December Fun -

I have now officially started my summer holidays as my work has closed for it's annual four week summer break.  It seems like the past week or so has gone by in such a blur - we've had several end of the year functions to go to, Hannah's last ever dancing show, a wonderful stitching get together, work things and last night, Hannah and I went to see Wicked for Good at the movies - loved it!

Glenn and I were invited to a function by some of his clients at their farm property last weekend.  Unbeknown to all the guests there, it turned into a surprise wedding as their daughter got married! It was a great evening, with a local band playing, and it was a perfect summer evening weather wise.  This was the view that greeted me the next morning, from where we had parked up our campervan.

The stage they have set up on their amazing property, look at the huge mirror ball!

Hannah had her last dancing performance in her dance school's end of the year show - it was a very emotional day. We are so proud of all her dancing achievements,  and her dance teacher Miss Deb acknowledged all of the hard work, tears and many hours of practise Hannah put into not only her ballet, but tap, jazz, lyrical and musical theatre dance over the years. Hannah "might" be enticed back next year to help teach the younger ballet students, as she has thoroughly enjoyed it over the past two years.

The beautiful candy cane dahlias and Christmas lilies are now flowering in my aunty's garden - to me this means Christmas isn't far away now.

During the first week of December I got two new stitching projects under way - first up, Deer Santa from Stitching with the Housewives.  So cute x

Peace on Earth is a sampler that I've been wanting to stitch ever since it was released. I'm stitching this on Cafe au Lait linen by Fibre on a Whim using the recommended threads. All the the little stitching accessories I'm using were gifted to my by my friend Clare in last year's advent swap.

We held our annual pre Christmas get together for our stitchey friends on Sunday, and what an amazing day it was. I just love these get togethers, we have so much fun, sometimes there's absolutely no stitching achieved as we are too busy catching up on each other's news, having lots of laughs, enjoying some treats, and ohhing and ahhing over each other's crafty projects on the go.  We always have a secret Santa and usually play one of those "left' "right" games, hilarious.  My lovely parcel included the following goodies:

included was this gorgeous yarn bowl, and I've been wishing for one of these for a very long time.

Here's what I included in my parcel:

I had a lot of fun making these project bags a few months ago, following a tutorial by Elizabeth Ann Can Stitch, which I can now share as they have been gifted to friends.

I also made up some cross stitch clutches as well to with the bags. 

For over five years now, my friend Clare and I have participated in an advent swap, and we exchanged gifts yesterday. These are the gifts I received, including the stunning blue bag, I just the little sheepie!

Two stitched ornaments Clare also included.

Clare is so very talented with her craft work, and I feel very lucky to be the recipient of one of her bags.

These are the gifts I put together for Clare:

Ornament by October House Fibre Arts

I took a different approach to my stitched gift this time, and gave Clare the two stitched pieces from the Bee Still my Heart pattern by Heartstring Samplery, for Clare to finish how she pleases. 

Our Christmas plans this year include spending the day with family at my niece Zoe's in Napier, and then catching up with Glenn's family on Boxing Day.  Then we are off to the beach for a few days over New Year's, with another beach trip planned a bit later in January. 

This will be my final post for 2025, as I’ll be taking a short break until late January. Before signing off, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you. Your visits to my blog, kind messages, and the thoughtful comments you leave here, and on Instagram truly brighten my days.

I wish you and your loved ones a joyful Christmas, filled with laughter, special moments, and plenty of delicious food. May this festive season bring you happiness and peace.

Merry Christmas, and I look forward to reconnecting with you in 2026!

Katrina xx

All sorts

It's been a few weeks since my last post - the weeks seem to be rolling on by so quickly, and it's now only a week until the end of October, crazy! I thought I'd do a little round up of what has been happening around here, including some more finishing and a new start.

Hannah and I have both been unwell over the past fortnight, nasty viral infections, and both of us ended up with ear infections too, I've never had one before, not very pleasant. Spent a small fortune on doctor appointments and medications lately!

