Simple things in Life

Blogger OUT!!

2011-12-28T11:50:00.000-08:00

Im hopeless at updating this thing so I have decided to use facebook much more intensively to stay close to friends and family.
My facebook name is Cherie Naera.
I will keep this open just in case i change my mind. In the meantime, look me up on face book.
Happy new year!!
Love Cherry

The garlic harvest

2011-11-27T20:44:00.000-08:00

Yes i am still here...just extremely busy. Girls are in Christmas show with Hastings operatic, schools are closing down for summer, vege garden is resembling day of the triffids...busy, busy, busy!!!!!
Enjoy my garlic harvest...Im a bit smug actually i didnt think Id planted all that many!

2011-11-09T00:25:00.001-08:00

Christmas at moi house..

2011-11-07T21:28:00.000-08:00

As each passing days goes by I sneak more and more of my Christmas decorations out!!!! Some are very new such as the tilda angel and Santa Claus in the top picture.And the Cherry Menlove Christmas stocking swag. ut then there are old favourites like the next two.
My husband keeps giving me dissaproving stares but he knows better than to say something.!!!
I am in the middle of a million log cabin scrappy squares right now, I am on a trip to sew all my scraps into quilts. I have been on Bonnie hunters site (she is a quilter who loves scraps). So much choice. My favourite on her site is sisiters choice, but i have already used that pattern with my last venture into "using up all my stash" I hope i get further this time!!! Theres NO room in our closet!!!(More dissaproving stares from my hubby!!)
Short and sweet, much to do, days are long and hot at the moment, kids are in the pool every night summer is here!!!!

A little bit of this a little bit of that

2011-10-29T16:47:00.000-07:00

Ive always said that crafting is a meditation for me. I feel that it really keeps the woves from thedoor so to speak. And so with recent ill health and Docotrs help i have been crafting like crazy. Obviously the magic time of Christmas is closing in and my Christmas spirit is raising to the fore. This is one of two Christmas puddings made. I actually bought a pudding bowl with a lid which is such a pleasant change from my normal ill wrapped abstract sided thing that i usually come out with each Christmas after wrapping in calico and boiling. Last night we ate the second one of these as I hadnt tried the recipe that came with thw bowl . It was nice, sure but i will be tweeking some changes before the next one...and yes i did say the next one. I love making these. The GHIU (gorgeous hubby in uniform loves his Christmas puddings)

This is a origami with fabric tree. I made up all the little pieces at work but just couldnt understand how it could work out...it did!! It was my second Christmas decoration to go up..

This was my first. An advent calender from Spotlight which really is totally unlike the sort of thing i normally buy BUT it was at the time that i really needed to sew (My meditation) It has been filled with candy canes in which only a few have disappeared!

Upcoming projects include a Santa and Angel doll doll I am making (Not without much difficulty) by designer Tone Finnanger...gorgeous gorgeous desighner Ive just ordered her Christmas book....

A scrappy log cabin quilt. I have to say IM LOVING this I just cut a million 11/2 " strips and sew them on to the centre piece cutting off the ends to fit as I go. SO easy and So relaxing.

Ive also finished a the Christmas present quilt I made for my brother. Ill post pics soon.

Weather is SO HOT. GHIU just yesterday filled up the pool and the girls have been swimming in it since. Georgia has rather an important audition this afternoon...Im hoping she doesnt cough her way through it..that water was freezing.

Talking of the girls they have just finished the Wizard of Oz production and are onto the Christmas Production at the Hastings Operatic Theatre next.. Ilove that we are back in the world of theatre!!

The vege garden has gone wild. Warm temperatures and a lot of rain has made the garden go bananas.!

Happy temperatures to yo wherever you may be

Love Cherry

A post at last...

2011-10-03T03:33:00.000-07:00

This will just be a short post. Its been ages since I last posted but I have been in the midst of a major attack of OCD. I seriously didnt think I could get better this time and thought I would never be able to post again on here. ut time... and little yellow pills and three weeks of work and.. here I am again. One thing I do when i do get sick and am recovering (even though it feels like Im not recovering) is to craft. Its my rehailitation and my meditation, Its the feel goof factor I need if only to feel good about one thing in my life at the time. And so i present to you some of the crafts(there. First up is the Advent calender (we will now have FOUR) that i bought as a panel From Spotlight. A lot of the quilting on this i did in my lunch hour at work. HONESTLY stitching in the breaks was the ONLY thing that keep me from major panic attacks at work.. Here is a close up below. I was happy to find candy canes had arrived at our brand new Warehouse store (Its HUGE!!) and so I could fill up the pockets. two in each for each of my girls..some have mysteriously dissappeared..

Scrapbooking has been HARD Oh so hard since Mum passed away and then a few weeks later it HIT me..but over the course of four days I managed to complete a kit I had purchase from Hastings Ruber stamps. I still find it heartbreaking to scrap Mum and Dad But I think Im slowly getting my mojo scrapbooking love back...slowly...

Arnt they gorgeous. I miss them SO much..

And now here is a quilted origami Christmas tree. As I made this up I could not believe it was going to actually work out. To my utter amazement it did. Hurray...Im not doing another in a hurry tho..

Im also making a Kiwiana quilt for my brother for Christmas. It is completely handsewn. I took it to work as well for the brak times and it too got me through. Im at the quiltingstage and Im enjoying using a larger needle than the betweens and using a heavy thread. Its quilting up so much easier than normal.

So that is all for now. We are currently in the last week of the school term. Two weeks off.

Georgia and Alex are both in the operatic thatres production of the Wizard of Oz in the holidays. Eight weeks of rehearsal is going very fast. Maybe because I had to open my BIG mouth and offer to sew costumes..i never learn..

e happy whereever you are and if you are not then do as I am doing and reread Loise hays excellant anniversary book

Love Cherry

Life in my winter farmyard

2011-07-22T18:55:00.000-07:00

Vege garden No 1 and 2

Urkkk a sqelch skurge here..

And a sqelch skurge there..can you see my newly potted raspberry orange canes, some new compost in the tub and two lots of hidden doggy doo compost in the tyres..

No Ginge!!! Not by the little baby brassicas..Bad boy (our neighbour who is growing tulips has had to net then as they come up she said our cat is not always welcome!!!!)

Christmas: Head chook and proud of it

The girls enjoy the old brassicas I pulled out this morning

Sad chook who is three by now enjoys some reprieve from the mud and squalor

Aforementioned mud and squalor

The GHIU (Gorgeous hubby in uniform) answer to mud and squalor...le chateau du corrugated iron..

Impossible to contain the muddy back yard with giant golden paws galloping all over it..

So that is a quick foray around the "farm'. I enjoyed taking these photos today. I sat down with the chooks for ages taking photos and talking to them. Christmas left everyones company to brood a bit in the box but it was all a SCAM as I checked after and there wasnt a egg and she was there for a good twenty minutes. The last two days have been extrodinary with five eggs each day. As most of the chooks are now over two, one or two in moult, feeling the cold etc etc we have been well down, so ten eggs in two days is fantastic. here comes some more bacon and egg pie methinks! The farm is just so muddy and sqelchy and gumboot only territory. I look at it this time of the year and despair a bit but then i think of all the things that await in the next few months. Im not sure if we will see this summer here as we are hot on the trail for a property and have decided that if we have to go up country then we will down grade the car to a cheap 1.5 or so and learn to live within our petrol means. The GHIU has a company car as he can have callouts and odd things and so it will be running only one car.
Last weekend I thought Id found the property. it was 2 acres on a napier road, and had pig pens (On concrete) 1/4 acre of not bothered about asparagus, two pet ducks(who lay), a pet goat(Not a nanny unfortunately) , a huge chook area and shed, and enough room for this bloke to bring on some calves each season. GHIU would not even comprimise as it was on a very busy road (The main Napier/taupo road at the begiining and the traffic and trucks would drive him mad) I thought we could comprimise for now as it was AFFORDABLE...but no. He promised me that he knows there is the perfect property for us and I have to trust him as he has uncanny and excellant esp skills..or what i call his woo woo abilities.
So while we are here I am thinking of the potato plots i have been working on, the strawberries i have just planted out the front, the lettuce garden I will plant out in the wine barrel full of delicious compost and also some more fencing to protect this all from the marauding chooks when i free range the,. Despite my elaborate fencing system they still managed to get into the vege garden the other day. Hokey is the worst. She is one of our young ones and she stalks the fence lines forever looking for a place to make her escape..including into the neighbours. Her "sisiter" Pokey is the sweetest little thing in comparison. Hokey will be a future leader I think if she ever gets the chance to stage a rebellion, shes just that type!

Beetroot and Schoolhouse quilts

2011-07-22T01:44:00.000-07:00

Despite it being a very cold Winter...actaul days of frost hwere the chickens trough and parts of the swimming pool were frozen solid!! I have still had great delight in out vege garden. in our bigger garden we have a lot of brassicas: now either past their best or very young and not growing with any verve, we have some gorgeous healthy looking broad eans begiining to flower. I got a complete shock when i pulled out what i thought would be ay carrots and came away with giant monsters that had split down the middle (but very tasty they were that night our first ever carrots!!!) But the best performer in the garden has got to be our beetroot. These are only some I pulled (the rest still in the ground). I fancied a bit of bottling and found a chutney in the good ole Edmonds book. Well It is delicious...especially when eaten with bacon and egg pie.....

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Im thinking of making some more (I do love seeing all the produce bottled and ready for use over winter)

So I finally gor some of my quilting Mojo back. In amidst the frenzy of scrapbooking I really suddenly felt like just stitching away at something. I soon found a schhol house block quilt I hadnt finished and with only one trip to Spotlight (!) I have just completed it. I am quite please with it if i do say so myself!!

I am currently cleaning out my closet in time for our "move" (SO close to finding somewhere now!) and have so far come across six pieced tops to quilt.....I actually desire to quilt the school house blocks, but need in the closet jumble to find my quilting hoop. After all it IS winter and what better way to spend inside than with a quilt.

It is the school holidays and I was so ready for the break. I love having the girls at home and just doing what we ant. We went to see harry Potter today at the movies. Actually I thought it would be heaps more expensive than it was. I enjoyed it but almost went to sleep..darkened room, warmth, my girls by me but quiet...the conditions were just right!!!!

As I write it is raining rather biblically...my poor chooks..I do feel sorry for them in this weather.however the ghiu made them a lean too and they go under there and see even today that they had made a dust bath in the corner!!

Ive also been watching reruns of the GOOD life that programme never fails me..I laugh, get inspired, the girls love it as much as I...why isnt ther anything on like that now.Right now the way things are going back to basics would be a great time to have a sitcom about self sufficiency..well I think so anyway.

Love to you all Keep warm and dry

Love Cherry

Beautiful Bo Bunny

2011-06-27T03:24:00.000-07:00

I havent done much of anything since my Mum died. Ive been sorting out photos and have been given some gorgeous shots from her childhood that I had never seen before. So Ive had quite a few reprints done before giving back the originals. Lately I have felt quite justifies and it certainly has been good for the soul to capture these memories in scrapbooking. i have been quite free and easy with the spending infact! One of the most gorgeous things Ive seen of late is this Bo Bunny mini album. I have put all the photos in it of Mum and her two next eldest at school age siblings in it and it is by no means finished as althought my local store sold this album it doesnt store Bo Bunny...so..I travelled to the next scrapping stoe but it onlu had a few matching Bo Bunny (Timepiece ) pieces. I have embellished as far as I can go with what i could find and what i could make. But now Im on the lookout for further embellishments that will go with this album. I just love these photos. Mum was born in 1931 just prior to the big earthquake and so these photos are mid thirties. My poor nana had already lost one child to a epidemic and as well as these three eldest was yet to have or had as babies three more children..and before her eldest (muy Mum) was seventeen she would lose her husband.. It never fails to impress me the hardships and the way that she and her young family dealt with them back then.

Any ideas on other embellishments let me know. Other things Ive been doing are: knitted two "gumnut" hats, pulled out a unfinished quilt top of "school houses " to finish and watching several re runs of the Good life and wishing I was Barbara Good!! Its gotten very cold here. It is the greatest sinful pleasure to forgo any housework and curl up infront of the fire each night.

We helped my elderly friends from their "paradise on earth" farm , who were moving and came away with a few things they didnt want to take to their retirement house with them. I have got the most gorgeous treasures...one of which is a cedar chest that I am sanding back and with redo. I cant wait for it to be finished and will post pictures next time.

Happy memories wherever you are tonight
love Cherry

For my Mum

2011-06-02T01:57:00.000-07:00

Who left this earth at 1.00pm 23 may 2011.

In the middle of all the grief and all the preparations I stayed up late that first night doing (who can sleep anyway), I set up some paper and a favourite photo to scrap. This was the end result. I used kaiser Chanteuse paper, homemade calico flowers and homemade stamped butterflies on transparency and some bought paper roses. This layout sat along with one other that i had done at a class awhile ago with Mum at the funeral home and on her coffin during the service. I have no hesitation in saying she has gone on to a better life but I do hope she popped in to see the layout. I made it with so much LOVE !

I dont feel like doing much of anything, but have gone back to work . During the service we ran a photo slide show from Mums life. Right from baby to her last days. It was so beautiful but it SLAYED me. Totally along with the most beautiful music.

Wiahing you all love and happiness with your dearest

Cherry

doggy compost and other interests..

2011-05-05T21:51:00.000-07:00

I am interspersing this post today with several pictures of recenet scrapbooking endeavours. I had to improvise for the royal weddingone as I could find no union jack or royal m,emorabalia to make some pages up...

I really love Becky Higgins Project life however I cannot get it at the moment in NZ. So I found these pages at the scrapping shop and have bought a few. They are great and its means I can catch up on my scrapbooking AND keep things in chronological order. This is my first one....

And the other side..... With these you can be creative or as boring as you want. And the varieties of photo sleeve types are many..

Here is double lO I did at scrapping class the other night...

Then we finished early so our lovely tutors ran around and at no further cost put togehter another few bits for us to do this simple but effectiove LO....Another few photos from this year put away now and I feel SO on top of things.!

From the beginning of the school year another WR Memory Keepers photo sleeve completed.:

I need some smaller photo sleeves to store these wonderful treasure handed to me today after school:

Ill buy some tomorrow when I attend a four hour layout class. Four pages in four hours..:) Four baby pages..just what I need for the as yet unscrapped million and one baby photos.

And on to news from the Urban farm. The chooks are laying about four to five eggs a day. There is a bit of moulting going on although sad chook is now growing back lovely silky feathers and looking years younger than her two and a half years!! This is CHristmas, leadre and general pretty girl showing me how sick she is of the murky muddy chook yard. I managed to put a bit of sawdust and hay down inbetween rain showers but there is still plenty of mud to cover up.

And the broad beans are bolting...

The beetroot and Rhurbarb are running...

The brassicas are blooming...

I know I post a lot of my hobbies here ut this blog is also meant to be about our ongoing challenge to find more ways to be frugal, eco friendly and self sufficient as we can. And on that note i introduce this new consept to my blog....

I have a giant labrodor..and for the past five years of hios life I have been cleaning up after him....ugh..hate that job!!! Anyway normally i have to dispose of this at the dump..and its a hassel anyway i do it. Plus its really unenvironmentally friendly what with the leechlates and the plastic bags and the whole landfill issue...and its a hassell. But recently i read about making a doggy toilet by adding septic starter to a barrel especially for the purpose. When I looked at this further i discovered that some people actually make compost with the doggy doo. NOW this is a pretty funny subject. Some people rave about this and some people DONT!! I fugured I would give it a try. NOTE this compost is not for the edible garden!! Anyway the idea is to only put the doggy doo in and add earthworms. I have been doing this and adding both red wrigglers and earthworms, aies and giants...we have plenty of both. The first lot of tyres was full, so I covered it over and began another. The other day after only a week unattended and covered I pulled ack the cover and the heap was HEAVING with worms, who all dissappeared under the surface at the sunshine. I cannot tell yo how happy this made me. IT. IS. WORKING. Woo Hoo!!!! I hope I havent made any one sick!!
Ill now post a pretty picture to make things all better..

