A quiet day

I’m making the most of today.  I have just put Cam in bed for a sleep, hopefully he will sleep cause he’s in a foul mood now he has a cold.  I need a bit of time to work on the quilt as well, and I can’t do that while he’s up. The weekend was pretty quiet too.  The kids had hockey on Saturday (stopped raining long enough for sport ) they won 3-0 but should have won by heaps more as they played a team of little players.  Nathan (goalie) and Lilly (back) didn’t see much action at all for their game.  One of the other teams needed some players for the next game, so they both went and played for Martinborough, and helped win their game.  Lilly played as right inner and scored a goal, and Nathan played as a back.  Sounds like it was a good game.  I didn’t stay to watch the second game as it was pretty cold and one hour out there is enough if you are standing around.  Sunday we went to Mum and Kev’s for lunch, and then just mucked about for the rest of the day.  It was too wet to do much.  It has been raining ALL week.  We could do with some dry weather now.

Tomorrow will be a busy day.  No playcentre (unless the sport is cancelled), Lilly has the Wellington Region Cross Country race to go to.  I hope the weather is good.  Then I have one parent teacher interview at 4pm and one at 6.30pm, with dinner in between, and then sewing class at 7pm.  I really hate PT interviews.  I think they are a waste of time.  The teachers usually moan that the kids (mostly Nathan) don’t do their homework.  I think schoolwork should be done at school, and if i ask if there is any homework and they say no, what am i supposed to do.  It’s just a big hassle.  Apart from that i expect they are both doing okay. 

I haven’t really started my next lot of knitting yet, I’ve cast on, but that’s it so far  

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The knitting……..

is done.  Hooray.  I knitted heaps last night, and finished off Cam’s hat this morning.  A nice easy pattern called a Noggin hat. There is a cute picot edge on the girls one, but i have no idea how to do that.  

It s a good fit for now.  I have a lot of yarn left (it was a 200g ball i think), so now I will try to find something else to attempt.

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Congrats to Lilly

who ran in the South Wairarapa Interschool Cross Country yesterday and came 2ndin the year 6 girls.  A mean feat for a girl who isn’t as fit as last year.  Sadly the race was missed by Mum who stayed at home so there was less pressure to perform.  Obviously worked!  However I will be there next Tuesday when she runs in the Wellington Regional Champs in Upper Hutt.  Well done!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Sure is wet here…

Lots of rain yesterday (25mm) and heaps today too. I think the tanks are close to capacity (50,000ltrs), yay. They haven’t been full for 2 years. I will check them in the morning. Been to sewing class tonight, so got a bit done on the quilt in between all the gas bagging. Came home and did 6 rows of my knitting. If i get off the computer now I might get another 6 done See ya.

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Anyway

enough of yesterday’s whinging.  Onto the good stuff.  In between all the days nothings I got some Feijoa relish made (I was feeling guilty that I hadn’t yet made any).  Only 3 jars this time, which won’t go far once it’s opened as it’s very yummy, but plenty more fruit on the ground (only dropped yesterday) to pick up.  It was rainy today, so I was too lazy to go out and get more

Feijoa Relish

12 feijoas

2 apples

2 Onions

1 cup vinegar

1 Tbsp mixed spice

1 Tbsp salt

1 tsp cayenne pepper

2 cups Brown sugar

Peel and chop fruit and onions, put into pan, add vinegar and boil for half an hour.  Add remaining ingredients and cook until blended.  Bottle and seal cold.

I also got a bit of work done on the quilt, so here are some updated pics.  The back …….

And the front……….

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Sorry

I feel bad that I haven’t updated the blog for a week, but sometimes it seems such a big effort, and of course you never really know if you should bother.  Why am I doing it?  Do I need adoring fans? For sure! But that wasn’t my original intention.  I started this blog just after Chirstmas  so that family who don’t live close can keep up to date with how the kids are doing. Well that’s seems not to have happened.  Aunty Marg in the UK has NEVER left a comment, I’m not sure she has even bothered to read it.  Nana B rarely reads it and has never commented, Aunty Sharyn reads it but doesn’t leave comments , and Aunty Mandy commented once about some nappies I made for Kaiyah and has never bothered again, so I don’t know if she reads it of not.

Mum does read it and comments – Hi Mum

I also wrote it partly so Ian and I would have a record of planting for the garden, as we can be very forgetful about expected harvest dates (as our carrots would attest to).

