liquorice

Monday 09.11.09

 

More dying and Fiberarts

I over-dyed my stripey pink piece of blanket the other day.

 
The finished piece and a detail.  It looks a bit like the hide of one of those african wild dogs.

I used corokia(?) growing outside and wrapped stalks of it in the piece of blanket and added chopped branches to the pot and then boiled it for a few hours.

When I have used this before it has given a soft sort of pink, a bit like the underside of supermarket mushrooms.  So the stripes have almost disappeared and the rusty nails have spread out as black/grey.

My Nov/Dec issue of Fiberarts arrived today.  Wonderful for cup of tea time this morning.  There is a review of Clare Plug's exhibition based on her time in Antarctica.  It is an installation called Look South on in Hawkes Bay.  It is travelling or touring in 2010 so look out for it, it looks really interesting.
 
  

Monday 19.10.09

 

Seascape

My journey to Nelson and back was a bit fraught - on the trip over we had to go up through Queen Charlotte Sound because of the tsunami warning after the Tongan earthquake.  This added about half an hour to the trip.  However, it was absolutely flat calm and fun to see a different part of the sounds. 

Leaving from Picton was quite different, grey clouds and snow on the hills around Picton, plus very cold outside the car.

The colours and the movement of the weather and the water was awesome.  We were sitting in the bow (front) of the boat and had a wonderful view.  At times the water came right up and over the windows right in front of us.

   

Monday

Monday 13.10.09 8 am
 

A Journey

I am off to Nelson until the weekend.  A wee holiday - yeah!!

In a small truck to Wellington, pt 2.

We also drove down through the Rangitiki district.  It is a farming area with an amazing gorge cut by the Rangitiki River and beautiful river flats.

And we saw a steam train.  I love trains - it was like something out of the Wild West.

In a small truck to Wellington

On Sunday (13.09.09) we drove a small truck from Auckland to Wellington.  It was a bit of a mission at 100 kms/hour down hill, about 12 hours in all.  Steve came with me and we shared the driving, it was quite fun really and I could see so much perched up in the truck.

We drove through the Desert Road and it was amazing.  We had beautiful weather and the landscape up there is so overwhelming.

I always feel as if I am on top of the world up there; as if I could drive forever and eventually fall off.

The Army have a Training Camp up here and leave track marks in the tussock from their tanks.

We stopped for fuel outside The Army Museum and then off again.

 Tomorrow we will drive through Rangitiki and see a steam train.

Wedding Anniversary

 

It was our wedding anniversary the other day and my man bought me these beautiful flowers and a lovely card.  I am a sucker for flowers.  I knew it was our anniversary, I even had it down in my diary so I wouldn't forget.  And I did forget.  So we had fish and chips for tea, a glass of wine and lots of guilt from me.

Tidying

I have decided it is time to rationalise my "stuff".  Firstly so that I can find it and secondly so that it will look good for a while anyway.  I do like tidy , I am just not very good at it.

 

I started on my baskets of fabric.

 

 

And now all my fabric is tidy and colour coded and so pretty.

   

  

And now I have these lovely piles that don't have a home yet.