Remember how we lost half of one of our big trees in the high winds a few weeks back? Well, this led to all the trees along this fence line being chopped down.  Glenn decided to redo the fence, his brother Paul gave him a hand to replace all the iron and the fence posts.  Last weekend we replaced all the topsoil, and then replanted this garden with new hedging plants, Grisilinia geckos, which will eventually grow to about to about the height of the fence. Lots of work but hopefully from now it will be easy maintenance of this garden.

I'm slowly getting through the finishing pile, all of these designs were stitched earlier this year.

Cottontail and Company by Scattered Seeds Samplers:

Peace & Goodwill by Brenda Gervais:

Spring Fling by Brenda Gervias:

All is Calm by October House Fibre Arts:

Next up is a bunch of little kits from the Ribbon Rose in Auckland that arrived recently, which to stitch first? I also got some thread snips, they are so handy to have by the sewing machine.

A friend gave me this beaded fob she made for me, so cute!

I couldn't resist purchasing Lori Holt's new chart last week, Garden of Quilts, and I have made small start.

This is the lovely stitching folio my friend Clare gave me last year for my birthday. 

Pretty threads, all Classic Colourworks

The fabric I'm using is Weeks Dye Works 36 count Rhyolite linen.

I'm looking forward the 2025 Jingle Ball in early December, and this year I have purchased two of the classes, yay, PDF charts, as kits are not available to overseas stitchers. The good thing is if your class pieces are not stitched in time for the finishing classes over the weekend, you have 30 days to view the class, and each class also comes with instructions. I still haven't finished my 2024 classes yet, lol. 

This coming weekend we get a four day break thanks to two public holidays, Hawkes Bay anniversary tomorrow, and then Labour Day on Monday. We're heading out in the campervan for our first trip of the season to Porangahau Beach.  Friends will also be there with their campervans so it should be a fun weekend catching up with everyone, fishing and lots of walks along the beach with Diesel.  The forecast for later today and this evening isn't very good, but hopefully from tomorrow on the sun will be out.

See you soon x

Spring has Sprung & Current Project Progress

Spring is in the air - what a good feeling, and our Daylight Savings hours start in a few weekends too. It's been quite busy at my work this week as several of my staff have been on leave for various reasons so the days seem to be flying by quickly.  

Yesterday afternoon I was at my parents, they live in the same street as me, so I snapped a few pics of currently what's flowering in Mum's garden. Daffodils galore, 

Sweet smelling violets,

and pretty hellebores.

Last Sunday it was a fairly good day so we packed up a picnic lunch, put on some warm clothes and headed out to the beach.  Glenn has two new purchases - a drone which he is going to use for fishing, and a new vehicle, a 2025 Nissan Navara, both needed testing out of course!

It was a sunny out there but boy, the wind was freezing! We enjoyed a brisk walk along the beach, then a hot cuppa.

Glenn had a good practise with the drone - it will be great to see it in action with his fishing line one day soon.

Stitching at the moment, I'm focusing on getting a few small projects finished, and would you believe it, I've been actually "finishing" a few items.  I've also been making some good progress on several wips including Stacy Nash's Gingerbread House Sewing book, sorry I can't recall what fabric I'm using for this design. 

Americana Blue by October House Fibre Arts, which I'm stitching on 36 count Fibre on a Whim Affogato linen with WDW Blue Jeans threads. 

Humming of the Bees by Blackbird Designs, I'm stitching this on 36 count vintage mocha linen.

These photos looked a bit washed out, sorry!

Spring time here in Central Hawkes Bay also means the start of the CHB Spring Fling, with various events being held during September and October. This Saturday is one of my favourite events, the Spring Market, where there will be lots of stalls, food trucks and entertainment. I hope the weather holds out for it as the forecast is not looking too good.  Glenn is off to Auckland with some friends to watch the All Blacks rugby team play South Africa, Hannah has her yearly ballet exam, and my niece Zoe and her Dad Marcus, my younger brother, are visiting so it should be a fun but full on weekend!

See you soon x