Coddled Eggs

Coddled Eggs

Wednesday 31 August 2016

                 Life's a bowl of CHAIRies
There is something very fulfilling about recycling and reusing .We humans create so much waste and pollution and do it relatively guilt free.
Our  daughters are great recyclers as are our  daughter in laws...
Pip has made the most amazing clothes for her children out of all sorts including her Mum's merino singlets and tops ..they became dresses and singlets for her children Patches and embellishments and leggings .Even now as i type the girls are at a clothes swap where lots of ladies gather for a night of friendship and from all the cast off good clothing that gets thrown in a heap in the middle of the floor they will each go home with something or things very special for them.Kids clothes work clothes boots shoes you name it....REUSE.....SO so creative and thrifty ...I love it and this concept is not lost on me...I so much want  this skill of reuse and recycle to become an everyday thing not a passing trend.

I am currently upholstering our dining room chairs in fabric that was once the curtains of a function room.
Even the chairs themselves come from our local Waste-Busters recycle centre.
As I collect the chairs I cover them ...soon I will have eight chairs around the table all recycled and as for the cane chairs they will go to the picnic table outside.






Two weeks ago Kelly my gorgeous wee daughter in law and I attended another Upholstery workshop...


I  now have ,  two completed chairs and as happy goes it's a happy time for me.

Once again the time spent  spent (a lovely two days with my gorgeous creative daughter in law whom is fast becoming a dab hand at upholstery) was worth every minute not to add every cent for the learning.
 In fact when I visited on the weekend I saw that Kelly  is now onto large furniture ie a huge chesterfield couch...GO KEL.

I was not so adventurous as to try something new albeit I dismantled my chair at home this time so managed to finish my job within the weekend.

 
carrying the heavy chair inside was the hardest part and keeping my flocking intact another challenge..nearly lost my flocking in the carpark.

Kelly took to the challenge with gusto deciding this time she would do piping which of course means lots more sewing...

and what a gorgeous job she made of her piping..

Of course being "An awesome seamstress" tongue in cheek ...I had lots of piping to put on

So pleased I finished my chair with time to spare.

Kelly too, finished her chair, exquisite . To be honest the picture does not do the chair justice...and oo la la what a gorgeous soft chair ...this would be a great breast feeding chair. Lovely piping and smooth flocking Kel !!!!!

Someone  related to me (cough cough) was misquoted and it appears on print that I am a keen seamstress...
hence the tongue in cheek remark earlier.
Again recycle and reuse is a strong theme running through our days.
Daughter Anna having formed a Plastic bag free Wanaka group that is gaining much momentum.
A sewing drive will see many enthusiastic thrifters recyclers and seamstress' sewing up a storm.
I am looking forward to making bags with my daughter although I have a singing workshop the same weekend ..I can try very hard to do both as both are near to my heart.
I can never say enough how proud we feel of our daughters...their  tenacity at getting things done..they all 4 of them  are real movers and shakers and work tirelessly whilst being amazing and dedicated Mums.
We are just so lucky ..so very very lucky.....
maybe we can use our sewing skills to recycle more than just furniture and bags...more than just save the world from plastic .????

I once heard a comedienne on national radio (quote) "The woman's division of federated farmers will be making Quilts out of old skirts in the Scottish Hall today and tomorrow at the racecourse conference room the sewing guild will be making skirts out of old quilts"
....I remember laughing out loud ...now it's more practical to look at this joke as a reality.....
Well if I can't make it to the sewing drive there is my kitchen table ready and waiting And with new(ish) chairs. My overlocker and my machine fit on the table nicely....
Making bags ...
'I love making bags Wills ..you can never have enough bags" KC




Monday 29 August 2016

...........Every Nook and Granny.......




Whilst we were in Vietnam our Daughter Anna messaged to say that "Granny" or rather Great Grandmama as she liked to be called had passed away.We were alerted that this may happen as her health had deteriorated.
It was her wish, as she would often say "to just die" and would sometimes say sadly  "Oh I am still alive" ...
This made it not as hard to finally farewell Great...... Grand...... Mama ..for me and it seems for the family...
Nobody wants their loved ones to suffer ...ever...so Grannies passing was not a sad and mournful occasion but rather a time for people to speak of Granny and share memories.
Being on holiday made it difficult for me to have my say so I have decided to dedicate this entry to a woman I have to say I admired very much....




I loved listening to Mary- Eds stories which were many varied and never without humour ...often informative ..occasionally risque...always long and always delivered in such a way I felt there was going to be a moral to be gleaned . 
Mary-Ed told me her name came about because her parents couldn't settle on a name.  It was either Mary or Edwina...Mary-Ed was a nice compromise.
I have shared one of Great Grandmama's stories on this blog already it is the one about her feeding wild mushrooms to her dinner guests, and to  her cat , only to discover the cat convulsing in pain under the table...she whisked her guests off to have their stomachs pumped and on return from the Doctors found the cat still under the table with a litter of kittens.