Anyway take care.

The first game of the netball season is on tomorrow morning (before scrapping course) but rain and not just any rain but heavy rain is forecast.

Whatever the weather have a happy weekend

Love and happy gardening

fom Cherry

The School holidays

2011-04-20T02:41:00.000-07:00

Its the School holidays her in NZ. Two weeks of fun with the kids. Pjs til lunchtime, sleeping in...bliss. The thing is every holidays I vow to clean up, find lost library books (so far found1/3!!) and keep ahead of my girls and thier messes/ playchaos. Again I appear to be failing..... I also cant seem to get my act into gear to finish off Georgias PJ pants. I have sewn her top and she loves it and wears it with some old ottoms, and youd think that would motivate me wouldnt you?? ut no..Ive cut out one and cleared a space on the kitchen/craft table and cant seem to take the next step. However I have begun walking again. Boy am I knackered!!! My shoes are rubbish and I feel as if all my toes have been hammered tonight. Honestly I can hardly walk! I really need to svae and buy some decent Nikes (they fit my hooves well last time)

I am trying to get all my wedding photos scrapped. Gets a bit tedious. Their is no journalling or not much. Not really a lot I can say and so its just coming up with different artwork for the photos. Sometimes it all comes together and Im really happy with the result others Im not so happy with and I keep thinking i should have used the same colours or papers throughout...but it is what it is and if in the furure some grear great grandspring enjoys them then my work is done!!!!

So this one I have actually written in white pen the guests pictured here..Im semi-happy with this one.. kaiser paper La di dah collection..

This one I started to pull apart and rearrange half way through still not sure what I think. I used kaiser love Notes (lots of Kaiser in Spotlight at the moment!) I also bought a new bottle of gloss for the embellishments and have gone a bit crazy...youll see lots of glossy accents from here on in..

I used some stazon ink and acetate for the butterflies. First time Ive used this medium. The papers were free with a magazine and I pretty much copied thier layout they had used as an example inside...lazy huh?

More free papers, a copied layout and glossy accents going on here.......

More of the same here........

ANd this one I got from this site. Loved the sketch and practically used it exactly as it was drawn. I have so many gorgeous photos of the ballet days with Alex and am sad they are over. But now we are going to riding lessons so onwards and into new directions.

I have good news from the chook pen. My concerns over Sad chook not being well were quite true. SHe became jittery and upset and I couldnt get near her. Then I read that often chooks heavily in the moult can be paranoid. Now that a few new feathers are coming forth she has calmed down a lot more and with the new glossy feathers I keep telling her thats she going to be gorgeous!!
I do love my chooks. Everybody knows it!
Im sore and tired and Sons of Anarchy has begun so I bid you happy scrapping and happy chook keeping, until next time
Love Cherry

Forever...

2011-04-11T04:16:00.000-07:00

Bird is the word challenge blog has chosen the word Forever as their new word. You can enter by sending a LO with these words on it. This is my second entry with this site. See if you can join in!!

Happy challenges

Cherry

News from down on the (urban) farm...

2011-04-06T21:34:00.000-07:00

I was reading a great simple life type blog here

and there were pitures of the chickens on this particular urban farm, with good and evil listed. It gave me the imputus to get into the yard and remember my camera to take pics of my girls. It has been raining really hard today and for the first time is fire starting cold so the chook pen is in a bit of a state ...(just warning you)

First up is Sad Chook. Somethings up with sad chook the grande dame of the yard. Shes eating, and drinking, occassionally pecking the young guns and looks bright and cheery enough, BUT something is up. I just feel it. Hopefully it is justthe moult. Sads has feathers poking out everywhere but a lot of glossy ones now to replace her rather dull old brown ones that living ina cage the size of a mouse trap gives you after righteen months..... I thinkshes responsible for laying the monster eggs every four or sodays and Im sure her laying has mellowed off. Im pretty sure its the moult and my GHIU can just stop making knife across the throat gestures when I mention it.... my poor babies. They will die as god intended. Hopefully falling off the perch replete and happy..

And then theres the ever gorgeous Christmas, UNdisputed Queen of the pack. She lays her cute little rown eggs every day and looks such a sight with bare feathers sticking out of her bum like pieces of straw. Bless her shes sucha little character. She is small but mighty. Look at Hokey next to her. Shes hoping for some green scraps (they had last nights left over stew a couple of hours efore at lunch so neednt look so hungrty and needy)

Here are the girls in their muddy yard . I really want to put some straw down ut the stuff Ive got is so full of grass seed and I have nightmares using it in their nesting box as it is of grass seeds embedded in bodies and inhaled down throats into lungs (this happened to our labrador Sam ....Marleys younger dopier brother..) .

From the back we have Sad Chook,Hokey, Pokey, Christmases bum, and Shelley (fitting the evil label in this photo) helen Cluck is out of shot.

So that sums up the Animal side of the farm. Now onto the winter garden..

Bok Choi and (can you see them) our onion seedlings are up!~!!!! First time we have ever grown onions!!! (musnt get too smug too early obviously)

Nasturtiams and beetroot, baby brassicas and (below the ground) hopeful broad bean seeds.

And just when you thought it couldnt get anymore photographically more exciting. The brassica patch interspersed with celery, spinach and the last of the basil..

Of course i couldnt finish with out some scrapping. last Tuesdays class was this double layout. I had just torn my muscle in my shoulder and was in pain, but nothing comes between me and my scrapbooking outings..

You can tell though that this is not my bestwork. I really was in pain and the rest of my body seemed to be in sympathy with the shoulder and so I made lots of boo boos. Ive yet to write in the little tags we made to fit behind the photos, Maybe some writing will lift this L/o

I was speaking to our gorgeous tuor who comes up with these l/os and she uses her granddaughter as a model in her layouts. She said that she had about elevan albums of her that she had used. I told her what a great legacy she was leaving her and that when she was older she would treasure it. Then I thought Golly am I doing the same thing!??
I have another photo of a layout of my father duckshooting from years ago and it was in a truly AWFUL layout I did a few years back. I have redone it and was quite pleased but my camera battery just died before I couldl get it to this blog.
Check out this sketch too. I want to use it soon..
Happy scrappin, good living and frugal thoughts
until next time
Love cherry

Project life

2011-03-29T18:51:00.000-07:00

I thought I should show you that i do do other things..other than scrapbook!!!! Its just that scrapbooking has been my addiction of late. UT before I talk of other things I am desparately trying to get hold of Becky Higgins Scrapbooking project life kits..anyone know where to get them in NZ??? A few years back I had a chance to buy one ut as I was still only dabbling in scrapbooking (fabric having taken over my life) I dint by one. NOW my local shop or any shop around here doesnt have them.... Has anyone else been invilved in them...I have beenn looking on You tube and Im afraid that i may just have become obsessed....again....

With the Project life I could happily scrap delightful but everyday photos such as this one of Alex ...And a million more I take and dont want to keep in the packet or put in a doozy old album (please Im trying to get everything into scrapbooks OUT of those old photo albums)

So to other happenings on the "farm"...investing in these gorgeous days of Autumn we have been planting out the garden for Winter. Lots of brassicas, spinach and cabbage butterflies too. Still no sprays here and so we have lots of predatory insect swatrming too..its all good. In the second raised bed I have plante3d onion seeds( Which are up hurray!) and silverbeet..actually there is plenty of beet around growing for the chooks..just not that big yet. I am looking forward to putting in my garlic again and also broad beans. This is a picture of the first vegetable garden. You can see the brassicas doing their thing. I will be planting a lot more for winter yet.

The chooks are laying up a storm we get between five and six eggs most days. I think sad chook is responsile for te monster eggs we get every other day..bless her!! Hokey is very lame but seems healthy and happy in every respect so Im crossing my fingers for her.

We have all been sick, georgia has been having unexplained severe stomach pains and Alex has been under the weather. I had a night full of terrible headaches so its a day of work and school all around!
The weather is beautiful. No photos UT we have had heaps of monarch butterflies from our swan plant. The first lot ate the plant clean seemingly overnight and died. I cant believe I didnt go down to the nurasery and buy another plant??!! But the plant came back to life and now the second lot are preparing to fly off to wherever it is that they fly off to. it is a glorious sight and one I should be photographing for project life..Help someone please!!

Take care and enjoy the changing summer to Autumn Winter to spring season wherever you find yourself,
Love Cherry

gutted....

2011-03-24T00:21:00.000-07:00

That title isnt great but its how I fel right now. I should explain that for the last month or so we have been looking at a possible two year tenure on the Chatham islands. we were all excited about it even the children (who would have swelled the school numbers to 38) and were promised skype to keep in touch with their friends. There is not a High School there so really the time is now to take up this opportunity. Anyway its all turned belly up and we are just a bit devastated. The liklihood of eing able to do in wo years time is really highBUT then Georgia will be due to start High School. I could home school her, but whos to say that she will want to be going there. Anybody who knows me and my ideal of living in an isolated location living off the land will know just how appealing the Chathams was for me. It will take a while to get over ut im goping to have to trust in life the universe or the greater power that all things work out for the better.

Anyway...latest scrapping...

My pages are getting more lumpy bumpy and I will have to buy more ring file type albums. The flowers on this one I learnt to do off the MANY tutorials on youtube, and I love making all these embellishments I am finding on You tube. Its like a mini classroom!!! Off course we are whizzing through the gigbytes too fast and so i have had to put the brakes on!!

So as not to bore non scrapping friends I have included some pictures I took of the girls the other day in the park. The great ginga monster joined us as he often does and I took these pics for a double page layout I will be doing at my favourite hangout at the scrapbook shop on 1st April. Im hoping to put four photos over the two pages. Nothing special but just mygirls as they are today. Growing up , changing every minute and

becoming wiser every day.
And tonight...da da!!! Our first fire. That wonderful dust burning smell of the first fire. The scary thought we havnet had the chimney cleaned in two seasons, Alex cosing up in one of my quilts, the cats looking very pleased with themselves ready to take over from Alexs position shortly. The fact that the door lock thing still isnt closing prooperly, we didnt get it fixed over summer and the heat therefore goes up the chimney. All these things reminisent of that first fire. And talking of cosy one of the lovliest things I read in blogland recently was on Rhondas down to earth site here about her bed and the making off it. My bed is alwaqys the exact opposite to her explanation but it has been inspiring and I really want o have abed exactly like hers..check out the cosy quilt and the peaceful ambiance..

Another layout.....

I may have already blogged about this..have I??? Im such a ditz. Im also in love with butterflies and I found out about making them with stamps and transparency the other day its on YOutube (where else) and Ive lost the link now, but WOW it looks great. I cant wait to try it. I am however on a scrapbooking financial stop at t he moment and this would entail me to uy transparency, styzon ink and buterfliy stamps.

Ill say adieu now
happy scrapping...
Love Cherry the slightly melancholic scrapper.

Another layout for better scrapbooking

2011-03-14T23:10:00.000-07:00

Inspired y better scrapbookings march challenge to use odd pieces or one offs in a layout. I used a lot of recycled (Yes thats right!!) pieces to make this wedding page. Almost everything is recycled including the paper itself!!!! Did I overdo it..probably but I had a lot of tears and creases in the recycled paper to use up. Oh well, at least the the planet is in no further damage from me tonight!

Happy scrapping

love Cherry

Just scrap happy..

2011-03-14T01:39:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest LO ive been angsting over. I found these photos popped out into a small album in the back of my closet.I had to temporarily put my dilapilated album to the side to scrap a few of these old photos of ballet photos taken of georgia and Alexandria when they were pre school age. I tried to pull this first of a few LOs using my inspiration from the most incredible group of romantic fluffy incredibly beautiful scrapping blogs. THISsite is called Such a pretty mess, but it should be called impossibly beautiful.com/ as should her friends!!! I would love to be able to do the odd ~~layout~~ work of art such as hers. Go check it out....especially if you have daughters!!!~ In these beautiful layouts her daughters are always gorgeously attired and look gorgeous. Unfortunately my daughters are always runnimg around carrying dirt and detritis with them, hair in knots and wearing old clothes. And these are the photos I have mostly to scrap with. I have tried to get photos of the girls for layouts such a swould befit and a glorious layout but my girls arnt always obliging....

Anyway back to the LO...I used kaiser pages, butterflies and made my own flowers..

Learnt to make these at Scrapping class using ribbon and contact paper but there are heaps of tutorials on the internet...Im quite pleased with the leaves I came up with...

And one made with organza ribbon in green.
At the moment I am sewing lots of flowers out of lace, calico and ribbon in expectation of the next layout.

At this rate it will take me ages to scrap each page.
Our roadband is at 75% use after only a week!!!!!! This is perhaps from y late night trolling around how to scrapping sites on you tube!!!!! Its like a class a night...fabulous ut I hyave to go slow for a while at this rate!!! I wonder how many gigaites i should have to ensure fun on you tube and the children fiddling with their games and Justin Bieber takeoffs on You tube....Any ideas...we have 5...

have a great night

Love Cherry

Love Graphic 45

2011-03-08T21:43:00.000-08:00

So first things first. Over at THIS blog Just love Scrappin, are having a huge giveaway.Click on the link to enter!!

Now onto other scrapping news. i went to the cropping night last night and came home with the plans to do this layout. With my gorgeous graphic 45 papers I completed it. I am deciding on a photo for this one. Im hoping someone will give me a copy of eaarly relations to put in it. I have a lovely one from before the first world war of my grandmother at a wedding but it would have to go landscape. i have put the mat on loosley but it doesnt look great that way up. The other thing is getting a copy of my Nanas wedding in 1930 with just her and her husband cropped. We'll see.

Anyway for reasons I wont go into here, I wasnt allowed to do this layout at the night and so flummexed I turned to our lovely tutor. I had nothing to go on no photos with me ut after I (and she) spent time drooling over these Alice in wonderland halloween papers she haad plenty of ideas for me to go with. And this is what i came away with (i put the photos in at home0. because I had a major doopy moment and cut up the wording on the pages i have left a lot of "white space" ut as a arty piece I think it actually works. I LOVE the paper. I love Graphic 45 ut their papers are so glorious i am stumped as to what to do with them! Im so glad our tuor is Georgina. You should really visit her at hastings Ruber Stamps when she is in. She is a genius!!!

Isnt it amazing how Autumn came so swiftly. One moment is unbleliveably hot the next the temperatures have droppped alrminglty. Hear hear i say!!!! It was a long summer.

Love Cherry

What a scrapper

2011-03-04T23:57:00.000-08:00

Today we finally got broadband via slingshot....what a difference. I never thought in terms of this blog, but uploading it took about two minutes as oppossed to 20 minutes. perhaps Ill blog more!!!!

So Ive been scrapping and reading. I read two moons and despite the fact i am not a teenager I am going to read reaking Dawn next. I looked up the Hastings library catalogue and all the copies were out....the only one available was a large print!!!!! Either no teenager wants to be seen with this version or they havent pegged on to this edition. Im going tomorrow and hopefully it will still be there for me..Uh oh more late nights!!! Actually in the library the twilight books are filed under teenage fiction but in book stores they are in the adult fiction...himmm. Doesnt make me feel so bad now. They are beautifully written and just the nost romantic thing yo could lay your hands on. Well i think so anyway!So onto the scrapping.... This layout was from a previous layout I did when i first started. it was horrible!!!! Unfortunately I had cut out all the figures and so i had to come up with a whimsical theme. After much in car waiting for the kids sketching on my chequebook I came up with this concept. Its not great but a WORld away from the original.

