The bun cover

Here's a close up of the bun cover I made.  I made it all up as I went along so I am going to have to remake it and write it down.

The only stitches are chains, trebles (UK) and Double Trebles (UK).  

You will need a size 2mm steel hook, crochet cotton (I used milford) and a hair tie in the smaller range.  

I will be collating the pattern over the next few days.

Christmas is coming

That won't mean holidays for me until mid January but that's life!

I've been busily shopping for the offspring and crocheting when I am not working, doing house work or preparing.  The decorations have yet to appear, that will be this weeks days off.

On the right is a blanket I made for myself, to watch tv and snuggle with on top of my bed in the chilly days to come.  I got it finished before the crazy Auckland humidity hit thank goodness.  It's so stuffy here at the moment.

Since it warmed up I've been making smaller and cooler things like bun covers for the wee girl for next year at Intermediate school when she will have to wear her hair neatly put up and a uniform.  I will post a pic when I put her hair up, we did an experiment and they work really well.

I've also been experimenting with booties.


These wrist warmers are made from sock wool aka fingering weight and will keep me warm next winter.

I'm working on some patterns which I hope to get finished next week and display for the bun covers.  Right now I am seeing if I can make one with beads....

Creating a space

Well I am back and I have been busy!  Back at my last post I had my arm in plaster for a clinical scaphoid fracture.  Hated it!  The plaster made me incredibly claustrophobic, two weeks in I went to the doctor and begged them to find another way.  Where upon I was very reluctantly fitted with a splint but only because the ManChild had his own accident.  He was playing hockey and got smacked in the face with a ball causing two fractures to his cheek.

Eventually my x rays came back clear.  The MC is still having visits to the cranio facial dept but all is good.

We purchased a sleepout for the MC which was built during these shenanigans.  He's all moved into his fully lined, carpeted and painted room.  He's thrilled.  It's very cosy, he has a locking door and more space than he's ever had.

As a consequence his old room became errr vacant!  But not for long.

It is now an office for the Hubs and I.

This is my side.  Organised with a desk and shelves.  I have all my wool stash and photography stuff tidy and accessible.

I'm currently working on a blanket which is a little boring so when the mood takes me, I create some little things.

I have an old chair in the shed that belonged to my great grandmother that I am thinking of rejuvenating to add some character to my bedroom.

Lots and lots on the agenda with Christmas fast approaching though.  The MC has finished school and is on study leave for exams.

The WG had a marimba recital, then a choral concert at the town hall.  This is her last year at primary so they are preparing for their graduation assembly.  I have to buy a uniform for her for intermediate.

It's busy time!

The current hiatus explained

Can't really type and definitely can't crochet.  Back soon!

Stash busting

Recognise the colours?  This is left over yarn from the Zig Zag Granny throw I made for my Grandmother's 100th birthday.  Seeing as it is allegedly returning to me now that she has sadly passed on, I decided to use the left over yarn to make a hottie cover.

I haven't perfected my technique yet, the edges are too square and messey but it's quite warm and much nicer than  a rubber hot water bottle on my back.

I started with a foundation chain of 35 stitches.

1st row sc
2-end of front (a panel big enough to fit end to end minus the neck of the hot water bottle) alternating sc and trebles to make the textured stitch.

I then made two more panels for the back half the size of the front each.

I crocheted button holes on one by missing crochet through two stitches and just making two chains the same way I make basket handles basically.

I think I will have to decrease to shape the tops.  I'll keep you posted and when I get it right I will post the pattern.

Meanwhile in an effort to use up more yarn....

Here is the front of a cushion I am making.  I have wanted to make a granny square with a flower on it for ages and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to play.  I found the pattern on pintrest.  It's not very easy to understand though so I only made the one.   I am busy crocheting the back now.  Just plain alternating rows of trebles and singles.

Work has been busy as ever, Winter is usually a quieter time for us but this year it just doesn't quit.

Mt Tongariro erupted last week.  That meant writing an emergency plan in case it happens again.  Apparently it's not a matter of if but when.

