day thirteen - more green love.

and now, for the back yard.

i showed a wee bit of this little corn patch the other day, but here's a bit clearer look...



i made up this bed pre-wedding, with the hope that the corn would look a little like this on the big day... it obviously didn't, but that didn't matter much ha ha!
hopefully, if i keep the love up to it, we'll get some corn sometime soon!

this zucchini plant is proving it's quite happy in this spot.



it's taken over the chilli plant next door, and is sporting a couple of wee babies too!

and it looks like we're not far off getting another wave of raspberries! i think this will be about the third or fourth of the season.



how spoilt we are!
there's never quite enough to do anything with, other than snack on while i'm watering, but i'm quite grateful all the same. store bought ones just don't quite taste as sweet...

day twelve - patience.

today, all of my knitting time has been spent being patient...

when i cast on my current knitting project, i read up on the process of a provisional cast on, as the pattern suggested. i read from a few different sources, that it was a good idea to use a needle a few sizes bigger than recommended, or double up your needles to make sure the stitches were big enough to pick up again to continue knitting with.
being that it was the first time i was using a provisional cast on, i wholeheartedly trusted that advice, which resulted in this...



now this is no-ones fault, bar my own. not understanding quite how the cast on worked, or that the instructions would be most likely recommended for woolly yarns... something with a little spring, and a bit more forgiving than the cotton/linen blend i was working with...

anywho, i powered through my knitting, knowing full well that once the neckline was picked up and knit on, i'd have this tedious little task to work through.



several hours of work, painstakingly pulling up the loose tension between the stitches to firm them and make them look right!

as tedious as it seemed, it was really nothing compared to the hours of knitting i'd put into the garment to get the body done... definitely a worthwhile few hours when it will go towards a garment i'll wear and cherish for many summers to come!

finishing garments is always something i've rushed in the past, but it's something i have a huge amount of patience for in recent times. why go to all the effort of the knitting, only to make it look thrown together with haphazard finishing?
always worth a little extra time for sure.

how are you at finishing projects?

day eleven - green love.

according to my blog archives, it's been a long long time since my last green love post... since may it would seem.
a ridiculously long time!

needless to say, quite a lot has changed! this might be another photo heavy post...
first up, le rose!



it's a pretty happy chappy at the moment.
not that it's ever particularly unhappy to be honest, but this summer, i've been giving it a little attention... plenty of water, and dead-heading the spent blooms where i can (not that you'd know looking at the above photos ha ha)

this wee tomato isn't looking so happy...



i always find this happens with tomatoes i grow here, they get super leafy, put on fruit, and then the leaves curl up and die. i guess i shouldn't be too upset, because as you can see above, the fruit still ripens up beautifully!

the space below could be called 'potted colour bonanza'



a little bed i planted out pre-wedding as it's never really been used for anything... i did grow some onions out there one year i think, but that's about it.
now it's a beautiful bee haven and incredibly nice to look at to boot!

and a little to the right...



a whole load of pots and container gardens...
the tomato in the back there is looking the same as the one above, who knows!
the petunias in the tub with the rose have gone so crazy, i love how lush they look!
and also, pineapple! just pineapple-ing along slowly. bb bought a pineapple when shopping the other day, so i've got the stalk prepped and in the kitchen on the windowsill. hopefully it will sprout some little roots and i'll have a pair of pineapple plants!

phew! so many garden stories, and we're only in the front yard still... the back yard might need to wait until tomorrow!

what's growing in your patch at the moment?

day ten - today.

being back home, the realities of keeping up with all of the housework are flooding back...
this is a little what today will look like around here...



mt. washmore will be conquered. having done four loads of washing on our arrival home on monday has led to this. phew!
it definitely needs to move though as this couch converts to a bed, and that bed has a guest tonight.
fold, fold, fold!

i did a dumb thing and failed to give the bathroom a good clean before we left. heck, i didn't even give it a light clean!



the enjo is coming out to play and the bathroom will be getting a super deep clean!

and this last one, well compared to the other two, it will be an absolute cinch.



this layer of dust has been taunting me for ages. so simple and easy to get rid of it, but do i do it?
nope.
today it's happening. i'm heading off to visit my folks and i do NOT want to be looking at a layer of dust for the 90 minute journey there, and the same when i return on the weekend. NOT HAPPENING!

in fact, when i went out to the car to take the above snap, i took my dust glove too.
it's done! tick it off!

scintillating stuff over here today eh?
i felt if i wrote it down, maybe i'd be a bit more accountable and get it done!
oh and anyone who is wondering why i'm doing all this myself? what bb is doing? he's on the lawn mowing, vacuuming and the dishes today!
clean house here we come!

do you ever need to make yourself accountable with your chores? are you an enjo fan?

day nine - up before the birds.

