Happy Christmas! (belated)

It is the fourth day since I stopped work and finally I feel like I could manage Christmas, but it has been and gone for another year:-)

 Some Christmas cheer, a modern arrangement of mint, which is flourishing with all the rain we have had.

Last weekend before work finished I did bake Gran's biscuits (as we call them in my family, my great grandmother's recipe, a version of German, later known as Belgium biscuits), to give as gifts to my colleagues. Alas they are still waiting for the raspberry jam and brandy butter icing.

 Peace and joy from the "wise man" of the house!

I made the "ten minute table runner" on Christmas day, which this photo indicates needs another press after it's outing with the "wise man."

A little sewing at last

Finally some sewing, three aprons completed.

Spring day at its sunny best

We have sun in Wellington and at Waikanae Beach tonight but we also have work so I have been enjoying my sister's outing with her daughters and my parents to Kaka Point in South Otago.  The blue sky is stunning!

My sister doing cartwheels, and she is over fifty!

One of my nieces trying out the panorama view function on her phone. That is my sister upright.

Daylight saving time is here

My blog has been neglected.  The blog that started as a way of recording what is going on in my life for me to remember, as much as for a wider audience.

Xanthe came home for three and a half weeks.  It is always special having my daughter home and we fitted in a break for all of us in Napier during that time. She has now returned to start her third year in Japan.

I have been wanting to sew clothes again for me for such a long time but the days of being a size 14/16 and no difficulty fitting patterns as drafted have long gone.  I have not stitched for myself for 10 years and while I continue to battle loosing weight, it is slow and the depression and hunger that accompanies is not always fun.

I have discovered plenty of blogs and competent sewists who are plus size. And with the help of this site  I am in the process of learning how to adjust patterns and am hopeful I can again sew for me.

However I have made some cosmetic purses as gifts. This Echino fabric is a fabulous weight for these purses.

Winter has come and gone and come back again today with daylight saving time. It is bitter here today, gales and rain however Cecile Brunner has her first flower, a reminder that better weather will come.

I have not planted and grown roses before, and was uncertain with our sand base how they would grow, but with a large trellis to cover I was hopeful that I could establish a rambler.  I planted her mid winter and am happy to report she is flourishing, as is Clair Matin, who is in a pot and also covered in buds.

And then there is Boris...

The days come and go and not a lot changes in my world.  It is now time to think about getting organised for the work week, 4.30 a.m. and the alarm ringing is not far away:-)

Winter or is it really spring

The winter so far has been mild and very spring like, (complete with spring winds!) though the bugs continually circling at my office are winter-like, and for the first time in years I have been the recipient of one of the variations.  A three plus week cough that resulted in me finally giving in and having a couple of days home and just when I thought I was way better and had returned to work I experienced some severe pain that an ambulance ride and seven hours at the emergency department concluded was not heart attack.

So I planned a stress-free weekend of calm and apart from a neighbour backing into my car, I think I have succeeded.

I am managing to keep the lettuce and kale growing. This raised and very sheltered bed, that was built for chillis, makes a great winter garden.

Leeks, rocket, silverbeet, celery with parsley behind and more leeks in front, spinach, kale and masses of self seeded borage.

Neglected hyacinths from last year, the pot having been relegated to a forgotten corner of the garden.  Their scent alerted me to their presence.

 Fuchsias still performing despite being in a very dry patch.

 A passion fruit that forgot to grow and ripen in season.

Cheeky violets creeping through from the neighbours.  I do not mind.

A perfect laundry day.  Fantastic to have washed, dried, and folded straight from the line.

And so to the new week....

Finally a blog and some cushions.

Finally some cushions to brighten up the window seat corner of the dining room using the Cuzco line from Kate Spain.  I had bought a jelly roll on a whim with no idea how I would this fabric.

The longer cushion is made in the quilt as you go method.  Of course making such non standard sizes meant I had to make and stuff the inners. And as I am on a "use up stash" drive and the calico stash is gone I made use of the fabric below that is not me at all. (it is a mystery now it came to be in my stash even)

The cushions are backed with pale blue denim, left from the days of dressmaking, so I felt most satisfied at no further expenditure being required.

Today the weather is so gorgeous I think it is time to spread the free contents of the bags below:-)