We seem to be having more than our fair share of natural disasters lately.

Hotwater bottle covers and other things...

One of the best things about winter is snuggling under a blankie with a hottie to keep you cosy while you watch tv.   It's cheaper than electric heating and it's fun on a cold, damp day.

But it's not so much fun snuggling with a rubber hot water bottle, it feels wrong.

I just got some new full sized hotties for the grand price of $4.50 so they needed some dressing up.  There's a pattern in "The Art of Crochet" issue 14 so I decided to try it.  Apparently UK hot water bottles are bigger than those in NZ or 8ply was too thick, because it was far too wide.  So I turned it sideways and improvised.

<~~~~~~~~ Tah Daaaaah

Not the best pic I know, I'm currently temporarily at dial up speed because my broadband allowance "somehow" got exceeded.  Even a cellphone pic takes ages to upload.  I went grocery shopping while this one was uploading if that gives you any idea!

I am currently making a second version, with horizontal stripes, keeping a note of what I am doing so I can share the pattern with you.  I'm loving the textured stitch which consists of 1 tr and 1 sc (UK) it crochets up nicely.

I am quite please with my result, so is the Wee Girl because she's not over keen on naked hotties.  She's a snuggle on the sofa gal from way back.

I've also made a cloche style hat and some pacifier clips for my friends stall.  I've had a busy week.

Hello Again

I can't believe it's August all ready, the past two months have gone by in a blur.  As mentioned in my previous post my Grandmother turned 100 in June.  Sadly she passed away on the 10th of July.


Altogether July has not been my best month ever.  I did finish delivering the training course at work, update our business continuity plan and get all my team performance appraisals written, but in between there have been a series of small disasters.

There was the puncture on my way home from work that saw me sitting on the side of the motorway for an hour at 10pm on a Saturday night.  From that I learned that a surprising number of people forget to turn on their lights, the shoulder is much narrower than it appears as you whiz past it at 100 kph and really people should slow down.

My eldest the Man Child has caps on his front teeth due to an accident when he was a boy child.  He managed to break one whilst eating a lollypop! Oh and he sprained his ankle playing hockey.

My cat had a stroke! She'd been sitting snoozing in her usual position on the top of my chair when she suddenly leapt off and started walking in circles.  The dogs had a freak out over her and by the time I got them out of the way she was fitting. When she came out of the fit she was very strange so it was off to the vet at 10pm on a Sunday evening.  She's more or less back to normal now, but for 24 hours she was blind and didn't know me.   She bit me, hissed and spat until she came out of it.   Thankfully cats recover from such episodes a lot better than humans, she's a bit weak in the back legs but that is it.

The hubs opened an official looking envelope to discover a speeding ticket from a speed camera for my car.  I've never had a speeding ticket (touch wood) so he handed it to me smugly.  I looked at the date and said hang on! That's was the day after Grandma's funeral, I wasn't working that Sunday, we went shopping and YOU were driving! Then I gave it back to him!

The Wee Girl got glasses!

I got new glasses, I've had to move to progressive lenses with a special pair of reading glasses for all the crochet and writing I do.

But every cloudy month has silver linings.  I got a new laptop and a new camera.  I have been lusting after the camera for some time.  As soon as I get my software sorted out, I shall be posting new pics taken with it.

A busy few weeks

Here is the wee girl wearing her now, somewhat grubby slipper boots.  That's what happens when you slide on the lino when the dogs have muddy paws.  She's very happy with these boots.

I adapted this pattern for a basic boot, instead of ribbing I trebled (U.S. dc) 6 rows then did granny clusters for another 5 rows for the folded down part.

The WG likes to keep toasty warm and there has a been a bit of a cold patch.

I've also been making hats flat stick.  A teddy bear,  a monkey and a couple of earflap hats for my nephews and friends little boy.

If that wasn't enough, I've been working on a training module for work and started delivering it this week.

