(op shopping) frocking it

Most of the clothes I wear are from the op shop (save the underwear) but I'm not an adventurous wearer of clothes. I'm far too conservative for my own taste. I love vintage and retro, but I'm not good at wearing it. I'm trying to inject a bit into my everyday wears.

One of the reasons I'm stepping out of the shadows is I've been following Kylie who has been frocking it (and blogging again) for Frocktober. Now Kylie is quite a shy girl too, and I thought if she can do it for a month, I can do it for a day. If you don't already know Kylie, please go and visit and support her in raising much needed funds for ovarian cancer research. 

Also I've often wanted to join in with Jane and her Shiny-T Tuesdays. But I've always felt too shy - well not today! Her theme for this week is The Big Top. Well not quite sure how my get-up fits this theme, although I did feel like a bit of a clown taking selfies, and my footwear is clownish (although several sizes smaller). And I maybe be more Big Bot than Top, but if I don't do this now I might never pluck up the courage again.

So what am I wearing:

The shoes are Deuces (cos my feet are too wide for Converse) brought off Trade Me for half the price of new ones, even though they were new.

The leggings are new from The Warehouse ("where everyone gets a bargain" but they might have changed their branding recently).

The cardy is a stripey Max merino (op shopped) but you'll be pleased to know I replaced it with a black one after seeing these photos (what was I thinking!)

The brooch is one of my latest creations, based on a kina (sea anemone) shell.

The dress is a a 1950s polished cotton shift dress, although I'm not sure it was made in the 50s, probably more 70s. It's been lurking in the wardrobe for months, so long I can't remember which oppy I brought it at or how much it cost. It is sleeveless, hence the cardy, as I don't like displaying my wings, and it also nips in the volume of the dress. After these photos were taken I quickly made some alterations to the dress. It's homemade, and had strange pleats at the seams on both sides at the hem. When I unpicked these and ironed it I noticed that is was very bell-shaped, which was adding to the volume. So I quickly took in the side seams, and rushed out the door to get to the hairdressers.

The last shots I took in the car when I'd arrived home from the two and a half hours I'd wasted spent at the hairdressers. Now I know why I don't go and get turned back into a redhead very often, it takes too long! But I did gain a fringe, something I haven't had for a while.

Now if you're still here after all that, here are some photos of the lovely evening light we've been having lately.

Ah, that's more like it. Linking like crazy here and here.

op shopping

The last 10 days have been a tad busy, with a ballet exam (not mine, but being a ballet mum is almost as hard!), a small operation (which has taken longer to recuperate from that what I thought), organising and having a table at a craft market and hanging my 100 sharpie drawings in an exhibition (there will be a blog post soon I promise).

So yesterday was the first day I had time for a quick op shop in what felt like ages. I decided to go to Motueka for a change of scenery. And lo and behold in the Sally Army I found a little bit of op shop serendipity in the form of a black pottery mug.

If you saw Max's op-shop show-off post two weeks ago she shared a lovely black dish made by Chris Weaver a West Coast potter. And I lamented to her how I'd once found one of his teapots, but had in a fit of purging sold it on Trade Me. Reasoning that I'd buy another one, with the wooden handle, from his Iron series.

Well now I am the proud owner of one cup from the same series, and I'll not be selling it on Trade Me.

Linking up with this weeks Op-Shop Show-Off.

Now in a completely different tangent, a sunset from last week.  For some reason we don't get a lot of brilliant sunsets. I'm not sure if it's because we're too close to the mountains, or what, but when we lived on the plains we saw a lot more than we do now. And I discovered how to make a palette from a photo. These programs might be a dime a dozen, but this was the one I used.

It's the last day of term 3 tomorrow, so the school holidays are about to kick off! Wish me luck.

after the rain

You get sunshine after rain, well eventually.

Last night was particularly stormy, I didn't sleep well, and woke late so missed the sunrise this morning.

As the mists were lifting I could tell we were going to get a lovely sunny day. Finally. The children complained they were down to their last pair of underwear. August has been very wet. After a mild and dry July it's been a bit of a shock.

At the beach the sea was still stormy. The roar of the receding waves as they grabbed the loose stones was almost deafening.

After collecting two bags of rubbish I went home and hung out another load of washing.

Sorry I couldn't resist including a sunrise. This was Monday's - before or between rain. I'm trying out a new blogging method, of less words and more frequent posts. Time will tell if it's any more successful than my previous method.

finding joy

A few moons ago I took part in my first ever bloggy swap organised by the lovely Anne of My Giant Strawberry in the U S of A. She called it the Handmade Joy swap, and we had two partners one which we received some handmade joy from, and another we sent it to. This post has been sitting around in draft form as I was waiting for Anne to give us the all clear for posting - as one parcel hadn't arrived at its destination.

The swap partner who I received from was Sharon. Look at this beautifully wrapped box that made it's way from Wisconsin to me.

