Holiday Time

 For the past week I have been away in the South Island and have seen the most beautiful part of New Zealand you can see - Fiordland National Park.  I have never been there before and never expected to see what I did.  Pictures online don't do this area any justice.

As you can see the weather was not that great, but at least it did not snow so we could get there.  The mountains are so high and a sight to see.

In the carpark at Milford Sound we also got to meet one of the many Weka's that were roaming the carpark.  They were very friendly.  Unfortunately no Kakapo's were to be seen during this trip.

The next day we travelled back to Queenstown and visited the wet but lovely Arrowtown (no photos sorry) but as not enough time in the day we headed out to Glenorchy the next day and boy was it bitterly cold this day.

We spent the morning out there and headed back to Queenstown for lunch stopping to take some more pictures of the beautiful views

What we found is that the weather was very changeable and by the time we got back to Queenstown we were back into to some decent weather again, so had a wee walk around the lake front and in the park.

The next day and our last day down south we done the round trip from Queenstown through to Cromwell, then onto Wanaka and over the Crown Range back to Queenstown.  

Cromwell is a lovely little town and we had a look at the Old Cromwell area.

We then headed off to Wanaka and had a coffee and I found a wool shop called Wools of Wanaka, and some wool and a pattern just fell into my lovely hands and I had to get it.

We then drove through the Crown Range stopping of at the Iconic Cardrona Hotel for a photo and then at the top of the summit before heading back to Queenstown where we flew out the next morning back to Gisborne.

Homeward bound to Gisborne

Lest We Forget

 "They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; 

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. 

At the going down of the sun and in the morning 

We will remember them."

FNSI Update

Last night I joined in again with FNSI and again I knitted.  I am nearly finished this shawl - less than 12 rows to go.  I would have finished last night but Kristen and I were off to the movies. 

I forgot to say on my last post what the pattern was called.  It is "The Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief" and is a free pattern I found on Ravelry.  I am going a bit bigger than the kerchief and doing the shawl. My plan is to finish it this weekend.  

I also made this little bolero a couple of months ago and just had to put a button on it and done this last night. Now off to block it and into the stash ready for the local A&P show Home Industries entries later this year. With the left over yarn I also made a little turban hat to go with it. The patterns were found on Ravelry and called Entrechat By Lisa Chemery and the hat is Karina Baby Turban by Mariannas Lazy Daisy Designs.

Yesterday I also done some baking.  My daughter Kristen comes to stay on her days off regularly and yesterday she complained there was nothing in the tins to snack on, so while she was out at the dentist I cranked up the oven and started baking.  

The best cooking book out is the Edmonds Cookery Book, a New Zealand staple in every kitchen for years.  I have five of them and this edition that is now 30 years old is the best one. You can see I use it a lot obviously.

So yesterday I made some Peanut Brownies, Chocolate Chip Biscuits and a Sultana Cake.  I was going to make some ANZAC biscuits due to it being ANZAC Day on Tuesday, but when I went into the cupboard there was no golden syrup.  I will be making some in the next couple of days definitely when I get some.

Kristen does bring baking with her often, but this time she brought it for a friend who picked up an item for her while they were in Auckland instead and they were some good looking Afghans I missed out on.

Finally, yesterday Kristen and I went to our local dog grooming shop as last weekend when they had their grand opening of the new business, she couldn't make it.  While there, I bought Snowy and the gran pup Rusko a K9Chew and they love it.

 

FNWF Update and Today's Shenagins

 Last night Friday Night with Friends was held, though a week later as last week was Good Friday.  I actually started earlier as had a few things I was doing.  

One was knitting this shawl and I have only got one section left to do and it it finished.  It is not perfect, but no one will ever know where, as an easy fixed.

I also worked on a set of pot mitts.  I had started these a few weeks ago and then run out of cotton on my bobbin and even better none on the reel. So I ordered some in and finally got to sit down and finish the quilting and cut out and now just awaiting on some bias binding to be made or bought.  I have an idea on what I want, but not the material colour in my "small" stash.  However I have seen premade in what I want.  I will ponder on it more.

Yes I was busy, as I also made some Golden Kiwifruit jam last night.  We have a glut in the house hold as I had someone gave me a large bag and then someone gave my hubby a large bag too.  I gave a lot of mine away, however amongst eating the ones that are nice and ripe we still had so much.  Was an easy recipe and so yummy.

While the jam was cooking I prepped some pickled onions and will be bottle them up later today.   I use all sorts of recipes as I like the variety and this batch is going to be a sweet pickled onion.

So a very busy afternoon and night yesterday.

Today was also busy as I had three things on together at the same time.  First was a Nurses national NZNO nurses rally as we are calling on better staffing and better pay.  

Did you know since August 2022, 5000 NZ nurses have registered to work in Australia as it is so bad here.  I don't think it is going to get better here any time soon unless something happens drastically.  Unfortunately it is also a worldwide problem.  Anyway we can only but try.

I also had to go to Pet Space's (formerly Harry and Sam's Dog grooming) grand opening and I went not once but twice.  The first was on the way to the rally above, where I bought Snowy a smart looking lead, collar and harness, but then I went back as I had to take him along to have a look and to exchange his harness as the first one was too big.

Finally the best thing of the day was going to the Janome demonstration being held here in Gisborne.  My Janome is now about 10 years old and I still love it, but looking at new ones is nice too.

When I say looking that is all I was doing.  Yes looking, and guess what I have ordered?

Yes I was looking and I went not to buy a sewing machine, but I could not resist.  Now the wait for it to arrive.

Happy Easter Sunday

 

Lovely Fabric, Lovely Yarn

A few days ago scrolling Facebook I came across my local quilting and fabric shop More than Fabric's post with some yummy fabric I had to have.  So yesterday on my day off work I went and brought some with a table runner I want to make in the planning.

The fabric line is Wander Lane by Nancy Halvorsen. While there I did see and touch some some other fabric I really did like but resisted .... for now. Have to have an excuse to go back.

My Dirty Lace is coming along very slowly. I had to frog back a big section as I noted a mistake you just could not miss and even hubby pointed it out. Once I competed this I got back into the knitting and finished the eyelet 1 section finally.

I thought after this I needed a little break and I recently purchased some lovely 8ply yarn in the Skeinz sale and have started another project. This time I am knitting 'The Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief" a free pattern on Ravelry and I am knitting the shawl size.

The colour is called 'Paua' and even though I have knitted a small amount at this time it is going to be a lovely coloured shawl when it is finished. I was very lucky to buy two skeinz of this as it sold out quickly.

Reading Time

In my spare time not only do I craft and bake, but I also like to read.  I just finished on Friday night Fleur McDonald's last book in the "Dave Burrows" series and I am waiting with anticipation for next one to come out.

And when is the next one coming out?  Tomorrow ....yay and it is called Into the Night.  Guess what I will be reading over Easter?

If you have not read Fleur McDonald's books I highly suggest to get into them.  I don't know why it has taken me so long to.

Into the Night

Dishcloths

Over a couple of nights I have been sitting watching TV or a movie - The Banshee of Inisherin is a good movie if you have not seen it, -  and I have have either knitted or crocheted some dishcloths.  The first two I completed were knitted then, thought just to do some crocheted ones.  

I also need to use my stash of cotton up and these are good quick patterns. My next lot will be using different crochet stitches.  There are many free patterns on the internet so it will be just choosing what one to use.

This morning I also have some squishy mail from Skeinz who are in their last two days of the yearly Epic Sale.  No pattern yet but it won't be hard to find one for these lovely yarns.

Finally, can not finish without a photo of the handsome Snowy