Then there is this. Ive finally done these pages using the Suar Sugar range from Kaiser. Ive had them since last year just for this purpose but was stumped as to how to scrap. This top sketch came from a sketch site and Im going toenter it in their competition just becasue..

Another wedding layout. So glad to be getting these done. its only elevan years ago.... I borrows an idea from the scrapping class i went to last week. So that made it worth the money.

The kaiser range again...I made a hidden journalling spot...not that its private or anything but I love the idea and I always think my handwriting looks so unproffessional, even when I try to slop it up a bit . The experts look so good somehow at this..I wonder how they do it??? I bought a new printer on Friday..so I will be going back to journalling with the fancy fonts from the computer.

Thats all for now. Its still so muggy here even though it has been raining. The girls are always covered in mossie bites and I bought some special itching cream to solve their woes which took exactly twelve hours to dissappear into the chasms of the house...now we are back to savlon cream and Dads eczema cream. One day im going to find a big hole where all the special creams and poyions and extras i buy have fallen into hours after they have entered the house.

Have a good night

Im loving broadand

Love Cherry

Scrapping and watching for news

2011-02-28T01:50:00.000-08:00

What an incredible seven days it has been..Since the Christchurch earthquake i have been glued to the screen watching the sort of bleak and catastrophic images normally coming from countries a long way away. Although I always thought a earthquake of this magnitude would happen (and i always thought it would be in our particular part of the shaky isle), I guess I never thought the devastation witnessed would happen again (And by again I mean the napier earthquake in 1931). After the big earthquake which bought sown uildings and stopped the city in Septemer, not one person was killed, And so I think I followed that even in big earthquakes we were somehow charmed that death would not follow these natural disasters. How wrong i was. I am weighing up a few options (apart from donating money thats a no brainer) on how best to help. When the Australian bushfires came, our local quilting shop put the call out and we all sent quilts for the victims. id like to do that again. i have about four or five quilt tops needing to be quilted. Or I could make a toy for children, or donate goods. So many things to consider.

In amonst this I have been doing a little scrapping..I took a rest for a couple of days. Tomorrow night I go to my scrapbooking class. where we are shown and provided with the tools for a gorgeous layout. Tomorrow is a lack and white layout that I peeked at briefly. Ive a feeling it would look good with one of Mums earlier glamourous photos. It is good to scrap her like this when the reality of her life now is so very very different, and Im talking of coursr, about the curse of Altzeimers. When i look at her back then i can almost forget the now..almost.

So these camping layouts are Three Bugs in a Rug that i have been contemplating for a few weeks sincve I bought the matching papers. I really enjoy puttin whimsical pictures together and have done that with this one..

And i still have a sizeable amount of scraps left....which is just as well as I have MANY photos of camping left to scrap,!!!

Another one I put together. I mounted the butterflies (from kaiser paper) on foam tape to 3 D them. Im actually quite pleased with this one, sometimes doing this sort of scrapping can look disastrous...

Using kaiser le Chateau paper again and the chandeliar embellishment I scrapped the long ago wedding photos....

And I was pleased to use up scraps and leftovers from previous classes at scrapbooking days. The forever came from a big canvas we did a few weeks back and reported on in this blog...somewhere... I stole the two birds idea but the templates were from that class too...yeha for leftovers!

And so Ill leave you tonight. Once again it is late and I have work tomorrow and looking after five year olds and their demands is no fun when You are tired!!

Love to you

Cherryxxx

and still she scraps...

2011-02-21T00:22:00.000-08:00

I seem to be in a perpetual motion of paper and glue lately..and loving it. I thinkk giving myself permission to give up quilting has given me the freedom to scrap and only scrap. I went into Spotlight TWICE today!!! And I am so naughty to spend this money really BUT....

So these two layouts are from the airy fairy collection from kaiser. Spotlight has opened up a new really big range of kaiser collections and last week they were on sale..alas not this week. I have some lovely papers to play with. Tomorrow both girls are going to camp until Friday. I plan to get some serious uninteruppted scrapping done!!! I would rather be at camp with them but so many parents volunteer that they drew from hats. Still i am going to the School swimming sports in the morning then driving them to camp then a hike....they will all be exhausted!!

I was once again reminded of the reason I scrap when i received a visit from some friends I havent seen in a while.

They had news that a fellow friend and old co worker of GHIU had died very sudddenly after feeliong ill for a few days. A young fifty and a cheerful lovely person who was just a little joy to be around I eralised once again the fraility of life. Its so important for me to capture what life is all about. That our moments are so special and to capture them in memory ifeels to me as if I am capturing the very sustance of our lives.

Happy scrapping

Love Cherry

my wedding layouts

2011-02-20T01:05:00.000-08:00

..and its only taken elevan years to get these photos scrapped!! Actually they were ina tatty old album and its kind of neat to get them back in order and remember the day. Both these pages i didnt actually scrap lift...a miracle!! I am over handstitching on pages for a while thou..way too many finger pricks and I do that enough quilting let alone doing it for scrapping.

have a happy week people!

love Cherryxx

Scrapping and running out of ideas....

2011-02-18T03:31:00.000-08:00

Two more los tonight..Im on fire. This one was put together with scraps including some free magazine paper..I tried ti get it to pull together..Im known for getting VERY lost when not dealing with matching papers. I think it worked? I hope it worked........

These papers were part of my shopping binge at Hsrub today. I bought them because I had bought three of the same(by accident) papers from the sale stock!!! Not much of a sale when i went back and bought another three to finish a lo. But hopefully I have enough to make another layout.

For all the magazines and internet hopping I do i am stuck now. I cant seem to pull things together unless i have papers of the same type embellishments etc. When i do try to put things from different designers together it often ends in tears!!1

its very late and GHIU is away so Im taking advantage hogging the computer til the early hours!!1 have to sleep now though because my two girls will not afford me the freedom to comfortably sleep in in the morning!!

Im thinking i may do some wedding photos tomorrow. I bought a pack of black and white romaantic papers from the warehouse and they are now calling to me! I also spent money today buying sets of camping papers for a trip yet to be scrapped two years ago. But i still need to find a sketch or layout to copy. having bought these papers im a bit stumped. perhaps I just need to go sleep.

Isnt it strange when the man of the house is away, the sounds you suddenly seem to hear all night from utside. Ive already called the dog around to make sure hes on guard tonight! What a woss!!

happy scrapping

love Cherryxx

A scrapping frenzy!

2011-02-17T19:52:00.000-08:00

Well nor exactly a frenzy but certainly my fingers have been itching to do some pages. Now i have cleared away the ~~hobby room,craft area,~~ tiny corner of the lunge of detritis to do with sewing, quilting,stuffing, wadding, scraps and magazines, I have ~~lots~~ some room to produce some layouts, or as I just discovered the shorthand for- los- I really want to empty a thick old falling apart album with about a couple of hundred of mostly georgias first and second year photos and I got rid of three of them last night! The first I made all pink and actually used some older embellishments that have been gathering dust down the bottom of my scrapbooking ~~drawers~~ plastic ripped box that holds my supplies. And the paper which was a mark down YEARs ago at hasRubs store. I then made a flower and stamped the leaves that i am ridiculously pleased with....

See here..its all in the details. I often wonder if in years to come if all these trendy and much loved at the moment embellishments will be laughed at like old fashion? but for now..i love it..

Then while putting the page away i discovered this page that I recently redid of Alexs first day at twyford. The first lo was horrid and I had cut out the figures so was limited in my new lo, but i love these whimsical pages that other people do and copied bits and pieces for this. Ive still got another (inside the classroom) to do. Same thing thought Id be artsy at the time cut out the figures and now have to come up with an inside environment..brain is always ticking overtime on that one.. (any ideas appreciated). Anyway loved the details on this one. Stunned myself that it actually came out ok!!!!!

See what i mean...madly bowled over by whimsical stuff like this!

And then my last lo. This was free pages that came with a scrapbook magazine and I cropped and I used my loved white pen, and some chipbord from Christmas that says peace..because i didnt have enough letters to go with "Sleep' or ":Dream"!!! Im kinda happy with this one, didnt really go the way i had planned thanks to some over zealous paper cutting earlier on in the journey and in mod podging (I LOVE Mod Podge) the back and the front of the chipboard the H got a bit grubby errrrrrrr. But its in, its finished.Next!!

I went to my favourite scrapping store today and bought up 50.00 worth of stuff (i had that much of my Chrissie pressent voucher left). I now have some lovvely paper and blank chipboard letters, stickers and pens. I CANT WAIT!

I have to go now. my chooks are out in the tomato garden and id like to think they are only eating the bugs and not the radich, carrots, silverbeet babies hiding under the tom plants. Speaking of toms we have a bumper season. Heaps of Romas drying in the oven for sundried toms in oil, and tons of heritage and cherries and these i will be making relish with. probably when both my babies go to camp next week.
Happy scrapping and tomoato picking
Love Cherryxx

Almost wordless Wednesday Scrapping over the Xmas break

2011-02-15T23:21:00.000-08:00

I think Im becoming a obsessed scrapper. I think Im taking a unofficial break from quilting and turning instead to housework, doing up the house and scrapping. It used to be that I had a fetish for fabric. I couldnt pass a fabric shop without looking at and touching and dreaming of the fabrics within. Now its that way with paper. Hastings rubber stamps is my latest obssession. I go to classes there, stop there on the way home from town, go there just for the hell of it. Look at the examples on the walls, gaze at the papers and wish i had a creative brain to go with the creative urges within! Over Christmas I scrapped and scrapped. Old Christmases(not ALL yet) and the new. I am truly over Christmas now and wanting to get going again. Vintage, the girls, my childhood, early love with the GHIU everything...except Christmas..that Ill get my mojo back in time for next year!!! im also entering Wearable arts with georgia and twyford School so soon all my attention will be on that. Without further ado and apologising for my lack of technique with the photogtraphy here are peeks at the scrapping from the holidays........

These packs were reduced to a couple of dollars at the end of December!!!

And these papers were $1.00 per pack!!!

These were free in a magazine...

As were these, and I did the "JOY" myself..sometimes i scare myself with my abillity to actually do something right!!!

Lovely papers from hastings rubber stamps.

Mmore gorgeous papers..... they were marked down to a couple of dollars per pack.

Happy scrapping

Love Cherry xx

My new piano seat.

2011-02-13T16:39:00.000-08:00

Well not a "new" seat actually but one thats been around since my childhood. I have had it for a few years now and have been planning to tapestry the seat, then cross stitch, then put upholstery fabric, but THEN I stumbled across this

website and saw that Cherry Menlove had patchworked hers. I had NEVER thought to do that but hers looked so lovley I quickly followed suite. Im really pleased with the way it has turned out. It really looks fresh now and i like the pinks. I had thought to do the whole Menlove treatment and paint it white, but the mahogony still looks quite good and with the baby grand in dark wood it may have looked to out there.So I left it.

Thanks Cherry!!

These things make me a happy girl....

2011-01-30T23:45:00.000-08:00

Over Christmas I went on a manic scrapping adventure. I scrapped heaps of past Christmases and made it all into an exclusive album. I COULDNT WAIT for Christmas photos to be dveloped so i could scrap them. I bought heaps of gorgeous Christmas papers and stickers and embellishments. Ans then it happened. I LOST mr scrapping MoJo!!! So when this course came up to do a big canvas that I had signed up and paid a deposit on came up i wouldnt have bothered going..escept Id already paid $30.00 towards it. But during the course of the morning the strangest thing came to me..inspiration!! I knew it would. Good old scrapping classes. below is the finished project. It makes me very happy and now lives on the wall in the living room. i was especially glad to put up some new photos as I seem to only have baby photos up.

And preserving has been so much more fun now i pretty them up with farics and string.. And I cleared a lovely spot where I had the old microwave to store them.

I started back at my School today and the girls start at theirs tomorrow. The holidays ARE over after all

- sigh-

Happy Schooldays

Love Cherryx

The Tax Man cometh....

2011-01-20T02:29:00.000-08:00

It all began about two weeks ago..I received a tax form dating back to 2005 when i was on the Kindergarten board. I had only gone to one meeting for which I received about $70.00 before I resigned. I was told at the time that I could claim back the tax on this, but as I resigned after only one meeting and as a mum at home not working I never received tax forms ever. usually I would recieve my tax letter back saying I was owed thirty cenets or some such. So tax was never a big deal. In 2005 we started receiving tax credits under the working for families scheme. Anyway two weeks or so ago I received this form and it basically said that I would be owed a tax credit for that withholding tax of the kindy thing blady blady blah, and so i ticked the boxes and signed away and never gave it another thought..until today....SO apparently because I never filed a tax return in 2005 They never did my tax refund/pay back. Now they have ...and they found that they had over paid me by 400 odd dollars which i owed..they also discovered that because of this they had worked out that for that same year GHIU now owed 400 odd. NOW here is the zinger, they have also charged interest for all those years we didnt know we owed (and neither did they becasue theyve only just worked this out) that between us we owe another $1000 in interest. try explaining my side of the story to the tax man...I dare you... I just ended up teary eyed saying things like "I dont understand' over and over.. Then the ghiu had his turn and he boldly took the phone and spoke what he saw as grossly unfair with a look of confidence in his eyes before he too eventually just lost the will to live and gave up.. Anyway long and short is that they are putting us on to the SPecial unit (!) to see if they can do something about the interest. If they cant Im going to see our local MP!!! So all in all not the most positive of days and we feel as if we should just dig a great hole and jump into it-

So what to do when you are financially depressed ? A)Cheer oneself up by making a union jack cushion from your scraps . Tutorial here

B) Send the children out to see spare eggs and spare garlic..

Put a number of handmade quilts at cheap prices on Trade Me and

read positive and inspiring messages from such frugal and good sites such as here

and here

And not to forget this most favourite of cheerful and lovely sites here.

And Pray.Lots.And dont think to hard about other soon to be whopping bills to pay. Because. It. All. will. sort. itself. out.

Wishing you all a happy night

Cherry

Grateful for

2011-01-18T19:14:00.000-08:00

A short while ago I was lolling about in the pool in this beautiful hot day and it was bliss...I would really have liked to take a photo of the view of the cool blue water with my tippytoes floating upwards but it is dangerous to take a camera into the pool and besides who could be bothered?! So instead i came in cooled down and refreshed grabbed a popsical and snapped this photo from my computer area window (which also happens to be the bedroom). yes life is good and i am very very grateful.

With love

Cheerily Cherry

Keeping summer in the pantry

2011-01-18T03:06:00.000-08:00

I was just saying that it really feels like summer once the preserving has egun. I dont even like Gherkins, but this year the thought of bottling something i have organically (well, to the best of my ability)fills me with joy. Most times I have to buy the fruits when they are cheapest and then preserve them, but I had hoped growing gherkins was obtainable. And so after a daft batch of too early gherkins fizzled in a jar I then waited for some more to grow WAY bigger and today got a half decent jar, which i have pickled with my own garlic no less!!And so I present the finished item:

I just have to say that it is both a joy and a pain that more people are doing this for themselves. This is because it is FABTASTIC that everyone is going back to growing and preserving their own, the planet has so much hope now...but two of our biggest supermarkets didnt have white vinegar!! Also agee tops and accessories can be hard to come buy if you leave it til the last moment. I was okay I bought spiced vinegar for my picklesw but i am out of White..

I then turned to making a double batch of ice cream with the abundance of eggs we have. All the girls are laying at full strength although a couple of my old girls have begun the moult...this is very exciting for us as last year they didnt go through the moult...small things... Anyway the ice cream is an adult ice cream although Alex didnt have a scoop of it. It is made with Baileys. It was a beautiful creamy and proffessional (As Georgia called it) but very rich. To get throug it we may have to use the six jars of strawberry jam I (stupidly) made with half the sugar as sauce...Must.Not.Waste..

