Windy wind

Today is very windy. It is an awful easterly wind, cold and strong. Apart from a short time outside helping Johnny repair a panel on my greenhouse, which blew out in the wind, I lurked inside all day. I spotted this wee poppet a few days ago.

I'm glad it wasn't windy yesterday because it was a horse day. The Eventing Canterbury ODE at McLean's Island, and I was doing grooming for the Butcher team again. I wasn't sure which horses Emily would be riding, or if Frank would be there with Viv, as he hasn't been 100%. It turned out that all of the same boys were there as last time- Johnny, Frank, Chippie, Storm and Lewis. I didn't want to let my cold hold me back, and I did pretty well.

Lewis looked gorgeous anticipating his dressage.

I was studying Emily intently. See how she sits with her body tilted back so far. Apparently she rode for one of the American Olympic eventers for a year and came back with this position. It shifts her weight back and means she supports herself more, plus encourages impulsion from the hind-quarters. Complicated business, riding.

In the jumping she has her body tilted more forward, but shifts her weight back to slow her horse between jumps. This is Storm in action. He is quite little, and just right for lovely cuddles. He is absolutely sweet to handle.

He got a pat for doing a good round. Emily always stops her horses after each round and leaves the arena with dignity, unlike some.

This is Chippie jumping. He's rather an anxious creature. He apparently didn't have the most auspicious arrival as an unbroken youngster. The truck driver parked too close to the hedge and opened up the side of the truck. Chippie didn't know what to do and tried to launch himself off the side of the truck and over the hedge. He knocked out the truck driver in the process and headed off down the road at high speed. I haven't had any problems handling him, which Emily says is because I move slowly and quietly around him. Apparently he goes berserk if he gets a fright, and does a full-on bucking bronco routine when he gets upset with Emily when she is riding him. She says it is terrifying, which is amazing coming from her!

Finally, here's Lewis jumping. Gosh he is such a big boy, but lovely to handle.

The jumps looked really big to me, but I haven't been to a showjumping event where they jump much higher yet. Must look into that. I am so pleased that I have discovered the world of horse events because I absolutely love going, even when Johnny doesn't want to go. Yesterday, when I wasn't grooming, I decided to take Em's dog, Mack, for a walk so he could watch his mummy ride. She was so pleased to see him out and about as he was waiting in the truck. I took all of the jumping photos with him watching at my feet.

The only sad note of the day was darling Johnny (horse, not husband) caught his stifle on a cross country jump and was injured. The stifle is at the front of what you could say is the horse's thigh. He skinned it and was very lame. Poor man. I gave him lots of cuddles. Emily was very upset but didn't cry like I would have done because she is pretty tough in the face of adversity. He got vet treatment immediately and is expected to be back in action in a couple of weeks.

As I said, I lay low today, just trying to get rid of my cold. Don't worry Nanny- no sign of a nasty cough. I did a bit of work on this project, which is a present for someone. I'll show you the finished article before long, I hope.

I've got masses of things to go on with, but I hope this wind stops soon.

Lovely project

A wee midweek update. It has been a shaky couple of days here. Our little village has been rattled by a barrage of earthquakes. Apparently we've got some kind of fault structure in the earth beneath us and it is having a wee outburst at the moment. Hopefully it won't throw in a big one as I am in heaven in my house and garden, and I'd hate to have that destroyed. Scary to feel like a sitting duck in your own home. I don't mind the smaller quakes at all. Anything up to a 5 on the Richter scale doesn't get my heart racing now. Once we get up there though, the house really shakes, and the sound of the structure rattling and groaning is unnerving. We've got the EQC people (the earthquake insurance people) coming to inspect our house tomorrow. We've got nail pops, where nail heads have lifted out of the plasterboard under the paint, all over the house. Johnny says he thinks EQC are going to be buggers about paying for nail pops. Well they weren't there last time they visited, and we didn't suck them out of the walls ourselves. Makes me stressed thinking about it.