Sharon sent me a beautiful handmade paper box, glass bead jewellery (which Miss L promptly claimed!), and some crochet and patchwork - both handicrafts I'm not au fait with. The parcel arrived the day I was sorting out my first (and possibly last!) patchwork woollen blanket which I posted about here. The patchwork sachets are filled with lavender and flax seed, so I put them in the freezer for 24 hours in case there were any bugs in there. They were lucky to make it through NZ border control. They are now residing in my smalls drawers! Ironically I was going to send one of my lavender hearts but didn't want the parcel opened so didn't include it. I loved the colours of everything, Sharon chose them imagining that I lived on an island paradise (well she is close!)

Now I did take some photos of what I sent to my other swap partner Karen, but can I find them anywhere on my computer .......

Anne has a regular post on her blog about finding joy.  And it makes me think about those small things that you get joy from, especially when the big picture might not be quite panning out as you had anticipated. Here's same random photos of what brings me joy.

family time at the beach (roll on summer!)

where we live, a constantly changing view

Daisy, I love waking up to the reassuring lump on the bed

the rest of our animals (although some time they do cause trouble too!)

And here's something which I saw which made me feel awe inspired. I love watching the full moon rise, and we often get a great view of it. But this short video takes the cake. It was filmed in Wellington, the capital of NZ. Enjoy! (look there's 'joy' in enjoy)

Matariki

Friday night was a special occasion at our school, as we celebrated Matariki (the Māori New Year) with a powhiri and hangi. The school my children attend is small (approx. 55 pupils, up to year 8 (13 year olds)) and rural. It is the centre of our community, as there is nothing else here! We are close to two villages (5 minutes drive), and two towns (about 15 minutes drive in either direction). We have almost lived here for two years, but it feels like a lot longer as we are all so settled, and that is mainly due to the school.

 

Matariki is the Māori name for the cluster of stars also known as the Pleiades. It rises just once a year, in mid-winter. Traditionally, Matariki was a time to remember those who had died in the last year. But it was also a happy event – crops had been harvested and seafood and birds had been collected. With plenty of food in the storehouses, Matariki was a time for singing, dancing and feasting. Matariki, or Māori New Year celebrations were once popular, but stopped in the 1940s. In 2000, they were revived. Only a few people took part at first, but in just a few years thousands were honouring the ‘New Zealand Thanksgiving’. [taken from Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.]

As the school had not held a powhiri (Māori for welcoming ceremony) for more than two years we were part of the manuhiri (group of visitors)  who were welcomed by the tangata whenua (hosts) to the school. This involved us waiting at the entrance with the other families while we were called on to the grounds. A powhiri must involve four people, one female to do the karanga (call) and one male to do the mihi (speech) on either side. [Further info can be found here.]

When we got to the top of the drive we took our seats and there was singing and speeches. We were honoured that "H" was chosen to say the mihi for the manuhiri.  We then lined up for the hongi - where we shook hands and pressed noses and foreheads, which means that one is no longer considered manuhiri (visitor) but rather tangata whenua. This was a completely new experience for the hubby and I. It was lovely to see how the kids took it so naturally, but then they have the benefit of a bi-cultural schooling. As I said to them all we learnt at school in the 1970s was a couple of pretty dodgy songs that had been translated to Māori. We weren't taught the correct pronunciation of  Māori words, so now the kids correct us!

 
H's mihi:

Kia ora koutou

Kua tae mai nei mātou

Ki tenei kura

Ki te hakari o te matariki

Ka nui te koa

Mo to koutou kaha

Ki te koreroreo

I nga take

E pa ana ki teneu kura

Ko (his name) toku ingoa

No Whakatu ahau

He uri tenei no Haina

Inananei e noho ana ahau ki Mahana i te Waipounamu

He whakatauki - Matariki ahunga nui

After the powhiri, the refurbished classroom was officially opened by the local MP, with "H" (being the eldest at the school) along with the youngest pupil cutting the ribbon. Then we waited for the hangi to be opened.

A hangi is the traditional way of cooking food in a pit in the ground. There is a real art to laying a hangi, and is was carried out by one of the dads. The kids had earlier dug a hole in the playground, and on Friday morning a fire was lit to heat up pieces of metal (traditionally stones were used) which were placed in the pit with the baskets of food wrapped up in tin foil and cheesecloth. The baskets of food were covered with damp sheets to keep the soil away from the food (traditionally leaves would have been used).  I think it took about 7 hours for the food to cook throughout the day.

Hangi food has a taste that is so unique it's hard to describe, it's definitely smoky but not like barbecued or smoked food,  its very moist too, very delicious. There were three different meats, potatoes, pumpkin, kumara (sweet potato), cabbage and stuffing. It had been years since the hubby or I had eaten at a hangi, and it was the first for the kids.

It was getting quite dark and cold by this stage, but with the fire still blazing, and the stars above us it was a magical night. We were home by 7.30 to light our log burner and warm up!

This is my attempt to get a shot of the super moon setting on  Monday morning, about 7.30am. Here's a much better photo of the moon rising, wish we'd been home to see it, but we were driving back from Blenheim after a weekend of dancing competitions with Miss L.

