Overflowing with Produce

The preserving has begun

The blackboy peaches

Oh my goodness. I cannot cope with all the produce coming from the garden at the moment. The backboy peach has finally ripened - the problem with the peach is that it all ripens at once!! Last year we got 20 buckets full, I think there is more this year. So all my friends who normally come and get some - come please!! Anyone else near Kaiapoi that reads my blog and wants some, just contact me please.

Quince

I have preserved two buckets of peaches already, I have roast peach chutney in the oven as I type - I have adapted a recipe from my sister-in-law's book - Coromadel Flavour. 

I have beans that I have not been able to keep up with - but I just say that this is because they are next years seed (which they are going to be now! they were very prolific and very successful with germination).

The pears are huge and amazing cropping - the branches bending with the weight. Some of them look like they will be over .5kg each! I will weigh it when ripened.

Then onto the quinces - as usual so many on the tree that I have to giveaway as much as possible.

Rhubarb is crazy all year - the boys are happy getting rhubarb crumble for dessert (another way to get more fruit and vege into them). The zuchinni's have been given away for over a month now and still going.

The groaning pear tree

And then in a month it will be Feijoas - I am trying to do bottling or some preserving for an hour a day. The freezer is full. The shelves are groaning and we are still going!

I link to these places

My Friday

Mieke kept walking around in my shoes. Alex just wanted to chew them!

It was hard getting a good photo - he moves so fast!

Mieke in her outside bed reading

I had a lovely day on Friday - My sister in law did not! I got to look after my niece and nephew (2.5years and 9 months). I dedicated my day to it as I remembered that it is busy with two little ones. I forgot how busy!!! I was running out of steam when my sister in law's good friend Nicki arrived at 3.30pm and helped with dinner, bathing, changing etc.

I had a lovely time. Mieke asked for cuddles heaps during the day and

insisted on wearing party dresses all day! Alex just wanted to be standing up and hanging around me.

We had a lovely time outside, we made a hut, had a picnic (ie lunch) outside in the hut, then Mieke wanted to sit on the hut roof. It all quickly collapsed and became a bed.

While I was swanning around with the kids poor old Jess was having teeth extracted. She got delivered home about 1pm and promptly slept. She looked and sounded very sore. Poor thing.

It was so lovely having a day with them and feeling that I am part of their lives.

Four little dumplings

My four little dumplings

Their bottoms

I was looking at Svetlana's blog the other day and she had used scraps to make a zip pouch. Great am with it so far. But the pattern is different to the normal ones, a lovely rounded top and they open completely. So I decided to give it a bash.

On Saturday my very lovely MIL is having her birthday and we needed a container to put her present in- I keow that this would just be the ticket. I used the scraps from the quilt my MIL made last year.

But of course, as I read people saying "just whipped this up", I think why do one when you can do more. Also I wanted to do a tester before I did the main ones.

The other stitchery waiting to be made into a purse is for my lovely friend Marie. Marie and her husband were there for me over three years when I worked on the isolated Milford Track. When ever I got out (once every 6 weeks) I could just turn up on their doorstep and they would give me a bed and fantastic company. They were amazing. But I am feeling bad as this was meant to be her birthday present last October. So it had to be good!!

So here we are - not one, or two but four little dumplings. No I did NOT "just whip them up". Together they took about 2.5 hours over two nights. But if I had not patched and quilted them then they would have been fast.

Svetlana refered me to the pattern - I followed this as a basic rule of thumb. I did not baste, I did not do the outer and lining seperately (I am always a bit of a slap dash kinda person), but I did use her pattern and her tips on getting things right were just spot on. So go have a look at her blog and pattern here.

The quilt for charity

My other tip - if using older style recycled zips as I have - watch sewing across them. They are metal and break needles!!! (three to be precise).

I also started work on another quilt for the orphanage that I support. These blocks were found at the local Op Shop for $5 - but in all my stash I cannot find material that looks OK with this to continue on. Will have to keep my eye open.

Linking up to these places and especially Amanda Jean's Finish it up Friday

A zip pouch

Well back here I gave a hint of what I was working on. But I could not reveal it as it was being sent as a part of a swap. I have never participated in any of the craft swaps before and loved doing this. This is what I made and sent off with NZ Chocolates inside.

It was organised by Ros from Sew Delicious and it was to be a secret, who you got etc. But finally Julia has emailed me to say that she is munching her way through the chocolate and fending off her husband.

I got a lovely set of pouches and other amazing goodies from my swap partner - see here.

As you can see from all the Christmas presents I have been practicing several different types of pouches and really enjoying doing them. A good quick project.

A wide mouth end ( so it opens right up)

A Foraging Walk

My walk with Morris today had great foraging results. I found, what I hope to be, the beginnings of the mushroom season and Morris found a cricket ball.

I swear that Morris should be hired to a tennis or cricket club, that dog is so OCD about balls that he can find anyone you have lost. At Margo and Warwick's once he found 7 balls in the first half hour!!! Meisha could not find a one.

So happy me and happy dog.

Lovely little mushrooms

A stick and a ball - what more could an OCD dog want!

Dirty hands and a hole in the garden

Over the weekend Aaron and I tried to catch up on all the jobs around the garden that just don't get done in the summer because of all our camping.

mulching like mad

Well my arms ached, my legs ached (and so did my butt - it felt like it should be really tight and small!! Why does it not look like it feels?). Anyway, I worked madly trying to mulch all the clippings and layer my compost with the pig poo from my sister (see her blog gardening in Amberley). Then on Sunday I mowed the lawn to add to that layering.

