Another item off the list

This weekend I have been down to Tauranga to visit my friend and completed another item on The List.
Beautiful fine weather on Saturday but a cold 14 degrees celsius when Judy and I set off round Mt Maunganui.

I had intended to go up this volcanic knob but inclination did not equal energy so I amended my List and went round - twice.  

Judy is a slooooow walker so I strode off ahead, turned around and came back to meet her and managed to complete two full circuits

 - hence earning my first ever Waffle Icecream Cone from the tempting shop on the ocean side of the mountain.   Lemon CheeseCake flavour with passionfruit sauce!

Later that afternoon Judy took me to see her friend who collects Singer Sewing Machines.  These are displayed in a large room beneath her house and she has the story about most of them.   One is a 1906 model and came complete with the sale receipt - 5 pounds sterling and sold to a lady from Yorkshire as part of her preparations to marry and come to New Zealand.  This visit was right up my alley.   I was fascinated to see them all, some over a 100 years old but still sewing beautifully.

 Raewyn has painstakingly restored them all and ensures that they continue to run well.   What an amazing room.  Raewyn also converts 50 year old Singers from electric models to hand wound machines, checks they are sewing correctly and together with other volunteers ships them to Papua New Guinea where ladies in the mountainous highlands are taught how to sew and make a small income from dressmaking.  Apparently the 50 year old models she uses are the most stable "workhorse" models and they can be assured that mechanical problems will be extremely rare.

Amongst all her treasures she turned up this small one at which I exclaimed "My first machine was exactly like that!"   I remember sewing dolls clothes on my mini-Singer and a might fine job it did too.  Raewyn asked whether I was still loyal to my first love and I had to admit that no, I now own an Elna bought for the princely sum of $299 when I was 18.   My father was adamant that I bought the Elna and accompanied me to the shop and stood over me while I parted with my hard earned cash.   His foresight has to be admired however, as 42 years and many thousands of kilometres of sewing later, that Elna machine has never had a service and has never broken down.  I love my Elna and long may she love me.
Now, needles of a slightly different sort were plied with some energy over the weekend and I completed four letters of the Prairie Schooler Christmas Alphabet.   Four letters selected with special attention to form a Christmas Gift for a friend -  so no photos of that yet.
The HD3QBEM managed well while I was away and the respite nurse came at the appointed times.   Pat on the back to myself though, as I gather the HD3QBEM is pleased to see me back.   I have fixed up three dropped stitches, sorted out a couple of knitting problems and generally got things to rights.   So life returns to normal and it is back to work tomorrow.