Back Home Again

I arrived home on Thursday having had the holiday of a lifetime that lived up to my every expectation. After sleeping well on Thursday night (after 24 hours in the air) I spent most of yesterday in a state of light headed other worldliness, went to bed exhausted and have now been awake since 2 am... the joys of jet lag! But a chance to sort out my photos and write a blog post and a small price to pay for such a fabulous couple of weeks. So are you ready for a selection of my holiday snaps and an account of my trip... (might send you to sleep!)

Joe met me and Mum at Auckland airport, we found our hire car and our first stop was to stay with my cousins Diane and John who made us so welcome for the first few days of our New Zealand journey. The view above is from the balcony of their beautiful home just north of Auckland. We spent the first couple of days exploring the local area and this is Orewa beach... the first of many beautiful deserted beaches we were to discover.

Mum, Joe and me... on day one of our trip.

On our second day we drove back into Auckland from where we took a ferry to Waiheke Island

Good food, good ice cream and more beautiful scenery.

After leaving my cousin's home, we headed north to the Bay of Islands via the famous Hundertwasser public toilets in Kawakawa.

Joe and I booked on a trip to swim with dolphins but it was a bit wild and windy and there were only three of us booked to go, so the trip was cancelled which was a little disappointing but not for long. After the Bay of Islands we ventured further north via Mangouni for some excellent fish and chips. We drove as far north as we could to Cape Reinga where the Pacific Ocean and Tasmin Sea meet.

I couldn't go to New Zealand without experiencing something adventurous (and I wasn't planning to jump off anything) so we stopped at the giant Te Paki sand dunes where Joe and I tried some sand tobogganing... Mum sat this one out! This is Joe coming down and yes... it is as steep as it looks but so much fun! He's got a similar photo of me!

And another stop... this time 90 mile beach where it looks like this for as far as you can see in either direction. Not quite 90 miles but it might as well be.

Next we came back south of Auckland via tropical rainforest, under canopies of beautiful tree ferns and giant kauri trees.

Our next stop was Waitomo where we visited the famous glow worm caves... although I think I might save that adventure for another post. Whilst in the area we also did a bushwalk, visited the Marokopa Falls...

and walked around the Mangapohue Natural Bridge Scenic Reserve.

Next stop on our road trip was Rotorua, famous for its geo-thermal springs, mud pools, areas of hissing steam escaping from the ground and strong smell of sulphur! We had a fabulous tour around the Whakarewarewa thermal village where Maori people still live among the hot springs using them to cook and bathe. We were treated to a bit of Maori culture and ate corn on the cob that had been cooked in hot water bubbling from the ground.

And we got to see this amazing geyser letting off steam.

Moving on again we ended up in the Coromandel peninsular for the Easter weekend. First of all a walk down to Cathedral Cove.

And next... hot water beach. This beach has hot water springs under the sand, so when the tide is out you can dig a hole which fills with really hot water which you can sit in like a little personal spa pool... in theory anyway. We arrived to find the beach heaving with people (such a contrast to every other beach) all with spades trying to dig out their own little hole. But the low tide wasn't as low as it might have been and everytime anyone made progress on a hole... a wave came in and filled it with cold water. It was hilarious! Despite Joe's best efforts and the fact that we could feel the burning hot water under our feet we gave up...

and dug a hole on a quiet part of the beach which filled with cold water! Joe and I parked our bums in our cold water spa and dozens of people came to ask had we found hot water and by the time we left there were dozens more holes around ours... might have been because we told fibs and said it was lovely and warm!

Having had enough of the crowds we ventured back to this beach where we spent the rest of our Easter Sunday.

Our final stop was Coromandel Town, a quet and picturesque town famous for its green lipped mussels (which were excellent!)

And another drive on an unmade road with hair pin bends over a mountain took us to this beach at Kennedy Bay. Two glorious weeks of unbelievably beautiful unspoilt scenery... and we just saw a fraction of it. No wonder everyone raves abound New Zealand. But best of all was spending two weeks with Joe and my Mum. It was very hard saying goodbye to him on Wednesday.

And wonderful though it all was, it was also good to get home... to a lovely clean and tidy house that Stewart had filled with flowers. I'm very lucky indeed. But now it's back to reality... and I need to sort out my sleep pattern before work next week!

Crazy!

It has been a crazy week. After my marathon cleaning of cupboards, fridge and freezer on Monday I then did a huge restock... those tins are three deep. I don't think they will starve while I'm away, do you?