On a much happier note, this little project has been hugely enjoyable.

This is the small wall quilt make out of a Moda charm pack (Scarborough Fair). I adore the fabrics. I pieced the pre-cut squares then made a quilt sandwich with a fairly thin batting, and quilted it using loopy stippling with my embroidery foot. The effect is gorgeous. I was really happy with my ability to keep my quilting neat and controlled. I like the way the light on the lines of stitching shows the texture of the quilt.

I was contemplating adding some buttons at the intersections of the squares. I got some of my button collection out. I've got quite a few, but would love thousands more. I love rummaging through the piles of buttons and other assorted bits and pieces in the containers. When I get some more shelving I might store them in pretty jars.

I thought the mother-of-pearl or creamy toned buttons would work, but they just looked clumsy and distracting. Well, it was fun to play. Any excuse to get into the button collection!

We're having our usual busy week at school. We started a wee fundraiser for our class today. We are baking biscuits and other goodies for staff to purchase so that we can raise money for a trip to Orana Park, the big animal park in Christchurch. Any excess money we raise will be donated to animal charities. I was pretty happy because we made $6 within half an hour of putting the basket in the staffroom. I'm counting on everyone being greedy and buying heaps of our goods.

I'm expecting plenty of time with Mum and Dad this weekend as they should be coming down for the South Island Daffodil Show. I haven't really got time to think about entering any flowers myself, unfortunately. I've barely got time to check the garden briefly when I get home from school. I'm extremely fussy when it comes to the quality of flowers. Mum and I were saying I could probably judge daffodils myself, having been exposed to the world of daffodils for exhibition for most of my life. I know a good flower when I see one. At this time of year we kind of become orphans because Mum and Dad are so busy with daffodil activities. I remember as children Mum would be up in the daffodil patch for hours on end, head down, lifting thousands of flower's faces up to find the goodies. Then she would cover the potential show quality ones, and pick others at the perfect time. There would also be the careful cross pollination of fine flowers to breed new beauties. I still love the heady aroma of thousands of daffodils all grouped together. It is a very special fragrance that brings back a lot of memories.

Well, I'm thoroughly exhausted, so should be off to bed very soon. Check in at the weekend for flower show action, and hopefully some gardening, craft and horsey news. XXX

Ps. I hope there are some interesting stalls at the daffodil show. I must take some cash, just in case.

Glorious colour

Oh dear, I'm having some frustrating photo uploading problems. I pressed on, adding one photo at a time, with several refusals along the way. It did the same thing yesterday.

The weather was windy, cloudy and chilly today. I felt the benefits of the greenhouse because I really enjoyed being outside, but under cover. I despise the wind, but today I could watch the wind merrily flapping my fleet of colourful jerseys around on the washing line, happily tucked away in the warmth. I planted four tomatoes, a beefsteak, moneymaker, sweet 100 and taupo. Two are grafted and are planted in their very own large mineral block tubs from the horse farm. The others, along with a telegraph cucumber, are planted directly into well fertilized soil. I prepared a tray of lavender seeds, and one of corn, buoyed on by the morning glory and rainbow chard seeds that are already popping up after only a week in the seed raising mix. Then I planted six assorted courgette seeds (well, I hope they are assorted), in their own individual pots. I had a wee tidy up outside, and made sure all of the new things growing were well watered. I love spending a bit of time in the garden at the weekend. I become very engrossed in what I'm doing, and I think it is a very healthy way to spend some time.

I had a bit of a fiddle with the camera today. Johnny helped me put it on a different setting to improve my flower photos. I don't think we are there yet. Yellow seems to be tricky to capture as it lacks definition. This is a lovely flower. Some of the miniatures are sweet and perfect, but so far the big ones are a bit rough.

Mr. Lawn is preening his territory. He put some lawn mix down to smooth out a hollow. I said it is poo (probably pig - super stinky) to scare away the visitors to the open home next door. We like our current neighbour as she is fabulously quiet and unobtrusive. I can't bear the idea of a horrid noisy family moving in.