getting back from new zealand on sunday has left me with reverse jet-lag. i'm ready for bed by 8pm, and am up and ready to face the world by 6am.
that means the last two mornings, i've been awake before the birds have even woken up!

i don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, so think i might be setting an alarm in the future, to keep up my early rising.

capturing the morning light is quite hard though...



particularly through the kitchen curtains... maybe it's time to give those windows a clean too ha ha!

i'm loving having a little stash of banana bread in the freezer to work through. although i'm sure it's not the healthiest breakfast i can come up with, it's better than forgetting to eat all together!
and when my little stash is done with, i'm sure i'll make up another batch too. sorting through the freezer yesterday revealed quite the stash of bananas in there!

while my tea cooled, and my bread thawed, i took the time to get to watering...



the plants in my back and front gardens and just thriving. note to self: take you all on a little tour someday soon!

this early bird surely did get the worm this morning!



two freshly ripe strawberries. they didn't last long before being devoured, a little sweet pre-breakfast treat!

are you an early riser? what's your favourite morning routine?

day eight - bloggy birthday.

today my blog is seven years old. SEVEN!
who could believe it!

i don't have any cake to celebrate...



though i did start my day with a slice of this banana cake i baked up a few weeks ago. fished out of the freezer of course...

after getting back from new zealand last night, i've had an awesome nights sleep in my own bed, managed to get a gazillion loads of washing done, cleaned the heck out of my fridge and toilet and cooked a whole bunch of food.

it's good to be home!

what's your favourite part of being at home? have you been reading my wee blog for long? have you made this banana bread before? it's my go-to and absolute fave!

day seven - this week.

this week has been a big one, having spent the entire thing in new zealand. it has been so great and i'm quite sad to be heading home today. i'd so love to spend more time here as i feel like i still haven't seen as much of the north island as i'd like to, and we didn't even get to the south island!

i hope we're back here really really soon, but in the mean time, let me share some pictures!

an afternoon well spent among the hobbit holes, learning lots of crazy things about the lord of the rings and hobbit movies.
the commitment to the creative process explained was truly remarkable. hours spent to create images from the books, that sometimes only got a few seconds of screen time, and sometimes then, only in the extended versions released on dvd!

our tour of hobbiton ended with a quick drink in the green dragon pub.

rest assured, bb and i could have spent all afternoon there, fireside (even though it was quite warm!) with our beverages in beautiful ceramics cups, and me with my knitting!

we had a fantastic walk through the waimangu volcanic valley, learning all about the history of the place, and how things have changed with the volcanic activity under the earth.

this was the inferno lake, an absolute beauty to behold. not so much fun for swimming in though, the temperature can get above 80C and the pH is an acidic 2!

our accommodation in wellington was right in the middle of the city, and there was a wee french crepe stand just outside the door.

nutella and strawberry crepes are a suitable breakfast food right? right?!

and when in wellington? you weta. the weta workshop was amazing!

and the trolls don't mind posing for selfies...

we had a quick, one night stay in otaki when we were both too tired to drive any longer.

it was a pretty sweet little place, and right on the beach!

and then comes the animal portion of our holiday...

a SIX HOUR OLD cria. and i'm hugging it!
we made an impromptu stop off at nevalea alpacas when we saw a sign from the road. best random stop ever!

closely followed by our second random stop off, at sheepworld. we paid a dollar for a bag of food, and got to hand feed a whole bunch of animals.

including BABY CHICKENS! they were so cute and teeny and were very happy to come and eat out of our hands. they weren't so happy when i picked them up to give them hugs... but they didn't hold it against me ha ha!

and a holiday wouldn't be complete without a little kitty love...

i befriended the resident cat at our airbnb accommodation yesterday. i ended up covered in cat hair and drool but it was worth it!

and finally, the best reason to head to a whole different country, to celebrate!

such a beautiful wedding of two very awesome people. in idyllic settings to boot!

and is perhaps one of the reasons why there was no post yesterday... too busy catching up with folks!

how has your week been this week?

day five - a 2015 finish.

this is the second in a pair of cardigans i was knitting for a pair of wee sisters, my cousins daughters.
the first, an orange number, was finished up quite a few months ago now... but this pink one languished a little in the lead up to all of the wedding fun in december.

on the day of my hens do, there were two little visitors... and i thought i'd use the opportunity to get these little visitors to choose buttons for their cardigans.
the owner of the orange, already completed cardigan, declared she didn't need buttons, and she would be taking the cardigan home and wore it immediately. she also declared a need for orange knitted pants ha ha!

the owner of the pink, yet to be finished cardigan, chose the buttons seen sewn on here (good choice, no?), and took up a hearty argument that hers was also done (it wasn't) and she could take hers home that day too. after i explained that everything was still a little raw to be taken home today (sleeve stitches on holders, midway through the body) we negotiated that it was NEARLY finished, with requests for cropped sleeves and body length.