All in all I've been working my tail off.    The man child had a teacher in service day today and begins exams tomorrow, this evening the WG has an open house at the intermediate school she will be attending next year.  There's hockey and work for me on Saturday, Sunday is work and Monday, Tuesday I am both working and delivering the training I developed to yet another team.

I don't believe this business will abate for a while yet.  Both the hubs and I are working on Saturday so in a true test, the MC has to get himself and his sister to their hockey games at the local field.

I'm hoping things will slow down soon.  Who'd have thought winter would be so much busier than summer?

A Granny for Gran (Ripple Granny Tah Da!)

I'm excited to present my version of the Ripple Granny throw.  

Two weeks, less than10 100 gram balls of Marvel acrylic.  It is approximately 3 feet by 3 feet.  Enough for Grandma to cover her lower body down to her feet and tuck around herself when she sits in her chair.  About the size of a cot blanket.

Here is a peek at the colours.  A dusky mauve, mossy green, dusky pink, chocolate brown and cream.  Not the bright colours I generally use but definitely Grandma colours.

58 rows of Granny clusters.  108 stitches on a 5mm hook.

I adapted the pattern I found by doing a colour set and then counting in on the clusters to start in the same place so the first row of the mauve in each colour set is 5 cluster sets.  That is how I managed to get the zig zag sides 

The edge is just 3 rows of single crochet because I thought the zig zagginess was pattern enough.  I think I mentioned it was acrylic rather than wool in case it gets put in the residential care driers.  Now I just need to label it with Grandma's name, wrap it in a ribbon and I'm ready to go.

I will write up the pattern if anyone is interested.  It's a mixture I adapted from a number of different Granny ripple patterns that I googled to work out how to do it.

Now I have to get my a into g and start cooking for the party this weekend!!!  Have a wonderful day!

Foggy Saturday Morning

Saturday morning at this time of year means Hockey.  Both the Wee Girl and the Man Child play.  There's one thing you need to know about hockey, it's never cancelled.  Rain, hail or shine, hockey is always on and today was no different, in spite of the fog.

The WG had a game at 10:30 thankfully just down the road at the local high school the MC attends.

The MC had a game for his club at 2pm today, during the week he plays for the school in the first 11, he has practice twice a week for school, a game on Wednesday and then another practice Thursday evening for the club with a game on Saturday.

Some of the WG's games are played away, which generally means a trip to another school across town.  A couple of weeks ago we had to be in Mt Roskill for a game at 9:30am then back to West Auckland for a marimba recital at a local festival by 11am.  It was tight!

Today though, it was just the two hockey games, some hours apart.  Did I mention the fog? Those buildings are right across the road from the field but they were only just visible at 10am when we arrived.

The WG plays 8 a side and on half of the turf.

Here she is with her pink hockey stick on attack.  She played the first half on defense.

Unfortunately it was something of a whitewash, the opposition won by 4 goals to 1.

I remember when those shorts she's wearing hung down around her knees and there was barely any skin to be seen between the top of her socks and the bottom of her shorts.  4 years later and she looks a lot bigger.

And here is the MC, playing in the 3rd Division Men's team.  He's 15 and playing guys in their 20's, 30's and my age!  The guy who is tackling him in that shot, is a former Olympic player, he played for NZ.

The MC holds his own with the older players and he's bigger than some of them.  That astounds me.  Although he is taller than me, I still think of him as my child.  Seeing him taller than men with facial hair, well it's something of a shock.

As you can see he got around the former Olympic player.

We came home around 3.30 having been at the hockey turf for the better part of the day.

The WG is doing the 40 hour famine too, so she has been shoveling back Barley Sugars and Just Juice.  She's given up food, technology and talking!  It's been a quiet 20 hours so far.

Crafting for cash?

A friend of mine is thinking of taking a stall at the local market and she has invited me to crochet some goodies to sell.  I don't usually sell anything I make.  Sometimes people give me wool to make things from for them.  That's about as close as I have ever got.

