. It would never occur to him that anyone would not want to befriend him.

Rewa came to our quilting group and had a quilting 'challenge' she wanted to discuss with Linda.

Kaiser thought he would be more than helpful by putting himself right in the middle of her project - attention seeking?

Sorry about the quality of the image but it does capture the thought.

Bird Feeder

We have a silk tree just outside our sun room.

Recently we bought a bird feeder and hung it from the tree.

We fill it every morning and it is not long before the birds come calling. Sometimes they are already waiting in the upper branches.

It is quite entertaining to watch the comings and goings during the day.

Often we see two or more birds hovering in the branches above until the feeder becomes vacant.

Sometimes we see two birds feeding together but that is about as many as will fit and sometimes they will have a tussle - some of them don't want to share with anyone.

Mostly we get sparrows but there are others that visit as well.