Crayfish, what a great way to start a holiday

Wow.  First night on holiday and we get given two fresh lobster by other campers.  Yes that was given! And yes that was two!!

Being a proud parent

Back before Christmas we made piles of fondant decorations for cupcakes etc over Christmas time. Eli and Jakob spent an evening icing and decorating cupcakes for their teachers and school mates.

Then on the second to last day at school we had the awards night. The photos are not that great but on the left you see two boys in blue shirts. Both Eli and Jakob won the academic award for their respective classes. I could not be more proud.

The next photo down of the band you will see Eli drumming his heart out for the two songs his band had been practicing.

Great parent moments!!!

Christmas Tree Fairy being safe at work

 Well before Christmas I shared making the fairy skirt from various short cut pieces at Fabric Vision. Here is my safe Christmas Tree Fairy spreading the joy at work with Santa in the days prior to Christmas Day.

What a safety concious fairy I am. Pink sparkly tutu, tinsel halo, if you look closely you will see the fairy lights from the tree around my neck. and then safety boots and a high viz vest.

...And again. Happy New years eve everyone!

Our New Years Eve walk around the estuary in Motueka. Gorgeous sunset at 9pm. Great way to see the year out. Looking forward to 2015

Home made smoked salmon

Oh my,  what an amazing Christmas lunch we had.  I have never smoked anything before and yet decided that was going to be lunch.  Camping in a place where there were only 6 other people.  Bliss.  We and the salmon got smoked but it was so good I smoked the other half too. So 1.8kg of amazing sugar coated smoked salmon was made. Oh now I know I need a smoker. Waiting for the hoards of campers who will invariably arrive in the next couple of days.  Enjoying it in the meantime.

Not the best photo of me, but look at the Salmon and the empty campground. It filled up after that but it was lovely on Christmas day.

Annabel Langbein's Walnut salad

Yes I have been watching the Free Range Cook. Made her walnut salad which was really yummy. "Tickled" the first of the new potatoes to see what they were like. Delicious healthy lunch for Aaron and Me.

Brocoliflower and a garden update

Was absolutely thrilled with my brocoliflower this year. Other years it has bolted and gone to seed as do most my brassicas. But this year it is a ripper!! Huge, it has feed us for three meals so far and those were generous. 

A year ago I said that we were going to redo the garden. Well Aaron has done all the paved paths but I am still finishing the brickwork (probably still will be doing it by this time next year!!) 

Wow the photo below is what it looked like just as we started.

This photo is what it looked like part way through.

Some very girly sewing

I don't normally get to do girly girly sewing. Not in a house full of boys. But at work everyone dresses in costume in the last couple of days before Christmas. It is the busiest time of the year and by the 23rd all are tired. So I decided to be the fairy on the Christmas tree. I bought a remnant satin for only $4 from Fabric Vision. Then a little bit of cheap tulle and some glitter tulle on top. Voila a Fairy skirt. Only 1.5 hours to whip it up (gathering the tulle was the longest part).

To go with it I have a string of Xmas lights but I have to wear my steel caps and hi viz vest. Will post a photo when it happens. Aaron says he is going to borrow the skirt to hand out goodies for at his work. I will have to get a photo of that too.

Linking to these places and finish it up friday.

Lemon Pepper beer battered fish and chips

Amazing, gorgeous, dinner. Used Monkfish and it was oh so tasty. Home made is the way to go!!

Gee - what did I do?

Yes, I get distracted when using my scraps. I started another project. But sensibly I kept this to large cushion size. I was looking for handwork to take in the caravan, now we are in camping season. I don't think it is my thing but I should learn not to judge an unfinished project.

Using freezer paper for my templates and needleturn applique for the motifs. Will have to wait and see where to from here!

Linking to these places

Goodness gracious I started another project

This was meant to be a zipped bag. But no - I kept going. Now everytime I find a scrap of material, on the floor or cut off my current project, I start making another random block. When it is big enough I add it on. It is about 1m wide by 60cm high. This will take ages to potter on and do. But it is something where I can sit at the sewing machine for half an hour and feel that I have done something.

I link to these place