I'm thinking of making some fingerless mitts, hats, cup cozies, flower posies and key rings to start with,  quick stuff that doesn't take a lot of yarn.  Then I can use any money to make more expensive things and things that take a little longer, scarves etc.

I'll have to think on it.

Meanwhile, my granny stitch zig zag/ripple is moving along nicely.  I've made some alterations to the pattern so it's got zig zag sides as well as top and bottom.  I can't wait to get it finished for Grandma's birthday.  I have 12 more days to get it done.  I have to work out what I will do to edge it.

Home Sick

I awoke this morning to the pitter patter of feet, well not so much a pitter patter as a stamp stomp, the wee girl has elephant feet.  I usually wake around 8:30 - 9 ish on my days off.  My darling hubs gets the kids up and off, so awaking to the sound of footsteps in the house was a little odd.

It transpired that the WG had been allowed to remain home as she was "sick" with the unlikely combination of sore throat and  sore tummy.  The hubs made a call and left her home for observation.  Her colour was good, she didn't have a temperature, no sign of a cough or even a sneeze.  I was and remain a little skeptical.  A little bit of chit chat and I discovered that the WG's bff is moving away which may explain why she felt off and a day at home with Mum isn't going to hurt.

I had intended to go out and get some more yarn for the Zig Zag Granny rug and wander Spotlight looking for some monkey hat wool and a colour scheme for my next project.  The zig zag granny isn't going to take a long time because it's not going to be that big.

I have some work to do perfecting the granny zig zag foundation as well.  I started this one using a pattern on Ravelry by Birdlebee, it has a multiple of 18 but the ends are a lot longer than the actual zig zags.  I think I can work that out for the next one.  I'm liking the granny ripple!

Back at work

Sadly my holiday is over.  I can no longer devote hour upon hour to crochet.  I was just getting used to the whole idea of being a stay at home mother.  I've had a good month so I can't really complain and I still have lots of leave to take later in the year.  Meantime taking the month off has meant that I am within the target of less than 40 days of leave....just.

I made two more hats for my friends children.  The pink bowler style hat was my own adaptation of a beanie, I created the brim by doing an increase row and then two more straight rows of trebles.

The monkey helmet is an earflap hat with two circles sewn on afterward for ears.  I now have requests from a couple of different friends to make monkey hats for their little boys.  So I will be making hats for a while longer.  They are very quick so I am happy to do it.

I've also made a couple of pairs of wrist warmers for the wee girl and myself.  For those cold winter morning hockey games.

I'm also making a zigzag (ripple) granny throw for my grandmother's 100th birthday next month.  It's not going to be huge, just something she can use to sit with to keep her legs warm. She doesn't get around too much these days, so even in the warm rest home, she feels chilled.  She can walk and does, but she has cataracts which mean that she doesn't see too well.  While she's happy to trot out to the dining room for meals, she doesn't like to be in unfamiliar places and fair enough.

It's difficult to get something for her, living in a rest home means that she can't have a lot of "things" and because she can't see, photographs while appreciated are fairly meaningless because she can't enjoy them.  Which is why I decided to make her the rug.  She may not be able to see the colours but she will be able to feel the stitches and appreciate the warmth it gives her.

Because clothing and bedding is washed in the rest home laundry, I have chosen to use acrylic yarn, so that nobody can accidentally shrink her rug.

I've chosen a brown, sage green, soft muted pink and cream as colours and I am using mode vera marvel 8 ply (DK).  The ripple in granny clusters is growing quickly and as soon as I have a respectable number of rows, I shall post a picture.

Hats

 

I've been busy making hats for children this week.  It's another fab way to bust that stash. Yes it's all about hats here at the nook.

It all started with the cream hat in my previous post.  Made for a friends daughter who is about 7 months old.

Then I moved on to this blue ear flap hat which was surprisingly easy.  Jack who is 4 should suit this one nicely.  It's not overly decorative, but seems like the kind of hat a little boy might wear happily on a frosty morning to go to kindy.