The mistake bathc of Jam/sauce in the pantry, I made another two batches and then came over all domestic goddess(Something I attain to) and put pretty pink material(which is the backing to my pink quilt) and made little covers. So pretty next to the stewed plums and new wine glasses. Then GHIU put his ginger beer rustically next to it all.! But the promise of ginger beer is exciting. Im glad he did it as I couldnt be bothered..He is always after the perfect ginger beer and this one came from the same book that the Gherkins and The baileys ice cream came from (which is Honegrown #no 2 if your interested)

The humidity today is dreadful, there has been light showers, and humidity so thick its a bit like walking around in a steamy shower (well thats what it feels like anyway) The rest of Nz is going to be having a few storms and heavy rain warnings, but it seems other than the odd saving grace of a strong breeze we are missing out on the drama. HOWEVER we didnt escape the drama of an earthquake. 5.5 so not a tiny one!! It is earthquake weather after all.!
Happy shaking
Love Cherry

Introducing........

2011-01-15T02:53:00.000-08:00

Mr Jingles AKA squeak and Stuart Little AKA Steve..

Once the ghiu caught these rather overexcited pair we realised that they actually wont take off and prefer to stay close by. Since this photo They have become really tame and Squeak especially has mastered a little trick for our Cirque due Mousee show. They are so cute and apart from sonstantly having to drag The Ginga away as he tapped and played with the cage all night really havent been any trouble. The do pong though and are very unforgiving with potty time when I seem to handle them. Bless.

I finished my pink quilt for our bed this winter tonight. I will buy some of the same type backing to border the quilt so that it becomes reversible also I dont think the width is really there right at the moment. It makes a huge difference having the sewing machine upstairs with me. Where once I could only hand sew upstairs now I can be social and sew up a storm. Im not sure how to quilt this one i was thinking some sort of circle way... Might have to seek some professional advice on this one.

have a good night. The GHIU is off for two weeks after tomorrow..Hurray, days at the beach and at Splash planet and at Ocean Spa I think!!!

Happy holidays

Love Cherry

Onwards go I crafting

2011-01-13T02:19:00.000-08:00

I have been busy the last few days making up cute little stockings that will hang across the fireplace at Xmas with lollies and canes etc inside. These little advent stockings have yet to be paired up with the wool that will suspend them but I have laid them out to give a brief look at how they should somewhat look. Remember to check out cherrymenlove.com to see the original. I tried to keep as much to Cherrys as close as possible as I just wanted to covet hers the moment they appeared in the Home and Antiques magazine (Britain)

Arnt they cute?!

Then absolutely itching for yet more Christmas crafts I pulled together this felt ornament from a photo in another magazine. So much fun to make up. Id like to make another for each of my girls. They have their own colllections of decorations that I have bought, made or they have chosen for themselves. Earlier I tried to buy things that represented them, like their years in ballet..each year Id find little ballerinas in whatever their Christmas production colours would be that year. This year I managed to find a owl for Owl mad georgia and a reinder for Alex plus I made them a felt owl each as well.

The big (small) news is that against all the best commom sense in the world the girls took ownership of two pet baby mice the other day. The babies are not anywhere as tame as we were led to believe infact they are ~~very frisky, shy~~, down right wild as field mice!!! This is generally a big worry as the girls try to catch them and the odd time succeed to hold a very Houdini type creature. The girls want so desparately to hold them, its no good telling them to take their time....So two wild mice, two over excited girls, three cats and one dog. What could possibly go worng?? Already the cats have been enjoying the new cat television..

The GHIU reluctantly came on board with this whole idea..I think he was out numbered and he knew it. Poor man in a girls house!!

Have a happy night and enjoy your pets!

Love Cherry

Pulling myself up again...

2011-01-12T17:00:00.000-08:00

The infamous quilt

Yesterday was a great day until just a couple of really nasty people managed to destroy that. Im talking real low lifes. Worse..they bought out the worst in me . I momentarily stepped out of myself and saw the screaming banshee i had become in that moment..not pretty! Talk about feel appalling. I wont go into any details except to say that i was seriously wronged and it really challenged my belief in the human race. But only temporarily. Because I came home to hugs and kisses from my gorgeous girls and support from the GHIU. After a while i dragged my knuckles off the ground and made some stewed plums wed been given. Felt better..

Then I sewed..the one therapy foolproof for my soul . Later that night I was actually able to watch "Sons" sew and have a laugh with the gorgeous hubby in Uniform. I still today feel headachy and depressed though, I guess some things take longer to get over than others.

Stocking advent from Cherrymenlove.com

When life hands you lemons.....

Far above you can see the finished ~~swastika, Gestapo,~~ Flyboy scrap quilt. I hadnt really wanted to finish it when I saw the shape it was taking..when The GHIU pointed out that I was infact stitching swastikas. I couldnt believe I hadnt seen it... But recently I pulled it out again and looked up on the internet and infact the block was used long before nazis took it up, and it was a sign of good luck. As someone pointed out 12 years of use by one evil lot of entities shouldnt consign it to the hated bin..but its hard to go past the fact that what it stood by in WW2 will shape it forever. About half the people I show it todont actually see the swastikas in this quilt by the way.
Im now looking forward to finishing my gorgeous stocking advent and also trying my hand at copying some gorgeous felt decorations i saw in a magazine and then I will continue on with my pink quilt, which will replace the blue one I won from Wallace cottons a few years back. It has never sat comfortably with me since I saw the program on tv documenting what goes on in the sewing work houses in India. Wallace Cotton has the most beautiful quilts made there and ive never known what sort of ethical conditions lie behind their works. I hope it was made ethically. I alwyas support any organisation that supports there local community overseas in inpoverished conditions.
On that note we had great fun choosing our Christmas gifts for Oxfam this year. We ended up donating, school books and pencils and chooks and feed. This was by far the best thing weve donw in years. In the past i had great joy knitting for orphans in Romania, sending new books and pencils to Africa . But this is something that the kids decided on and became part of.
Have a great day
Love Cherry

Lack of inspirational MOJO

2011-01-10T20:41:00.000-08:00

prim ducks

Where Oh where is my energy? Yesterday i was full of inspiration and decorating joy. Keen to sew and to clean and to organise. The vacuum came out and most of the dirty washing...but today..nothing. Im also really lethargic. So to compensate Im looking through this website of Cherry Menlove. I discovered when i got a magazine..the Christmas edition of Homes and Antiques from the library. I actually almost didnt get it because i had a huge fine from when i lost and then found some books and was feeling very mean and penny pinching..thanks goodness i decided to spend the $2.10 for this new magazine loan, because in it was Cherry menloves house all decorated up for Christmas. I was absolutley inspired and it was pure eye candy for my house of my dreams heart!! I went to her website to see if i could get a closer picture of her handmade advent calender and there amongst other gorgeous tutorials was a whole tutorial. I could have cried!!! So today in amongst the lethary i rode into town with my girls and we stopped off at Spotlight to uy the pink, blue and white felt required. The lady asked what i was doing with the felt aqnd when i told her she burst out laughing and the other shop assistants all had a gawp at me. it is nothing new for me to continue with the Christmas theme until sometime in march and I usually keep Christmas crafting until Christmas is just a wee memory. She thought I was very organised...I said that this will be my third advent. The first one was a cross stitch number, the second my Kaisercraft scrapbooked one and now this. It is so gorgeous..See for yourself at her site under My Crafts.
I actually was given a quilted heart kit to make a Christmas wreath that is finished off with beads and gold cord, and I made it but didnt think to take a photo of it...Oh well youll just have to wait until next Christmas!
I have my delicious bacon and egg pie in the oven. I got the recipe from GrassRoots and it has masses of eggs bacon and cheese, surrounded by a puff pastry..even the girls like it! Thanks goodness I had this up my sleeve my energy levels are such that KFC might have been the deal (although my budget does not like tthis suggestion..as does my chicken loving heart, something that i struggle with everytime I take a drive through the colonels takeaway.

Happ crafting

Cherry

MeMes Quilts

This is how we do it in NZ

2011-01-03T03:15:00.000-08:00

I know that quite a few of the blogs I read are in America and the UK and I see all the snow and all the frozen lands there..but this is how we spend Christmas and the New year in NZ.!!

As I write it is midnight the only time to do anything other than swim is at night....it is too hot. I am sunburnt on the back of my legs...silly me. The girls and th GHIU are all a nice brown colour!

Tonight we went to the river and the GHIU set up a fire where we cooked susuages and roasted marshmallows. The girls swam around and as the sun went down the little trout began to jump. it was great!

I am busy trying to finish patching my Flyaby quilt, my machine is now upstairs where I usually hand sew. This is to give me more time to actually finish off these UFOs this year. We'll see.

It is late so nighty night

Love Cherry

Our Kiwi Christmas

2010-12-27T18:15:00.000-08:00

There are some things that stay the same year after year...tradition..and i love it. Sometimes you start a tradition without even knowing it when it is done the first time. The photo below is a mailbox in the rural outskirts of hastings that is dressed up like this a few days out from Christmas. The owners have been doinf this for a few years now and I knew I had to capture it on film asa this has become one of our Christmas icons. It is normaly there when we pass it to pick up our Christmas tree which is another couple of miles down the road. And wouldnt you know it the images folder on blogger seems to be doing its own thing!!Oh well next time maybe I can get the photo!!

And so Christmas Day arrives and it is hot..really hot..but not humid..a miracle! After a large lunch and dessert that lasted for a few hours, several games of cricket, children running around with their own games, we headede to the river down the road to cool off.

Alex chose this shirt for her Daddy...everyone liked it.

And then boxing day came around and it was into our own pool for the girls..their are no photos becasue mum and Dad had completely passed out from exhaustion and heat and humidity(again)....

The day after boxing we all went to Napier to good friends for a delicious tea.....our fourth ham so far..and Ive lost count of the pavlovas consumed. Before all this we went to Ocean Spa to swim..honestly it is so hot the only place to be is in the water.

Today it is very humid again and I am waiting to get into the pool after this post. It is VERY windy and our Park is a major devastation of broken limbs and felled greenery. I tried to get the wind in this photo but it may be hard to see..

And then the wind blew in this flash flood of a storm!! The girls are in the pool and loving it.

Playing a new Monopoly game . Santa left this for Alex . It has a electronic credit card system instead of cash and when you pass go you get 2 million!! Georgia has bought lake Taupo and the Waitangi Treaty grounds. It is at this point that The gorgeous hubby in uniform takes interest...We are having a game tonight.. I hope to win some farm land....

I sewes a whole lot of ornaments..none of which Ive been able to post :( but this one did, I hand made the wreath and stamped the card and rustically finished it off with baling twine!

Til next time

Swimmingly yours

Cherry

A harvest complete in time for Santa

2010-12-23T16:58:00.000-08:00

I hope Santa catchces sight of these beautiful garlic bulbs harvested this morning. As for me, I am so excited. This is my first success growing garlic!!

This December has been sooooo stressful, what with sickness, hospital stays, no money due to sick leave and other very stressful things not written here. However tonight is Christmas eve and (I think) it is all sorted. It will be lovely and lovlier to leave the stress ehind and I say that with some sadness as usually Christmas is THE season for me.

I wish you and yours a very happy Christmas and we here will be enjoyiong the eve movies on Tv with KFC and also I will be sewing little felt ornaments(!!!) Typical!

Happy Christmas wishes

Love Cherry

Scrapping the Chrissy photos

2010-12-17T13:15:00.000-08:00

And so here are some of the Christmas scrapping pieces I have done..I havent included all of them. I have really enjoyed doing these and there are plenty to do. Im hoping for some Scrapping vouchers this Chrissy!! Actually i went into the scrapping shop and there on the wall was a tremendous piece on canvas. It was gorgeous!!! Anyway it is going to be a class in Feb 2011. I have my name down! The cost is $70.00 so Ill be putting money on it bit by bit so it will be less painful then paying as I leave the class. It really is so beautiful, a comination of shabby chic and antique with the three photos in sepia to match the colours of the canvas. YUM!!

At my none oclock walk about, feeding the chickens and having to slosh through the mud that is their run at the moment, I took a moment to have a small harvest. One egg, four strawberries, one chicken (Pokey the jumper) on the nest, and then I went to my two much neglected old packing boxes, filled with straw and grass clippings, racked apart by the chooks, not watered at all then when i remembered watered into a drowning frenzy and so i was pleasantly surprised to see this little gold mine of new tatties there. plus one of the boxes was filled with fat juicy worms, so many in fact that it reminded me of a worm farm (which by the way i want)..I think I will add a few piles of old straw and some food scraps to this because the composition that has gone in this is quite unbelievable.

And finally to finish here is Alex in hospital. less her heart. She was so sick. She still has a cough but all her antibiotics are finally finished and she went for her first post sickness swim the other day..she has missed the pool so much!

Happy scrapping and harvesting
Love Cherry

Another posting finally

2010-12-17T03:55:00.000-08:00

...But I have an excuse. Whilst looking forward to Christmas and all that holds with that small frission of fear financially, Alex took REALLY sick and got pneumonia. She was in hospital for five days and this was after four days of illness at home. So on her admission we were both fully exhausted!! I stayed with her all the time with a bit of a swap with GHIU and georgia to go home shower, buy some self sufficiency magazines and Christmas special magazines and rush back again. Then when Alex got out and was still recovering I immediately got the flu and bronchitis....it was ggoing around and I went straight to the Dr for antibiotics as I didnt want to end up in Hospital, but I ended up sleeping for days straight, and a week off work (Boo Hoo bank account), then Georgia starts to cough......lets just say I wasnt leaving the surgery without antibiotics.!!! Amazing how many children and adults have succumbed to this bronchitis bug in the last feww weeks although Alex was the most severe.

And so we got the Christmas tree and can I say it is beauty, but we were all too miserable to decorate it properly. it took days, not even the children got into it!! Talk about a miserable run up to Christmas....

I am slwly making up for lost time, although this year will be bereft of my Christmas cake and other goodies. I will however soon be cooking up lots of pavlovas for Christmas Day cel;ebrations in the country with family. It seems the most ovious thing to do with my chickens laying happily!

We finished School yesterday at 12pm....oh the bliss in that. This morning we were having a busy sleep in and were flat out (literally). Its a gorgeous feeling six whole weeks of holidays in front of us. I hope I can save up enough peenies to buy a large tent (rather than our two small ones) and go away at some point. I have willing house/chook/cat sitters arranged!

I have also been scrapping previous Christmases. It seems so much easier to do while in the middle of Christmas moods! I really will post some pics when I can locate my camera!

The rain has been falling finally in between great yawning banks of humid and heat and my garden is producing its first raspberries, strawberries, its first zuccini..trying to become a marrow, the garlic is looking thick and strong and I am immensely proud of this and am looking forward to the shortest day to harvest (when is that?). What else have i had, well there a re weeds aplenty, it is wild jungle out there, and when I can battle out into the humidity and sweat profusely for a short while while I pull out weeds and wild wheat

the chooks get that plus some silver beat gone to seed. Tommorrow i am going to dig out the potatoes that didnt do so well (How could they covered in lawn clippings and scavenged and dug up by the chooks. Who knows if there will be any treasure?) Also have a date with the chook area..a serios date one that right now in the cool of the night seems inviting but by tomoorow will seem less so!
I should go and get some sleep . Although I havent been blogging i have been reading others and its lovely to see the English and Americian season preparations. So cold there right now....we are melting here!

WIshing you a warm Chirstmas run up
Love Cherry

Welcome to my Christmas !!

2010-11-30T00:23:00.000-08:00

So I thought Id walk you through some of the Christmas decs I have up. I started November 1st..I always think Christmas needs to be drawn out efore the big day. I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!

