The week gone by

Well that week went rather fast!  It seems that great weeks always do though.
 For some reason I managed to get heaps ticked off the "to do" list.  Heirloom baby blanket completed, Trademe purchases bundled off to the sellers, quite a few bags dropped off to the Salvation Army Store after a big decluttering and the house got a well overdue clean. Small victories.

All ends woven in and a flower in the middle.

Added a little blue flower to the middle

Lovely to have finished this blanket. 

 Have been practising my chanter.  I used to play the bagpipes as a teenager and haven't touched the chanter much since.  I regret not keeping up a musical instrument over the last few years. However our landlord invited me to attend his local piping band and I'm relearning how to read music and play. Hoping to get along to another practise session and join in shortly.

Revisiting an old hobby

Learning a musical instrument as an adult seems so different.  Maybe it's due to wanting to play properly (no cheating on the doublings this time) and a greater sense of responsibility to upholding a high standard for the other members of the band. I'm surprised at how fast time passes when fully engrossed in playing (already there has been two meals burnt, oh dear).

Have been feeling so grateful about where we live lately. Not sure why? Perhaps because we intend to go travelling in the next few years or how beautiful the area is in Autumn. I don't often take my camera on walks around the surrounding streets but yesterday the light was gorgeous and I had to run some errands. The camera came along so I documented some of my favourite buildings and sights.

The city from Ponsonby Road.

Local church

Three lamps corner.  I do wish the lamps remained

Love that window so much.

Loving this week:

• Catching up with friends; drinks, take-aways and YouTube surfing.
• Honey badger on YouTube. This cracks me up way more than it should. Slightly obsessed. *warning has coarse language*
• Honey badger mugs....sold out sob. Oh I do wish these mugs could have been mine. 



Image from : Honey Badger mug. Corduroy Etsy Shop

• A tidy, clean house.
• Planning and booking holidays for the year. Yippee.

Hope your week is a good one. 

Heirloom Baby Blanket

So the Heirloom Baby Blanket is almost complete. The one I blogged about here.  Just have to darn in the loose ends and I think add a little blue flower to the centre.  It is a reflection of the past few months that it has taken so long to make (read many ripping out sessions) and is rather riddled with mistakes. The mistakes don't worry me too much as it is a reminder of a busy but fun time. I try to convince myself that not being a perfectionist is great sometimes!! I can certainly overlook a few blunders here and there.

Blue border

Don't look too closely if you like perfection!

 This is a blanket is one that I'll keep but it's a pattern that I'll make again. The size of the blanket was getting huge so I missed out the final border and then ran out of wool. Instead of stressing I switched to blue for the border and really like the results. So all the wool came out of my stash and I can finally get the lid on the suitcase that holds my yarn down properly! Small pleasures.

Just waiting for a blue flower for the centre

It is so soft and surprisingly warm despite the openness of the pattern. I have another baby blanket on the go too but I can't blog about that here yet as a certain someone might see (Miss Sammy!). Must remember to get photos before I send that down south in the coming months.

I'm all set to get back into my Art journalling too.  Although I'm unsure about showing every page on here. I have really missed putting pen to paper the last few weeks and can't wait to start the next page. It is so wonderful to have a bit more free time.

Sneak peek into my journal (Art from 2011)

Happy Easter

Happy Easter

 I hope you are all enjoying a relaxing holiday.  This Easter has been very pleasant; lots of chocolate, sunshine, reading and a spot of dog-sitting.  The past couple of months have been a lot busier on the work front which is wonderful however the extra hours and catching up with friends and family has meant that this space has been put on the back burner.  Very little crafting has occurred.  Easter has marked the end of excess focus on work and I am ready to concentrate on more creative things now. Hooray.

Summer has gone by so fast and thank goodness really...the weather was disappointing.  Autumn has been putting on a fantastic show so we have been going on lots of picnics to make the most of it. Chelsea Sugar Refinery  has been on the 'to visit' list for a long while.

Chelsea Sugar Refinery Auckland

 After getting a little lost Mr. Fox and I had a very quick picnic ( we were chased off by a cold wind) and scout about. There were a family of swans on the ponds and the cygnets were super cute. We weren't keen to get close as the parents looked a little intimidating.

Settling in for a snooze

Hehe the little ones keep rolling down the slope as the slept!

Sometimes the best picnics are the ones at home. With all the home comforts right there and the perfect spot in the sun.  Especially good for access to craft supplies. The only trouble with this spot is the lack of shade....tis hard not to fry.  The gorgeous cushions with the owl and headphones are gifts from my very clever Sister Fox. Thanks sis, we adore them.

Patio picnic

Perfect place to watch the clouds drift by

The b-fm Summer series was a great afternoon out.  Despite feeling groggy going straight from a night shift I had fun. I took only a toy camera to this so don't have any pics that are blog worthy but a friend captured some great shots. Take a look here. Should have taken the sunscreen, both Mr. Fox and myself were very red by the end of the afternoon. Favourite band of the day was Die Die Die. They never fail to entertain.

A small visitor ventured inside a couple of weeks ago. Not sure if it was a moth or butterfly. The wings were raggy round the edges and it seemed a little worse for wear despite this he was hard to coax out the window and back into the garden. Quite the escape artist as we tried to catch him.

Hello little one. 

Today Mr. Fox and I walked into the city to see the Degas to Dali Exhibition at the Auckland Art Gallery. It may have been a mistake to do this on Easter Monday I think, the gallery was absolutely packed. I didn't love this exhibition but did enjoy seeing Degas's work. Of course there was time for a picnic in the gardens afterwards too

Thrifty lunch. Crumbs only evidence left from hot cross buns!

Autumnal art