Fine things

 Over one thread of linen must surely count as a fine thing!   It is taxing the limits of my sight but I am soldiering on with Betsy Morgan’s Four Seasons.  The silk floss is a dream to stitch with and I have only the top to complete tonight.

Three hardanger pochettes are completed and I have decided to take a break from those.   There is enough linen left for a fourth but not enough enthusiasm currently.   I need a change.   Once Betsy Morgan is done my stitching basket will be empty and I can trawl The Stash Cupboard for another project.  

Meanwhile in a weeks time  I’m off on a road trip to Auckland where in no particular order of preference I will visit my gravely ill older brother, eat at the Japanese Sushi-Go-Round, visit my much loved embroidery store The Ribbon Rose, call at a fabric shop or two, catch up with friends and see if Daiso is still in the same location and has survived Covid.   Excitement is building and I have stitched a new blouse and taken in the waistband of a pair of jeans, so ensuring that I will look respectable and not provincial for my “trip to the city”.

Spring is springing here in New Zealand after an unseasonal dumping of snow at the beginning of the month.   The Polar Blast brought snow even to Palmerston North and the temperatures have still not risen much but the days are mostly fine with clear blue skies now and the garden is screaming for attention.   This week I hope to remove a few more weeds and give a general tidy up to the front.   I have been enjoying Sweet Peas, Lily of the Valley, Alstroemeria, Carnation, Iris and a few late blooming daffodil.   

A bit of this and a bit of that

While visiting Little Sister recently  I heard myself offering to finish off a small baby cardigan that she was tired of knitting.   So guess what I’ve been doing?   Despite vowing never to do knitting again!!

Not much actually as besides the knitting I brought back a cold from my visit to Little Sister and isolated myself  and lived on lemon and honey drinks.   After three weeks I felt  better enough  to fulfill a promise to my friend to visit her in Tauranga, six hours drive north east of here.   That was a major test of nerve and endurance but I survived!

Now I have stitched a hardanger piece - a Christmas gift surprise for a friend at church.  Don’t worry she doesn’t know I have a blog!  I wasn’t going to line this small pochette but the lace work on the flap really requires a lining so I will have to consider what colour and fabric.  As there is still a lot of the linen left I decided to do another and to vary the pattern on the flap.   Fun but not as wholly engrossing as I had hoped.  And I see that the piece of linen is large enough to do two more!  Apologies for the bad photo -  the linen is a pretty pale mint green and I'm stitching in brilliant white.

It is three months since Mother died and I know I should be feeling more settled but truth be told I’m not.   I feel quite rootless and cannot seem to get absorbed into anything.   Now the weather is improving the garden calls and I need to spend some time out there if I am to win the War of the Weeds and if there is to be any harvest from the vegetable garden.  

Recently while in the city centre I found a small shop called the George Street Collective that sells handmade items on commission.  The very artistic looking lady who was manning the counter was happy to chat and told me she was sure I could sell small embroidery items.   So I might try taking in a sample of some of the items from The Other Drawer and see if they are suitable.   The lady I spoke to makes dangly earrings from beads and told me she likes making them but doesn’t need to keep every pair.   I know that feeling - much of my stitching is like that.  I may begin with Christmas ornaments and some of my small bags.   I need to think about this a little more.  

The weather is bright and sunny and I have been dead heading the irises and lamenting the fact that my asparagus crowns seem to have rotted with the extreme wet winter we’ve had.  But  of the dozen planted only a handful of Lily of the Valley have survived and will give me flowers.  

So today has been a much better day and I think I have earned a cup of tea and a rest!