It's quite amazing to turn around 180 degrees and see the sun rising at the same time.

"H" actually got better shots than me the following day! And of the sunrise too!

And remember to come over and follow me on Bloglovin - if you don't already!

100

Life is busy, with lots of things going on. I'm off to a market on 7th July, so the kitchen table has not been seen for a few weeks! I'd read about The Hottie Project on Lisa's blog, which is all about making hot water bottle covers to keep children in Christchurch snuggly and warm this winter. Having spent about seven winters myself in Christchurch, I know it can get a bit cold, and add into the mix houses that have still not been fixed since the earthquakes, I know its a bit of a miserable time for some people. So hopefully my hottie cover will cheer someone up this winter.

I wanted to make a unisex cover, so chose a lovely soft gray jumper that I'd felted.  I'd never made a hottie cover before, but it really is quite easy with Lisa's template, or using a hottie as a guide.

We use wheat bags to warm our beds, which are heated in the microwave with a glass of water (a very important detail). No electric blankets around here! I love my wheat bags - yes I need three strategically placed about my person, and in the morning, if I haven't kicked them out, they are still warm. Here are some I made last year from a flanalette pillowcase.

When I'd finished the hottie cover there was enough left overs to make a pencil case. I've been making them like this for a year now, but felt like a change, so the rest I've made have different faces. It's more work, so I might have to put the price up slightly, it's so hard to calculate how long each one takes, I'm sure I have a very low hourly rate! 

I had to find time to finish off a small painting (A4 size) which is a donation to the Suter Art Gallery's redevelopment fundraiser. I did the background at art group, but it took me a few days to work out where to from there.  In the end I masked off the shapes and used white oilstick on the background. I've titled it "Glimpses", and have now got some other ideas for larger paintings.

There are quite a few other things going on in "life" which I'll not bore you with. Before I knew how busy this month was going to be I signed up for the 100 Days Project, where I'm doing a quick Sharpie drawing every day.  Seven days done, 93 to go! Some days I've found it easy, and others are harder, it's definitely a challenge!  Here is Day 1's drawing. If you want to check out the others take a peek here.

While on the theme of 100 - this is my 100th blog post. I've actually been putting off writing it, as thought I should make more of a song and dance about such a milestone and hold a giveaway (like proper bloggers do!). But I haven't quite got myself that organised - yet! I would like to thank my faithful followers and especially those of you who write comments. Comments are great - I appreciate them so much, if I was a better blogger I'd reply individually to you all, but I'm not, so sorry about that.

I'll leave you with a sunrise, we've been having some crackers lately, and heading towards the shortest day of the year I don't even have to get up early to appreciate them. Excuse the power lines but I was in my pjs and slippers and wasn't venturing off the deck to get the perfect shot!

winteriness finds

Yesterday we woke up to winter. Can't complain too much it was worse for those further south, it just seemed to happen quite suddenly. Its slightly strange to get used to the new view, the mountains will look different for the next 4 months (see photo at bottom of post).

At least the sun has been out, so I can take photos of my latest op shop finds.

Find of the week courtesy of the Richmond dump shop is this Kosta Boda sunflower candlestick (ID-ed thanks to Google images). I'm not a big glass collector, probably because my sister is, and I didn't want to compete with her on Trade Me auctions - back in the days when I used to bid on them. But I can still spot something half decent from a few paces,as soon as I picked this up I could feel the weight, and knew it must be something Scandi. Thankfully the "$3 lady" wasn't on duty so I got it for $2. As for the design, it's not the best -  it took me almost half an hour in the kitchen sink to scrape the wax out of all those nooks and crannies, to bring back the shine.

 I've also added to my cheese dome collection (well not quite a collection as I need one more to bestow it such a title!) The front greener version was scored at the Richmond Sally Army for $4. I need to get the beeswax onto its base to restore it. It goes well with the first one which I got back here.
 

And yes I've been adding to the vintage sheet collection. I can't go past a good one (or two) especially when they're $3 each. This is the shameful pile sitting on top my couch waiting to be put away in the stash. One of my good friends asked me what I was going to use them all for. Good question - one I haven't quite got an answer for yet, unless I suddenly take up quilting. But look!

Yes, I finally cut into a sheet, to make a skirt for the budgies cage. It doesn't quite fit, due to dodgy corners,  but hopefully it'll keep some of the seeds off the floor. Those of you who regularly read my musings (thank you precious few xx) will know that we had a budgie catastrophe a month ago. Sometimes the best way to get over such grief is to replace what you lost with some more of the same. So a couple of weeks ago we purchased two baby budgies.

Sammy and Sylvie who are much more delightful than Jackie. We can actually touch these guys without painful bites, and they can be taken from their cage for a bit of exercise around the hall.  It also made me realise that Jackie was probably not very happy being in a cage all by herself.

Linking up with Max and everyone else at the Op Shop Show Off.

Here's the rosey-tinted snowy mountain shot from our deck  (a bit of zoom required as we're not that close to the mountains!)