Wow, here was I thinking that once I left my wonderful job I would have nothing to do! I was very, very wrong. I could write screeds and screeds on what we've been up to, but that would be pretty boring so here is a quick 'photo recount' that kind of covers the basics.
First up,I was super lucky to have a visit from an 'online blogger, crafty friend' Kristi in early April.
Kristi come and stayed with us for a couple of nights, which really was not long enough. However, we managed to fit in a visit to Mt Cook. Kristi had not seen much of the South island so it was a joy to show her some of the sites.
We had the yummiest coffees and muffin at the Hermitage and dreamed about settling in for the night with a nice bottle of wine. (I know this photo is not a great one, but thought Id show you anyway)
Darkness was descending on the mountain as we headed for home.
The next day was my Mums birthday, so Kristi and I had a quick tour of the
Elephant Rocks and Fossils around Duntroon, before meeting up with my mum, dad, Aunt and Uncle, and Andrew of course ,for birthday lunch.
All too soon the time come to take Kristi to the bus station and wave her goodbye.
Next, on the 15th of April, come my last days of work. I was treated to a scrumptious dinner and the movies by the lovely ladies I have been lucky enough to work with for this past year and a half.
Then Cody disappeared into the hills with my camera for a few days. This is one of the photos that come back on my disk.
During this time I was busy working on my projects for
NZ Paper Chase , keep an eye out for the magazine, which is due on the book shelves soon.
By this time the School holidays were under way and people were coming and going, home was a little like Paddington Station, which was nice, we do miss having our children at home.
We had a lovely visit from Abby and Camden (about the time Cody was away with my camera). They disappeared and Aimee and Bridget ...and Dynamite (the rat) turned up, as did Cody with my camera.
The girls stayed a few days and during this time one of Aimee's work mates (from her holiday job) was sadly killed in a road accident. So Aimee took Bridget back to Dunedin and returned to go to a funeral and help out at work.This was a sad time, as both of our boys knew Mitch as well, and it was quite a shock for them all to realise just how fragile life can be.
Aimee returned to Dunedin the same day as Debz and Pat (from Christchurch) come to stay with us to help with the Grape Harvest at
Ostler Vineyard. The harvest is done by a team of volunteer's, along side a wonderful group of perminate staff. The money made by the volunteers goes to the
Connecting People programme. This programme goes towards helping families and spinal injured people get back to a normal, as passable life. A big focus this year will be to help those people who have suffered spinal injuries as a result of the Christchurch September Earthquake.
Andrew is the coordinator of the volunteers, and this really is quite a big job.
Day one, and two were gorgeous days in the vineyard. It felt great to be alive and great to be part of this wonderful cause.
I am sure you would not find a better team of people anywhere in the country!
Day three, four five ....through to day 8 were wet,very wet, muddy and cold, but still friendly chatter and laughter could still be heard coming out from under the nets at quite a distance away. I donned a woolly hat, for the first time in my life, and layers and layers of clothes...I know I must have look a site but I really did not care, tyring to keep dry was a hopeless mission, but try I did!
Saturday and Sunday brought two days off picking, well at Ostler anyway... Both days I was helping to pick my Dads grape crop, once again in the wet!
Now we are back to Tuesday and Wednesday Mechanics club with our very keen group of school
children. We are still grape picking, but its looking like there are only two or three days of picking left to go. Fingers crossed the rain will stay away so we can get on and get the job finished.
And...look, I managed to whip up a scrapbook page at last! I have almost forgotten how to scrapbook,and I'm not 100% thrilled with my efforts here, but its a start back in the right direction, I hope!
My inspiration come from this months sketch at Birds of A Feather..
found here
I have used a bottle top for my metal embellishment (one of the requirements for this challenge). The image inside has been stamped and sprayed with Glimmer mist, then glazed with Glossy Accents.
I have made my letter tiles using paper clay and an alphabet mould.
That's about all from me for now :-)
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