Photos at last

At last here's the photos of my new old furniture from my Uncle and Aunt's home.  I never thought about the fact you can still see me in the mirror and the horrible curtains etc but anyway.. haha   I have put on layby some gorgeous olive green taffeta to make curtains for my bedroom and I'll put indian cotton or old wool blankets in between the layers to stop the draughts.  It is the coldest room in the house but I will soon have carpet on the floor too compliments of my boss!!!   (The pink quilt will have to come down tooo I feel.. time for a change!!)...

I'm going to cover the stool with patchwork or selveges.. ideas will happen I'm sure!  I have to find another posy for my walkie talkie doll and dog given to me by my grandmother xx years ago.. she looks a bit too big on here.

And to prove that I do finish things I thought I'd put a photo of my $10 blind all finished and hung in my kitchen.  After a week on steroids I woke up this morning feeling full of energy so got a few things done.  Is this wicked.. it's very wide but so's the window..and it's too long but I figured the bigger the better to stop the draughts in there at night.  There are blue tiles behind the blind too.

You can see the top of my $5 chair that I bought last week.  It's an old one so very strong and sturdy.  I even stood on it so it's very strong!! 

And I have done the last block in the swap block, never to do another one...

This was Susan from Hamilton's Scrappy Jacob's Ladder block.  I only did one and I must admit it could look really good in black and batiks... was easy to do too.  but anything is easier than Applique haha

To DO: 

My sister is going to Italy etc on Wednesday so I'm not going to panic about finishing her bag.  She's happy to wait until she gets home so I have another six weeks  .. YAY!  I will get it done soon.   

I have a block to make for my monthly Monday group.. a real easier one and then I can start making the lounge curtains. 

BUT I am not putting any more pressure on myself.. I need to GET WELL and STAY HEALTHY... got no time for winter blues and feeling lousy anymore.. So over it!

(Kicking myself up butt as I type). 

A house full!

What a week!  I rang my Doctor surgery on Monday morning to make an appointment because this cough I've had for weeks leaves me breathless.... and it has begun to frighten me especially when I can't breathe in the shower.  Well, they are so busy I couldn't get an appointment until Friday afternoon but lucky I went. I have bronchial asthma and my bp has shot up higher than ever!! So now I'm on a week of steroids and ventolin four times a day and I'll be back to normal soon as I hope. 

Yesterday my Aunt and Uncle's furniture arrived... dressing table, tallboy, bed, washing machine and manrobe.  The furniture is all rimu  and one day I'll sand it down and restain it but for now it's just awesome.  The bed I'm not so sure.  It's a newish matress and a double bed but I'll pass judgement when I've slept in it a couple of nights.  I haven't sold my queen size yet just in case. 

And so far this week I've sold my old office desk for $10 and my old washing machine which doesn't need much fixing for $5 on Trade Me.  So I'm happy they have gone and I have a LITTLE more room to play with. 

The kitchen blind is all but finished.  I have to buy some brackets tomorrow and then it will be hung.  Have enough left to make a border on a curtain for the small window in the alcove. 

My lovely friend Mrs C arrived this afternoon with some of her preloved curtains which will fit my second bedroom (when I can get near the windows) and some beautiful blue indian cotton curtains which sadly are a bit faded but they are lovely fabric.  I may use them for filling between curtains in my bedroom eventually but I'm thinking of dying them green or a nice warm colour???.. though it will take a lot since they're floor length and huge. 

When it's all sorted tomorrow (I still have to vacumn the drawers out and put away my clothes... being short of breathe makes life a lot slower grrrr) I will take photos and post them    tonight I HAVE TO MAKE a knitting bag for my sister whom I'm seeing on Wednesday.  I'm going to applique IBAG on it using 'ipod' and turning the letters upside down adding a stem on the o and a tail on d... ibag....  clever huh! She has an ipod and an iphone so now she'll have an ibag too!