Told you my big daffys are a bit rough. The colour is lovely and bright though.

A few doubles are appearing. They always get the most comments from visitors to the garden as most people aren't very familiar with them. I love them.

I love these wee fellows too. Happy pansy faces.

A sea of anemones.

The snow damaged the petals on these, but they battled on through. I must remember to split up the clumps of polyanthus later in the year as they are getting quite large and crowded.

I've got a sea of grape hyacinths too.

Pretty poppets.

Look what we've got here. The first globe artichoke. Last year I didn't eat a single one because it seemed like murder cutting them. This year I will be ruthless and have a go. I've only ever eaten the preserved ones. If I don't like them I will have lovely blue tufty flowers, and if I do - look out artichokes! They grow into a lovely big leafy plants and surprisingly, coped very well with heavy snow and frosts.

Since it wasn't exactly a day for spending every minute outside, I got on with the Scarborough Fair charm pack quilt. It is going to be a wall hanging for our bedroom. I put the saucer on it so that you could see the scale.

The Crafty Neighbour and Miss B. came over and they worked on some quilling while I sewed. Miss B. wanted to know if I did quilling and I told her I had so many crafty interests that I dare not try anything new. Thank goodness I haven't been drawn into scrapbooking (I find fabric more interesting than paper), because that is an expensive hobby. I've had to limit myself to cursory glances at scrapbooking bits and pieces, because there are some very pretty things to work with.

Guess what? There's a rugby game on shortly, so I'll be retiring to my craft room to start quilting the wee quilt mentioned above. I pinned it and am ready to go.

Ps. Does anyone know what has happened to my little silver camera? It has vanished. The big cameras are great, but not exactly portable or discreet when attending events or upon a grey horse.

Efficiency

Don't you love it when you have a fun day and achieve lots? I certainly do. This weekend has been fabulous. I've managed to do some tidying up, gardening, quilting, baking, 'cello practise, socialising, horse riding, reading and blogging. What could be better?

We love little birdies visiting our garden (except when they poo on the washing). I felt awful about Jasper's indiscretion recently with the bird he caught/found. We decided that we would do our bit to help the local birds after the snowy weather, so we got a big, fat, seedy bird feeder from the supermarket. We're onto the second one in a week. Waxeyes are the main visitors to the nectarine tree feeding station. We see sparrows, various finches and starlings (or possibly blackbirds-they're speedy and shy). Mrs CT assures me that she makes her own bird feeders that cost less than the very economical $2.95 we pay, so that may be a project coming up. I've designed a bird feeding platform for Johnny to make too.

I was reading on the couch, spying on the birds and having a cup of tea when I took this photo of the gorgeous gerbera on the coffee table. So pretty. I decided that we needed a touch more colour (you can never have too much), and until the garden is filled with flowers again, potted plants would be perfect. I'm wondering how long I can keep this alive for, as my record has been less than exemplary with indoor plants, but so far, so good. I've got some polyanthus on the dining table too.

I'm very pleased that our entrance hall is so spacious because it is perfect for laying out and pinning my quilts. I tape the backing fabric flat onto the floor with masking tape, then lay the batting and top on. Then I pin with quilters safety pins every few inches. It takes a while, but I do like to see the lovely smooth pinned quilt all ready for machine quilting. I'm going to challenge myself with a loopy stitch all over the surface of this quilt, which I decided is called "Forty Wishes" because I'm giving it to myself for my birthday.

Yay- I used my greenhouse for the first time today! Well actually I just popped my gardening tool bucket in there when I finished a huge weeding effort along the back fence. The big yellow buckets are mineral horse feed buckets. They are going to house the best tomatoes in the land.

This was the view from inside my new greenhouse before my gardening onslaught. We are going to redesign the vegetable beds around the greenhouse. It is a shambles around there at the moment.

I'm off to ice the banana cake I made for lunches, then I need to practise my 'cello some more for my lesson tomorrow. I hope I'll get a chance to write again during the week. XXX

Disaster? ... No!

