Happy April!

Happy April to everyone. Another month has flown by so I figured I would update you all as to what we've been up to.

Not much really. Just plugging away at school and work. Stephen is consistantly out of the house by 6:30 am to get to school and start planning and preping for the day ahead. He usually doesn't make it home until about 5-6pm and commonly collapses on the couch after a hard day of teaching. I on the other hand have filled by days up with reading, writing, belly dance, swimming and sewing. Now you may think I have a far easier schedule than Stephen (and you'd be right), but I still find myself exhausted at the end of the day and raedy to collapse into a heap on the couch.

Seeing as how I've had trouble lately thinking of things to put down here, I thought I'd play a little game. I've read it on a few other blogs and found it somewhat entertaining. Every first week of the month I will go to a different food shop and see what I can find for 10$. Thus the opening picture. My first finds at the Asian Food Warehouse. I discovered these lovely Indian beers, which upon closer inspection prove to be made here in New Zealand. Haven't tried them yet, but we're looking forward to it. The octopus crisps were just too awesome to pass by and frankly they don't taste much like octopus, rather a simulated sea flavour. Can't think of any other words to describe it. I bought the bag of covered peanuts solely for the gap-toothed happy man on the front. I love how they use this elderly figure in the place of the usual youth (either ultra-cute or uber-hot). In fact, upon tasting them I'm not sure there are actually any whole nuts in them, but they are sweet and coconuty.

Otherwise, all I have to show for the last month is a bit of crafting. I found some amazing bags at the Arts Centre Market a couple of weeks ago. Unfortuately I'm not in a position to afford $100 bags, so I had to make my own. Here are the results. I already have several orders from friends.


I've also had some fun making softies. After cruising some of my favorite blogs I noticed a cute cushion in the corner of a picture that I thought, "I could make that." And here it is, Oni, my little cat guardian. I didn't name it until after I had made it and Oni just seemed to fit so perfectly. It was only later that I found out what "Oni" means. Oni's are Japanese demon guardians of a dual nature, taking on the general nature of the person they are guarding, whether that is good or evil.


And finally, I'm making progress on my quilt for little Kieran. Yesterday, I spent much of the day ironing and basting all my layers together so I can quilt it on my little sewing machine. After which I will do some hand quilting in each block and sewing on the binding. It's so much fun to watch it come together, I'm really enjoying this quilting thing.

Stephen, on his part, is busy in the kitchen as I type, whipping together hot cross buns, macarons, bread and other delicious baking delights. I guess we're both working on hobbies that will keep us warm ;)

Another month gone by. . .

I must apologize for my obvious lack of commitment over the last month to this blog. Between having family here, various school deadlines and the Olympics, we've been pretty busy (not to mention, we used up all our bandwidth for the month watching skiing and hockey online). But now, I have no excuses for falling behind so I'll try to keep up.

A friend of mine from Stitch is opening a shop this weekend. I've been helping her with some of the set up, rolling cloth onto bolts, painting walls, sewing samples. All sorts of fun stuff. In fact, over the past year Fenella, Louise, Ursula and Briar have all coerced me into sewing. My first successful project was a bag made from the fabric we exchanged at Christmas time. Shortly followed by two more, one for me and one for mom. Now, I am onto grander and more expensive designs. I am planning on making a quilt. Albeit, a baby quilt for Kieran, my nephew in Winnipeg (my first - therefore he gets all my firsts).

School-wise, thigns are going well. I'm in the midst of interviews and sending out/receiving questionnaires. It's really interesting seeing what people have to say and I'm looking forward to sharing with my peers in Oslo this June at the International Polar Year conference and in Hobart two weeks later. I will also take the opportunity to visit family in London and Singapore. Although I'm looking forward to the trip, it's an expensive one so won't have much to spend on prezies. Or food once I get back. . .

Stephen is into his second month of teaching. He enjoys parts and not others. Between planning lessons for four different classes (Year 12 physics, year 13 physics, year 10 science and year 9 science), coaching volley ball and badminton, going on overnight geography fieldtrips, and helping organize extra-curricular activities, I don't see him much. But he enjoys it and on Monday watched the gold medal hockey game with his Year 13 physics class and is now baking them cookies for Canada winning the gold.

Life is good here. We both still contemplate the idea of home and where we see ourselves in 5,10, or 20 years. And really, it comes down to when you ask, because it seems to change from moment to moment. We'll just have to wait and see what life brings us. Until then, I'll keep enjoying what I'm given in the now.