I'll be a great Great Aunt!

My lovely niece and her husband rang last night.. a huge surprise because she doesn't ring very often.  But I guessed it had to be something really important .. like she was pregnant!!  And I was right!  Yay

Stacey and Dave are having a baby which will make me a Great Aunt for the first time.  I am so so excited for them. (yeah and me)... They will have been married five years in January .. where has that time gone.  So I think I'll make another eye spy play rug for Grandma and Granddad's house..   I'll make one for my little great niece or great nephew later! 

It must be my lucky week

I went to the local drapery tonight to get some curtain tape.  Was going to make that curtain for my kitchen window...

Yeah, a lot of stuff on there.. but it's going except for the blue vase

and the light cause I can't see on my bench!!

So my bargain is: 

A roman blind already made.  It was an order for a client but they decided it wasn't the right colour!!  $10.00 - it's 2.6 wide.. slightly wider than I need but that's okay.. I'll cut it off.  I've already got rings and some cord (they cut them off) and I just need a bit of a batten for the top at $3.95 a metre.  I'm taking it to my committee meeting tonight to sew the rings on.  It's gorgeous heavy fabric.  Hopefully it will stop some of the draughts in the kitchen and give me some privacy (not that I'm in my kitchen for any length of time haha).  .

I finished a block at last and Nice People

Updated:  I have finally finished a block for a Sunbonnet Sue Witch swap.  I have held the group up with everything going on but it'll be on it's way to the next quilter tomorrow.  Yay.. I feel goood!

I'm not good at applique.. so this is a real mission for me. I think they should make a foot so you can actually see where you're going with applique.. I find it hard!!  Here are the other swap blocks sent on from other participants. 

And now the last one to do.. a scrappy Jacobs ladder .. wish I'd taken photos of the rest of them now. 

It's batiks and black on black fabrics.  I'll have to buy a piece of black on black but I'm certainly not short on batiks haha.  It's a really neat pattern I think.

Which means I should have my swap blocks plus everyone's blocks back later this week.  Of course mine had selveges in it.  hehe.

Previously tonight:  I know there are lots of lovely people in the World and in my life but today I am overwhelmed with kind spirits.  I went out looking for cheap curtain fabric today but no luck and then I received a text from a real lovely lady I've met through quilting and she was at Arthur Toye where calico was only $3 metre.  She knew I wanted to make some curtains..  She also offered me a lot of curtain fabric at a very very cheap price.  Its dark olive green but I'm sure it will be beautiful and hey, do I care.. as long as they are warmer than what I've got now
 I am sooo cold down here and my head cold has come back with a BOING!!!  So the sooner I get rid of the draughts in my house the better!  The wind was horrendous down here last night. My rubbish bin sits in a corner tucked away from wind and rain (I thought) behind my house but last night it was blown either over my car or alongside it, or maybe it went over the roof??, then turned the corner and down my drive to the footpath.  The lid had come off and rubbish was everywhere.   I heard today of a colleague losing a chair out of their backyard and a friend found it about 500m away bobbing up and down on the road.. she recognised it and took it back!!!  I wish the wind would blow a money tree into my back lawn!!


And then tonight another nice thing happened. I had rung the young guy who installed Freeview here a year ago because my DVD wasn't working.. hasn't been for ages!!  I'd tried both DVD's in the lounge tv but no luck, and yet they work in my bedroom TV.  


Well, hiding my face in shame.. he came and checked everything out only to find I had plugged them into the Outlet holes..Derrrr!!! 


Well, it's a huge old tv and I can't move it.. hehehehe.. But he didn't charge me!!!  That is so sweet.  He could have charged me $56 the call out fee. 


It's the little things in life that count and people like this make me feel so Rich!!.