Mary Ed created an oasis that luckily was kept and nurtured by one of her son's and his amazing wife. Jamie and Vicki.
Together and along with their equally amazing and strong children they grew Mary -Eds nook Road nursery  which was once Mary Ed's garden into a business but more importantly a type of sanctuary...A distinctly "WHANAU" or family focussed environment.
The summer fruit is always plentiful and given away freely to all and sundry ..The gardens are always a dream and inside there is always something on the oven.
Uncle Harry's freshly caught trout, Jamie's amazing marketable Nook Road bread or even just a coffee smell wafting from the concertina window on a chilly Winter day.


 
I am so lucky that my eldest daughter is married to a "NOOKIE" a wonderful gentle strong (a paradox or oxymoron) guy that can create as well as his predecessor and who understands the working of the human spirit.  He is a quiet observer and with that a perfect father for our grandchildren .Together they have bought into this world  robust family members, a blend of genes nurtured at the NOOK .

Jamie and Vic have always been generous ,always giving and always hospitable. They have expanded the boundaries so to speak to be far more inclusive . 
When Matilda returned from months in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) it was without question that the venue for a fundraising event for Ronald Mcdonald be held at the Nook. This is but one small example of how the land and its people have shared "a common ground".
This is only part of a legacy left by Mary Ed and nurtured by an equally, possibly more.. strong second generation and third and now there is a forth ...a fabulous forth ...T. I .S.M.B.O
Look what you started Mary Ed..



Grannie loved birds and when she was restricted in all she could do would delight in seeing the birds from her bedroom window. A special bird was shown to me ..A wind up bird in a cage that in Grannies words"cost oh so much and I felt rather guilty buying it but the delight it gave the children ...I would wind it up for the children"she would say with a hoity chuckle.
"Here Willie bring it to me! (such was her demanding way with words) .
A quick wind and the most exquisite bit of mechanical engineering would make the bird move up down and around with its beak fluttering whilst a melodic tweet filled the room.Grannies eyes would gleam as she watched my sheer delight."Now you see, when I see your pleasure just like the children's I don't feel a bit ashamed that I spent all that money'' smiling a naughty smile.
 "Oh but it was so expensive ..look underneath there is probably still a price on it'  I keep it there to remind me...
The value in the pleasure of that little bird was priceless.



Now Granny is gone but the pear tree the orchard the sound of progeny and visitors remain.. 

The smells remain the same and the music ..well its varied and constant and always sets a wonderful bohemian or ethnic for want of a better word or maybe even Jazzy tone.... any way it sets an atmosphere that is both inviting and relaxing  and now my daughter has added to that blend....
Granny Urquhart you were ready to leave us ...thank you for being my friend and for being a friend to my Dad...I will never forget your words to him after mum died "OH HELLO YOU LOVELY MAN COME IN YOU WHO HAS LOST YOUR BEST BELOVED"...
Well Great GRAND Mamma...........
You were a best beloved and always will be ....
One New years as we sat together in the car whist everyone was picking blackberries you said' Did I tell you Willie that New year is very hard for me...You see I have buried three of my own children ...and at New Year ...well it was just that I want to tell you .....Did you know I only had one daughter...Its your daughters birthday today and I lost mine....love your children Willie...make the most of each day ...I want to leave this world ...I don't like New year.. Did I tell you about the time...I am a cantankerous old woman ... .I am not up to talking today Willie ... and so it went rather sadly a conversation that I didnt quite grasp in its entirety because it was delivered in little segments that didnt add up except all pointed at a poignant sadness within Granny for "What could have been"
Well granny This ones for you sweet lady ...sorry I was on holiday when you passed It seems to be a theme with me.

I will make the most of each day and I will try as hard as I can to catch up with new friends ...That's you Glenys by the way ...and Aly if you are up there listening too Sorry I never got around to that coffee...have one with granny for me will you SHE IS A GREAT AND  GRAND MAMMA with a hell of a legacy.










Saturday 27 August 2016

                    Let it snow

The following three photo's were taken by a friend from our village
TRACY MORROW..she just takes the best photo's of around here ..




It is welcome back Winter for us having returned from extreme heat in Vietnam..


I will bring you all up to speed on that trip soon.
I just wanted to post this little achievement...



I have created a bucket list and on it I have included  wishes like for instance 


 becoming a confident singer , 

Now to get better.....




getting fit and healthy.learning to Ski,

now to get better....



Just wanted to brag really and say I can start ticking things on my list and expanding them ..


It is wonderful to be home with all the little snowdrops in bloom the wintersweet bursting with flowers and all the magic that the snow covered mountains around our home brings.
So very wonderful to cuddle the little people in our lives...man how I missed them.
So wonderful to be catching up with friends too, even a simple phone call.... Kathyrn, Mary ,Heather,Sue, I still want to get around to seeing you and I will its on my list....

I hope to post exciting stories of our amazing holiday and also photo's of the garden.
I have never felt so overwhelmed trying to get things done...overwhelmed because I am actually doing the things I have wanted to do and finish...and overwhelmed because there is just so much to do still...