This quilt I finished piecing back in the year. I bought this with a gift voucher from the gorgeous huby in uniform. I pulled it out just a few weeks ago and have been sewing my fingers raw to get it finished. Last night as i was sewing the binding on I found two smaller panels I hadnt stippled. With my wonky leftover cotton, my bleeding fingers and the time restraint I just about went crazy at this discovery!! But earlier today..FINALLY..finished. I had to finish it as every year I make a Chrissy craft especially for that year and put the year on it. So this with Merry Christmas 2010 HAD to go up!!

Rudolph..made from a Handmade magazine. Sitting on the mantle next to Granddads clock..

My fireplace this year. I made all this arrangement and commotted a cardinal sin in that the fireplace is not cleaned out for summer. I hate this only it was clean eforehand then we got a cold spell. Now in order to clean it again all the decs would have to be removed as the ash and dust would contaminate everything..and I do not want to have to take everything down, so this will be done instead sometime in January. ut iot irks me what lays behind this small scene.

Here is last years 2009 craft. I love these. They came cut out and unfinished from a friend. The second one with Joy on them is missing his moustache and looks like an Amish Santa.The first one has 2009 on its base.

I love this prim Santa..well hes as prim as I could get him. The Night before Christmas book is the most beautifully illustrated book..it looks a bit tatty now which years ago I would have hated but now I love the look!!

And that is all for now. On the 27th November our Local Christmas tree farm opened. We got there a couple of hours after it opened and there were heaps of people. Well pick it up in the the next couple of weeks or so.

Alex has had a coughing flu since Thursday and is really miserable. Today the Doc gave her antibiotics but since then she has been vomitting because she is drinking but not eating other than Popsicals. Poor Alex.

It is sweltering here too. It was in the thirties today (in November!!!) So very hot and so very miserable with a sick girl in the house.

Ou new chooks have amalgamated well with the older flock. Only problem is the Hokey. Pokey and Christmas all look identical now. The new chooks just love to sun their wings in the hot sunshine which induces the others to join in. Six chooks all lying around on one side with one wing extended out is too cute for words. Plus lately we have been feasting on Crayfish and the chooks get a decent feed from this as well. The new girls absolutely fal l upon this meat as if they have been having it all their lives!!! Too funny!

I'll post more Christmas decorating next time...Ive been scrapping too!! Its so hot..if only I could do these crafts in the swimming pool!!

Happy times in the heat

Love Cherry

chicken news from the urban farm

2010-11-20T17:21:00.000-08:00

We had the sad demise of Henrietta the other day, Despite the fact that she had been sick on and off for ages and then this time really waswnt going to pull through and despite the fact that I went around saying:wheres theres livestock theres deadstock and despite nme saying all the right things to the children and thinking of the tiny hen brain contained within I was still very depressed when she died. And of course I was the one that found her..and had to remove her...GHIU buried her though. A very touching funeral service was had around the base of the grapefruit tree and Georgia put a lovely cross of pebbles down afterward. The next day while checking my plants over in that area I inadvertantly stepped on the mound of fresh earth simking my foot into the mound and the cross and ruining the grave site.
So having lost one of our little hens we then went to the egg farm and bought two young pullets. Hokey and pokey..I cant tell them apart really. Anyway we have had them segregated off from the others and all the attendent problems that brings. (a real pain in the butt frankly). They have been laying gorgeous little deep brown eggs. I would like to have got one older hen but they arnt available until November end. Still the feeling that weve rescued these guys does the soul a lot of good...as long as I dont think of the other few thousand chooks left. The oppressed has becomes the oppressor with Sad Chook marching sentry like up and down the fenced partition grabbing mouthfuls of feathers from screeching chickens from time to time. She of all chooks should feel some empathy. Maybe shes just trying to make her mark before she again gets pushed to the bottom of the pecking order y the young ones!!!
Its been great seeing the young hens learning to live in the fresh air and experiencing life as it should be for the first time. They are still quite skittish and I think just realising now (day six) that human equalls food! ut to see them dust bathing in sctasy or fanning their wings out to catch the morning sun is just delightful.
I have no digital camera at present . It is in room 5 at twyford School in georgias desk. SHe and I are both as bad as one another at rememering things and so that camera has been out of my reach to use here for a week now..... I did want to post pictures here. So Ill do it next time.
Crafts:
I have been having a ball scrapbooking and making mini albums as well and lots of Christmas layouts .
My fingers are munted from trying to finish qulting a CHristmas quilt. Im down to stippling the order and then of courser theres the binding. It has been embellished with merry Christmas 2010 so it is imperative that it goes up this Chhristmas!!!!
Hopefully more photos sson.
We are all holding our breath over in this side of the world for our trapped miners. Just awful news so close to Christmas (well anytime actually)

Best wishes Cherry

Im back and scrappin"

2010-10-19T21:07:00.000-07:00

So with my glorious OCD rearing its inglorious head again Ive found some solace in scrapping and crafts..some would say I never left that particular solace!!! I had this course books for months to do thiis gorgeous advent calender from Kaisercrafts. My photo is soooo bad on this one but it looks so great. Old vintage and a heirloom piece. Then i went and bought akit to make for a good friend of mione for Christmas. I was a perfectionist the next time around and made a better job although you couldnt tell looking at the finished results. Inspired totally by the course and really falling into love with sscrapping again I did these few pages ......

Ta Da!!!

Ta Da!

Ta DA!!!

And these two mini alums for the end of year pressies for the teachers, they are/will be fillled with quotes photos of the girls, happy thoughts and general pretties....Thank you very much (applause fading...)

happy scrapping

Love Cherry

2010-09-27T21:54:00.000-07:00

Well this new add image thingy is just charming...i can not work out how to use it infact its a fluck i got this far.

Ive been away from the computer for a while. There is so much going on here with spring making its appearance and the most gorgeous days that are unbelievably summer like. We have also had winds so severe they ripped up trees and snow in the deep south. But good old Hawkes bay always gives us these early summer days. Soon it will be October and windy again..it is ALWAYS windy in October..but Im one these weirdos that like the wind!!

School holidays are here for two weeks.

And Ive had a extremely unwelcome visit from Mrs OCD. Which is the bain of my life and can cut me off at the knees for a while. hence the lack of blogging.But I know Ill get thru it as always However im not really up to blogging so Ill just post these few pictures of our Springtime Urban farm..

The first pea of the season......

Right outside Alexs bedroom and our bedroom is this lilac tree..at night it smells divine!

I got adventurous and planted out these young corn seedlings..Hope they survive!

Finally we began to get full egg production as henrietta returned to health once more..GHIU celebrated by making Choux pastry...

And sponge cake...man can he cook!!!! Unfortunately Christmas has appeared to have recieved a leg injury (probably from jumping the fence all the time) and is really hopping along, I think now she has gone off the lay. I desparately hope her leg come right soon. She is eating and being somewhat her bossy self ut is quite sore.
Happy Spring
Cherry

Easy Urban permiculture..

2010-09-10T22:27:00.000-07:00

Chooks peck the insects and scratch around the compost at the front of the garden.

Chooks by scratching up compost then aerate and turn it for us.

They also manure the heap that then acts as an activator for even better/ faster compost.

The insects give them protein that then goes into their beautiful eggs for us.

I am very happy watching my happy chickens at work.

With much chooky love

Cherry

The shaky Isles

2010-09-07T14:52:00.000-07:00

Sisters Choice

Ongoing scrap hexagon quilt

Scrap cushions

As promised my latest crafting exploits... The top is the Sister Choice quilt. I decided it wasnt wide enough and so I added flying geese. I am OVER this quilt..Officially.

So thats leaves five quilts to actually quilt I think..and half a quilted Christmas stocking, and two unfinished patchwork scrap quilts...SIGH..

So The GHIU is away with the navy this week patrolling the outer reaches of NZ from the poaching foreigners and after the big (and ongoing) Quakes in Christchurch I said that if the big Quake came to Hawkes Bay (we live on a fault line) while he was gone I wouldnt forgive him (Im a woose). Sure enough yesterday as I was home with my two coughing spluttering sniffing girls The room started to sway quite decently. My first thought (after here we go) was that at least the girls and I were together during the long awaited Big one. Thankfully althouigh it lasted a little while nothing major happened. it was a 5.1 on the scale though.

The last two days and nights have been mild and then there has been a bit of gentle rain at night..perfect for my young crops a growing . I am definately running out of room!!! My new plants, the grapes, the boysenberry, the raspberry and the thornless blackberry are all budding up nicely. And there are flowers on a few of the strawberries.

In the henhouse there has been a downturn in the economy.. three eggs per day. Henrietta is still off. She is just not herself and on Monday I found a ruber like eggshell with yolk embedding the straw. At first I thought this was henriettas return to laying (if she is infact off) but the next two days have not proven this. Otherwise they are happy and today had a breakfast of susuages, just to cheer them up. On the weekend I have been free ranging them out in the front of the garden. Imagine if you will five chooks scratching through our mound of compost, sunning themselves in the dust. People gawping from their cars as they drive past and me out in the sun in my lounger reading the latest edition of Urban farmer magazine. Complete. Bliss!!

Ill leave yoiu now to watch Nanny Mcphee and the Big bang with the girls,

Happy days

Love Cherry

Lesbian hens and other news from the urban homestead..

2010-09-02T03:41:00.000-07:00

Its been a cold few days here in the backyard homestead. Spring arrived in a flurry of freezing cold temperatures and rain. This was after many days of balmy springlike weather. Thankfully we have just enough firewood to keep us warm.

With all the warm weather I had been getting a bit over excited and planting everywhere i can. I have hardly any space left for the seedlings growing inside. Some of the tomatoes are growing quite big and will have to go outside soon. Below is a shot of my basket by the bedroom back door with mesculin salad growing in it. I copied this from a Burkes Backyard article. I think Ill do this when I can find some more baskets.

Things have been a it off in the henhouse. First of all henrietta the sweetest kindest of the flock has been unwell. Fluffed up and we think not laying. This has been for the better part of seven days. She eats a little but just fluffs herself up and stands in the corner. Weve massaged her crop and she seemed to come right the next day but then by the end of the day she was back to square one. We dont think shes egg bound but who knows. Poor thing, She nots suffering that i can tell as such just off somewhat. The thought of finding a dead chook in the morning is countered by the brighter thought of repacement with a couple of Aracaunas. Every cloud does have a silver lining..

This afternoon taking snaps i was joined as always by the cat who thinks he is infact a chook and always joins the girls in their day. He bought his first pigeon in today..feathers everywhere and a big bird to get rid of. At least Sara used to eat them all up..

And here she is Henrietta the sad..

Peas are popping up in the raised bed

Everything seems to be doing great in the raised bed..

A new area I have enlarged and fenced off for more veges. There is also some citrus and a eatable grape here.

Spring has sprung. Blossoms on our neighouring Apricot tree that overhangs onto us.

Ive even stolen flower space for peas.. Should have lots for Christmas lunch this year!! (Just like my dear old Late Dad)

And here she is..Christmas. Christmas plays by her own rules ..she flys out of the coop, has the dog doing amorous things through the fence with her and is the Queen of the pack. If you watch "The Good Life" as I do (Often on DVD) You will know that Tom Good thought he had a queer cockeral. Well I have to say that we have a lesian hen. Shes Queer and out there. At first I tried to deny it. She was "fighting " with Sad Chook because Sad chook was in her sunbathing spot, but then "it" happened again and again, it even happened today when I was taking photos, if I hadnt turned the camera off then franticaly turned it back on but it is so slow then you could have seen it for yourself. Although we have only ever seen her "liason" with sad chook (who she also bullies), Sad Chook is a bit confused and lovestruck and follows her around everywhere. When Christmas flied over the coop (as in the above photo) Sad Chook paces up and down the fence line. Christmas is very vocal too, we have taken to calling her the rooster. She could be undergoing a sex change (It has happened before to chickens) and begin crowing any day..either that or charging around the yard with gay pride banners..

Next post will include crafty things. I have been pottering away at many things.
Till
Then Love Cherry

Scrappin" and quiltin"

2010-08-16T17:37:00.000-07:00

Cropping night at Hastings Ruber Stamps... these are both canvas and I had aLOT og help from some more experienced croppers. Im quite pleased with the result, but ended up spending WAY to much moolah!!!

Having finished my sheep wall hanging I dove into my UFO box to see what i could pull out next and came away with Sisters Choice. In no time at all i had finished it ut now I am making some flying geese borders around it to add more size..I couldnt bear to make more blocks. !!

Im on a major overhaul of my organisation systems and decluttering. A lot of work to do there... I keep getting distracted by the Good Life on DVD. Despite being made in the 70s It is relevant today and was obviously well researched at the time thus Good ideas, so Really its educational!! And laugh out loud humour, one thing the English comedies always have (But the Americans have come up with some good ones of late Big bang, 2 and a half men and Garry unmarried..but I digress.)

The flying geese will take up time for a while and Im sewing lots of lace i bought super cheap onmto a handmade skirt I made a while ago to dress it up a bit, otherwise I cant say what Ill be sewing next..Perhaps Christmas decs..

Love to you all

Cherry

Happy Birthday

2010-08-08T21:19:00.000-07:00

To my gorgeous girl. Yesterday at exactly 11.43 pm Alexandra turned eight!! Oh the years they fly!! We took a group of eight girls to the Onekawa heated pools which has two slides and various pools and spas and the girls had a last. And Yes, earth mama ought them all maccas for lunch :( and KFC for tea. And that is that. I HAVE got to keep away from the places I vocally spurn the most, what a hypocrite!!

Meanwhile I am growing various plants on the windowsill from seeds I have saved (apart from peas0 so far i have peas, capsicums, tomatoes and wheat. i would love the arty close up mega awesome image photos that my SLR takes, ut als the digital cant do photography justice and my SLR is a film camera. Sigh. Can I just say that I was a tad worried about bringing up the seeds so early in winter. ut then I was embraced y many days of mild spring like wether. Totaly fooled me. Today it is snowing everywhere that it usually snows and the cold snowy winds are lowing in off the ranges. it is truly freezing and suddenly it feels like winter again. maybe for the first time. I never feel as if its truly winter until the desert and Napier taupo roads are snowed in..and they are.

So this has cheered me up somewhat. im so daft though. Two glaring eye drilling mistakes to those in the know. And if youre even half a quilter they will stand out and punch you etween the eyes. Clue: a misplace sheep and no slashing where there ought to be.. Still its country enough for me, and I will hang it in the country home. Which strangely enough feels quite close by. Just a few people have suggested things and there MAY be a few options coming up..May..

At our School where i work we grew aaa whole lot of fruit trees. Well there were a few left over and for five dolars each I came home with a eating grape and a grapefruit treee. I was rapt. I will be having to juggle my small bay tree and GHIU has (kinda) promised to make me a grape frame but I am excited to get them in. The ubran farmyard grows!! Ive been selling off the surplus eggs at School too. Its quite funny how I think of other things to eat in order to keeep enough eggs to sell by the dozen. Greed pure and simple. Today my chooks humled me by only laying three eggs..just to remind whos really in charge of production around here!

