The Dream, The Reality, and The New Year

So 2018 comes to an end, for some of us a busy time, Happiness, family and friends,  others with sadness, losses through the year, and health problems.

Here, we continue to unpack more boxes, and think about the garden.A blank canvas right now, I dream of how it will be this time next year.

The Gossamer  Grass in a pot looks good, even if very lonely. Maybe it will divide, and get some friends to look like this later on.

We cleared away part of the garden  over to the back left of the grass, and I  found a little red brick edging. Maybe we can continue this right round the front. This part will get filled with bulbs and plants that are also in pots now, some hostas will find a shady place down the side of the house, sheltered by a grey fence.Solomon’s Seal, Day Lilies, and lots more will get planted tomorrow.

The Japanese Maple is thriving in a pot,and has those pale green leaves already.

Boris is allowed outside on a lead, but growls, and looks longingly at the front gate and the street!!! He is shut in at night, and I think we will continue this. Other cats have visited, and early this morning a very tame younger black and white cat stared at me by the kitchen window.

As we leave 2018 tonight, I wish all my friends, near and far, a very Happy New Year, with love  close by. Courage to face 2019, will power to finish those projects, and time to start new ones.For those of us who have a cat, a dog, a horse, a llama,  a duck or two or more, a donkey,  or even a snake or two, let 2019 be kind to them as well.

Quotation of the day,author unknown

“Best Wishes to every friend, for the year ahead.

May the sunshine of happiness always shine above you.

May the Dove of Peace rest over you and live in your home.

May the dense forest of love surround you all the year.”

Greetings from Jean,

Christmas Day in our New Home

Christmas Greetings to all my wonderful friends all over the world and here in NZ. We woke to rain, and Boris leaping on the bed to say hello at a very early hour.

It was all too much for him and he yawned as he had a rest.Then promptly went back to sleep

Felicity has  found a hidey hole amongst boxes in another bedroom,and is happy there in peace and seclusion. Here she is in an earlier photo.

Santa has arrived, another goody is in the post,  A wonderful new Samsung Smart Phone at an equally wonderful early Boxing Day special price!!!

and we have dear friends coming to visit this afternoon. Phone calls, and a mystery  parcel that arrived some days ago. It was printed? and had an Auckland address!!! No-one admitted to knowing anything about it, and when I opened it, the calendar had some beautiful photos for each month. However it was not until I opened January’s page that I knew who sent it.Jenn??? Am I right?? Then again  I recognised Junior bear by the feeder.

I am so happy I waited until today to see these lovely photos. Many.many thanks Jenn.

We have had rain most of the day, and thunderstorms all afternoon.

Many heartfelt thanks for your care and concern as we packed, moved in, and are slowly getting settled. I hope that everyone up North has a truly Joyous Christmas, with family and friends .We are so thankful for our new home, wonderful neighbours, blog friends far away and closer by, I treasure each one of you specially  at this time of the year.

Christmas Greetings to you all, and Best Wishes for the New Year and may 2019 be all you wish for.Challenges and sadness that have been overcome, health problems to be faced with love and courage, and much more.

Quotation of the day, from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“ I heard the bells on Christmas Day,

their old familiar carols play,

and wild and sweet, the words repeat,

of Peace on Earth,Good-will to men”

Greetings from Jean.

We have moved into our next home

After some hiccups on Friday 7th, we are in our new home.  We do have internet, finally yesterday, but no landline,so I am very thankful to have a smart phone.Some boxes have been unpacked, and the cardboard is on the trailer. This is not as much as the first load that has  already gone to the transfer station.

The little playhouse is full of camping gear, maybe that will get sold. I cannot see myself out in the wilderness and  sleeping in a tent ever again.

The wonderful large cutting table has a sheltered place on the verandah meantime, and this is a great place for the clothes lines The clothes dryer is also meantime out there.

And, naturally, in case you have wondered, the long arm quilting frame is inside. I have found a place for it, but, also meantime, it has STUFF on it.

So far quite a bit of shuffling things around, leaving so many boxes to un-pack later on, and one new appliance. The  old dish washer recycled itself, from a rinse to a heavy duty wash all over again!!! and on inspection, the pump was failing. A new Bosch, the wonderful men came, took the old one away,the new one  fitted  in perfectly, and all is well in the kitchen.

I have missed, SO much, having the internet and reading of all your news,  catching up with the Bears for November and December, and reading of your travels, and some with tears as I learn of serious health issues. New animals, starry night skies, snow, music, and walks on the beach and the quilts both North and South.

Maybe my life will be back to normal, my Bernina will be out of the box, and some sewing and quilting will start again.

Meantime fondest greetings to  every  one of my blog friends , may there be sunshine and love in your lives.