Sentimental Stuff and Sewing

It's been a funny weekend for me, a little retail therapy, a little reminiscing but I'm smiling again and moving on with my life.  Now I don't have Uncle to worry about I feel like something is missing.. but sewing machine is finally at work again and that's good therapy!  I had to put new elastic in my neighbour's pj's (big job haha) and I've got inspired to make a curtain for my kitchen and finish my swap blocks so I'm not here for long.  Just to tell you I am back and DOING!!

This is the latest swap block which I've started today.  It's Sunbonnet Sue Witch .. and this is going to be her house.     I will take photos of it finished. 

This gorgeous quilt was in this months' New Zealand Quilter magazine.  Isn't it gorgeous.  It has inspired me to make a new quilt for my new 'old' bedroom as I have a lot of doilies.  I have been given my Uncle and Aunt's bedroom suite which is 61 years old, rimu and in top condition complete with their new bed.  I am so thrilled.  I've also been given my Uncle's rimu manrobe which will be great for storing fabric etc (hmmm I could buy MORE??).  It's all in storage in Napier at the moment because I need to get rid of some 'stuff' and I've also been offered carpet in excellent condition in a few weeks and it makes sense to put that down first.  My brother is going to paint the bedroom that weekend too and I just have to make curtains. My friend Mrs C has a wonderful idea for draughty rooms.  Curtain fabric (not thermal drape) with calico backing but put either knit fabric, polar fleece or old wool blankets in between!!  My landlord doesn't want to do any improvements to the house to make it warmer so I'm going to do them myself and if I leave they'll be going with me or to the dump!!!  But comparing this house with others I've seen this weekend I am lucky and my neighbours could never be replaced. 

More treasures from Aunty

This was in a very old plastic bag but I'm not sure whether it's lace or machine done or what? However I might frame it as it's very pretty.

I think I'll frame this one for my sister.

Some more treasures my cousin didn't want.  Look at the hat pins and the pincushion.. I must look for my grandmothers hat pins and add them to it.   I've always loved the yellow bowl that Aunty kept bits and pieces in on the bench!! 

These might not be much to anyone else but they're the cutest glasses that we used as children for afternoon teas etc.  Sentimental .. yes I am!!  Too much Stuff.. yes I have!!

Not a good picture of the stool she used in her bedroom but I thought I might cover it with selveges.. maybe???

Thank You dear friends

I can't thank you enough for all the kind words and emails I've had during the last week.  I have just returned home last night after Uncle Doug's funeral yesterday.   It was an incredibly hot day in Napier and very appropriate for his farewell.  I managed to speak about his love for everyone and why I loved him so very much.    I have so many precious memories of the last few days

- when he reached out and gave Diane and myself a big hug and kiss and said we were "Good Girls". 

- when he couldn't stop laughing.. for what reason I will never know but he really put a smile on my face. The radiation caused cerebal swelling and this caused a lot of strange behaviours during the last few days.

- when he woke and told me I looked like his mother-in-law and if I had her temperament I would be ok! 

-  when he told Diane and me that he was sorry we were having a bad day (when his health deteriorated)

- when he could no longer speak or open his eyes but squeezed our hands tight to acknowledge us.

- when he grabbed his son's hand tight and said his name only to fall back asleep.

- and then when he slipped away unnoticed while Diane and I were eating toast and marmalade.  Just as he would have wanted.

It was so worth the 36 hour days without sleep because the staffing levels were so low in hospital.

And it was worth the stress levels when I saw in the rear vision mirror the ambulance driver falling asleep (I was so busy trying to pacify Uncle who was trying to climb off the stretcher).  No wonder she kept driving onto the judder strips and staying on them.. I'd thought she was letting cars past!!!  I had to shout to her over the noise of the ambulance to keep her awake and poor Uncle thought I was shouting at him and wagged his finger at me.   It was not funny

Anyway thank you all again for listening and caring about your blogger friend.  I really appreciate it especially now I am home alone again.  However, I think I might settle into Wellington now that I don't have to worry about dear Uncle now.  I think this is the start of the rest of my life.