Yours in eggcitement

Cherry

I love new zealand

2010-08-07T14:28:00.000-07:00

I love our little country. Totally. The reason why I am making this comment is because this blog: http://bettysblog.blogspot.com/ has had me stewing . I kn ow I shouldnt read it. i know I shouldnt care. I know that the hatred she has shows in this blog portrays her to the general public in such a way that all sentiments towards her would seem anti American. But still.
Thankfully I know a lot of terrific Americans who absolutely do not agree and loathe what she is saying. They LOVE it here. They LOVE us They love that there isnt Walmart, big highways, big roads, zillions of people and God (and I say this as a spiritual faith believing person) isnt pushed down our throats so that words like HELLS pizza arnt scorned, that tv advertising isnt PC.
There is a lot I like about America, Americana, the quilts, the over the top behaviour (sometimes) Green Day.. And if I lived there I certainly wouldnt spend time writing about all that I percieved was different and therefore wrong. yes we are Nz, we are not America, we DO have a different culture that we will not change. We DONT want to be a mini America. Just as other countries dont want to be a mini somewhere else.
So with my mini rave, and signing off forever from the above blog I shall list some of the things I adore:

The countryside the beauty
The small roads, the dusty antiquidated, bumpy windy un processed roads.
The way we can be free. We can be free to hang washing outside, no matter where we live in NZ.
I love that I can go to hospital anytime and not be sent away due to lack of money. That i will get top treatment, no bills and free care. I dont get off in slamming the free hospital system here, and I have had to rush off there with myself, my hubby, my brother my aging Mother, my (late) father and my precious children many many times.
I love our old fashioned backward ways (as seen by other countries..big ones mainly)
I love that we have hardly any one living here...long may it last.
I love that we are so isolated..but then I love isolation. I will retire when the girls are independant adults to the far North (Kawa kawa) under the kaweka mountains or the Chatham Islands..
I Love that wherever we live it can be only hours to the snowy beautiful mountains or to the long golden beaches, or half an hour or less in our case!
I love that we have our own accents, our own grammatically incorrect language (not my words but that from another blog..) with our own sayings and our own way of saying things..now so often misted with Maori language.
I love that my children can trace their whakapapa back beyond 1000 years and that their ancestors were navigators long before any other and that that strong leadership trait is still in them and my GHIU today. I now proudly call myself Nga Puhi. I love too those ancestors of mine who jumped ship to get here, who arrived with nothing and made their lives here amidst hardship and poverty along with other pioneers and that that spirit of can do get along with anybody exists today.
We have social welfare for all those who need it and YES it is totally used wrongly in some instances but everyone has the opportunity to receive help when down on hard times. And despite that some people absolutely rip it off I AM GLAD IT IS HERE.
I have lived in other countries and have enjoyed what they have to offer but I always return here, it is my home I LOVE IT.
And I apologise to any Americans who read this and think What the??? As I said I know so many wonderful Americans Infact all of the ones I know are great, but sometime when your stewing you just have to let it out!!
Cheerfully yours and so glad to never again read the blog in question again
Cherr

THE kIDS AT THE LIBRARY AWARDS

2010-08-05T04:12:00.000-07:00

For all those family and friends who complain I never update my facebook page..it is because I update my blogger with much more enthusiasm. With that in mind sttraight from the camera today are the kiddles at the Library book awards. they had to go dressed in a winter sports uniform. hence the netball outfits..also the magpies rugby jersey(mine) that Alex has long appropriated. I am going to applique her name and the number eight on it for her one of these days..she wears it everywhere!!

Scrappin' Bliss

2010-08-03T14:18:00.000-07:00

So last night I went to the monthly scrapping night aat hastings Rubber Stamps. I almost fell over backwards when i saw the project we were doing that night..and the preview of the upcoming months were breathtaking...There is a Christmas advent calender made out of a wooden box that we can do in October that literally took me breath away, i could see it being passed down the generations and being a true heirloom!!

So anyway here is what i did with my project. Let me just tell you...

I was in...

Scrapping...

bliss!!!

I just love using tags and small envelopes and multiple little pages. I think this whole page uses somethin g like eight photos and it is a project i will be using with different papers for my ongoing elevan year old wedding photos!!
happy scrappin'

Love Cherry

Things that make me happy..

2010-07-21T19:42:00.000-07:00

My brussell sprouts have pea sized babies on them. Im so excited. Sprouts for tea soon?

Finishing the patchwork on my sheep quilt. (even if I did find that I had stuffed up the sheeps position in the middle thereby seriously upsetting my day for a while) I have bought some backing and wadding and cant wait to start to finish this once and for all.!!

Things that dont make me happy:

Owing money to the IRD. I dont understand how this can happen when oth you and your hubby are getting the same pay all year..

These Chinese(?) blog comments. What up?? I seem to get one then a whole flurry will attach themselves. its seriously disconcerting.

Good bye Moko

2010-07-08T14:20:00.000-07:00

We were absolutely devastated to hear the news that a dolphin had been found washed up on Matakana Island and is likely to be Moko. The girls cried and I just felt gutted. Years ago when the GHIU Dad was a boy he got to swim with his local dolphin Opo. We never thought wed get the chance to do this and then along came Moko, now like Opo he has died at four. GHIU does a lot of work in Mahia where Moko first surfaced and lived for a couple of years and people would come up to him from overseas and ask him what time the show started. to which GHIU would reply that he was a wild dolphin!!! We just loved swimming with him for a few days and were very sad to leave. it was one of those things that really is a once in a lifetime thing.

Good Bye Moko..

Scrappin' once more

2010-07-07T23:48:00.000-07:00

Close up on the fun bits learnt in class (I can make roses out of tissue paper and brads!!)

the finished page... as I said eleven years in the making..

The next kit i purchased yesterday and had to work out how to do by myself ;(

And the fun bits again. Lots of cutting circles and distressing on this one. It took ages!!!

And one i took from a Library book...I LOVE using tags!

Okay..Im over scrapping for now and I am off to Patchwork

Happy crafting

Cherry

news from the cold homestead

2010-07-07T22:38:00.000-07:00

Brrrrr It is freezing here in NZ at the moment. Cold southerlies are blowing in straight from the Antartic! The chooks were let out for a free range around the garden today as it was the first day in a while it had stopped raining in biblical proportions. They enjoyed it and I dug up the new area of vege garden I developed days ago in order to treat them with some fat earthworms. In return they turned up the newly dug sods a bit and fertilised the area! A fair trade. Here two of girls find the driest bit of soil to dust bath. They look a mess when the soil is damp but still seem to enjoy it. When I see them enjoying chooky life like this I find it nasty to think of their lives in the battery farm and worse still for all the poor chooks still there.

Sam examines the old tyres from the jeep now used to house some strawberry plants. It is covered with bird netting and will be joined with the matching tyre soon. It doesnt look much right now but come spring...

Bounty from the neighbours. They always share their tangerines with us. This year we have traded in eggs..The tangerines are still alittle tart at the moment. we also enjoy the fruits of their apricot tree that hangs over our fence.

The pok Choi is doing so well in this freeze. Shame the only ones enjoying it are the chooks. I will have to learn how to cook it and with what. GHIU picked this up to day from winemaker friends. We will cut it in half and plant out some things. Alex wants her whole half to grow her wheatgraass in!! I have planted some tomatoe seeds from last years tommies in the hot cupboard. A bit rash Im now thinking. If they do grow i guess I will put them in the barrel and cloche them up and hope for the best! Im just so keen to get things growing!!!

And I shreiked with joy when today I saw that my row of garlic had emerged. I was SOOO happy with this discovery as I have been having a peek every day. This particular row was from an organic Hawkes Bay garlic and there is no sign of any others yet.

CRAFT:

I went to my first ever scrapbooking class the other night. it was fabulous and I didnt want to leave!! I came away with a gorgeous made page for my wedding album and went back the next day to purchase a kit from the last evening I hadnt gone to to do another page for the wedding album (elevan years in the making!!) I am so pleased with the results but my battery died on my camera and so I will post them next time. I also made a couple of small homemade accordian albums for presents and have almost finished my sheep wallhanging. Just doing the final appliquea around the sides. Very nice doing this late at night knowing theres no school tomoorow, Ghiu off for the week. Doing the things I love by a roasting fire while outside the wind blows in from the southerly ice mass!

Tomorrow is Symbas last day as a boy cat with boy bits. Catching him wandering around the neighbourhood dangerously crossing roads etc has propelled us into making THE appointment. And tomorrow morning he is going to the vets. Poor gingy

We have taken advantage of the poor weather by catching up with Videos. Today it was Valkyrie..sad Didnt realise it was a true story..and Precious..what a OMG movie that was. GHIU watched it with me even though it wasnt a war moveie and he was glued to it too. Thankfully we walked away from the video hire without renting Cold Snow a movie about Nazi zombies...

Happy wintering

Cherry

my neworn baby is ten !!!

2010-07-03T19:59:00.000-07:00

And just like that ten years passed. Yesterday i held her in my arms and suddenly realised what i was put on this earth to do and today I watch on as my ten year old confidently sails through life independant and beautiful. Happy birthday Georgeous! (I found these photos on the camera when i went to download some blog photos. Sometimes there are alsorts of crazy photos awaiting!)

HOMESTEADING IN THE KITCHEN:

It is that time of the year again. The time of the year when overwhelming urges to make soap overwhelm me. This soap below is my absolute favourite and you can find the recipe at this blog (Also a super simple life blog!)

but first I got a self sustaining type book out of the lirary and following the instructions made some castille saop (awful photo..it doesnt look THAT bad!) i am still waiting for it to set properly.

If this fails I will be repurposing it into another soap. And I havent finished yet I still want to make some more of Rhondas delicious soap.

For years now i have been trying to buy Borax. no one sells it around here. Then I wandered into the new into the new Bin Inn shop and there it was..49cents a KG. I was ecstastic. Now I could finally make some clothes wash!!!

I visited this site and printed off the instructions, only half reading them as I did so to ensure I had all the ingrediants on heand (i did) Unfortunately the printer page got a bit screwed up but other than afew words missing I could read the general instructions. I did have this little voice going off in my head telling me to check the website again, ut i chose to ignore that..until I had made two batches. Then I read that to each batch i needed to add 5 litres of hot water before pouring into containers. I had made two atches so with great effort I had to try to remix the water ~~evenly~~ in some even type fashion into the mix. Now I have a thickish mix, but I am proud to say I have used it this morning on two washes and it melted into the wash leaving no residue or gluck, and it was a cold wash..so i have abandoned my fears!! I made SUCH a lot on so little of the actual ingrediants.Its amazing. When clothes wash is so cheap at times i had wondered if price wise (not eco wise) it was worth it, ut it is sooo worth it. I could make bathces and batches and batches on the stuff I have left over. I feel very pioneer woman about this!!

ON THE URBAN FARM:

The plants are continuing to slowly grow. I have had to use derris dust and cover some of them in tin can cloches ecasue some sneaky ugs have een having a bit. I have heaps of Bok choi!

Yesterday we had threee eggs after days of unbroken five egg clutches and I thought Uh Oh here we go, ut today there is five eggs again. My beautiful hens!

CRAFTING:

I have finished the main part of my sheep wallhanging..Hurray. Now it is the school holidays i can spend lots of late nights sewing by the fire....bliss!!

Egg news

2010-06-30T19:25:00.000-07:00

120 eggs for the month of july..
Yes Im skiting, yes Im not humble. Its winter and we have 120 eggs in total. I know. I kept records. 30 to 29 eggs every seven days.

Just thought id let you all know!!

Yours in eggcitement

Cherry

Chooks, wroms and backyard happenings

2010-06-27T21:47:00.000-07:00

Poor Christmas..you cant tell to good from these pics but parts of her neck resemble a chicken corpse before you make it into soup. Thankfully she seems to be recovering (ie Bossing all the others around, eating furiously and laying brown eggs) I know the photos are poor, but you try balancing a chook, holding the fethers apart and taking the photo all while she didnt really want to olige.After all that effort I was going to use the photos!!

Yesterday we went to the farmers market and there was a chook show..I found and refound in love with a few lavender Araunacunas. I love the blue eggs and the grey chooks are gorgeous. If only for some more land..although watch this space if i can wing it(bad pun) in the next while to fit a couple in I will!!!

I went out to do a controlled dig in the orchard for the girls to take my mind off going into pak nSave and buying yet more Cookie dough and chocolate chip ice cream (which is like crack to me) Not that Ive ever taken even a smidge of a recreational drug, but I can only imagine the passionate cravings and overwhelming desire is the same!! The chooks ploughed into the fat worms until that were sated and suddenly fat worms were ignored as the chooks in one sauntered off with a bloated kind of look. I feel sorry for the worms ut i do so love the chooks enjoying their day out into the orchard and the rear end fertiliser as it flies around the soil gives me immense pleasure. Then there was a light rain as if to help with the whole fertilising process..magic. Did i mention i love having chooks??

My new strawberry pots...GHIU hit the roof when he saw they were on his new lawn around the vege plot. We cant quite agree on my no lawn wants at the present time. I can only work on him, ut i rely on his practical engineering and planting skills so cant just do what i want to do!!!!

The sixth chook overseeing it all. whereever the chooks are you will find the Ginge..

And finally the winter plot. Filled with bok choi, caulis, brocolli, brussells, silverbeet, asian salad greens and underneath it all loads and loads of garlic (which I accidentently dug up a corm the ither day while planting some greens and it had loads of roots ..heres hoping for a monster crop!!)

I plan to do a lot more fossiking around the "farm" this week . Lots to do to ensure a great spring yet.
Lots of love
Happy gardening
Cherry

preserving pickles and the perils of the poultry et al

2010-06-24T21:26:00.000-07:00

Crafting:
Still humming along with this quilt. I am finding it fiddly but that is only because I thought I could make it less complicated than the pattern strip peicing instructions. I now see I was wrong...
Homesteading in the kitchen: As you can see I have done a spot of preserving red onions. They did not come out of the garden, nor did the spiced venegar emerge from within this house, BUT the dried chiilies sprinkled about the mix were grown here about two years ago aged and dried and now (finally) have a purpose.

About the poultry:
I came home at lunch but couldnt stay as I had to coach netball at Twyford School then run some errands for my Mum who is in the rest home. Between lunch and when i finally came in the door at three, Christmas had (again) flown the fence and been nearly gobled up by Sam the less than friendly to the feathered, labrodor. She had marks in the back of her neck and feathers missing etc. I could strangle that dog. Honestly. Anyone want a maniac purebred lab!?? I can only hope that Christmas remains infection free. She certainly has been tough in the past. This of course puts the gulf between man and dog even further. have I mentioned the GHIU has a tenuous relationship with the dog?? It is now set to crash to an all time low. The dog has been punished in all ways and forms and still does this to the chook . I need some help please!

Five eggs a day keeps the grumpies away

2010-06-21T19:27:00.000-07:00

I am hopeless at keeping in touch...So much have I been up to that Im going to subtitle whats been happening. First up the...

CHOOKS

Well, really I love these girls. presently we are getting five eggs per day!!! So much for the people who thought my "old" chook wouldnt lay at all/much. She is still called Sad chook although Im guessing she is pretty happy. She lays the biggest lovliest multicoloured eggs youve seen! I can spend hours out the back just watching the chooks and digging up worms etc for them. I noticed last night as they had their supper of mash that their crops were ENORMOUS. Like goiters out the side of their chests. I dont know what they eat in the garden ut its obviously good for them. they also enjoy all the scraps plus the morning cereal milk that the kids leave behind in their plates. Say what yoiu will but its working!!

HOMESTEADING
I had a marvellous moment the othe day as I embraced the feeling of living here happily withour ackyard urban farm until land comes along. No longer was I worried about leaving it to late to enjoy etc. I really thought Im happy to have land when the time is right and make this an awesome backyard semi self suffiency project as we go along. I think Ive been inspired by the folks at uran homestead here Plus ive just found ou they are Kiwis !! Yah!
So on that route, we have tried two bottles of our cider a month apart. Im sure that they did not improve within a month of each other. well try another next month. If yoiu are a fan of the seventies show the Good Life, think of the Pea Pod wine they made. by the looks on their faces that is similar to ours when we drink our cider. Ive sought out the advice of workld award winning winemakers in the district (Hawkes ay is the winw capital of NZ and has some of the best wines in the world and some of those very same winemakers children go to Twyfor School with my girls so...) but I fear this business with cider making may be a long term project to reach perfection. Next we are making ginger beer. One of the winemakers told us that a gorgeous yummy brewery who also do the most devine ginger beer use ginger powder NOT root to make it. A hint from the wise.
Next on the homestead is the winter vege gardens. My Pok Choi is blooming, lasting through sveral devastating frosts lately. (Brrr it has been soooo cold in the mornings). The cauliflowers, brussel sprouts and I think brocolli (it was a mixed pack) are slowly moving upwards. No sight yet of the garlic, both organically grown in Hawkes bay and non oprganically grown somewhere in Nz are peeking thru yet. Im so keen to see them as Ive NEVER had luck with garklic and threw away all aspirations and attempts years ago but Im going to have to be patient. Apparently they like lots of muck. i throw the chook poo daily on the garden and we will get some more gorgeously dried horse poo hopefully this weekend.
I have started the garden one tangerine tree in, one manderion tree to go. One bay tree to be replanted. The pot from the tangerine tree I have used to plant some new Temptation strawberries you can see them ehind the Choi. The other pot I will be using to plant some more new strawberriesd The picture is up the top!!! I cannot work this new system on blogger!!!!)

