A Day Out

Today the HD3QBEM and I went for a day trip to the Matakohe Kauri Museum, about two and a half hours drive north west of the city.   We have been before but for the HD3QBEM who was brought up in bush sawmills this is a trip down memory lane.
Although the surrounding area is now cleared land and profitable farming but the rural community who have lived there for generations have created a wonderful museum dedicated to preserving the story of the early milling of the Kauri forests.
These giant trees covered the land of the north in times past and history can be measured in the tree rings.   Click the photo to see what dates New Zealanders consider important ;-)

Naturally such large trees produced a lot of timber -  look at this.  Slabs cut from a kauri and this is not classed as one of the giants.

But among all the machinery and items of interest for the males I found this...  The right of the photo has interesting stitching and knitting items and I loved the lace on all the white clothing.   Wouldn't the laundry have been a nightmare though?

And the HD3QBEM found a lamp very similar to the one in the house of her childhood.   

She learnt cross stitch and embroidery by the light of flickering kerosene lamps like this!  And now I will sit under my daylight lamp and put some more bricks into the cross stitch house I am building.