 

This pattern was as easy to knock up as it looked, all trebles with the forward and backward around the post to create the ribbed look on the last three rows.

Then I decided to adapt the pattern for granny clusters...














That cream yarn is left over from the hobo bag and I still have more to use.

Withe the exception of the first hat with the flower and the adaptation I got the patterns here.  There are sizes from newborn to toddler.

With the granny adaptation I used this pattern for the crown then moved into granny clusters until I felt the hat was long enough.  Then I crocheted a row of tr (dc US) and instead of ribbing the flap I kept it flat so that it would show better.

Hobo Bag

This is another Pintrest find, I loved this bag on sight and I knew I could make it when I read the pattern found here at a site called ShortyLam Crochet.

It's a simple v stitch made up of trebles and single crochet.  The author  made her own version but if you look closely it doesn't curve quite as much as the original for my liking.

I got around this by decreasing on the 6mm hook round of single crochet by one stitch every 6 stitches.

I'm really happy with the outcome.  This isn't an everyday bag, due to the colour but it's a good one for the odd outing.







I used 12ply cream Marvel from Spotlight for about $3 a ball and used less than one ball.

The handle is currently a belt from the local emporium for $3, the silver rings were .70c each from the same emporium and I used brown satin ribbon, less than two metres for less than $1 a metre, also from the emporium.

I lined the bag with a remnant from Spotlight, it's cream thermal drape material in a jacquard pattern and it looks great.

My entire bag cost less than $20 to produce.

As you can see I hand sewed some of the ribbon around the top of the bag, to hide the stitching of the lining.  That's my sewing machine in the background LOL.

I also relined my granny bag with more of the remnant and still have some left over.

The thermal drape material doesn't fray because of the thermal lining and it provides a level of stiffness to the bag that the crochet alone doesn't.

It's a lovely simple bag, the body was crocheted in one evening.  I put it all together and lined it this afternoon, including popping out to the emporium to find the hardware.

I'd like to remake it and see if an increase and decrease in the bottom makes a difference to the shape, just for the sake of curiosity.

What a week

I've been wrestling demons this week, trying to give up smoking and failing.  I had a bad reaction to Zyban 3 days into not smoking at all so it's off that stuff and trying another.  All in all I haven't felt like doing much of anything so it's a good thing that I planned this for my holiday.

A friend asked me to crochet her some hats for her baby girl.

This is my first effort, trouble is I have no idea how big a baby head is these days.  My kids had exceptionally large heads anyway but it's been a decade since I had a child under one year old full-time so I have lost my ability to estimate the right size.  I can guesstimate for a 10 year old though!

Saturday morning on the deck

The hubs and I woke up around 8am this morning, long before the smaller people.  It was a beautiful morning so we took our coffee out to the front deck.

Cass was warming herself on the backyard fence, for a 19 year old, she gets around.  One minute she was basking in the sun, the next she was approaching us from the other side of the deck.  That tree she is sitting beside is a favorite for the birds, this time of year it has little berries all over it that the birds eat.
My garden is wild, really it's overgrown and the birds love it.  In spring when the bottle brush is flowering, a pair of Tui come to drink nectar.

I enjoy watching the birds.  The Starlings and Mynahs generally frighten the smaller Sparrows and Wax eyes away.  There are swallows and finches too.  In the afternoon my white picket front fence looks like a scene from a Hitchcock movie, with birds sitting all along it catching the last of the afternoon sun.

Everywhere I go, the dogs go too.  Sparkie is our self appointed guard dog.  Trouble is, he barks at everything! Hedgehogs, pedestrians, passing cars.  Here he is guarding me as I sip my coffee.  From what I'm not sure.  Toby was laying in the sun at my feet like the loyal dog he is.  Now if HE barks I worry.

We fenced the deck with swimming pool fencing so that we can put the dogs out there safely, at night during summer, we lock the gate and leave the ranch slider open to keep air circulating through the living area.

Finally, here is Cass demonstrating her advanced camouflage technique.  It's easy to see why she is such a good hunter, her coloring makes her blend into the light and shadow quite well.