CRAFTING

Covered notebooks some partially finished..Christmas presents

Isnt this cool this is a christmas pressies. Using cardstock, envelopes and creativity (Not mine!!) I made this mini booklet. The remaining photos go in the envelopes that are the front and back cover. I lOVED making these!!!

And scrapping..Ive done quite a bit these are just some of them. Notice I have found out how to distress with an inkpad. I have gone distree mad!!! Love this technique and all I had to do was ask the lady in the scrapping shop!!!

And finally.....

I have finally got around to this wallhanging. I need to get a finish on this one. Its fiddly and a pain but i do love the finished project.

My finaly note for the day. Some boffin wrote that nzs are too inward thinking about other countries due to the prolem of isolation. personally i dont see isolation as a problem, infact Id like to be more isolated. Scondly we havebt got the problems of the iother places in the world..if that is a result of inward thinking and isolation them hurray for those two factors i say. YEAS!!!I was really offended.

Love for now from :need to build a bridge Cherry

Raining

2010-05-31T20:51:00.000-07:00

The newly strawed up chick pen area.

As i write this it is POURING with rain. Heavy rain warnings are out for tonight and fellow teachers and I have concluded that if school is cancelled tomorow due to flooding..well...so be it !!!

(Actually it was a cheering thought!!)
It is only 3.30 and I have already given the chooks their tea. Wheat and mashed potatoe leftovers with cookie crumbs and a few bits of sausage. Lunch was porridge which cream and brown sugar and golden syrup had been added as Alex didnt eat much of hers this morning. I was totally thrilled when I found hidden under the straw five eggs,this has never happened before. i was so excited i immediately rung GHIu ut he provided me with the downing thought that we had thre eggs yesterady and maybe it was one from yesterday that was hidden (as i had to hunt for thenm today eneath their bed of straw) Talk about feeling squashed. i went from wanting to hug the new producing sad chook to wondering if GHIU could have been correct...time to check the "vent" again!!~!!!

I promised a picture of my latest fully finished quilt and here it is (folded in half..it is really big took me ages to bind it!!):

And now a few scrapping examples just to show you that i havent been slacking off during my unblogging period... My blogging is so unpredictale I wouldnt be surprised if noody reads this anymore!! I wouldnt if i wasnt me:

Happy crafting to you all
Love from Cherry the unpredictable

life in the lttle farm continues

2010-05-30T21:38:00.000-07:00

Well i had more pics but blogger is doing strange things as i write and I only have these two. The top photo is our new vege garden planted with greens and some cloches (I havent got enough for all of them!)Ive planted caulies, brussel sprouts and pak choi. Hope they survive. theyve survivied the horrendous flooding rains so far..the pros of having a raised garden.
The next pic is Sam my mad lab who I have to dodge and duck by each day in order to get to the chook shed. He is one crazy dog who sooooo needs a farm of his own. He is five but acts likes a puppy.
The final phot is of georgia at the Suzanne Prentice concert which she sang at.
On the chook front the chooks are all laying we get three to four eggs each day and on one occassion only two. I am continuing to learn more about poultry by doing lots of reading and lots of trial and error. Sad Chook is now lookiing remarkably happy and healthy and has lovely red colours around her eyes and on her watttles. Im pretty sure she isnt laying. I picked her up the other day after hearing repeatedly aout checking her "vent" for evidence of laying. Much to GHIU dismay i pointed her rear end in his direction and told him to have a look. he said he wasnt doing that, but fortuiously a wind blew her tail feathers asunder and he said regrettibly it was white not poink and moist, (Thos eing the two choices I gave him) I hope she does lay!@!!!! She is only 18 months old, ut the condition she arrived in and they fact that the others gave her such a hiding all the time wouldnt help expediate laying. She is still bottom of the pecking order (Christmas being at the top) but has otherwise melded in well. I would NEVER introduce a single hen into the pen again (lesson leaarnt).
I have een doing a ton of scraping (slight overkill there..) and will take some photos to share next time. Also I have finished a quilt a scrap quilt that has only been in the closet for four years (!). photos next time.
With warm winter love
Cherry

It had to happen....

2010-05-01T20:47:00.000-07:00

Oh Christmas!!

yes it had to happen. GHIU went to feed the chooks yesterday morning. "Cherry" he yells to me "How many chooks do we have'

"Five" I yelled back

"nah theres four here"

Well, with that he raced one way to the park, I raced (to get dressed) the children fled to the neighours and general pandemonium ensued. Alex came back saying that the neighbors had seen Christmas walking past their place (park side) a while back. So we all raced to the park. The park is 20 acres long and has a zillion trees, usheds a huge duckpond, many stray dogs wandering through, tame dogs and tame people and not so tame people. The chances of Christmas being found at all or alive were slim. The opportunity for Christmas to be in a dogs mouth, or in the pot by the night were fairly assurred if we we couldnt find her. Fortunately Alex has her bionic vision and found her a few hundred metres away. She was very friendly and you could just about hear her saying that the flight had seemed a good idea at the time. Following her arrest and return we realised that there were only three eggs. I rashly thought I could go and search for an egg but as GHIU pointed out finding a egg in a 20 acre area of land would be stretching things. The thought of our precious egg lost in the park though was pretty awful!! GHIU clipped one of her wings ut she is still today flying to the highest point in the garden, although a bit wonkily. She is the chook that thinks she is a rooster.

This is a little area in the pool area that I planted with perpetual spinach a while back. I covered it with mesh and put all sorts of sticks and deterrrants in it, but each morning I was alarmed at the disturbing scene of a brown chooky head poking up over the top. So yesterday i completley redid it. I remeshed it, put in heaps of sticks to deter downward flying chooks, reinforced the sides of the mesh with blocks of rick so the girls couldnt squash themselves up and under and into. I spent AGES on it. AGES. Then I went to the organic shop and bought punnets of mustard salad and NZ perpetual spinach. And I had won the war. Oh i didnt doubt that they would try, but I would win. The this morning, Christmas flew up and over and landed amongst the sticks and managed to clean up half of the spinach, dig up the sticks and leave a big hole. So now i have thrown a whole number of objects, mesh like and others over the top in an effort to get this [project growing. Tomorow i think I will buy some cheap netting material to throw over it. I AM SO FRUSTRATED!!!!!

This week is going to a sad one as the end of last week was. On Friday We lost our School social worker. He was only aout 38 and maried to one of the teachers and all his children were at School. even tho he had kidney failure he was one of the few people around who was trained to do his own dialysis at home. The day before he had happily been helping out at out Maori week on the Marae with the children.and coaching the basketbakll team. Then his wife woke up to find him gone beside her the next morning. AS you can imagine the School is in shock. GHIU went to school with him and they had just had met up again at CHristmas which then menant I was on friendly terms with him having that mutual thing. On Friday he came back to the marae (My born and bred place that I LOVE in fernhill) and we went to the eginning on the Tangi. Tomorrow (monday ) the whole School is going to the tangi and then on Tuesday GHIU and I weill be going to the funeral. It is so sad and frankly seems unbelievalable. He had helped so many in our school and now he is gone.

Love Cherry

Updates

2010-04-23T21:45:00.000-07:00

So in the theme of The Good Life" I pulled out a whole lot of pittos and hebes and now this area will be for the fruits. Currently it has a small rosemary plant, an orange tree , a b oysenberry and a bay tree. The aerea has been liberally covered in horse manure because essentially previous to this there were lots of stones and a it of dry eaarth. it looks like nothing at the moment but this place is a work in motion!

Then there is this that the GHIU made for the veges. In the middle is the swing (for the beans to gfrow on). This swing for a long time redundant now seems to be popular again (typical!) ut too bad it is now in the middle of the vege garden and soon the garden will be filled up with compost and soil. Awaiting spring..

And here is my 18month old battery hen "McScrunchie" In just three days she has cheered up immensely and her comb and wattle have even brightened. She is separted now from the others (vicious hoods!) in the day hours. I have packed a lot of reading on caring for ex batts on the net and raced out this morning to buy some mash for her. Which she ate with much alacrity. She loves worms and can spot a worm from a mile away that has been thrown at her. GHIU spent the day with her yesterday digging above vege garden and so she had a lot of worms sent her way. It is WONDERFUL and HEART warming to see her coming out of her shell (Boom Boom) . She now spends time stretching out her wings and flapping them about. She has begun to dust bath in small increments (thou not in the soft dirt part of the garden ). And she has gone from a few tentative little maybe scratchings at the earth to quite a rigourous scratch aroudn this afternoon!!. Honestly she is developing all those instinctive things with just a few days. I mean lock a person up like that for 18 months in those conditions and theyd need extensive pychotherapy and some time in a straight jacket! I would love to adopt more but cant do that until we have more land to work with. She hasnt laid yet, but I dont expect her to..she needs a good REST! This afternoon i alsocaught her twice charging away the chickens that were going for her mash. Hopefully this is the beginnings of the end of her subsurviance towards those other bully chooks of mine!

And talking about those brown horrors, there is nothing funnier than watching them devour their porridge. Porridge goes everywhaere, in the air, over each other and all over their faces. truly a delight from the sim,ple things at the simple life.

happy simple living

love Cherry

The flock increases

2010-04-20T18:54:00.000-07:00

Isnt Alex just the best photographer. She really has the touch and I wouldnt be surprised if this becomes her career later on as it is her passion.

A finish!! Hurray..

Another finish..I didnt have the heart to take this from under fat Denz but the rest of this pretty much looks like what you can see.

And this is our new chook..as yet unnamed..although it could be Scrunchie :)
Scrunchie(?) arrived in the dark of the evening. She came from the battery farm and unlike our pullets, she is about 15 months old and in the words of the farmer..had it!! But this was the challenge for me. I wanted one of these because I am sure that with TLC and nutrition she can lay like the others (Fully knowing that egg production for all chooks drops by 15% in their second year)
Anyway in the dark of the evening she looked actually okay, but in the light of the day the poor thing really looks shocking. her toenails are really long and curled over or missing..Her feathers are like an old feather duster from Great Nanas closet, but the absolute worst is her skin colour. She has this pale anemic look and dull pale eyes. The other chooks are a bit bullying..Shelley in particular needs to pull her head in (or should that be pullet her head in ?)..anyway being in a cage for all her life she is totally alrmed at the world but ventures out at times to look in horror at the sky, the sparrows, theinsects etc etc.
I had this romantic idea of feeding her her own little pottle of porridge this morning and nursing her back to health, but she is do alrmed and out of sorts she doesnt want to know about food, or cuddles (which I have given..maybe the smell of me will make her more acceptable to the others) . My chooks in comparison to this sweetie are like chubby cheeky five year old children running around the yard picking up food rolling in the dust showing off their deep red wattles and alert dark brown eyes.
The only thing that I have seen that gives me hope is that she is vernturing out more (not just because Shelley is ramming her from behind) and her feet are touching the ground, coming into contact with real earth and the fresh air and the sunlight. Its just going to take time.

For the record battery farmers offer up these end of lays for a dollar or so and you ring your own boxs or bag and butterbing you have chicken for tea the next night. What scares me is the way in which some of these may meet their death. Also for the record our new chook would like nothing better than to be back in the secure cage again....I never said chooks had great brains..a certain smartness yes but brainy..well the court is out.

The photo above is of Chrismas. Christmas is the leader of the pack. In leiu of a rooster she had taken it upon herself to lord it over the others. In the morning she gets up and wakes up the yard, and this is before she has layed eggs, infact we suspect she is telling the world everytime someone has produced!! At night, she is the last in the coop and once the last chook has gone in and is settled, Christmas walks around the coop a few times, jumps on the roof, checks that out (All good there), jumps down and walks around the whole perimeter jsut to make sure all is quiet and no danger lays in wait. it is the most funny thing to watch every night!!

Yesterday i offered a dozen of my beautiful happy eggs to anyone who could present me with a live rhurbarb plant for my garden. The offer was taken up and the recipient said how great it was to be able to barter. It wasgreat and what life is all bout.I mean how much more simple is it to swap something for another that you have grown and produced..isnt this the way life used to be!

happy bartering
love Cherry

Makin' cider

2010-04-13T15:46:00.000-07:00

or cider vinegar....

Im not sure how this effort will pan out. we are making apple cider using just the apples own natural fermentation, no yeast, no sugar...maybe a bit of honey at a later stage.

this was a whole days effort. First we spent a few hours picking the apples from my Aunties orchard (The windfall apples), then we bought them home and cut and juiced and cut and juiced and strained and restrained and six hours later we were fed up and had twenty litres of apple juice in the vat. There are so many differing opinions on making cider. I am a it concerned that y only making up 20 litres in a 30 litre container that I have condemned it all to cider vinegar..which i can and do use but...

The GHIU is fourty yesterday. i wanted a big party etc, but he left for a week on a operation for his work..and he couldnt be happier!! he hates attention.Which was why it was so funny to see him on the first episode of Coastwatch. I was so busy watching him watching himself that I practically missed the episode!!

The wind is picking up and the mornings are getting colder. Winter is definately on its way. We have covered up the pool which is always the sign of the end of the season . Im looking forward to doing a lot of quilting inside by the fire.... I have four to do.

I have all but finished my raggy quilt..just need to finish edges. It has been so warm with the polar fleece sign over me as I have finished it off. GHIU says it needs to be bigger, ut its only meant as a throw..and besides Im SICK of it now and want to get back to ordinary piecing!

Ill post photos next time.

Ive also been preserving mint jelly..first time I hope it lasts in the bottles. We had some that didnt seal the other night it was delicious. very unusual recipe using lime jelly, wine and venegar amongst others.

happy preserving

Love Cherry

Happy Easter

2010-04-05T00:26:00.000-07:00

Easter bunny came early... Despite this embarressment of riches our children do know what Easter is all about. We always discuss this at Easter and watch the films. There was a good one on Good Friday although it was quite amusing that the BC made it and all the characters had heavy cockney and yorkshire accents. !!

Well my computer is really playing up. I have completely lost all email capacity and havent fixed it as I cannot be bothered speaking to someone in Indonesia for an hour to fix it! Also the computer itself must be full of viruss it turns itself off!! And throws me off facebook and some other sites. It does what it likes and I think its time i called dial a geek!

These holidays I plan to spend lots of days cleaning up and sprucing the winter garden and spending time with my children and my chooks. Oh and do some quilting BLISS!

I havent been well today and have slept the day away. I must go now Coastwatch is almost on and the GHIU normally gets some screen play each season. Ah the new world of the reality tv star!!

Happy Easter to everyone

Love Cherry

Life on the farm..

2010-03-21T03:12:00.000-07:00

If your skeamish dont look at the photo below. This is the result of the big friendly labrodor getting out of his kennel and going to meet a cross bred pit bull mongrel for a happy chat. This hole was only one of the three big wounds and several little ones that were deep into the muscle and which we thought were mere shallow puncture wounds until 12 hours later when they became really infected. Then after bathing and oidining them we finally took him to the vet (CHA CHING!!) and he was close to developing gangrene and dying. OOPS! Poor Sam. Ive been so good not letting him near our park afte a misadventure that swa him, hit by a car off the park (no injury) and then after meeting an elderly man with a dog in the park who said he knew our dog well and then let on he lived several blocks away. I walk him a couple of miles every night now in a semi rural area, but I guess the pull of the park was too strong. So much for the new bylaws prohibiting dogs on leashes only in the park! Oh well His first vet incident in the five years weve had him..

