3rd Item hits the dust

I am sure it is the same in your house ..if one piece of equipment  goes wrong or dies you can bet your life a couple more will.... BINGO!!

Yes ..  a few weeks back the freezer packed up ... so had to be replaced,  no problem not a to expensive piece of house-ware.
This last week a new Mobile Phone see last blog post item...

So on Friday when I tried to use my camera to take some embroidery pictures things did not go well.

The batteries have been losing power very quickly ...thus I have 3 batteries... one on charge and one fully charged and one in the camera ... when going out with the camera you always had to take an extra battery in the carrying case.  I tried again Saturday to use the camera and this time the pictures were not good in the colour or quality when I down loaded them to the computer.

So I had to succumb to a new camera ...luckily I had a few points on a reward card and used those towards it .... ( 10 out of 10 for good economics) so here is toy number 2 for this week .... that has got to be the end of spending for a while ....... so please join in  ..... hands together eyes closed say after me ... Please let it stop here.

Just like the mobile phone the choice of colour was  Black, black or black ... so guess what I chose yes!! go to the top of the class ......Black.

                                                                                      A  Panasonic Lumix 

New Toy

Yesterday I  bought a new mobile phone you know the kind all bells and whistles now I need 24 hrs to transfer every thing to it, It is so light not like the battery operated brick I have been carrying around for the last few years.  

 It was brought about because my daughter and her husband borrowed my car for 6 weeks and when they returned it they  said " Why did I not use the  blue-tooth it has fitted".... whee!! said I ( I did not know it had this before only had the car 2 years)

so son in law tried to set up my phone to it and my phone did not have the right workings ( notice the technical details )

So they said it was time for a new one  ( phone that is not car) ... especially as we now have a law here about using phones in cars when driving.

so now I have to wait for their next visit so he can set it up for me....

Independent I might be but setting up phone and car to work together I think eludes me.

Just had to show you this !!

I go to a stitching group on a Tuesday and we had a new lady start today ....  June,  she bought a couple of items to show us .... here is one , how the heck did she stitch that it is all hand done (there is not a machine small enough to do the stitching)  he has moving arms and legs plus his head turns, Oh! by the way I have very small hands.

Bits and pieces of my day

This post is particularly for my family in UK who got in touch with my daughter as I had not posted for two weeks as they were worried about me " Was I okay ? " ... so just to let everyone know I am alive and kicking here is a few pictures of  "bits and pieces" of my everyday life.

 How is this .. This Christmas Cactus  last year and for a few years has just had one or two flowers in pale pink this year not only has it excelled it's self by flowering profusely but it is flowering in two shades of pink

Once again ... "if you are not going to use this bag I am !!"
I am sure I have a cat with a fetish for bags..... this is actually one of my sewing bags that I had just emptied to have a spring clean out of the odd pins and paper in the bottom, I just walked away to the rubbish bin and on my return it had taken possession....

Here is a picture taken by the Fire Service during a picture shoot for advertising the Fire Brigade
Of my  Fireman son and his family ....
Two of my lovely grandsons Ellis 10 and Harvey 7 next weekend.

Here we have part of The Inner Wheel ( Rotary) Committee our presidents husband has a Model T Ford and we are having a Roaring 30 's Conference in Napier next year so here we are all getting in the mood.  I am the one with the light fox fur over my shoulder.

The Singing Quilter

This evening at Rainbow Quilters we were entertained by the Singing Quilter.....

Cathy Miller is a Canadian quilter and folksinger from Victoria British Columbia. Since September 2000 she and her musician husband John have toured a program of songs, stories and quilts to guilds and quilting events across North America, Australia and New Zealand, the UK and Germany

They have performed at over 500 quilting events for more than 50,000 quilters worldwide.
These include appearances at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, the AQS Nashville Show, Quilt Canada, the Quilters' Guild of the British Isles, Ricky Tims' La Veta Colorado gallery, Eleanor Burns' Quilting retreat, and on Alex Anderson's now defunct TV program, "Simply Quilts".


To date Cathy has released five CDs of songs about quilting.
These songs range from the historical, through the poignant, to the drop-dead funny!
This program was so entertaining and inspire both the quilters and non-quilters alike in the group.
 With songs covering a wide range of topics including, History, Traditions, Superstitions, Hiding fabric, Quilt Lore and Superhuman Achievements.


Read more about Cathy  Here

Here are some of her fabulous quilts... From her Trunk / suitcase

 I just love this one made of Australian fabrics with a shadow behind the blocks...Picture does not do it justice as normal when it is a snap shot.

 Reverse applique.....

 English paper pieceing

This one is enhanced with beads and sitchery

Cathy was a musician and singer until about 1991 or there abouts and she then found Quilting the rest as they say is history

Hope you are all having a great day! Something To Think About!

Hope you are all having a great day! Something To Think About!

Imagine that you had won the following prize in a contest:
Each morning your bank would deposit $86,400.00 in your private account for your use.
However, this prize has rules, just as any game has certain rules.

