Now it's June

Hello friends, it's now officially winter here in New Zealand and where I live, on the east coast of the North Island we've had some settled weather, a tad cold but mostly sunny days and not a lot of rain lately. This morning we had a boomer frost and it was only 1 c when I left for work. Brrr, out came the handwarmers!

This past weekend we enjoyed a three day weekend thanks to King's weekend on Monday 3rd June. We had no plans except for the usual jobs around the house and I was able to get outside for a few hours on Sunday in the gardens, get the vegetable gardens tidied up and the lawns were mown. There's still a few vegetables growing in the garden - lettuce, silver beet, and the winter seedlings are in too - spinach, cauli, brocoli and cabbage. Glenn worked on his latest project, a small pergola coming out from the deck by our laundry door and also spent a day out cutting firewood. Hannah enjoyed a few nights' away at her friend's house, and I also spent a few hours with my Dad, popping up to Hastings to collect some painting materials, having a coffee at one of the local cafes, and visiting his brother, whom we hadn't seen in a few months. Other exciting news this week, Hannah now has her Learner's Drivers licence so her driving lessons can begin! This was the theory test and she can sit the practical, or restricted licence at the end of the year. She was so very excited!

Now for some stitching news - I recently came across this little freebie chart by Teresa Kogut, you can find it here as well as some other great freebie charts.

I used the recommended DMC threads and the linen is a piece by Fox & Rabbit, which I can't recall the name of.

Last week's sampler project out of my stitching basket was This Happy Morning by Plum Street Samplers, I couldn't get an accurate photo of the colours. I started this back in April 2023 and I'm using the recommended threads and Fox & Rabbit's Black Swan linen.

I feel much better about being able to get some finishing done recently, the little pile of things to work on has been growing! 

Here's a couple of Hands On Designs ornaments - from Oh Christmas Three, a pattern I bought during the 2022 Jingle Ball.

As it's been awhile since I last shared a photo of Mr Diesel so here he is, enjoying a spot of sunshine recently. 

This lovely boy brings us so much joy and laughter. He loves a good snuggle, and will cozy right up to me at night when I'm stitching, and snore away quite loudly, it's so funny.  He's going to be two years old next month.

Enjoy the rest of the week, see you soon x