The hole and the stubborn stump

The dirt on my hands were a good representation of the hard work.

Aaron spent Saturday trying to dig out an old stump. Man did he work hard!! But the stump is still there. At one point I tried to help him I leant on the crow bar and heaved but all I ended up doing was falling on the end of the crowbar and smashing into my best zuchini (courgette) to absolute pieces. (I think some of my aches are from that as man it hurt all along my chest where I fell on the bar). But the stump is still there and all that happened was Aaron could hardly move as it really agrivated his back.

My sister wrote a poem once about my mothers' hands. 

Refashion an Op Shop find

This weekend I physically exhausted myself in the garden (did not take long!!! - a couple of hours each day), which left me with heaps of time to sit and sew for relaxation.

Inspired by my recent finish of a recycled quilt  I went through the stack of unfinished projects by my machine. There was a dress I had bought about a month ago from a Save the Children Op Shop in Christchurch.

I am not very good at sewing clothes for myself from scratch, but if something fits I know I can generally make it look better.

One of the things that really bug me about ladies clothes is NO POCKETS - why why why. Yes I carry a handbag but it is so handy to have pockets. And why was there no fastening at the waist? - so it gaped - no dome or button or anything.

So I made a new collar, new sleeve end, stitched a pocket into the waistband but floats externally, shortened the length and added some bias, added a $1 belt also from the Op Shop and presto - A new outfit that I am thrilled with.

I wore it to church today and heaps of people commented on it.
$10 dress
$1 belt
$5.50 fat quarter of green and black flower material from quilters quarters in Rangiora

The finished article.

The before (sorry not good photo)

The before on my dress model

Worn to church this morning

icky 80's collar

off with the collar and half the sleeve

On with a new collar

on with a new cuff

Add an external pocket

jazz up the bottom of the skirts. Shorten by 1 inch and add bias

DONE - I link up to these places






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Ellerslie Flower Show

NZ in flowers

Devonshire tea in the Dilmah tent. Very smart and nice

Well Aaron and I went to Ellerslie on Friday. I won tickets - big yahoo and yippeee. I get the NZ Gardener weekly email called Get
Growing and for $10 you get a VIP section with competitions etc. And I won (yes I know I said that - but I was very excited)

Loved this colour combination

So we went. The gardens were spectacular. The recycled and upcycled gardens so appealed to me. There was one that was made from old kitchen benches and drawers and pallets. Oh the pallet use was amazing. I wanted to zoom back to work and pull the two pallets out of the skip. But where would I put them???

What was disappointing was the size. It was about 1/2 the size of the first show we went to in 2010 which was amazing. The food tent was non existent, they said that the food area was set up as a farmers market look with straw bales etc, but there were only 8 stalls - yes 8!

Amazing garden with Moa sculpture

So I enjoyed it, some was amazing, but we were home by 1.30pm. I am so pleased that I had not paid the $42 entry but actually won tickets.

In the recycled garden

   

Great upcycling of old movie theatre seats

Pallet vege garden, look at the use of old kitchens and drawers

A buzzy bee flower garden - fantastic

Finally a finish

It has been most of summer since I managed to finish something. Yay, the quilt top for the caravan is DONE.  Well I still have to sandwich it and quilt it, but the patchwork is done. I love the repetition of the hourglass block. This is made with 100% recycled flannel. The white was a really good condition fluffy sheet that I bought at a local Op Shop for $3. The patterned material are all PJ's - again Op Shop purchases. (I have to say that I am a bit addicted to making flannel quilts, they are so soft and cuddly and making them from recycling just appeals to the frugal in me).
Finally I am able to link back to Finish it up friday. I also link up to places here.

Works in Progress - upcycling again

The start of our Caravan quilt - made from old Pj's

The start and end of the hexagons

20 Flags ready for Sunday School to decorate

Summer is so busy and this year with it being so hot we have been away a lot!! This means that slowly the garden gets on top of me, and the housework etc so less craft is done.

BUT this year I have been taking hand patchwork on my weekends and holidays away - yes the hexagon. I have been asking myself why?? I love doing embroidery and here I am patchworking by hand. Hmmm I think I was carried away with the hexagon fever without thinking about it. So I have decided to turn it into a cushion top so that it can get finished and not just languish as yet another project on the go.

I have been working on a quilt for Aaron and Me in the caravan for ages. Still not completed, but last night I started putting some of the hourglass blocks together to inspire myself to get it finished.

Sunday school has been doing some awesome stuff lately. Sarah (who makes the program) thought that flags would be great for the kids to make so they can have some of their own to wave during worship. So last night I made 20 calico and cotton flags. Ready to put a stake in and decorate. I can't wait to see what the kids will put on them.

So with Aaron being away a lot for work at the moment, quite a lot of paperwork happening in my job, I am pleased to have gotten a little crafting in.

I link up to some of these places

Zip Pouch Swap

I got an amazing pressie in the mail. This is the first time I have participated in a swap with other bloggers. I loved it. It was organised by Ros from Sew Delicious.

Eli wanted the chocolate

pillowcases waiting to be refashioned

I sent mine off - you can see what I made here. And I got the most amazing parcel from my swap person. Two zip pouches!! embroidered pillowcases, chocolate - WOW. Some of the sweets I had never heard of before - really interesting.