Today's Daisy

If you get down low among the grass stalks you find some of the most beautiful daisies.

Study Makeover - Still progressing

Peter has made himself a new desk out of an old pine bookcase and the left over bit from the kitchen island unit. He has had a busy week. I think it looks amazing. Unfortunatly it has made my recently improved sewing table look very shabby. So back to the garage for the sewing table for some more tarting up before it is allowed back in the study with Peter's posh desk.

Today's Daisy

Peter made this desk top background for me. There is a bit of a story behind this poster, which you can read about here. Thank you Peter, I love it. What do you think, would make a great teatowel?

Another sign that Winter is retreating

Yes, you may think, some pretty spring flowers. But have a closer look.

Can you spot them yet.

Not just one but three Monarch butterflies flitting around in the warm sunshine. You would almost think the parks department had put them there.

Today's Lunch Time Daisy

After a very miserable wet weekend today was beautiful - typical. I did have a great walk at lunchtime.

The start of Blossom season

It has been a very wet weekend. Too wet to do much gardening. The quince bush is in full flower and so beautiful, with the most heavenly perfume.

While collecting some limes I found these beatles hiding under a leaf.

Study Makeover - The Zebra floor stage

This weekends project more floor sanding. What I wanted to do was just give the floor a very slight sand before varnishing. But no matter how lightly I sanded I still ended up with a zebra floor. This time I did not want to take it right back to the original colour, it would have looked weird against the rimu skirting boards. After a bit of searching I found a stain the right colour to match the rest of the wood. I think it looks really good. Just need to do a few coats of varnishing now.

Today's Daisy

Sometimes you just can't resist a bargain. This little pot of sunflowers was reduced to half price $5 and I had just won $22 on the National Lottery. Now it is in the daylight it is looking much, much better.

Today's Daisy

I found today's daisy on a quilt at Keirunga Quilters quilt exhibition.

I had forgotten all about it until Keriann suggested we go and have a look.

These are some of my favourites. I felt very inspired and wanted to go home and do some quilting.
I love the design of the quilt below, very simple but wonderful. I think I would like to try one of these. My eldest son will be 21 next year. I would like to do a quilt for him. I think this is the design I would like to do.
I loved the colours of this quilt, again very simple but very effective. Unfortunalty, I did not take a photograph of my favourite quilt. I was too busy looking at it.

The latest furniture makeover -

I felt very inspired by the Keirunga Quilt groups show and wanted to go home and quilt. You may be wondering what this has to do with the picture above. Bear with me I will get there eventually. As I am half way through the study makeover the study is very empty at the moment. There is nowhere to put my sewing machine and sewing stuff. I decided I needed a table at a height that would allow me to stand and use my sewing machine, with shelves below for all my bits and pieces. I have a painting trolley table thing. It makes an excellent mobile scaffolding, allowing me to reach ceilings and high spots when painting. Now I have my high ladder I don't need it so much. Hmm I thought a perfect sewing table.
To clean it up I thought I would just rub it down a bit, and paint over the paint stains. Then in my usual getting carried away style I decided that the paint was coming off quite well and I should keep going. One hour later, I think it turned out quite well. Not to bad for a cheap bit of furniture. I know it is cheap, firstly because it belongs to me and secondly because it came from Ikea. We have definitely had our moneys worth out of it. It started life as a kitchen trolley and extra work space, in my tiny little kitchen. Then it did service as a computer table, before it became the painting scaffolding table. And now it will make a great sewing table.
The finished result, not perfect, but just what I need, and who really needs perfection anyway. The study still has a long way to go. Before I fill it up with stuff I need to give the floor a very gentle sand and seal. Then I might just get to spend some of my spare time sewing.

Today's Daisy

While dashing from the car park to work this morning, in the drizzleing rain, I spotted this daisy growing out of a wall. Another promise that spring and summer are on there way.

The blind is finished I just need to get a cleet to put on the wall to fasten it too. There were a few mistakes on the way. The end result is really great I think. Unfortunatly there is not enough fabric in the shop for the curtains on the other window. They do however have fabric in the reverse colours red flowers on white fabric. Hmm I will have to think about this one. Or perhaps a trip to Palmerston North Spotlight to see if they have any of the white flowers on red - that is if they have one. What do you all think?

A daisy hunt

There has been a serious lack of daisies on my blog recently. So this lunch break I thought it would be a good idea to hunt some out.

These are some of the daisies I found. Clouds of daisies in the shade.

Masses of daisies in the sun.

Grouped together heads bobbing in the warm winter breeze. It was a very beautiful day today.

Amazing golden promise of what will come in the next few months of late winter and early spring.

And just for good measure on such a beautiful day another view of Cape Kidnappers, this time reflecting the pink rays of the setting sun.

Another step closer to a finished kitchen

Nothing much has been happening in the kitchen lately. Until we found the perfect fabric for the kitchen blind, and at a bargain price. I still have to finish putting the loops and cords on the blind, but could not resist letting you see how it looked so far. As you can see we are still saving for the rest of the workbenches. Maybe by 2020 we will have enough.

Attempted shared lunch

This little sparrow sat on the chair next to me while I ate lunch with a Peter at ZigZag cafe in Napier, waiting to clear up my scraps. He may have been a bit disapointed.

Cape Kidnappers at sunset again

The title says it all. When I took my camera out the white cliffs were pink, but they changed in the few seconds it took to lift my camera to my eye. Maybe I will catch them next week.

Not a good start to the weekend ............

Driving home on Friday the car infront of me stopped suddenly. So I breaked hard and stopped with plenty of room, thankfully. Unfortunatly, the white van behind me didn't break. Result one squished car.

The things I wanted to photograph today.

I don't usually see this view at this time of day, quite pretty isn't it. I used to only work mornings. From today I will be working full days twice a week, as well as my usual mornings. The benefits are getting to see Cape Kidnappers at sunset, getting a lunch break (more on that later) and having all the daily jobs done at home by somebody else. The one major unbenefit (if that is a word) is having to sit still in one place for a whole day, my fidget level reached new heights. Thank goodness for lunch breaks. I had a great walk through the sunny streets of Napier. The photo below is off a new art work that has been installed on the main shopping street, which I would have missed if I had just driven straight home. I think it looks amazing

To hedge or not to hedge

The two parts of our garden, the formal and the wild, are divided up by this hedge. For years I have trimmed it and cared for it. But never really liked it that much. In fact to tell the truth I hate the smell of it. Its only good point is that the bees love it. Sooooooo I was thinking about removing it. Then planting with grasses, hebes and flaxes - like the pic below. I love to see the light through the grasses and the way they move in the breeze. I have tried to do formal gardening - it is not me. I just can't get it to work. Therefore I thought that a more edge of wild look to the garden would be more me. What do you think? Should I take it down?
I am so glad you said, yes. Because this morning the sun was shining, I fancied a bit of gardening, and the hedge has gone.

Looks great I think. What do you think? I nearly gave up it was hard work, and I was quite tired. I am glad I didn't. Though I suspect I will have some sore muscles tomorrow.

The extra benefit is I can now get close enough to the pampas grass to remove it. When I say, I can get close enough to remove it, what I actually mean Peter can get close enough to remove it.

Joys of Gardening

One of my greatest joys of gardening is growing my own food. I find it a great pleasure being able to wander around collecting fruit and veges and eating them. It is also brilliant to see my garden design ideas working. Below the mandarin tree looks exactly as I wanted it too.