Quotation of the day, author unknown

“ Be thankful for all help given,

all love, friendship and tenderness  offered

that will make each day so much easier,

and  remember to share  your own happiness and sadness with friends”

Greetings from Jean.

A girl, some flowers, and morning skies.

We have flowers in the garden, a girl to make friends with, and those gorgeous morning skies.

Pinks, Alstromeria, red roses, and some snap dragons all add to a colourful display.

Then there is a small rose bush with red blooms, and hidden down low, the tiniest bird’s nest.  We think she might be a sparrow, with 3 babies. But she is so fast to fly off, and I do not want to frighten her, a true identification will have to wait. Progress will be followed, we are all fascinated.

The morning skies have been stunning, and with a clear view to the Ruahine Range in the distance,  no houses in between,  I have crept out to get some shots.

Then there is a new friend, well there are two, but one has a name “ Panda”. They are about 7-8months old., and are  a Hereford Dairy Cow Cross.

    “Panda, “ is her name ,with those distinctive eyes, and a rip in her  ear where she got the tag caught.

The other girl needs a name, the other day she stretched under the hot wire and had the sticky seeds from the forget-me-not flowers all over her face.  Maybe she can be  Brownie, as sometimes those biscuits have seeds in them???

We are in Limbo, move in day is the 7th December, and then the fun starts with a truck load arriving on the 10th, next one on  the 12th, ( the truck is not massive ) and some trailer loads of outdoor plants in pots. This will be the sewing and quilting room, ample space, good lighting with big windows, some cupboards and shelves might have to be made fitted into the wall behind that open doorway.

Thank you  so much for asking how we are, when we move,  and all other messages, I am so thankful for all my friends everywhere who care.

My internet is limited, I am using  data from  my smart phone, the man in the Vodafone store assured me that 3GB would be ample!!! I had doubts, so am looking carefully each day to check that some data is still left.

Quotation of the day,author unknown

“Life is like a quilt, sometimes cut into pieces

and sewn together with care  and love “

Greetings from Jean.

The smart phone is now a Hot Spot!!!

The wonderful man in  the Vodafone store this morning set up my  phone as a hot spot. Hooray, I now have internet at home, our temporary home. It is limited, with just a small amount of data, so my time and comments might be short, but sweet.

Thank you all SO much for your loving and thoughtful words.  Your comments have boosted me so much, we went from a freezing night to a heat wave, and in between, some gale winds. Tootled off to have morning tea with the new family in our previous home, what a delightful morning, and next time I hope to have a photo of Lady Raisin of Graestone, the tiniest loveliest little puppy of all. A miniature schnauzer, and she skipped round so happily.

Our new home is waiting, the Bernina is packed away. No photos here yet, but there are two little girl calves in the front paddock waiting  for their turn to pose.

Meantime, some more archive photos.

Here is the Midnight Mystery quilt, waiting for the Gammill long arm!!

Night sky in November

A baby Finch in the red bird bath

Just in case, here is our new home.The garden is waiting.

Quotation of the day , ( I would add ,friends near and far) from Marcus Tullius  Cicero,

“ If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need”

Greetings from Jean.

The Temporary Home away from Home

We have moved, and the new family at our previous home are so happy.The lawn was mown, bearded Iris were in flower, the Clematis was flowering high in the trees, and all was well.

The first night, it was so cold,  and ice  on the windscreens the Friday morning. Felicity has settled into the caravan as though she lived there all her life, we get to see the Eastern sky as the sun rises over the Ruahine ranges, photos to come later on.

There is no internet access where we  are, so the local public library is so handy for now.

Meantime, here are a few photos again from the archives.

The Ruahine Ranges with a topping of  snow.

The mauve bearded  Iris

Felicity, June 2018

Basil, July 2018

Quotation of the day, author unknown, and this has been so true over the last few months or so.

“True friends are like diamonds, precious and rare”

Greetings from Jean

In the Middle of Chaos, Boxes, and More, we have news!!

Yes, we have found a new home, and will move in early December. Thanks to you all who have asked about any news,  we are all so happy. We will have about 5 weeks,  from moving out to moving in, staying with a friend, and some time to rest and   maybe get out and about for some photos. I will have a huge room for my quilting and sewing, Hugh will have a big garage for his machinery, Joyce will have a room that gets the early morning sunshine, and in time there will be new plants in the garden and some vegetable beds planted. Photos will follow once we have moved in. The young family there have a transfer with the NZ Defence Force, and I am sure will leave many happy memories, and I hope they find new friends down south.

Meantime here are some   photos from my archives

Lupins blowing in the wind

Daffodils along the fence-line

Night sky in November

Fairy Toadstools, and Boris as inquisitive as ever.

