I was really looking forward to having a good four days of interrupted sewing at Scrub Stitching. I tried to be reasonable in my packing but of course took more than I could accomplish in the time frame! Last year at Scrub Stitching, a wee group of us decided to make the "Corner Star Quilt" (by The Missouri Quilt Company) and show it off this year. I procrastinated all year about what fabric to use and it wasn't until I was packing to go away that I made a decision on my fabrics! First block made -  I had hoped to do all my cutting before I left home but that didn't happen. So it took me ..read more

Scrub Stitching this year, as always, was great!  Camp Cypress, in Baradine, NSW, was our home for four nights - five days of sewing and fun, friendship and good times. 28 travellers came from all over the countryside, from Queensland to Melbourne (and New Zealand!), united by our love of quilting and blogging and everything in between. Our 'Tribe' -  The bloggers amongst us -  It's a great sized room and we all have enough room to play, with the dining tables and kitchen along one side and sewing everywhere else. A hive of activity! Travel buddy and partner in crime Sue ..read more

I'm off on another adventure!  A few days ago, I set off from New Zealand - And landed at Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne, Australia. Kiwikid Sue picked me up after a bus trip to Geelong. This was the first leg of our trip together up to our quilting retreat, Scrub Stitching, in New South Wales. First of all, a little sight seeing around Geelong. Sue regularly shares photos of the decorated Bollards there and I was excited to see some of them. They are very clever, lots of personality! Sue and friend -  This couch was made out of limestone - very cool! I also saw bats for the ..read more

I'm not sure where the months are going and I can't believe that I've gone nearly six weeks without blogging here... February was a busy month and there was also a bit of family stuff going on which threw me a bit. [However, I have been keeping up with my one-photo-a-day challenge over *here* so I was pleased about that.] At the beginning of March, The Country Yard had its annual launch of new projects and BOMs, etc. So most of my sewing in February focussed on that. I didn't contribute as much as I would have liked, however these were my main projects — First up was our Starry Delight Mini ..read more

----comes to an end. While it seems such a long time since Christmas and the New Year, I can't quite believe we are one month into 2024 already. January has been a mixed month. We've had some long hot days, the odd cooler day, a lot of humidity and then none. We had a little rain at the start of the month but have missed out on much of what has fallen in Northland lately - even though we are only 45-60 mins west OR east to the coast, we have quite a different climate at times - they've had a good amount of rain this month.  Which means things are drying out on the farm. The grass has cha ..read more

Gosh, the weekend has really flown by and I'd best get myself organised to write a post... I signed up to take part in Friday Night Sew In with Wendy of Sugarlane Designs...and part of the deal is, you write a post by the end of the weekend. There's also a Facebook option but, although I have FB, I'm not really active there and rarely post anything. So it's the (less instant) blog option for me! Last post I mentioned that I was stitching a wee scissor keep set. So I continued on with that on Friday night — I suspect I should have used a single thread for my Xs but I'm not changing that now!&n ..read more

In spite of my flurry of my first (little) 2024 finish, I've still taken me a while to get myself sorted in The Palace. I've done some tidying, some sorting and some thinking. How to decide where, what, how to start?! I've decided to start with the decisions I have made already, and hopefully anything else will fall into place as time goes by ~ Firstly, my Chookshed Chatterers 2024 Challenge. Item #6 for this month.  Done and Dusted :-) (Featured in  *this post*.) Deana has put a linky page up for a mid-month check in. Many of us were working on our Scrub Stitching Retreat bag but no ..read more

The first hugs of the year went to these two who decided that 4.26am on New Year's day would be a good time to wake up — (I told them Gandad wasn't even up to milk the cows yet and sent them back to bed. But it's too exciting being at Ganma's so they didn't last long!) First wearing of the year of my new (Christmas t-shirt) —  First walk of the year — First and most decent Fernbird (Mātātā)) photo of the year (and ever). These little-known birds are pretty non-descript but are quite common in the bush areas around us (they're a wetland type bird, I think). They are easily identified ..read more

2024 will start with a hiss and a bang with the introduction of the Chookshed Stitchers 2024 Challenge. This challenge came about the other day when a group of Chookshed Chatterers (as I like to call them) were zooming and chatting. Thank you Deanna for creating the logo and volunteering to be She Who Keeps Us on Track. I understand there are several who are standing on the side lines who have been appointed Cheerleaders. The Challenge follows a tried and true format. We list (and number) the 10 UFOs/projects we'd like to make progress on in 2024. Deanna rolls the dice at the start of each mo ..read more

I've started my daily(ish) hill climbs again. I haven't walked since March when I broke one of my toes. I hobbled around and 5-6 weeks later stumbled and broke a second bone in the same toe. Luckily they were both healed in time for me to put my dancing shoes on for my party, and then my gumboots on for calving. With things quietening down on the farm for me, and rapidly losing my fitness, I thought I'd better start up again. I did a few walks in November, when the mornings were misty and the Manuka was just starting to flower This was a gorgeous morning — I stopped for about 3 weeks ..read more