There has been some delivery of work, sorting out dates for new classes, endless list writing, more cleaning and tidying and then yesterday some teaching. It was the last day of term for my Settlement machine embroidery class. There were a couple more cable stitched landscapes finished.

One from Di (above) and another from Barbara.

And Ann finished a beautiful table runner.  Lovely work ladies. We don't meet in the summer term so it will be September before we have our next class.

Immediately after the class I got in the car and headed up the M1 to Lutterworth where I was giving a talk to the Embroiderer's Guild. A bit of bad planning on my part to be talking straight after teaching and two days before going away but that's how these things turn out and I was given such a lovely warm welcome it didn't matter... although I confess to being pretty exhausted by the time I got home. This morning I feel like I'm running on pure adrenaline!

And if you need proof of how crazy I actually am... while loading my car with work for my talk and getting bags ready for class... I made cakes for my class.... well, it was the last day of term and I couldn't leave you without cake could I!

And so now I'm on the final run and it's time to get packing... first on the list... my sketchbook.

With the amount of teaching I do there are many students who come in and out of my life and the lovely thing is there are some who come into my life and stay as friends. We might not see a lot of each other but you just know they are genuine friends. This week I received a parcel from one such friend, Lesley. She has made me the most beautiful little sketchbook, covered with old maps that feature my village and has called the book "From Home and Back Again". The beautiful gift tag will be pasted into the first page and it will be a perfect sketchbook for my big trip. Thank you so much Lesley.

Another student/special friend that I do see a lot of has also given me something for my trip (not even mentioning the chocolates to ensure her place as teacher's pet). A very pretty purse where I can keep my British currency while I'm travelling. Perfect... thank you Gill!

And so now all that is left today is to work my way down this list... I had contemplated going to knitting with Gill this morning but decided that probably was a crazy step too far even for me.

So back to the list and I guess I can cross off "blog post"... and probably forget about cleaning the bathrooms. Not sure if I'll be blogging while I'm away... it's not really top of my list of priories as all I can think about is seeing Joe after such a long time but I'll be back in three weeks as crazy as ever no doubt.... I am so excited!!!! Can you tell? See you soon.

BYE!!!

Half Way!

While my husband and his son sat through three consecutive games of Rugby on Saturday afternoon I busied myself with some more miniature books and have finally passed the half way mark... I feel like I've made 126 not just 26! It is my intention that every book is unique which does mean that when several people ask for the same theme, I've got to really put my thinking cap on.

This one is the first of two "Bird" themed books I've been asked to make.

I opted for two little machine embroidered bluebirds on the covers.

And a pretty little bluebird button on the matchbox.

This next one is for a keen gardener...

Who especially likes his pot plants.

I couldn't resist throwing in a miniature packet of seeds.

I've been asked to make three "music" themed books. For the first I've opted for the Shakespeare quote from "Twelfth Night"

And for the second one I've taken music ranging from Bach...

through to the Beatles (because I believe the recipient is a fan of both!)

But I haven't a clue what I will do for the third "Music" book yet

Of course, my biggest worry now is that the person who receives the first one wishes they had got the second one and vice versa... or maybe they will both wish they got the third one when I finally get around to it... Oh dear!!!

I've plans for a couple more before the end of the week and I'm gradually working my way down the list. I apologise now if you are still waiting and promise I will get straight back to work on them after my holiday... but for now I still seem to have the urge to clean and tidy. Five kitchen cupboards, the fridge and the deep freeze all got attacked today!

Landscapes and Labradors

My regular machine embroidery group at the Settlement have been getting to grips with cable stitch this term (using thicker threads on the bobbin) and have been working on landscape pictures. As an example I took a sketch that I made in the grounds of Wimpole Hall last year...

and have turned it into this stitched landscape. I'm still debating whether to add the yellow flowers in the foreground.

Not everyone in class has finished yet but the results are looking good from those who have. Catriona based her landscape on those of Carol Naylor, with excellent results.

Margaret was inspired by her many visits to the David Hockney exhibition, again with stunning results... the colours just glow.

And I think Denise may have been inspired by New Zealand, as that is where she is now! Beautiful!

Of course I can't do a blog post these days without showing you the latest miniature book. My brief this time was a labrador theme. My own boy "Barley" provided the cover picture.

And the book sported a machine embroidered cover.

Although any labrador owner will tell you that the dog would not be walking away from the bone in the bowl!

Have a lovely weekend... Mums have a wonderful Mother's Day on Sunday... and I might be back next week... but so much to do and so little time as I'm also off to New Zealand in just one week!