Quotation of the day, author unknown,

“ Home is where Love resides,

memories are created,

Friends are always welcome

and Family is Forever”

Greetings from Jean.

I know it is there somewhere!!!

Somewhere in this stack of boxes is the plastic bin with the batiks for the next bear from Dione over at The Clever Chameleon . I know it was left out, but Hugh, in his  keenness to get things tidy and neat, has picked it up along with the others. Can you see it? Next to bananas and apples!!!

Too late, and now Open Live Writer has changed the format from the one  I am used to, so goodness knows what this will turn out to be. We are almost all packed up, a huge marathon, and a lot of disposing, sorting and giving away.

We almost have a new home, should know on Wednesday. We have looked at so many homes,in so many other towns,  and they have ranged from tiny ones to mansions and all in between.  Some spotless, some grubby, some so untidy, but if we  move to this one… I will have a HUGE room for all my sewing and quilting, room for Joyce’s Horn cabinet, no need to stow it away till next sewing session,  and a workshop for Hugh.

In between other things, I managed to get the flimsy sewn together,  for the Fireburst Mystery up north with Tish, at Tish's  Adventures in Wonderland This by itself was a small miracle ,and next thing the Bernina will be packed too.

Thank you all so much for your caring thoughts, prayers, and thinking of us.

Furry Gnome, I am so glad your card arrived, via Hugh’s cousin who was on holiday in Ontario, maybe posted from Tottenham, as was a small gift for Brady, Sandra’s grandson, you will find them at Musings of a Menopausal Melon , that way was so much faster than posting from NZ, which can take more than 6 weeks.

That’s it for me for today, on to more packing and bubble wrap.

Quotation of the day,  author unknown. Thanks to the internet for this.

Greetings from Jean

This is the Reason that……,

#1  I have not had anything on my blog for a while

#2  I am so far behind with the  Cat blocks

#3 Dione will be thinking I have abandoned all the Beary Creations

#4 I am tired

#5 We are  both very happy

#6 There are boxes labelled “ BATIK” and “ Fragile” all over the garage . And more empty boxes and bubble wrap waiting.

A lovely family will move here early November, and I am hoping they will enjoy the garden and home as much as we have.

We are now looking for a new home and guess what? I want/need/ earnestly desire a large room for my quilting and sewing, and I hope time for some serious photography. Hugh wants another large workshop  , not a surprise at all.

I am thinking of everyone in the path where Florence will cause havoc and disasters, and hope with all my heart no lives are lost, pets stay safe, and if a blog friend is anywhere near there, a heap of wishes for you to be extra secure and in a dry and safe place.

Quotation of the day, from Ovid

“ To wish is of little account ; 

to succeed you must earnestly desire;

and this desire must shorten thy sleep”

Greetings from  Jean

The Postman Arrived at 5.25 a.m.

I saw the bright headlights shining  down our driveway , very early.I knew a parcel was arriving from Grandmother’s Garden in Gordonton.

My dear friend Mary-Ann had phoned to say a parcel without a name would come in the post. It did, a panel, a beautiful cat panel and an amazing  and gorgeous  card, hand-made by Jocelyne Leath,  a renowned textile artist now living in Perth, Western Australia.

The panel is by Linda Picken for Blank Quilting Corporation 2018, Furr Ever Friends., and along the lower edge  is  a row of 18  little kitties, in the colours used.

The card is stitched with a glitter thread, and has tiny beads and more added. Stitched greenery adds to the scene. The centre piece is bound with brown thread, then glued to a gold card, a blue frame, and all on silver card.

Mary-Ann and I have known each-other for  some 17 plus years,and shared so much. Lambs born, a much loved sheep that finally died after days of being treated with injections ( yes, I learnt to  do that too), and then the triplet lambs and Mouse in the paddock.  Our loved cats that have left us,  Leo, with golden tulips planted by his grave to match his thick fur, new ones arriving, and now new lambs each day. This photo is from the archives.

This July we shared our birthday with Joyce, all in July, a few days and more than a few years apart. With 16 of us there, we all had a name tag, as there were family and friends from all around, and many had not met before.

The cat panel will be a special memory quilt for Basil, I will add a border or two, and it will be on our bed. Thank you so much Mary-Ann for this special gift, it will be a treasure always.

The rooms ,couch and desk are  quiet without our ginger boy, I have to plant some grasses and flowering plants to share his special place in our garden. A few more from the archives.

Basil  perched on the couch cushions as though he had lived here always, and  lying on the desk, surrounded by sewing fabric , pens, and the machine. That looks like a green bear there too.

He loved to sit on Joyce’s knee, and was always so gentle, never  using his claws at all.

Quotation of the day, author unknown

“ Days shared with true friends are full of joy”

Greetings from Jean