I do post about crafty stuff, but don’t know if that worthwhile or not.  I could load  the craft stuff on TNN, but it means loading the pics onto an extra site, and who needs to effort of that?

So here I am to tell you about my week.  Well what i can remember of it anyway.  I remember that we did playcentre on Tuesday and Clare and I got told off TWICE for talking when the leader was reading the morning tea story to the kids.  I must admit I was pretty peeved.  Once was enough, the second time was just one lady being a bi*#h.  So I came home wondering if playcentre is where I really want to be.  Cam seems happy enough playing there, but doesn’t want to join in or do morning tea when the other do, or do cooking when they get it out.  Maybe its an age thing, maybe not.  We are giving playcentre a miss this week and having a trip to the library and maybe a playgroup instead. 

Wednesday and Thursday i did some desperately needed sewing on my Oriental quilt.  It needed borders added and sandwiching together before Saturdays class.  So I got one border done on Wed, and one on Thursday.  Thursday night Ian and I strated on the putting together bit, but after doing the back and batting ran out of basting spray.  Bugger.  So that finally got done on Friday night.  Nothing like leaving things till the last moment.

Saturday the kids had Hockey, which was a drop off as it was frost and Ian was on babysitting.  They won 5-0, then Nathan and Lilly both went up to a Scout camp for the night.  Ian got roped in to help put the tents up.  He was VERY pleased about that   Then on the way back had to stop in at my quilting class to fix a couple of machines that were playing up.  Sometimes it pays to have a very handy hubby.  Quilting class was good, but free motion quilting is pretty hard, especially on a large quilt, so not a great deal was done.  I have 3 weeks till the next class and 95% of the quilting to do before then, so don’t expect too much blogging unless the quilt is done. 

Today we went up to help with packing up the scouts in the rain (Cam and I were moral support in the truck eating chippies), then I got a whole lot of nothing done while Ian baked Afghans, Chocolate chip cookies and Oaty slice, then the roast pork.  Even the dishes are done.  Big brownie pionts there.  Must remember not to moan when he is working evenings at home this week.

Here is a bit of a laugh for those who know me.  I’ve started some knitting.  I got 6 rows done this week, so at least its a start.  Here’s a pic.

And yes beacuse I am an inexperienced knitter it’s Acrylic and not wool.  Feels nice though   Oh, it’s going to be a hat, one day.

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The weekend

I have to say we all had a pretty good weekend.  Saturday was Hockey in the morning for Nathan and Lilly (I went as I will miss next weeks game), I took Cam too as he had a bit of a moment when I went to leave without him.  A good game, our team won 4 nil against MIS.  I think that’s 4 wins and one loss this season so far (our loss was a grading game, so no big deal).  Nathan is enjoying being goalie, even when its boring.  Lilly was left back first half and then right wing second half.  Matt was at work all day.  After Hockey Nathan and Lilly took themselves up to the park and then on to a friends place for a couple of hours, so it was pretty quiet at home . I did get some sewing done.

4 pairs of longjohns (using the pattern from my new Ottobre mag).  The 3 on the left are for Cam, the larger pair are for a swap.  From the left I have used Grey marle heavy weight merino, brown stripe lightweight merino and heavy stretch cotton stripe.  I’m pleased with the fit on Cam, he wore the brown stripe ones yesterday (I love stripes), they looked so cute.

On sunday I had the stupid brilliant idea that as the weather was so nice we should cycle the Rimutaka Incline. I have these dumb great ideas from time to time. I’m a bit of a masochist really, as I’m very unfit.  But the weather was great so off we went.  We loaded all the bike onto the trailer and drove over he hill to the Upper Hutt side and parked up.  I forgot to mention that even Matt came along.  It’s not often he joins in with things like this anymore.  So I took heaps of pics along the way.

Kids at the start..

Ian at the start

Everyone gone ahead of me, typical, I was just pacing myself, really

Ian stopping to read the sign (history of the railway stuff) and Lilly riding through the puddle

The first tunnel, not too scary, only 70 something metres long, you can see the end so it’s not too dark in there

Stopping to check out this little walk that goes under the road and down to the river on the left side.

First fuel stop, can’t go past a mallow puff, yum.

Can you tell that Matt loves having his picture taken?

The raping of the forest, when Ian took me here the first time for a ride (a gazillion maybe ten years ago, jeez i can’t remember) this was all still forest.  I know they grow the pine to use and that eventually they will replant, but it’s looks awful!

