June, birthdays and birthdays

As I adjust to new routines, and cope with some very mixed emotions, it has been a real joy and and quite a distraction to have each of the NZ grand daughters fly up ( on their own) for a birthday visit.

First was Cordelia - turning 6  on the 16th June, who is a very chatty, cuddly little one - she loved being "Queen" for the day... she had her turn at Butterfly Creek which is always a hit and we did craft activities, cooking, etc -

One of the model dinosaurs - they move their heads and roar

Yup - Queen for the day!

Did all sorts of tidying up on  paperwork during the in between weeks, including the AGM of the Local Quilting Guild - and yes I am the Education Officer again - think I need to make this the last year and give someone else a turn, and had a hilarious day with my friend Margaret who is waiting for a major eye operation - we were starting a wall hanging project called Happy Villages - at this stage they didnt look like anything in particular but hopefully I will post a picture of the completed project when I get there!

This is the project book...

The beginning - doesnt look like much yet....

I did get Cordelia's new quilt finished - oops need a photo before I give it away...and all the cutting out and some of the sewing done on Annabelle's new one ( Butterflies) , and also all the cutting out for another project which had been sitting on the pile for far too long. My goal  is to reduce the UFOs ( unfinished objects) so that I can make more sense of my sewing room and start some more creative little projects ...

Annabelle likes this one - so I will finish it for her...

Using up lots of yellow and blue florals...

Then Annabelle arrived for her birthday weekend - my how she has grown! So interesting to see them becoming quite distinctly individual personalities... This time we did a trip to the Aotea Centre to a production of Annie - we were seated in the upper balcony - almost dizzying height! but we had a good view of the stage and the acoustics were good - bonus was that we could easily see the drummer and Annabelle has apparently chosen to learn the drums. I finished the little denim pinafore for A that I had cut out, visited a favourite playground, we  made pompoms and turned them into a squirrel, started on French knitting, she showed me her science experiment, made/decorated a birthday cake, played endless word games in the car ( her vocabulary is awesome!) and the novelty of the bubbles for dishwashing was more interesting than the dishwashing!  The house is a mess but very quiet now.

Food colouring on milk

Then you add a drop of dishwashing liquid and watch the effect!

Someone loves bubbles!

On the balcony at the Aotea Centre

Our 7 year old - all ready to board her aeroplane..

Today is Peter's birthday. He wasnt big on birthdays but for the last few years he enjoyed noting with pride that he had made one more year. He would have been 94 - a grand age..

So for me, I am trying to get my head around - do I need to set goals for the "rest of my life" or do I just do one day at a time and see what presents itself...  I have so much to be grateful for - and pretty good health is number one as I see so many of my age group becoming weighed down by ill health.

So, off I go and head into July....

New beginnings

My friend Betty headed up the blog she started when her husband passed away with the words

The world is ever changing, leading us down new paths, in new directions. We can allow the past to guide us forward but turning back is not an option. 

The last few years with Peter living in the rest home, his physical presence was not with me most of the time, and I have adjusted to that but he was just "around the corner" and now he isnt. But just as before he passed, I felt his presence and influence in my actions and thoughts, he is still here. He was, and is, unforgettable and every time I go out to weed the garden, I will hear his voice saying " make you you get all the roots, otherwise they will just grow again!".

So once I get all the paperwork and "stuff" done, and all the thank yous for the love and support I was given, I will start  what Jane Fonda calls "The Third Act" of my life journey. I recognise I must use my time wisely, it will go all too fast and we know not how long there is for the rest of the journey.

This is just the first page of my new blog - now I need to remember how I set up the last one!