The first set of rules would be:
Everything that you didn't spend during each day would be taken away from you.
You may not simply transfer money into some other account. You may only spend it.
Each morning upon awakening, the bank opens your account with another $86,400.00 for that day.

The second set of rules:
The bank can end the game without warning; at any time it can say,
Its over, the game is over!
It can close the account and you will not receive a new one.

What would you personally do?
You would buy anything and everything you wanted, right?
Not only for yourself, but for all people you love, right?
Even for people you don't know, because you couldn't possibly spend it all on yourself, right?
You would try to spend every cent, and use it all, right?

ACTUALLY, this GAME is REALITY!

Each of us is in possession of such a magical bank. We just can't seem to see it.

The MAGICAL BANK is TIME!
Each morning we awaken to receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life, and when we go
to sleep at night, any remaining time is NOT credited to us.

What we haven't lived up that day is forever lost.
Yesterday is forever gone.

Each morning the account is refilled, but the bank can dissolve your account at any
time....WITHOUT WARNING.

SO, what will YOU do with your 86,400 seconds?
Aren't they worth so much more than the same amount in dollars?
Think about that, and always think of this:

Enjoy every second of your life, because time races by so much quicker than you think.

So take care of yourself, be Happy, Love Deeply and enjoy life!

Here's wishing you a wonderfully beautiful day!!!

Just keep smiling, and walking if you have to....

I have had a very busy two weeks and have been keeping up with everyones blogs but have not had a lot of time to post myself or send emails...  I am the Editor of Inner Wheel  ( Rotary) and the magazine is due out in 2 weeks  so you can imagine the panic although it is not to bad yet still have 14 days....... so in the mean time a few smiles for you all to keep you going ......


The Importance of walking .... is just keep smiling



Walking can add minutes to your life.
This enables you at 85 years old
to spend an additional 5 months in a nursing
home at $4,000 per month.

My grandpa started walking
five miles a day when he was 60.
Now he's 97 years old
and we have no idea where the hell he is.

I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.

The only reason I would take up walking is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.

I have to walk early in the morning, before my brain figures out what I'm doing...


I joined a health club last year,spent about 250 bucks.
Haven't lost a pound.
Apparently you have to go there!

Every time I hear the dirty word 'exercise',
I wash my mouth out with chocolate.

I do have flabby thighs,but fortunately my stomach covers them.

The advantage of exercising every day is so when you die, they'll say,
'Well, he looks good doesn't he.'

If you are going to try cross-country skiing,
start with a small country.

I know I got a lot of exercise the last few years,...... just getting over the hill.

We all get heavier as we get older, because there's a lot more information in our heads.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.


AND

Every time I start thinking too much about how I look,
I just find a pub with a Happy Hour and by the time I leave,
I look just fine.



If you are going to walk on thin ice you might as well dance.

My birthday cake

No it is not my birthday again at least not till next year....

But I just have to show you these photo's taken from Kathryn's blog of the men in her life making me a birthday cake....

Now Kathryn is doing some studying for a few papers to boost her qualifications ... her first paper was due on the weekend of my birthday and as I had been invited for tea  ... a cake had to be made, Kathryn was busy finishing her assignment so over to the boys to make a cake from a packet.

I just love the management levels going on here, obviously Ben was in charge of  reading the instructions on the packet....

                I have to tell you the secrete about the cake ... It was supposed to be chocolate but they bought a vanilla sponge oh well! white or brown it is a cake .....now it was cooked beautifully ... But they forgot to buy cream or something for the middle ... No sweat for the boys large and small ... they knew I liked chocolate so they used Hazelnut Chocolate spread ... must admit it was ingenious and different.

It is these little moments that tug at a Grandma's heart strings.

Have you used these threads?

I have a couple of embroidery patterns that I have purchased over the years that I would like to get going on  ... but they require silk threads, the colours are hard to come by here in NZ  also overseas .... no shop keeps the full range

and also they are extortionately priced when I order from overseas.... due to the currency conversion. Some lovely ladies in USA helped me track some of the colours but one of the brands were never tracked down.

I have since managed to collect a few ...  a lovely friend in Australia sent me some for my Birthday, you can not imagine the excitement coming from me when I opened that parcel. But still not the all colours available .... some had to be exchganged for others that were close in shade.

One pattern is not anything to special it is a "Hussif" ( for holding your sewing items) so it will be used on a daily basis.... the pattern and fabric has already cost in the range of $140 ... if I use the threads that come in a package to go with the pattern this will only give me enough thread to do the project .... the threads do not even come in full skeins.... the item will then be costing over  $240.

I would love to work this hussif in these lovely threads but I have to be sensible about this.

Someone has suggested that I try Eterna Silks from China....

So my question is   " Has anyone used or tried these threads ?"

 Eterna Silk is manufactured, and distributed by Yodamo, Inc. worldwide.

 I have read all about them on the net but first hand information would be appreciated, it seems the price is good and you can obtain them quite easy in many countries in the world, you can even buy a complete set at a very reasonable price .... BUT not NZ.

HELP!!!