off to Melbourne

back for 1 day, suitcases half packed,Ratty Tatty Papers lesson 6 all to bed and gone, dinner with the family last night. Almost as fleeting as Grant who arrived yesterday afternoon and flies off to London via Singapore about the same time as us today. Different airport depart. Shame as we will be laden down with our 6 suitcases.....

If you come to the AQC do come and say hello - stand 184 and I am giving a talk every day at 1pm so about to pack all my samples. Plus right behind our stand will be the Connections Display - 55 wonderful pieces of work.

Sydney Sojourn

We had a lovely couple of days in Sydney - like everywhere we go it was humid but we did enjoy the rain. Nice place to stay and the sailing was good. We had a lovely meal at Jessica's and a little bit of relaxation. And no suitcases - amazing. Just watch us on Tuesday though....Grant had a good race on Saturday and did pretty well all up considering he hasn't been sailing for about 6 months. Ian Roman
has let me use his great photo of SLAM. Thanks Ian - it is a wonderful photo.

today's outing

Today we are flying to Sydney for the weekend to watch Grant sail in the 18fts on the harbour - last 2 races.. I think the break will do us good - means we simply can't work overt he weekend and we will be back Sunday night to pack up for Melbourne on Monday. Here is a pic of SLAM - we will be taking our camera of course.

Here are 2 pics of the Ficifolia Eucalyptus on our verge, This tree is native to Western Australia and you never know what colour flowers it will have. In our last house we had a coral one on the verge. I love this one - it is just coming into full flower.



See you on Monday - no check in luggage which means I have to decant my shampoo etc.... and no scissors can I take. I will have to find my thread cutter.

and what were we doing

that left us so exhausted yesterday?








This is the van full of stuff for Melbourne. This means days of packing beforehand then I went to the hairdresser to be refuchsied and Ian packed the van. Then we took it all to the carriers and unpacked it onto palettes and shrink wrapped it. Then we came home and had a glass of champagne because the front verandah is clear and tidy and some of the house is back.

tonight we are off to Must winebar to celebrate Ian's birthday....

I have been sneaking up to the studio in between times today to play with my Starburst Sprays and Lutradur. In 2 weeks time I shall tidy my studio - that is a promise.

Ian says many thanks for all the birthday wishes and he wished he hadn't had to cut up copper shim on his birthday but we all have jobs we don't like doing......

Happy Birthday Ian

Happy Birthday Ian - those were the days of sailing on Lake Rotoiti... Where would I be without you? Have a wonderful day - somewhat less exhausting than yesterday for sure.

a marathon effort

boy - have we been busy and tomorrow I will show you the end result of this busy - ness. Too exhausted to load the piccies tonight - instead we are off to Gogos for dinner. Plus tomorrow is a big day for someone..

Happy Birthday Jacinta

Happy Birthday Jacinta - hope you enjoy your fabulous birthday treat....... Another Aquarian in our midst!



On Friday very late the huge shipment of Starburst Sprays arrived. Yesterday we unpacked all the boxes and reboxed them by the colour - there are 55 different colours. We had to have take away coffee as we could not find a spare place in the kitchen to make coffee or even see the sink. took us all morning and then we went off to watch the rugby - the Hurricanes lost but they had their moments and will get there. First game hiccups. All this unpacking (we are also packaging and packing for AQC so it is difficult to move around) was an excuse to eat out at Koinonia with Bruce and Kazuko.

Loads of work to do today including all the orders for people who have ordered the sprays - you should have them very soon. This was a shipment which would normally take 4-5 days but it came via the moon, Korea and to Sydney and then a truck across Australia. Quicker to have flown over and collected them........

rugby rugby rugby

you will all be thrilled to hear that the Super 14 Rugby Season starts today - my beloved Hurricanes play tomorrow. I hope Piri's twisted ankle is better in time for the game.

And many thanks to all those lovely people in Victoria who have emailed to say they are ok. it does help very much as I have been thinking of you all. I am flat out packing stuff for AQC so I hope if you are coming that you will sidle up and say hello to us....

more stonehaven with a rusty outlook

Rainbow Comfort Packs

When the chips are down parents need lots of support for dealing with all sorts of things and I found this site for anyone who would like to help Rainbow Comfort Packs

There are so many people who have lost everything and one of the hardest things is losing all your memories - this week has unsettled me somewhat and I have been looking at all my stuff and thinking how precious it all is. I know it's only stuff and you can't take it with you but it does surround you.

the fires

Our thoughts are with all of our wonderful friends and customers in Victoria devastated by the fires. Thank you for all the caring emails for Jacinta and Rae - Jacinta tells me both of their families are safe.

slushie

Quite a few people have asked what a slushie is - it's 15micron merino wool mixed with mulberry silk - Jacinta's lovely daughter Brianna named it for us. Much softer than wool for the embellisher and I love using them - that's why we have them! The one above is Byzantine - aren't they lovely colours - if I may say so myself. Below is a detail. I am hoping all is well at Jacinta and Rae's with the terrible fires in Victoria - they both live out in the area that I saw mentioned in danger zones.

friday's work

Just in case you thought I had been doing nothing - on Friday I had a tea cosy to make and send off to a magazine for an article - finished in the nick of time but after I posted it off I discovered a sample on the floor - dear o dear. See, Val - I did finish it.....

It is made on the embellisher using sari ribbon and of course scrim and slushies etc for the flowers. A bit of brightness to cheer up any tea pot.

This is a close up below.


Last night we forgot to go to our ACO concert. Quelle horreur...... Can't even blame it on the heat as it was a lovely day. I expect the ladies who sit next to us would have been wondering where we were - well we were at Spaghi having a nice meal......

Waitangi Day in NZ

Happy Waitangi Day to all New Zealanders wherever we might be in the world.

today's piece

a little scanning, printing, transferring and stitching today

sultry sunday

Yes the heat has returned with 38 tomorrow - continuing thanks for the air con. I have finally sorted out the closure stuff for my latest rust book - just had to use some more of those copper buttons. This is all easy peasy silk paper by the way. No medium.

Ian says thank you all for the kind words - he has 4 lovely bright blue stitches but no photos please. And Maggie - no I didn't but I might have if I had thought of it. I am into what could possibly have been the scene at Mary Queen of Scots beheading. And I discovered that the kitchen mop was broken - shows how much cleaning I do.

I have been Ratty Tattying today and making luscious silk paper and stitching it and other things. It was too hot last night for our bbq but there is a strong sea breeze so we will give it a go tonight. I have even written the newsletter.