Cables and double trebles

First things first, my adventures in crochet the last few days.

I got inspired by this image in a magazine.  You see Aunty Mum has been doing cables on the socks she has been knitting.  Finding this pattern meant I could do some crochet cables which would give us a kind of common purpose? I really wanted to do something different and the cables look so well, clever!

Cables are not something I have ever tried, the pattern looked simple and I thought it would make a nice ear warmer for the wee girl when she's playing hockey this winter and a hat just isn't really possible.

I popped up to Spotlight and purchased some Moda Vera Beetle on sale for $2.80 for a 50gm ball.  It's 50% acrylic and 50% cotton, I thought it would give good stitch definition and therefore show off the cables to best advantage.



And here it is.  I think the mishmash of colours while pretty and certainly approved of by the WG, doesn't really lend itself to show off the cable.

The pattern looked fairly wide so I made a slight adjustment to the pattern and made it slightly narrower by eliminating a couple of stitches on each side.  It's still enormously wide on the WG.  Heck it's wide on me.  I'm not sure how given that I used a slightly smaller hook than recommended and the recommended weight yarn.

I might have to try it again with a baby yarn and see how it works out.



Here it is sitting on my laptop keyboard to give you an idea of the scale.

So now I am making one with a single cable, having learned the principle of making a twisted cable.  It basically consists of double trebles and to get the twist, you miss the first 2 and crochet into the second 2, then go back to the first two.  Does that make sense?

When I have finished this one I shall write up the pattern seeing as I worked it out by myself.

Sorry for the quality of the picture my phone camera doesn't really capture it as well as it might.

Double trebles, much easier than I thought they would be!  I am no longer afraid of them!

And in other news, it is now Friday, the last day of the Holidays.  I do like having the children/young adults around but I am very much looking forward to them going back to the mall so I can get on with things.

So far we have been to the mall I don't know how many times, they've seen a couple of movies and they've been a few places.  Trouble is, they want me to keep them entertained and that is tiring.

Later this morning

My friend Jessie has a little boy 17 months old.  She wanted me to take some pictures of him today so we went to Western Springs to the playground.

He had a ball and I got some really awesome shots of him with all sorts of different facial expressions.

He loved the slide best but chasing seagulls seemed to run a close second for this wee guy.

Best of all, I got to enjoy a day at the park without having to chase kids away from the water or protect them from scary biting geese and swans.

Sibling rivalry it would seem isn't just a human issue, this little chick was pushed off by his/her sibling for prime position next to Mum.

I was surprised at the number of baby animals still around, pukekos, chickens, ducks and swans all had babies following them.

One thing puzzles me though.  Where have all the white swans gone? When I was a child, white swans were everywhere and seeing a black swan was a rarity.  I was always told they flew from Perth to NZ and that's why there were so few.  Now you can't find a white swan at the Domain or Western Springs, I haven't seen a white swan in years.  There's something poetic about a white swan reflected in dark water, you just don't get that wonderful reflection with black swans.

Holidaze

One week down, one to go.

Today the hubs has gone to Wellington on an overnight business trip, leaving me alone with two teens and the WG.  His business trips this year have been mercifully few so far, and I have already been to Wellington myself on business, so I can't really complain.

Our weekend was busy!

We decided on Saturday to extend my bench space and kitchen storage.  This involved purchase of a laminate counter with a cupboard and 3 drawers and two overhead cupboards.  It's the same height as my stainless steel bench top and after 10 years here I finally have enough room to store my crockpot (it has been living on the bench) toasted sandwich press and the new pie maker (both of which previously lived on top of the fridge).  It is all so spacious and tidy now!  I can serve up meals without having to balance plates!  It's not exactly twee or vintage, but I have an early 80's home, nothing is exactly how I would like it.

