Field Days

Every year in June, the National Agricultural Field Days are held at a place called Mystery Creek.   I have wanted to visit for some time and so included this on my list of 60 Things To Do!   Despite the dire predictions of rain and acres of mud the day dawned frosty and cold but clear.

It was wonderful.   Gumboots and checked woolen shirts as far as the eye could see!  

But I didn't need to wear my gumboots and as the temperature warmed up shed my wind proof anorak as well.
Monster farm machines for sale intrigued Little Brother

but I was more interested in the tractor races.

And I was very grateful that Little Brother had not parked in the muddy field.   This poor vehicle would have had more difficulty getting home!

But it wasn't all large toys for big boys!   I enjoyed the Food Hall and found fudge for the HD3QBEM and plenty to look at for me.   There was a cooking demonstration with one of New Zealand's Masterchef judges who is generally deemed to be hot.

What do you think?   I was completely repelled by the fact that apart from technical cooking terms his vocabulary seemed to be restricted to swear words.
I wasn't too tired last night to stitch yet more Nun Stitches and hopefully tonight will complete those.   Aah -  the end is in sight and it is now time for Antiques Roadshow so progress photos will have to come later on.

Entwined initials???

When the artistic genes were being handed out I must have been absent for the day!   It seemed simple, in a logical kind of way, to graph out two letters of the alphabet, overlaid so that they would appear entwined.   That's just a simple mathematical exercise n'est-ce pas?  Well.... the end result is precisely the sum of the parts but is definitely on the 'dis' end of the satisfaction scale. 

However I am not undoing this.   I am declaring the stitching for the Cottage complete and I have moved on to the Needlebook.

Here I have hundreds of nun stitches ahead of me as I outline the needle pages.   Hundreds and hundreds of them.   I will not count, just doggedly stitch.   Being of the mind that a trimmed four sided stitch is not structurally stable, I opted for nun stitch as the page edges.   Each page has the name of the needle and a small floss bobbin.

And...when the stitching on the needlebook is finished I am going to have a marathon construction time.   The Cottage, the Needlebook and the Naxos Necessaire all need construction and I vowed, hand on heart, to the HD3QBEM that I wouldn't return to either The Mermaid's Chest or Ring O Roses until all three WIPS have been finally completed.   Five projects on the go (and that's not counting my EPP Hexagons) is just too much to cope with.
This Saturday I am going to the National Agricultural Field Days with Little Brother.  Unfortunately the weatherman is not cooperating and I think I will need my waterproof anorak and knee high gumboots.   Last weekend I had a dress rehearsal.   Do you like the look?

Given heavy rain for the past three days, I can guarantee that the boots at least will have changed to mud colour by Saturday evening!   But I will be gloriously tired, happy and able to cross two items off my 60 Things To Do list (new gumboots and Field Days).
Right.   I'm off to more nun stitches now.