Challenges

My Embroidery Guild has it's Exhibition this week starting on Thursday for 3 days .

We have  three challenges one is the Regional Guilds Challenge open to anyone in the region, and two are our own challenges ...
The first is Coral And Jade ... This is to celebrate our 35th Birthday  the colour or stone for 35 yrs is Coral or Jade

So today I will show you my entry for the Birthday Challenge....

This is a small stretched canvas 7 x 7 inches ... I call it Coral Collage
it consists of a small piece of Hardanger, pulled thread, canvas work, crochet, beads and ribbons

We were given a small bag of mixed coral items beads, threads, ribbon and lace .... of which we had to use some or all of the contents I think I used some of every thing even if in a very small way.
So fingers are crossed for the judging.

UFO's ... my stash

My stash ... no not fabric these are my stash of Embroidery UFO's  each one of these folders has one in it neatly filed on the shelf, believe it or not there was at least 6 more at the beginning of the year and my New Years resolution was to get them reduced.... I have managed 5 of them and number  6 is in progress...
These zip around clear folders are marvelous as you can see at a glance what is in each one and they stand up and file nicely. ( From the $2 shop)

As I mentioned this is the embroidery ones ... quilting ones I will save for another time.... as that is a different saga.

So watch this space for more finishes.

Busy busy ... sometimes to busy

 

Some times life just gets to busy .... I thought this retirement thing was suppose to be quiet and to do what ever you wanted when you wanted ... silly me !!!

 

I have never been so busy and I am beginning to think I am to busy for my own good.

It is very difficult to say no, and mean it... I took a training course many years ago that was on "Saying No nicely" it is a shame that I can not put it into action.

 

It has not been all work and no play in fact it is all sort of play in a way..... I swim each morning at approx. 8.30 but the crunch comes that I should come straight home instead of  going out for morning tea or shopping ...

I tutor an Arthritis  hot water exercise class Monday and Thursday 1pm  - 2pm ( normally only Thursdays but the other person is away for 3 months and I agreed to help out)

Then there is Embroidery Guild ... Rainbow Quilters ... Tuesday stitching ...and Friday stitching ... some where in between I fit in a Museum tour or two when I can...

 

So what have I just done !!!! well you may ask I have taken on District Secretary of Inner Wheel ( Rotary wives and friends) our district is from Napier to Tauranga ... across the country to Hamilton and south to Taupo ... Oh! help where are all the extra hours going to come from.

 

So blogging has not seen the light of day to often now.

 

Besides all the above I have fitted in some stitching and some housework.

 

One thing I have also done ... is change my car the Hyundai Tucson was getting to big and on top of that for some reason it was a magnet to other cars in car parks ... 4 times it has been nudged or scrapped by cars and of cousre they do not leave names and addresses ... So I decided rather than take out shares in  a Paint and Panel business a smaller car was called for.

 

so here we have the new car ...  Mazda 3 ....  I am enjoying driving it, it so much lighter and I can actually see to reverse .. always helpful.

 

But I must try and blog more often ....  if it was January I would make a New Years resolution but it is April so will just try a promise to myself.

 

 

 

 

Today we have real rain for the first time since before Christmas .... good pouring rain the farmers will be wrapped at least it will help a little with our drought situation.

 

 

I have just had an amazing.....

I have just had an amazing week at the beach with  two friends ... we went on a UFO week and here are the things I managed to finish.

This bag I started three years ago .. it was a class at the Embroidery Guild Conference ... it was way out of my comfort zone but I thought I should try something different ... it so not me and even though I was determined to finish it I still am very unsure about it ... may be the colour or the decoration I am not sure what it.

This one is not so much a UFO ..... as it is a new start a few weeks ago  it is a Needle-case from the Inspiration Magazine, but I want to get it done for our Guild Exhibition in May and this week seemed like a good chance  with seven days of nothing to do but stitch.

