Tuesday, 28 July 2015
July. Another busy month and the days disappeared very quickly.
Three family birthdays - two in Australia (daughter-in-law, Kym and son, Rodney)
and our grandson, Jacob, who lives just down the road.
He turned 20 years of age
and has just bought himself
a brand-new, Toyota Hi-lux
double-cab ute.
The model that is
‘top-of-the-range’
with all the extras on it -
chrome nudge bar,
chrome running boards, etc.
He is very proud of it
and we are very proud of him
as he has worked
and saved very hard.
He began working whilst still at high school, after which he did a carpentry/building course
with a dream to obtaining a building apprenticeship.
Despite continual requests to many builders, “Sorry - nothing available”
was the reply for a long, long time, but he did not give up trying
as he worked full-time for a roading contractor
until he secured a building apprenticeship almost a year ago.
And now he is loving what he is doing.
The photo of him above was taken eighteen months ago.
He is now quite the “dashing young man”.
Two other friends celebrated their birthdays this month.
One was 50 years of age and the other 93 - each marking these occasions
with a lunch date. So lovely to be with friends and having a break from work.
One day this month it was also my turn to be the host for our ladies
patchwork/quilting group which meant I had to bake a couple of items for morning tea.
One of those items was yummy Cinnamon Oysters.
I have to confess to loving these -
cinnamon tasting, light, sponge textured cakes -
each filled with freshly whipped cream and dusted with icing sugar!
The cake mixer and kitchen scales also had to come out of the cupboard
for Jacob’s birthday, as one of his birthday requests is always,
“those little coconut cakes with the pink icing sprinkled with coconut”.
Thus, a batch made exclusively for him.
17th of July - a year since my mum passed away. A couple of “last” pics.
Firstly, our last Christmas together (2013)
and secondly, her last birthday - her 84th - in January 2014.
This same date, the 17th, was the date that an uncle in Upper Hutt
passed away necessitating a trip to Upper Hutt a few days later
to attend the funeral and be with family.
A huge funeral. Over 750 attendees.
The Sunday just gone, the 26th, was the last Sunday of the month
and so our lovely NATTER / STITCH DAY together.
Always lots of love and laughter on this day as we stitch
and natter together and admire and comment on one another’s work.
And now in a couple of days time I leave home for Taupo
to attend the Sampler Gathering that is to be held
from Friday night until Sunday afternoon.
I’ve begun to dismantle my Needlework Gallery and pack up stock
and stitched models to take to it.
During the month I have had framed or hand-finished the pieces
of needlework that I have been stitching over the past few months.
You have already seen most of these pieces in previous blogs,
but to follow is how they now look -
Ashleigh’s Birth Sampler - September
Madison’s Birth Sampler - March
Sampler Frisien 1750
(unfortunately
this piece
hasn't photographed
very well.
In reality,
the frame
is not a
dark black/brown
but a rich
burgundy colour
and
looks awesome!).
And here is a reminder of the ‘Olde Quaker Flowers’ design -
However, I stitched my pieces in blue, and the pieces look quite different
being stitched in blues compared to the original pieces
which were stitched in burgundy.
Also, the smaller of the two designs I stitched over one thread
and made into an ornamental.
Next is the JBW Design entitled, Monogrammed Tulips.
This is how it looked on the 30th of June -
and how it looks today.
To create this sachet,
I hemstitched
another piece
of linen
exactly the same
as the front piece,
and then stitched
the back and front
pieces together
on three sides.
I then cut
four even lengths
of silk
4mm ribbon by
The Thread
Gatherer
and threaded
a length
of ribbon
through the
hemstitches of the
front and back
on these three joined sides.
I then completely stuffed the created sachet with wool stuffing, closing the sachet with the final length
of ribbon threaded through the hemstitches of the fourth side and finally finished it by stitching
the final front and back seam together.
More about another piece of needlework in my next blog.