On Sunday I decided that Mr Ginger Jasper needed a lovely quilt all of his own. I wanted to create a very vintage looking creation, but didn't have the right things in the mini-stash. I'm all inspired by the amazing Hen at Henhouse (check out her divine blog in the sidebar). I LOVE the things she creates and does. Vintage all the way! Being the experimental creature that I tend to be, I decided that a selection of gingery fabrics might work, given a lack of other options. Mmmm, sounds foul to me too. I despise ochre and pooey brown colours. Yuck Yuck Yuck. However Kaffe and Phillip Jacobs seem to like them, and I did get them from a samples bin in the hope of finding a use for them.

I have to say I did have fun using the stack and slash method (known as hack and slash around here as my rotary cutter was as blunt as a butter knife). I loved all of the mixing and joining, seeing what would emerge with each cut. Unfortunately I hated the result. Poo and pink. Emerald and ochre. Orange and brown. Blerk. I decided that MY delicious pussycat would hate it as much as me. Fortunately I decided just to whip it together with a thick layer of batting (no fancy quilting) and I popped it under the table to see what would happen. I couldn't face the idea of folding it up after all of that work.

He found it within minutes. Mmmmm. Luxury. He's still there, fast asleep.

Now I can't wait to make him a pretty one to relax on when he supervises in my workroom.

Sniffles and snuffles

We've had revolting weather this week. I rather liked the snow, but then it was rained away. It was pretty deep in the back yard.

I was at home sick again, feeling hot and clammy this morning, then all snuffly this afternoon. The weather was very grey, with intermittent rain. Yuck. I'm desperate for a bit of sunshine. All I wanted to do was work on my workroom. I made a list of possible Christmas present ideas earlier this week, and made a start today. I can't show you the finished article, or even tell you what it is going to be, but a few photos will show you the patching and quilting.

I started by making strips out of various bits and pieces from my little stash. I actually do have a very small stash of fabrics, which is a nuisance when I get inspired and have nothing that goes together.

With lots of cutting, sewing and ironing I created this. Working with bigger pieces is actually much less time consuming and fiddly than working with these wee ones. The wonky effect is quite typical of how I always operate- very shabby chic!

I had to do a bit of fiddling around to find the right bits to make quilted panels. I needed to join some bits of batting, plus I used some positively prehistoric calico to back the quilt sandwich. Someone else decided to do a bit of fiddling around of his own.

For some reason my creation was like catnip to Mr. Jasper.

One last rub before I went to give him a tickle and he sunk his teeth into my cardigan and jersey clad forearm, whilst raking me vigorously with his back paddy-paws. He then tore off through the house. No damage done, and he returned shortly afterwards, trying to pretend he was actually a very dignified gentleman.

I decided to practise the "loopy" machine quilting design, which I found surprisingly easy.

Of course I can't show you the finished article since it is a Christmas present, but it looks fabulous. I discovered that little squares (well, let's be honest, they are rectangles), take a lot of work. I've decided to try to learn a new skill, or to practise a tricky one, each time I create a new project. Apart from "loopy" quilting, I did my first lot of chain piecing, which was fun and quick.

I'm still sniffling and snuffling like mad but the weather forecast is good, so I might get some fresh air tomorrow. I want to show off the Happy Holidays quilt off in the sunshine, so hopefully I'll get a chance to take some photos of it tomorrow, now that it is complete. And you are in for a treat when I show you my delectable new bag! XXX

One week in

I've had one week back at school, and apart from one or two dramas, it was lots of fun. I was annoyed at being too tired to do anything but blob from Wednesday to Friday nights. Monday and Tuesday I managed a little more activity. I finished stitching the binding on this quilt, which is called The Primroses Quilt. I purchased the fabrics from Primroses before it closed. It was a really pretty wee shop with fabrics, a few vintage goodies and haberdashery. Really shabby chic.