(this was after the vet visit..he was still heavily drugged).

Told you I was sewing a raggy quilt..Im running out of jeans!

The view from the back.. Meekhoef the cat is the complimentary extra..Out of all the cats she is the one most likely to be found sleeping on half made quilts, pins and props do not deter her.

Can I just say(and I know Ill regret this in a month or so) that I am over summer. I am over the heat. It got a bit chilly there for a while and it was nice. Now in the last few days it has een hot and a it muggy and really it should be siesta time in the day because at night it seemes suitable again to work. And..you try keeping the flies off of those wounds(above)!!

Like i said Ill regret saying that soon enough. I find these funny days a bit blar sometimes. The excitement of early summer crops has passed, the garden is however dry and a it barren looking, the pool is a bit sluggie and algaeish, because the days are a bit colder and so noone bothers too much with it. And its still too warm to curl up and quilt (but I do..just not in great cosiness).

Its Sunday night now and I do have school tomorrow, so Ill sign off for now,

happy Autumnal musings and great safety to you and your pets1
Love Cherry

Im back

2010-03-16T22:56:00.000-07:00

...not that I was ever away as such. Georgia went to camp and took the camera then when she came back the camera became lost in the unorganisation and general clutter that is this house. But today, hurray i found it!! So what has been going on in the Good life tiny farm? Actually nothing thrilling. Today Autumn made its presence felt with wind and rain and cold. Im glad as the chook area has the flies excited and I wanted some rain to calm it down. i have bought myself some gumbboots for the upcoming sludge that winter will bring there soon!

Happy Christmas!!

I love that the egg compartments (we have two fridges) are full. Check out monster egg at the back. Someone drew on him!! I have no idea who gave birth to this but it was oblong and bigger than monster egg #1 ! We also had golf ball egg which was a replica of the golf ball that is always in there...but GHIU ate it before I found the camera!!

We celebrated Art Deco week at 150 year old Stoney croft house. Lots of Art Deconess there. Brass bands etc. The title of the event was When the dust settles.. For those of you that dont know in 1931 Hawkes bay was struck by a huge earthquake that decimated Hastings and Napier. When the buildings where rebuilt they were built in Art Deco design. Now all these years later we always celebrate Art Deco week in Feb (the earthquakes anniversary) It gets bigger and bigger every year.

Kaimoana (seafood in Maori). This is what the ocean reward you with if you dive every now and then. Beautiful huh? Just lovely with aoli sauce once cooked. Having a FO as dad means the girls are not scared or unsure of sea food at all!!

ALSO I forgot to get a photo of my latest project in my world of quilting. It is a raggy quilt made from old flannel shirts and jeans. I explained this all to GHIU how it is made and how the technique works etc, but when I completed my first row he asked why the seams were sticking up in a mess!! Guess that just proves my opoint that when I start to talk about quilting all he hears is a loud humming in his ears.. Next time i will post some pics. That means that cuurently I have started (started only!) Sheepish wallhanging, two scrappy sisiter choice quilts, raggy quilt, school house quilt oh and five pieced tops to be quilted. I REALLY need a sewing room in our next house!! One can never have enought partially completed pieces can one?!
Til next time Happy sewing\

Love Cherry

crafty cherry crafts..enough about the chooks for now!

2010-02-22T22:17:00.000-08:00

Scrapbooking.....

Sisters Choice blocks for two Christmas presents...lap quilt sizes both of them..probably

Camp is coming up and i made the girls two bags for their cutlery then got creative and made a mickey take moke up of their school emblem. Georgia gets to use hers in tweo weeks but Alex will have to wait til next year to go to Camp.

Finally started a school house quilt. I bought the few fat quarters i have with the remainder of my gift certificate..plus $8.00 extra. Shhhh dont tell the Gorgeous Husband in uniform!! (GHIU)

I have my civil war reproduction quilt up. Id like to interchange this wall seasonally. Next will be the school house quilt ..I hope... Just one of the many unfinshed projects ive started this year (and its only Feb)

Isnt this gorgeous. This is my Nana and Granddad. It is the middle of the depression and the year is 1930. Nine months later my Mum arrived and just efore that happened the devastating 1931 earthquake happened and heavily pregnant nana had to live in the shed while the devastation was pieced back together. My grandad died at 40 odd from our families hereditary Zolingers Syndrome cancer. He left nan the farm and six remaining child. One poor soul died of sickness a few years before. i so admire my nan what a simple ut terribly hard time to live in. I adore this photo and had no knowledge of its exsistence until we went through Mums things recently. It needs glass but has a lovely old frame and I do love the weathering that has added such character.

Yours in craft

Crafty cherry

It has started......

2010-02-21T17:26:00.000-08:00

Here they are and here I go..the beginning of the preserving peaches season. These are very early Golden Queens. I had forgotten (since last year) how hot it gets in our kitchen, in summer, while preserving!!!

And since it is so hot in the kitchen I have decided to try to dry my Romas the old fashioned way (also some moments in the oven after I have used it ) and maybe finished off in the dehydrator.

And what else is on the window sill..Ah yes my ever growing pile of egg shells drying away and then to be crushed and fed back to the chooks or as a snail inhiitor around my plants or fed into the soil as a sweetener.

What you cant see to the far left in my laundry is the huge pile of washing/ It is enormous and the worse thing is despite this mountain there are heaps of other piles under beds etc.

Perhaps i should go to that pile now..

Wishing you happy laundry wishes

Cherry

Big bird visits our coop..

2010-02-14T20:45:00.000-08:00

Spot the difference...

There was much excitement today as this monster egg was found awaiting our return!! It must be the worm teas they have een treated to each evening, or the weather, or the general love of two chook mad girls. Whatever it was youd think it must have hurt!!

The Chookaseuem

2010-02-12T15:13:00.000-08:00

There changing guards at Pluckingham palace...

Egg news

2010-02-01T19:48:00.000-08:00

This is the second time that all of our chooks have laid an egg for us. They are very late layers and will lay into the mid afternoon. The thing is there eggs are unpredictable and I think they are getting smaller!!! the little things today were smaller than yesterday (which werent big) and were the size of silkies eggs. We are giving them lots of feed, lots of greenery, porridge when it rained. lots of cold fresh water, snails, worms ,love (old miss macdonald especially)

I guess they will come into there own in time....I was just interuppted in my typing by Alex who had lifted Christmas up and was carrying her around the pool. Suddenly Sam the lab (who in all truth would just love five minutes alone with the poultry), lunged and barked incredibly loud at them both ..and Christmas flew into the pool. If the occassion wasnt so urgent i would have taken a photo but I was rushing out with the net! Christmas just floated around like a duck!! It was very funny. I grabbed her with the net whereupon she gallopped off to her pen and I had to dig her out (reluctantly) to join the others in the swimming pool,area. (Now I KNOW I cant leave them alone there)!! yes its all happening here at tom and barbara Goods block!
Hmm maybe Christmas at least will pop out an egg tomorrow!!
Happy chook keeping
Love Cherry

Have just read Living the good life y linda Cockburn...I absoulutely recommend it to everyone who has an interest in sustainable living!

I am a strawberry!!

2010-01-29T23:07:00.000-08:00

Thats what the GHIU said to me this morning! Yesterday as planned we went to Splash Planet in Hastings. The day was half overcast and half sunny and I spent the day watching lots of people going a red colour and thinking how stupid of them...while all along i in my tee shirt top wass eing saved. Also we were in and out of slides and indoor pools etc. But when we came home the top of my head was so sunburnt and my face was so red. I hoped that the redness might be a it residual and might go overnight, ut this morning it was still there and my skin is so sore. Add to that my lips are swollen and look likde trout lips that celebreties get after plastic surgery. Then I discovered (Advice dont read if skeemish) scabs, yes thats correct on my scalp. im hoping that they are there after brushing my hair delicately last night, ut maybe grazing the sore surface or something. It asolutely appalls me that I can be so dumb!! So i took it easy today, kept out of the sun and heavy rainfall wearning are forecast for tomorrow.
I shredded all the poopy straw from the coop on my garden and now need it to rain. I LOVE chicken poop...its the most exciting fertiliser. I know..Im strange!
Happy sunbathing to you all
Cherry

Chooks..yes! Again..

2010-01-28T00:12:00.000-08:00

Its all about the chooks lately. This afternoon after lunch we all got in the jeep and spent the rest of the afternoon at Waimarama beach. it was glorious. the girls used their boogie boards to surf the waves , sam the dog swum out deep with the GHIU. I even got in swam around a bit and got a sunurnt head and arms..But it was just the best afternoon.

Then we came hoem and spent a few hours watching the chooks, watching the cat watching the chooks, stalking the chooks and then attacking the chooks! The chooks thought fought back and sent the ruthless Gingy on his way!!

As if that wasnt entertainment enough GHIU and Old macdonald herself(Alex) dug up worms and slugs and feed them to the chooks who jumped up and became quite obssessed with them. Today we had three eggs, spread throughout the day. So someone wasnt pulling their weight!! Actually we are surprised ecause we had een led to belioeve that after a new home they could go quiet at first. Maybe we are lucky!

I spent some Money today. I actually bought on line Living the good life by lionda Cockurn. I have SO wanted to read this book both napier and hastings libraries didnt have it. I found it on a NZ site the credit card was unfortunately just there staring me in the face, and , well... Still Im sooo looking forward to its deliverance.

The next photos are of Gingy in the chook enclosure and the worm fest.

happy Chooking

love Cherry

Chook fever!

2010-01-26T19:40:00.000-08:00

Everyone is crazy about the chooks. They are never without an audience and special seating has "arrived" around their pen for the crowd to congregate on!

The top photo is my view from my bedroom as aI type away here,. pretty good huh!

They are scratching around, eating lots of weeds, grass and some scraps as well as their wheat and pellets. It is wonderful to see this knowing that only two days ago they were in tiny battery cages, not knowing anything natural. Sparrows have been funny to watch as they fly around after the chhoks feed and at first the chooks would duck for cover as they flew overhead! Then it rained and one just sat outside obviously unaware of rain and what to do! we helped her inside-poor drenched looking thing!
We have got one more chook. She belongs to GHIU and he named her Christmas...as in thats what meal shell be supporting if she doesnt perform.But we have had six eggs since their arrival . It is thrilling to find the eggs..like Christmas presents! I know that the novelty will go aaway buts its pretty neat right now.
With lots of chooky love

Cherry

the farm comes to Flaxmere!!

2010-01-24T19:13:00.000-08:00

Introducing....Shelley Henderson

Henrietta and helen Clark henderson.

Well great excitement this morning at the "good life farm" Our three chooks arrived. Thick as two planks they might be but they already have shown their different personalities. Georgias henrietta is very quiet, placid to a fault infact, Alexs Shelley is quiet but prefers to roll around scratcing at pretend dust bathes, and my one..well she is fiesty and nasty and quiet the fiend..hence her name (its ovious i was never a fan of Aunty helen!) Shes already tried to fly out at me and annoys the others y stamping over them and stepping in their water. As they are quite busy we thought wed let them out tonight of their enclosure for an hour or so. A man went into a big shed and got them for us and now i wonder wether this was in fact a big factory arn as they are not behaving as I have seen battery cage hens behave. The girls are beside themselves with excitement and Ginga has made several attempts to get into the cage and when he did get in he played with Henrietas tail feathers!

This is where the eggs will be tomorrow (hopefully) currently you will find only a golf ball there!

Other news is the girls had their prizegiving ceremonies for their lirary awards. And, crikey the mayor was giving them out!! Mayors in new Zealand dont often have are feet ut the prizegiving was in a marae..

Im a bit dissappointed with my redone door. To compensate i made this wreath and then inspired y a country craft magazine crafted this heart to go with it.

Happy crafting and chook keeping to you all

Love Cherry

The urban farm life begins...

2010-01-17T01:54:00.000-08:00

GHIU has been busy measuring, cuttting, sawing, hammering and has made most of the chicken coop already!!! Of course I have been busy too.................

Its such a good feeling squirrilling away things, especially when the raw product has been in the freezer for YEARS! Straight from my freezer and from Aunt Daisys cookook for your veiwing pleasure..

happy bottling everyone-

Love Cherry

Plans in the making

2010-01-12T22:22:00.000-08:00

Today i was mowing the lawns..actually mostly Alex was mowing and I was watching..Anyway I was walking around this triangle of lawn against the olive trees and the pool and i suddenly thought..Chooks!!
You can see it too cant you!? Its perfect for a couple of laying hybrids. And friendly ones too so I can graze them around the other parts of the garden. I dont know why i didnt see it before!! We are going to erect a temparary fence from left over chicken wire in the shed and build a small chook house for laying. I cant wait. I even rung up the local battery farm:-( and chooks are 18 for layers.

As for other things of a more crafty nature.This is what Ive been working on since Christmas. it is a quilt adapted from Cheri Saffiote. I love primitive especially at Christmas but am well and truly over this now!! It features both stitchery and applique and then around the edges i am just finishing it off with some Christmas greenery...

Really want to get it finished now!!

This morning i made some Blackberry pickle from Aunt Daisys recipe book that I got from the library. Its a classic!! Full of recipes . I want a copy!! Im not sure how the pickle will taste though. It only made one a half jars, but it may all be thrown out after the first tasting. Tomorrow im making some relish from the same book. Again just a small amount. I found some MORE frozen tomatoes in the freezer!! Goodness only know how long those have been in there!!

Happy homemaking to you all..

Love Cherry

Cooking

2010-01-04T22:43:00.000-08:00

Today was a baking day. I have had blueberries, raspberries and boysenberries in the freezer since 2008!! I thought i should at last use them!! These muffins taken from a recipe from the Simple savings website is divine. It uses custard powder and has the best taste. These muffins were wolfed down by all but Georgia who has an inexpicable dislike for berries! Now I only have blackberries collected wild in the freezer ut the GHIU isnt so keen on using those in this recipe! I do have to use up a fair few litres of them though!

So then I thought I should bake some ANZAC biscuits but didnt have any bake paper. using my old Aunties tip I was able to use up some of the stock take of butter paper in my freezer. A great frugal tip this one!!

The other thing that i have got since Mum went into the rest home is her very old Tala. It is the greatest measuring tool and has measures inside very just about every cooking ingrediant as well as old measures such as pounds, oz and litres..to name a few. I know that you can buy these new nowadays as it is an old thing that has come back but I grew up with this model and knowing how frugal my Mum was I imagine she had this one from the very eginning of her marriage (which makes it abouit fifty odd years old)

The weather is still hot..just beautiful really. i am tying down the strawberry runners in the garden to make more plants for next season. Other than that everything esle is in a state of still growing (tomatoes ) strongly or growing but not very convincingly (water melons, rock melons and capiscums) Oh well you win, you lose. Its always a process in learning.
When the GHIU came home we packed the girls and the dog into the four wheeler and headed off down to the river. The girls loved swimming downstream, up stream (against the strong current) and hanging off the dog (lucky him..)
We are slowly planning our few days camping probably at mahia as the sea is gorgeous there but MOKO is not there this year (See this blog this time last year to learn aout the wonderful Moko). He is in Tolaga Bay now and has had to be highly protected after the pulic got a bit carried away and some loons weent after him :\
Im off now to do some calming quilting Im patching together a quilt designed upon Cheri Saffiotes two ghour quilting projects book. Id like to get it finished actually but as it has lots of applique and stitching it willtake a while. Im going to finish it before I start anything wlse though, although it wont be quilted immediately..Ill just add it to the pile!!
happy quilting
Love Cherry