They are only ahead all the time cause I keep stopping to take pictures, I did try taking some while still riding (needless to say the camera got dropped).  I think here is about where it really started to hurt. Did i forget to mention that it’s 10 k to the top. Ian had to give me a little bit of a push for the last half a k or so. Although the first time we came here I never got to the top, I quit first. 

Everyone was pretty keen on lunch when we got to the top.

 

Lilly checking out the old engines.

It was very windy at the top. I had to  put my jacket on it was so cold.  It was 19°C at home, supposed to be 16 here, but i think with the wind it was about 12. BRrrr.

Cam checked out the engines too.

While Nathan and Lilly rode their bikes up and down the hills at the top (where do they get their energy?) we went for a walk  to the big tunnel.  It about one kilometre long, you can just see the tiniest pinprick of light at the other end.  We took a torch and went about a quarter of the way through, but Cam didn’t like it very much.  Can you tell from this pic that Matt is now taller than Ian?

I love this picture !

Half of the way back was great, really fast downhill.  But when it flattened out it sucked, big time.  By the time we got back to the car our bums were so sore, Matt had sore legs, I had sore hands.  Basically we were all paying for cycling 20k in our unfit states.  Still it was nice to get out of the house.  And everyone was so tired that the car was silent on the way back (pretty much unheard of).  Cam slept all the way back.  When we got home everyone (cept Ian cause hes a he-man) flopped down for while and rested some more.  Bliss.

 

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Freaky Friday

Well I thought I would start this post with some Eco stuff.  I sure most of you were aware that last Wednesday was World Environment Day.  After seeing a post about it here http://domesticallyblissed.blogspot.com/, I promised to write my own list here on my blog, especially as we are recent “greenie” converts.  So here are some of the things we are trying to do to have a smaller footprint on our planet………..

• We have changed to a front loading washing machine to save power, and prob more important here, save water
• We have recently changed to using all Eco-store cleaning products
• We have built a grey water recycling unit so we can re-use water for the garden in dry weather
• We use cloth nappies 100% of the time (for the last 18 months)
• We use cloth wipes 100% of the time
• I made about 50 single layer wipes to use as re-useable tissues (smaller than hankies), that only get used once then washed, we haven’t bought any paper ones for about 3 or 4 months, and they are great when you have a cold as they don’t make your nose sore
• I use Mama cloth pads, they are great!
• We grow our own meat, without any chemicals and try to give our animals a good life
• We have our own chooks for eggs, who have a large outdoor enclosure
• We grow heaps of veges in spring and summer, and are working on our winter garden
• I try to either remember to take re-usable bags to the supermarket or carry what I buy (a good incentive to remember)
• We no longer buy commercially made biscuits or muesli bars (less packaging to make my own)
• I am trying to buy locally grown veges, or NZ made grocery items (if processed), or fair trade
• I am trying to buy in bulk if possible to cut out excess packaging
• We love the public libraries (we have two close by), and they run great free reading programmes for the kids over the holidays
• We have a water filter on the benchtop, so we don’t buy bottled water
• We catch our water from the roof , no town supply here
• We have recently installed a new woodburner, the second most efficient on the market, so use less wood than previously, and it has a wetback, so the electricity to the hot water has been switched off for over two months now.
• We gather firewood from a recently felled forest that will soon be regrenerated back to native bush, or grow our own (we have a few hundred gums)
• I have a large drying rack above the fire and can dry two loads of washing in 24hrs with it
• I used to sell Tupperware, so have a huge amount of containers for storing and freezing food, so hardly ever use gladwrap
• I’ve only ever been on a plane once when I was 6, so I’m not using much in air miles
• I have started buying local produce from the Farmers Market
• I bike sometimes instead of taking the car (only up to town 4k away), I’m not superwoman

We I hope that’s all not to pious and maybe helpful to others.  We are lucky in getting our land just before the property boom, I hate to think where we would be otherwise.

Still on an Eco bent, Greytown is changing to Greentown for the month to promote eco-awareness.  Every household in urban Greytown got one of these bags delivered.  I managed to get one at the library (we are offically Carterton, but that’s ok).  Cool eh?