I fell in love with the pretty rose fabrics and can't resist spots. It is machine quilted - stitch in the ditch for the main panel, and free quilted in a cross pattern on the border.

I sewed a variety of pretty cream and mother-of-pearl vintage buttons at each intersection.

I really love it and if I had a baby girl she would be getting one of these for her cot. I've got it on the back of a chair to snuggle under on cold nights.

Last weekend Johnny put up flower pot holders on the fence and I potted up pansies and Sweet Williams. We bought three fence pot holders to try out from the Mapua Trading Company, and hopefully I can order some more as I'd like them all the way along the back fence. I helped Johnny to install some wires today. He has been steadily working his way along the back fence putting up wires so that I can grow climbing plants like roses and sweet peas. I would love some of those glorious large-flowered clematis to scramble up the rose bushes. One day.

On my screen the fence looks super blue. It is a more subtle blue-grey in reality.

Today I went for a riding lesson. Sam is still quite stiff and got upset when I started to try cantering, so Celine got on, and he was just as upset for her. She thinks he is stiff in his stifle area and may need some investigations. He is fine for walking and trotting, and I got him into a beautiful outline for much of my lesson. He is the kind of horse that will only go into the correct shape (neck curved elegantly and working from the hind legs) if you ride him correctly. Today I managed to co-ordinate legs and hands and so he relaxed and worked really well. I only had two reminders to keep my wrists in the correct position. I tend to roll my hands in so my palms face down, which alters the position of the bit. Exciting news though- in two weeks Sam and I are attending our first competition. It is a combined jumping/dressage competition, so Celine might jump him (or just canter around the arena area if he is sore) and I will do the dressage. We can't officially get prizes as I'm not doing both parts. Next weekend I'm supposed to have two rides as training, including one at McLean's Island at the National Equestrian Centre, but as it is my birthday, and Johnny won't tell me what he has planned, I'm not entirely sure about that. I won't be getting a horse for my birthday, but Sam is going to pretend he is mine for the day!

Multiple Personalities

What a great day! Yesterday I had a crazy anxious day because I had to go for the second IPL zapping treatment on my face. I have an unusual form of rosacea on my cheeks which has been slowly developing over the past few years. It has got to the point in one big patch where it is beginning to be difficult to cover with makeup, and as it seems to be progressive, it was time for action. Action means Intense Pulse Light treatment which, unfortunately in my case, really really hurts. Fortunately for the second treatment I had local anaesthetic, which reduced the pain to a tolerable level (i.e. I didn't cry and shake in terror whenever the nurse came near me). I would be quite happy to go for another round, should it be required. The dermatologist said I would probably need maintenance zap sessions every now and again due to the progressive nature of my condition. This morning my face looked and felt puffy. Not pretty at all. A good excuse for crafting all day!

Look what arrived!!!!! The Book Depository is the best place I've seen on the net for buying books at a great price. You get free postage all the way from England. The exchange rate at the moment works out well for us.

I've got to the stage where I want to try a few tricky things, and since my other two Stitch 'n Bitch books are my knitting information bibles, I thought this would have great instructions for cool fancy stuff. And it does! There are some gorgeous patterns too.

I have to say I can't work myself out when it comes to my tastes in fabrics. Multiple personalities may be the diagnosis. On Thursday I was invited by Fenella from Stitch to come and learn how to create a stack and slash quilt. I had the BEST time hanging out in the shop classroom, checking out what everyone was buying, sewing and generally having fun with Fenella, her wee girl and other crafty people. This was the completely insane result- the Jeweled Rainforest quilt.

It was all based around this Kaffe Fassett fabric that I have had for years and treasured. I've used another colourway in the Happy Holidays quilt border. Fenella loves to choose collections of fabrics and we had lots of fun putting these together. Believe it or not a great deal of consideration went into this group of fabrics.

I wasn't shy with the border on this one either - Glory Rose is glorious indeed! I put this on today.

I always feel I must apologize for my taste in what I consider to be gloriously bright fabrics. I am totally aware that many people wouldn't understand the attraction or the combinations. Well I'm not going to apologize. If you're not keen, try personality number two.

