Holiday in Queenstown

 

Lagoon walk at Glenorchy

Looking over Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu

Sunset at Lake Hayes

Historic miner's cottages - Arrowtown

Chinese miners cottage

Tree in the Lake - Wanaka

Last month The Scout and I celebrated out 25th wedding anniversary.  We decided to celebrate with a 

no children, week away in Queenstown  (somewhere I have never visited) in the South Island.

It's about a 1.5 hour flight from Auckland, and I was amazed at the views of the mountains and ranges as we flew in to Queenstown. Such a different landscape from Auckland.

Day 1:    After picking up our rental car, we drove out to Glenorchy, the scenery was absolutely stunning.  Blue skies, calm waters, mountain ranges everywhere I looked.

Day 2:  A visit to a local lavender farm, then onto explore Queenstown township and a trip up the gondolas for amazing views.

Day 3:     We caught up with friends, and went out to the historic Cardrona Hotel for lunch,  The beautiful lake Hayes with afternoon and sunset views.

Day 4:    Explored historic Arrowtown,  and the old Chinese settlement. Highlight of the day was the Shotover Jet boat road up the Shotover Canyon.

Day 5:  A trip out to Wanaka, caught up with my cousin who lives there, and visited the famous tree in the lake, which unfortunately due to low lake levels is currently a tree out of the lake.  Driving home through very wet but beautiful conditions.

I had a lovely holiday, it was such a beautiful place to explore in summer, not sure how I'd cope with the cold winter conditions though.

2023 - My First Finish

 

Photo from @cultivatedbychristin

Well it's been a little while since I last posted,  Life. Covid, and Christmas got in the way.

This year has started well though, I have finished my first unfinished quilting project for the year.

My Kismet Kiss quilt - originally started back here in 2021,  I based my colour palette on the floral bouquet above and think I've done pretty well in matching them.  I have made by quilt somewhat smaller than the original pattern, but will add borders of some description to make it a more useable size.

Pattern from The Sun Spell

Fabrics from my never decreasing stash.

Simplicity 9042

 

Way back in the depths of winter I was perusing pattern books at Spotlight looking for inspiration for a shirt.  Instead I came across a dress pattern, Simplicity 9042,  fell love with the sleeveless version,  and immediately decided to buy it.

After deliberating at a few fabric shops for the perfect colour linen, I found a beautiful soft smooth aqua linen at the fabric shop Otara.  

Fast forward to slightly warmer days of late November, I decided to make it. Version A the sleeveless option was my pick.   My measurements put me at a size 12 for the bodice and a size 16 for the waist and skirt.  Problem was my pattern only went up to a size 14.  After working out the finished size measurements I was able to grade from a 12 to 14 successfully. It also has tucks in the front and back, so I had a little bit of leeway to work with if I had needed to adjust the bodice a bit more

I've been quite spoilt making clothes from indie pattern companies, which give really detailed instructions and diagrams, I have to admit I did notice the difference using a pattern from an older established pattern company.

Overall the dress was a relatively quick and easy make, I'm really pleased with the fit and am looking forward to wafting around in it on warm summer days.

Brisbane

 

Scribbly Gum Tree

A couple of months ago, my husband surprised me with tickets to Brisbane to visit my sister,

It felt strange to board a plane and fly off to another country, after the past two years of not really being able too.

Needless to say, I quickly got used to the idea.  It was so lovely to see my sister waiting for me at Brisbane airport, and to feel warm temperatures. I especially enjoyed being able to wear a lot of my me made summer dresses and clothes.

Now that my sister's children are older and independent, and we aren't restricted to doing things in school hours, so we really enjoyed full days.

We talked and laughed, dined and drank cocktails, celebrated my birthday, walked for miles, visited beautiful gardens,  walked on a rather blustery Gold Coast beach, shopped, and I also enjoyed a morning trying out paddle boarding with a friend.

I'm back home now, back to the reality of work , family and and being a domestic goddess.