This picture is a few of the items that the three of us managed to finish.

It was a great week with good food and company, walking on the beach in sunshine and we had rain for a couple of nights it was so badly needed in our drought ridden area.

Sometimes life is just good....

My daughter Kathryn organised a team to enter the 24 hour walk for life. As I am a survivor of Breast Cancer I was on board with out a second thought.

It took place this weekend ... the sun shone beautifully all weekend .
We did it ...8 of us walked with 2 walkers on the track every minute of 22 hours just about ... I did 3 hours during the night with 2 x 2 hour breaks ... and of course half hour stints during day light hours.. feeling good .. only ouch !! heel numb on left foot so far .... wonder what tomorrow will bring .... Here is Kathryn and Mhairi with our amazing banner for Relay For Life

Family affair ... the name came because Grandad Breadmore died of Cancer... my husband had prostate cancer and of course myself with Breast Cancer ... the following is Kathryn's comment on Facebook I think she puts it wonderfully...

Kathryn's message ......Happy tired, sun kissed, muscles ache and amazing achievement running through my body after 22 hours at Relay For Life. So proud of my team and all the effort they put in, the laughter and the enthusiasm. Way to go "Family Affair" we rock! Pedometer says we walked about 130,000 steps between us which is approx 90km
Maybe see some of you next year

Even my 2 grandsons 10yrs and 8yrs walk ... well done Ben and Alex.
These pictures are Ben and Alex finishing a tri- athlon .

I can not believe it has been so long ......

Life has been a little hectic of late ... loads of things have gone on since Christmas far to numerous to mention and not of a lot of interest to everyone else ...
But I have just spent a wonderful week with my good friends Maureen and Stewart from UK .. finally they made it all the way to New Zealand.  A promise she made herself years ago when we upped sticks and flew half way around the world to live.... well it took a while to get them here but was worth the wait. 

I did not know we could pack in so much to a week ... when they arrived it was just like yesterday that we left each other the conversation just continued where we left off the last time we met. They flew out today to head to USA for a few days then back to Southampton  UK.

Another  happy day was when my daughter Kathryn received her Nursing Degree ... now Kathryn has been nursing for almost 20 yrs and was a registered nurse working in theatres,  a couple of years ago  she decided to may be retrain and leave nursing ... so she has converted her nursing diploma into a degree.

This has been no mean feat for her while holding down a nursing job and running a home and taking care of  two lively boys and of course Steve her husband  ... Well done Kathryn I am proud of you ....

Sir Paul Holmes

Sir Paul Holmes, the controversial broadcaster with the cheeky grin and quick wit, has died at home early this morning, surrounded by family.  Only two weeks after receiving his knighthood. He was aged 62.
A statement from the Holmes family said he died at home in Hawkes Bay surrounded by his family according to his wishes.
"Sir Paul had been in poor health since having heart surgery earlier in the year. In recent months he had also been suffering from a resurgence of prostate cancer," .
"More than just a broadcaster, Paul was a loving husband and father, as well as a generous friend. He loved people and people loved him.

Paul Holmes was loved,  loathed and hated, you either did or you didn't like him.
He was not afraid to speak his mind to who ever was in front of him, he asked the questions others would not dare too.   he conducted his interviews with intelligence and insightfulness, and while he never suffered fools, his interviews were never without kindness and empathy.

Paul will be remembered hugely by the broadcasting community. He had an amazing ability to retain facts, and pull them out at times that often tricked politicians and other people and I think that's an extraordinary gift that he had.
He will be sadly missed from our televison screens


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10861073

Please follow the link to hear a lovely Maori rendition of  ..... "Now is the Hour"

Visitors.....

Some lovely news I am to have some visitors in February from UK ... here they are in the  not so best picture. I had to  swipe this from there daughters Facebook as I did not have an up to date one of them  myself.

Maureen and Stewart friends from way back ... I am getting so excited they will be with me a whole week.