A closing shot looking north to the Kaikoura peninsula from the Transcoastal Train as morning light seeps in between the clouds.

The Sewing Machine

It started when I was invited to join a stitch'n'bitch group that two of my fellow Gateway Antarcticans were part of. So I biked out that Wednesday night with my little basket of knitting and felting, and found my way to a cosy house with tea and treats. There I met Fenela and Louise (Ursula and Briar being the ones who invited me). Mostly the others quilt. Quilting is a pastime I've always told myself I will take up when I'm old and have time (that's what happens doesn't it; as you age you have more time on your hands?!). That first night, I worked on my knitting and watched as various squares of beautiful fabric came together.

The following week was hosted at someone elses house, with different treats and tea, but all the same lovely fabric overflowing from bags and baskets. I spent more time asking about how to hand sew and choose fabrics and patterns. The weekly meetings encouraged me to finish more projects than I'd ever even dreamed of, but it also expanded my creative desires, much to Stephen's chagrin as more and more wool, fabric, beads, paper, and all their requesit tools filled our little space. This all came to a head when last Sunday I took a much desired trip to Riccarton Market (without Stephen).

I went there with only a certain amount of cash. This is a must when attending any sort of market (much like setting a limit before going to an auction). I gathered all the vegetables and fruit I knew we needed, then set to with the remaining cash to find what sort of deals I could find to feed my growing crafting urges. A beautiful porcelaine bowl here, some heavy silver cutlery there, a variety of frames for the collection of Yukon art cards I'd brought from home, and always, on the back of my mind a good deal on a sewing machine to replace the one we left behind in Whitehorse.

And there it was. A gorgeous old Singer. Gold flower design handpainted onto it's slender body resting amongst an assortment of antique wooden furniture and worn tapestries. I inquire off-handedly as to the cost of the "old sewing machine" and choke on the answer, 100$. Okay, so maybe that's not all that much, but it's certainly more than I had left in my pocket. So, it was one more lingering glance and goodbye. I wove amongst the hundreds of other market goers looking for deals.

Some ten stalls later, I chance a glance of another, somewhat less antique machine. This time I use more surreptitious techiniques and scan for a price tag, 85$. Not much better and certainly not within my budget. Things are not looking good, as I've done my once over of the market and can't remember seeing any other machines.

Winding my way through the stalls, I make towards the exit. Stopping at a stall held by several women to pick up a little glass vase. Making my way to the table I literally stumble over my prize. An unassuming wooden tubular box sits on the ground amongst some cardboard boxes of kids toys. I carefully peel back the cover, underneath sits a dusty, grimy, glowing, regal Singer sewing machine. I quickly move to the table and ask for its price. The lady looks at it and back to me, "How does 30$ sound?". Done!

Then of course I realize I have a bulging backpack on, I'm carrying two overlaoded bags of goods, I'm 45 minutes from home, and on my bike. Hmmmm. I ask casually where the lady lives. On the other side of town from me. Not much better from here. I tell her where I live, she's not planning a trip in that direction any time soon. But she does work only 10 blocks from there and she'll bring it in on Tuesday. Hooraahh! So I pass over my money, load the machine into her car and head off singing.

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It's Tuesday and it's raining. Pouring. Hailing. I'm not leaving the house.

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Wednesday, See Tuesday.

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Thursday, not much better than Wednesday or Tuesday, but I'm tired of waiting. I haed out on my bike, loaded with as many bungee cords as I can muster (4 - hey, they're harder than sheep, especially with no mustering dog to help; believe me, the cat does not even approach helpfulness on this front). I arrive at the office without much fuss and find the machine sitting on the desk waiting for me. A nice lady helps me with the door and wishes me luck with the rain and the bike home. I trundle outside, muttering about the rain and work at somehow attaching a 30lb. piece of machinery to the back of my bike.

Just as I struggle with the last of the cords I notice a distinct lack of increasing wetness. In fact the rain has not only stopped, the sun has come out (partly). I slap on my helmet, meet up with Stephen (who stopped on his way home from school to help with the expected terror of a trip home), and carefully bike home. And now, the Singer sits on the dining room table (when in use), whirring happily away on my basic projects (like seaming). The excitement now lies in figuring out what all the various sewing 'heads' that came with it do (there are some pretty complicated looking ones) and how to convince the other stitchers to come to my cramped quarters and teach me how to use them for quilting. . .PhD?! What's that?