Magnificent Magnolias

I thought I would share some images of the beautiful magnolias that are in flower this month.

This gorgeous gem lives in my garden,
I love it's blowzy, rosy, pink softness.

The furry, outer casing protecting the buds, then opening out to the sky above.

This is a stellata magnolia

These beauties are growing by the roadside

And I couldn't resist adding this picture.

Lost and Found

In the Autumn of this year I attended a mini quilt symposium at Picton. Because of my stress levels at the time, I didn't want to be loaded down with sewing machine, cutting mat, masses of fabric and a head full of instructions, so I chose to attend a class for three days with the tutor Donna Stewart who works in merino wool and dyes the colours herself, working her quilts from the native flowers and fauna she sees around her. Her class was all handstitching and all we needed to take was scissors, a ruler and some hand sewing needles.

I came home after that time, relaxed and happy that I had completed a project , with another one of botannical native flowers almost finished, and lots of inspiration.

My little quilt sat around for a few days and then just as I was trying to decide whether to frame it or not, it completely disappeared, and much to my astonishment and annoyance I was unable to find it again.

That is until last night when I was browsing my bookshelf and espied an old gardening book that had been given to me by Uncle Allan, with appropiate pages marked very carefully. Taking it down and leafing through it I was delighted to find my little quilt that I had made at the symposium. There it was tucked up and folded inside the middle of the book.!! I have no idea how it came to be there, so that is even more scary!

This is the rata flowerand this the kowhai.

The little bird in the quilt is the fantail.

This week I collected my new glasses from the Optician, and I rather think that they might be responsible for some of the things I have been finding.

Maybe they will help me to find other important things that I have missed along the way.

Perhaps I will find my figure that has been missing for the last year or so....I am certainly seeing more clearly!

Cherry Cake for Tea

When we visited my family in England recently, we were spoilt with some delicious baking.

We munched our way through big slices of Lemon Drizzle cake, Dundee cake, Flapjacks and Cherry Cake, ( just to mention a few) all baked by my Aunty and cousins and the eating of which, reminded me again of my childhood.

Coming home from school to these delights on the kitchen table, the sixties hits playing on the little Roberts radio on the dresser, and the wonderful aromas that were coming from Mum's trusty Aga oven, are sweet memories.

I have been trying to create the perfect Cherry Cake and have made three attempts in the last week using Delia Smith's recipe. However I was not happy with any of them and couldn't work out what I was doing wrong. This morning I phoned my Aunt in Kent and asked for her W.I. recipe, which is very similar to Delia's except that it bakes at a slower temp. for longer.

SUCCESS !!!

The top is sweet and crunchy.The middle is light and crumbly, and the cherries are well dispersed and the sides of the cake are soft and chewy.

I am really pleased with this result and I hope it will work every time and this one isn't a FLUKE !

I am going to pass it around tonight for supper. Monday nights are the time my friends and I meet up for some serious stitching, knitting and eating..oh and talking of course. My favourite night of the week.

Do you remember the Enid Blyton books about girls in boarding schools and their midnight feasts.? I think their tuck boxes usually held a cherry cake or two !

Following the flower trail

I had such fun this morning with my anniversary draw. I wrote all your names on tiny pink post it notes, and put them into my favorite Port Meirion cup. I gave it a little shake up as I danced around my kitchen, closed my eyes and drew out Kimberlee's name.

Because here in New Zealand we are coming into Spring, I thought I would cut some floral fabrics.

I am mad about flowers all year round actually. I never become tired of their colours and shapes and their wonderful fragrances and I love to work with them in my quilts. I am constantly trying to reproduce them in drawings and pictures.

This was a little black sketchbook that I took with me on our trip overseas. It wasn't taken out of my bag very often, instead I used my camera and now that I am home again I have a little more time to play with my pencils.
Sweetpeas are my favorite, as I think I might have already mentioned on a previous post

and roses have to come a close second, oh, but then what about bluebells, hyacinths, freesias, tulips, larkspur, candytuft, pansies, zinnias, hollyhocks and lily of the valley ??

Maybe I don't have favorites after all. As usual my greedy nature takes over once again and I have decided that I adore them all equally.

Thank you for all your wonderful comments and for participating, it has been a lot of fun.

One year

Today I awoke to bright sunshine, and a tui perched on this frangipani tree right outside my bedroom window.

I looked a little further and this is what I sawThe sea is the same colour as the sky and it looks as if the ship is floating above the paddocks.

Every day the spring flowers are growing more lovely and it is such a treat to bring them into the home.

This week is also the first anniversary of this blog. 103 posts altogether and I wrote the first post at the end of August last year.
I thought that I would celebrate by sending some fabrics from my stash, a very untidy stash I am ashamed to say.

but I would love to send some fat quarters to someone who makes a comment in the next three days. I will put your names in a draw. Please remember that I can only respond to comments if you provide your email address or make your blogger profile available, or you can email me directly. Good luck!

Coming back

This last week or so has been filled with catching up with family and friends and becoming used once again to our rhythm of life here.

Our youngest daughter Sarah has been home, taking a break from uni and making lots of plans for the next six months, and trying to complete an assignment that is due when she returns next week. Her 21st birthday is almost here, and we have been talking non- stop about the celebration she is going to have in September..exciting!

We went to visit Tamsin (middle daughter) and her three gorgeous girls. Tamsin took us to her favorite wool shop where she lives and I bought some wool to make her a skirt.

which of course I had to start straight away. The wool is Cleckheaton Country Silk and Cleckheaton Mohair, both 8 ply. I couldn't resist the colours.

I am knitting this on a circular needle, so I won't have any seams to sew. Tamsin has just completed her first sock, and it is beautifully knitted..I think she is well and truly hooked now!

I am knitting this as well for number one son, Tristan. He could do with it right now as it is very cold where he is farming, but he will have to wait for his birthday in October.

Cobblestone Pullover, knitted on a circular needle with Naturally Tussock 10 ply.

There are signs of the coming Spring all around us, and I marvel again about the very special light we have here.

I have some serious work ahead of me in the garden, the flowers are fighting for a space amongst all the weeds, but this is the time of year I like the most in the garden. It is not too hot or dry, and I am often surprised by little gems that I had forgotten I had planted earlier.

This quilt top has had some attention this week , and I am off to do some more right now.

To the Southern Alps

At Zurich Airport we met Uncle Alan and boarded our plane for Singapore. Alan looked great after his seven weeks in Italy, and he was very reluctant to come home !



Singapore was having their National Day and the place was buzzing. Lots of happy, smiling people , heaps of colour everywhere , and of course the beautiful orchids.

When we arrived back in NZ at Christchurch Airport we were all shocked at how cold it was, but luckily for me I had finished these socks on the plane ( yes, I knitted on ALL the flights, with my trusty little bamboo needles that fit in a pencil case) and was able to wear them on the final flight home.
Over the spectacular Southern Alps, and

home again.

Thank you all so much for your comments throughout this journey, and I hope to catch up with all of you now I am back with my laptop..yay!