the next logical question... but when will it be finished?? the next time i was due to see my cousin was the evening of my wedding reception, so being the crazy risk taker that i am, you'd better believe i promised that sweet young lady it would be done!

and done it was! it involved a lot of bartering with bb (can you please drive today so i can knit?) and i may have even partaken in a little bit of knitting post wedding ceremony, after our family lunch... mainly just because my wedding day wouldn't have been complete without a little knitting happening somewhere along the line ha ha!

do you commit to crazy deadlines with your projects? what's the strangest place you've ever pulled out a craft project to work on?

day four - honeymooning.

after trawling through my phone last night, i realized i had a whole bunch of honeymoon photos i most definitely hadn't shared over here yet...
so please bare with me, while i share a whole heap of photos!!

flying into beautiful brisbane, our first stop and where we spent three of our nine honeymoon nights.

we were greeted with treats once we arrived and checked into our hotel.

so very spoilt, and ever so well looked after!

the room i'd booked had access to the executive lounge (sometimes not reading the fine print has perks ha!) which had snacks, CHEESE and wine in the evenings. we made sure to take full advantage ha ha!

and yes, you'd better believe there was knitting getting done on our honeymoon too!

our stay in brisbane coincided with the release of the new Star Wars film...

we were at the midnight screening. and i managed to only snooze once ha ha!

after catching a few z's before check out, we jumped back onto a plane, heading to cairns, where upon disembarking, we grabbed a hire car and cruised down to mission beach. we found some accommodation there for the night, and in the morning, jumped onto a water taxi to our abode for the next five nights...

bedarra island.

what a spectacular place! beautiful scenery as well as amazing service, and the food... so delicious!

we spent so much time relaxing, which was just what the doctor ordered after a busy year of work, oh and that wedding thing too ha ha.

we also made good friends with the wildlife. skinks and geckos everywhere! though these skinks were a little bigger than the ones i normally come across back home ha ha.

every walk along every path was punctuated with sounds of these little guys running away from you through the scrub. a little terrifying to be honest!

oh and the food!! it was divine! and the best part was not having to make any decisions about what to cook ha ha!
three meals a day, planned out, cooked, served and cleared. heaven!

there was also one lunch we were lucky enough to have packed up, along with some towels and snorkeling gear, to take along with us to a completely different island. all to ourselves! so lucky!

we also splashed out on a helicopter ride transfer, from the island, back to cairns airport.

what a way to travel!
the pilot was super friendly and knowledgable and talked us through everything as we were flying around.

hope you've gotten to the end of this supremely photo heavy post! once I get home, and have access to my laptop, i'll try and write up a little post about our wedding too. working backwards ha ha!

have you ever been on a helicopter? what has been your favourite holiday ever?

day three - work in progress.

today i thought i'd talk a little about what's on my needles at the moment...

this little beauty has been on the go for a wee while now, and is definitely high on my list of things to finish this year. hopefully this month if i'm being honest.
i'm keen as mustard to wear this one!!

after a little faux pas, where i forgot to include half of the shaping, which involved much ripping to fix, i feel back on track. hopefully that means i can get it finished up asap, and get to wearing it!

what are you working on at the moment?

day two - second.

my second finish of the year wasn't one of those on my to-be-finished list... it was an all new project. a procrastinatory project if you will.
you see, i'd just realized i had forgotten to include a whole heap of shaping into the garment i'd been working on, so naturally, rather than tackling the bull by the horns, i put my hand up to knit this little blouse for work. with a tight, two week deadline. as you do....



the emmer top, is written by sarah hatton, and features in the book 'simple shapes, summerspun and purelife revive'
it's knit up in the purelife revive, a dk cotton/silk/viscose blend, with all of the fibers being from recycled sources.

this little blouse, knit up incredibly quickly! i managed to churn it out in a week and a half, though it was the only thing i was working on for that time...



when i spotted this pattern in the book, i was a little worried about how the neckline would sit. on the model in the book, it seemed a bit gapey, and i thought it might flap open at inopportune moments ha ha.
i think it definitely sits ok though, and i'm seriously contemplating making this little number up again... or potentially absconding with this sample version ha ha.

have you finished anything recently? what's been your quickest garment project ever?

day one - february.

ok so it is the first of feb... an entire month into the new year already... where exactly did that month go?

i had this grand idea, that i might try my hardest to blog every day this month... being the shortest month and all, what a cinch!
however, i'm currently overseas! sans laptop. blogging from my phone is always a little tricky (apologies for any weirdness in the formatting of this post!)
we'll just see how i go i guess ha ha!

i feel like i have lots to blog about this month, lots to catch you all up on from the last couple of months. fingers crossed i can get it together!

there are a few big things on the agenda this month. i've got a knitting project that i'm hoping to get off my needles and onto my body AND i'm lined up to teach a couple of classes on crochet this month. i'm equal parts excited and nervous ha ha.

hopefully i'll be back here tomorrow!