Tanya Whelan's Delilah collection jelly roll which I turned into this quilt panel this afternoon.

Not a very good photo, but you'll see it again once I've decided what to do about the border. It is about the size of a single bed quilt. The Jeweled Rainforest quilt is also that size as I find it easier to handle for machine quilting, and more affordable to create, than bigger quilts. Of course if someone wanted to purchase one for an extraordinary amount of money I would have to oblige.

I've been thinking about that- selling my craft creations. Like lots of blogging ladies, I've been thinking forward and backwards because I'll be reaching the somewhat terrifying age of 40 in a couple of weeks. It seems to be a big step for many of us. Suddenly it seems like I have to be all mature and grown up. I haven't had children and it seems like the door on that phase of life is closing. That's not really a problem because I came to terms with that a while ago (apart from the occasional teary outburst when I see my darling niece or nephew). Actually thinking back, I can do a lot of stuff I couldn't do at 30:

• Make quilts.
• Embroider.
• Ride a horse with an element of style.
• Knit and crochet.
• Drive my car wherever I want (I had a driving phobia).
• Play the 'cello.
• Blog.
• Not worry too much about what people think.

I'm sure there's plenty of other stuff. What would I like to be able to do at 50 that I can't do now? Something to think about. Actually I'd love to be crafting full time and selling my creations. I had no idea I'd be doing all of those things I listed above, so who knows what I'll be up to in another 10 years.

Heavenly Day

I had a wonderful day today. The weather was hot and beautifully sunny. I really have had a fabulous holiday this year. Sadly it is rapidly coming to an end, but I've got a few fun irons in the fire, so I'm hoping it won't feel like life is at an end when term begins.

The tomatoes are currently fascinating. I was so excited when the first one ripened, but the feathered varmints (aka blackbirds- possibly those raised in my very own garden) gobbled it all up before I got a taste. Traitors. I netted some of the tomato plants this morning. That might slow them down a little.

When it started getting too hot for outside I got stuck into my homework from the quilt course. I have to have three of my fat quarters quilted by the next class. Heaps of fun.

I did this one in straight lines to make a grid pattern. I decided after I had finished that diagonal lines would have worked better.

I practised my wiggly lines on this one. You can't really see the quilting too well in this photo. I tried to make the flowers look like they are floating on a river. You definitely can't tell from the photo- sorry you've missed out on greatness.

I learned about using my walking foot to make circles in different ways. I quilted around the big circles, and am filling in the background with squiggles (badly-but I'm learning how to control the fabric while free quilting -very tricky).

I got two envelopes today from my brilliant sister. Despite the warnings on the back of each envelope that the contents were boring, and that I wasn't to get too excited, I was very pleased indeed to find two quilting magazines. One of the magazines had quilts featured that I saw in person at the quilting conference thing I went to last year. Thanks Meg!!!!!

Once Johnny got home from playing golf we arranged to go and see darling Fraser. Last time you saw him he was 9 days old. He is now 3 months. He is very tall, with elegant long legs, and a very pretty face. Apparently he will feature at the Olympics in a few years. I wouldn't be at all surprised.

He is so tall now, and is losing his baby fur. He is going to be very dark in colour.

See how tall he is up against his mother, who is over 16 hands high. He will be weaned in about a month, which can't come soon enough for his lovely mummy, because is has taken a lot out of her raising him.

He is very friendly and interested in people. He has learned that nipping is not OK, but I would say it does require confidence with horses to hang out with him like I did today. He is pretty gentle but is learning about manners. Dear (not so wee) creature. He is really special. What a treat! After hanging out with Fraser we headed over to the arena to watch some horses in action. I'm going to start lessons soon. I'm so excited. I hope I don't fall off as it will be a long way down. And next week the next twilight eventing begins again, so we'll be helping out for three weeks.

I adore horses. Johnny is thankful the backyard is too small to house one.