I went round and round in circles .....

 

 

The blocks started life in 2012 when I was over in the UK, on holiday from New Zealand.  I had recently done some circle blocks in The Anzac Bee, here and here, and loved how they turned out.  I duly packed what was done in my suitcase when I returned to NZ but never worked on it again!  Finally decided to pull it out of my rather large WIP pile and get it done.  It required 2 more blocks which I made and then pieced them altogether.  I have decided that this will be a charity quilt which will be donated to a baby/child/teen who is in hospital or in need in another way.  I loaded it on my frame for some more practice and worked a loop de loop pattern all other the top.  It was only when I took it off the frame that I realised I should have worked the pattern closer to the applique parts or even straight over them.  That's the problem when things take so long to finish - you change your mind several times in the process!

 

This is my second finish in the Finish-Along Q3.

A week of celebrations Part 2 ...

It's not every week your eldest turns 10!  It's brought up some strange feelings in me and some very grown up feelings in Miss M.

- Where have the 10 years gone?
- Will the next 10 go so quickly?
- If so will I be ready for the inevitable separation?
- If my eldest is 10 that must mean that I am getting older too ...

Aside from that, we had a brilliant day.  Miss M also shares her birthday with Green, a (not surprisingly) green toy rabbit, who turned 8 and Nutmeg, a toy horse, who has been with us for 1 year!  There was a host of preparations for their birthdays, including presents, games, a magic show and a paper airplane display.

Fishing game, complete with octopus (made from dried glue!)

A selection of presents, both handmade and thrifted

The magician practising her routine

Fantastic book form which the airplanes were made - and they really flew

And no self respecting plane show can go ahead without a schedule!

Then onto the human's celebrations - present opening followed by breakfast at Hoorays.  This is an ice cream parlour and was the birthday girl's breakfast of choice ...

And she thought it was a great choice - waffles with ice cream, cream and M&Ms - good job it is only her birthday once a year!   Luckily if gave boundless energy for the kayaking course they started that afternoon.

Whoops - a little bang right at the beginning

Birthday girl in the orange kayak

And onto the river ....

Another home ed family had done a course in the holidays and organised a 5 week Home Ed Paddle Power course.  It was perfect that it started on Miss M's birthday and all the children thoroughly enjoyed it.  The weather was glorious, the progressed from the 2ft deep lagoon to the river in the first session and then they had popcorn, crisps and the obligatory cake!!! x

A week of celebrations Part 1 .....

This week marked our 15th wedding anniversary and Miss M turned 10.  Two very worthwhile occasions to celebrate I think.

The front of my handmade card

I had just seen a link to this website where you can create you own word clouds in various shapes.  Of course, I immediately knew what kind of card I was going to make for Mr C!  It was very easy to use and at the lower resolution it was free - always a bonus.  We had a morning without the girls and so decided to go on a bike ride followed by brunch.  We went along The Greenway which I had never been to before.  I love finding new places close to home to explore and knowing that they will be re-visited.  A lovely dinner, from a recipe given by a friend in New Zealand along with a bottle of champagne finished the day of nicely. x