Each bag (re-usable) had 3 eco light bulbs, a bottle of BEE dishwashing liquid, a bottle of Mela apple juice, an ecostore laundry powder sample, 2 different moisturisers, 2 postcards, some info on enviro stuff, a map of cycling routes, info on noxious weeds.  Pretty good I thought.  Good on you SWDC.  The kids at Greytown School put them together. The school is also doing some more native planting and there are a few events down at the local college as well.  Actually I should mention that Greytown school won a Silver Enviro award last year.  They try to be active in looking after the environment there.  I was a bit annoyed when they started the rule about kids having to bring their own lunch rubbish home (yukky sticky yoghurt containers etc), but I’m ok with it all now.   Everyone in our house has a Tupperware sandwich keeper, so they don’t have much rubbish now anyway. They do heaps of recycling, run an enviro group, and do a lot of replanting near local streams etc.

Okay, enough going on about that now. 

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Brothery love?

Check out these cute pics of Lilly and Cam, he enjoyed climbing all over her while she was home sick yesterday (just a bit of a fever, and the bleeding nose prob, now medicated). 

We have been playing a bit of Chess in the past few weeks, as Lilly is taking part in the inter school Chess tournament tomorrow.  Last year she did it as well, and enjoyed the day away from school .  She even won a few games (by distraction from talking too much, or confusion by moving the pieces so many times before letting go no-one is sure where she started from, that’s my girl).  I am happy to say that her skills are a whole lot better this year.  I  even enjoyed playing against her.  Matt even had a game with her.  Here’s Lilly and Ian playing a couple of nights ago.

 

Lilly and I spent some time yesterday trying to clean up the sty that masquerades as her room.  Cam (being the darling boy that he is) nicked off with one of Lilly’s felts while we were not looking and produced this masterpiece.

And no, that’s not on paper.  It’s about a metre of the wall in the hallway next to the bathroom (boring white wall it was too).  I’m not sure what annoyed me the most, the drawing, or the fact the when I tried to clean it all i could see was how dirty the wall was. Grrrrrrrr.

I attempted some sewing last night, with not very successful results, so I chucked it in halfway and watched the box instead.  Very productive of me.  I’m off to try some more now as Cam is finally having an afternoon snooze (first time in almost a week).

Oh nearly forgot to report that Lilly came 2nd in the cross country on Tuesday (bit of a shame, was first last year by miles), and Nathan was 11th.  Next for Lilly is the South Wairarapa event, she will need a fair bit of practice as she is pretty unfit, I’m not confident she will make it to the Wgtn event this time.  Nevermind, she’s young yet.

 

 

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Yay ! It’s done !

The boy is now installed in his new sleepout.  Hooray, finally done (or very near, near enough to move into anyway).  Nathan spent last night in there, and emerged fine and dandy this morning, so it must be okay.  Actually as it is such a small space (2.2 x 3.4m) and well insulated with batts, and has a small oil heater, I think he was warmer than us in the night.  Lucky boy!  Cause jeez it was pretty cold overnight and this morning.  Frosty the snowman was out (and again tonight too).  We have moved most of his stuff in.  He has two divan beds, stacked one above the other (so no freestanding drawers) and lots of shelves for all his crap stuff   No attempt ot reclaim the space in Lilly’s room yet, as there is still more crap stuff to go out to Nathan’s room, and Lilly has such a mess on her side anyway that I really can’t be arsed bothered to do it yet.  Maybe thursday, maybe not. 

I have to say I’m feeling a little short of time at the moment, and I’m not sure if I really am, or maybe I’m just a bit disorganised.  I have some sewing to do (paying work and a swap), and I need to get some done on my quilt (actually two of them), but we have playcentre tomorrow (all morning, well sort of, takes us a while to get ready), then housework while Cam has a sleep (maybe some sewing here), then sewing class after dinner, where the tutor and I are going to attempt our first go at free motion quilting.  Oh bugger, nearly forgot about hockey practice after school too. Wednesday is kinda okay but busy from 3.30 onwards till 8.45.  I think I will have to stay off the net to try and get stuff done.

I have however made some nappies (why? you may ask, don’t you have enough?), of course we do (only about 35 or so atm), but I do have a large stash of nappy fabric, so I though I might try to use it up.  Here’s a pic.

They are all the same size, just the pic was taken at a funny angle.  The top one (Trains) has cotton velour inner, which imho sucks to sew (I must have been having a mental block when I bought it), the middle one (cars) is just PUL and suedecloth, the bottom one (sleeping pooh) is flannel with PUL film and suedecloth.  This time i used my adhesive spray for quilting to adhere the PUL film to the flannel, and it was fantastic, very easy-peasy to sew after that. Now I feel more confident making some up with the minky and PUL film.

 

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