I was so thrilled that while the hubs was banging and crashing around in the kitchen, cutting holes in the gib to rewire an unsightly power point (don't worry, he's an electrician by trade) that had been put in by the previous owners for the dishwasher (which has now been removed permanently to create room for the new counter) I whipped up this wee jar cover to decorate the new addition.

I then spent literally hours rearranging all my cupboards, washing everything and putting it away all nice and tidy like.  It's somewhat amazing to me that things put away in kitchen cupboards attract dust and grease even though they are not used.

I still have a drawer empty.  I think I will fill it with my recipe books, they currently living in the window sill.

See that walkie talkie sitting on top of my tray of eggs? I don't know why that's there, I do know there are a row of them sitting in chargers on my dining room sideboard and I rather suspect they arrived last night when the hubs got home from training.  I have plans in mind for my kitchen.  I suspect I will be fairly busy for the next few weeks.

Scarfs and other Winter things

I'm like a squirrel storing nuts for winter.  I finished the WG's hat, then a v stitch scarf in raspberry with pale pink fringe to match the hat.  Then I decided a ruffled brights scarf was in order, I mean everyone should have choices right?

The WG will be going to intermediate school next year and that means uniform.  This is the last year that I get to dress her, kind of.  Make no mistake, she chooses her own clothes every day but I still get input to the larger wardrobe.  The boho crochet beanies I made her last year are the envy of many a little girl at her school, as is her pencil case.  These are one of a kind things that nobody else has, that make her a little exclusive.  So she's keen for more.

Ruffled scarves are easy peasy, but look somewhat complicated and they use quite a bit of yarn.  It's simply a matter of crocheting a foundation stitch to your desired length, then adding 3 for the first treble.  Then you crochet two trebles into every stitch till it's spirally and ruffly as you want it to be.  I used the Moda Vera Willowy from Spotlight (it's on special for $3.99 a ball) and a 3.75mm hook. 5 balls though is a lot of yarn for a scarf.  Still it's exactly what I wanted it to be, it reminds me of a carnival and I'm sure it will brighten the greyest winter day.

I'm making another in black and silver.

Meantime I've had some adventures with the girls.  Western Springs was sadly missed, they (the girls) decided they just had to go to the movies.  I wanted to go so badly on the off chance I would meet up with Aunty Mum who was up visiting Auckland from Tauranga.  Unfortunately you have to learn to pick your battles with teens and tweens without letting them know there is a battle of wills.

I made the argument that it was a waste of a lovely day to spend it in the dark in a movie theatre, that rain was coming in the next few days but they held firm and pooh poohed my forecast of rain in coming days.  Deciding it wasn't a hill I wanted to die on, I dropped them at the mall and came home to do some housework in relative peace for a couple of hours.

The Man Child has no interest in being seen at the mall in the company of his 10 yr old sister (and up until her second year at school she was dead set she would marry him, cried her eyes out when he went off to intermediate and left her at school by herself and would love her friends to see her with him!) despite the enhancement being seen with a somewhat comely 16 yr old female cousin would afford, stayed home to help his dear old Mum.  He really can be very good.  He mowed the lawn and cleaned the deck while I vacuumed and dusted.

This afternoon (apparently sleeping until midday is de rigeur for school holiday teens although the tween is usually up by 9am) we are heading down to Save Mart to see what we can find amongst the racks.

Then I expect there will be a fashion show.

Fire and stuff

I happened to be out an about with the hubs yesterday about 1pm when the pager went off.

The hubs covers a vast area of West and North Auckland when on call, the rural fire district can also be quite isolated.  Which is how we ended up at Matakana.  Luckily (well not really we plan it this way) the kids were at home and are old enough to look after themselves.

All I had to do was keep out of the way and not bother anyone, luckily I carry my camera around with me at all times and a couple of lenses.  We arrived at the scene of what was described as a scrub fire on a hill side around 2pm and got home after 8pm.

I had my telephoto lens and I am used to keeping out of the way and quiet.  Learned it going to work with my Dad as a nipper.

I just wished I'd had my crochet with me as well as my camera.  Anyway, that was my Easter Sunday!