Fab stuff

This month Linda is the Etsy Blogger team member of the month.  Linda makes some really cool things for Jewish people as well as a load of other fab beads and magnets.  I spent quite a lot of time having a look around her shop, she makes so many interesting things!

This caught my eye: 
 

 Its a Kippah, and I think even if you weren't Jewish it'd be a great accessory!
 I also like these recycled bottle caps (because recycling is nice for the environment).
  

Also while I'm here, you might want to pop to T's blog for a fun Royal Wedding quiz (it's stiring the ex-pat within and now I want to go to a street party! )

Normal is... Lime Green

A spot of normality in a sea of cardboard.... (can you spy it?)

This time next week we'll be on the other side of the Bombay Hills, and unpacking. 

So this is what we've done with our long weekend, hope yours has been as productive  & you didn't get too wet at the ANZAC Day dawn services

Etsy Bloggers Carnival!

Yep possibly the worst team member around, I've finally got around to get into the blog carnival - and I even offered to host one in May - wonder if the organisation of it will do my head in? :-)

So this months blog carnival is this:

The first Public Library (in the US) opened on April 9th, 1833 in New Hampshire
1) What fond memories do you have of your public library and reading?
2) Peterborough is the town where the first library opened. What's your town known for? Show us around!

I thought I do number 2 - and living in between 2 towns and in the middle of nowhere I found it a bit tough - should I talk about Pokeno Sausages and the enormous ice-creams that everyone who travels over the Bombay Hills stops for? 

Or should I talk about Mercer cheese?   

And just up the road is Bombay well known for it's posh restaurant Bracu and Simonvich Olive estate 

Or should I share pictures of cows? (what I see from my windows)

Then I thought I'd do fond memories of my library and found myself 2 hours later still on google maps going up and down the main street of my home town in England on some kind of enormous trip back into my teens! 

And so here we are - in the middle of fab food country!

Mercer cheese has won awards

And pokeno bacon make the bestest sausages for local New Zealand pork

A Taste of Rural New Zealand
As you travel south from Auckland, friendly country villages along State Highway One welcome travellers with tempting food options, local produce and craft stores.
Bombay is home to New Zealand's largest olive estate, producing award-winning olive oil skin care products and an excellent restaurant.
Pokeno is a favourite stop known for its generous servings of icecream, its locally produced bacon and sausages and friendly country village atmosphere.
Mercer, beside the Waikato with its Dutch cheese shop is a 'must do' in any itinerary.

 Enjoy having a click on the links and seeing my part of new Zealand :-)

Faeries & Squares

I've been spending any extra money in the Handmade4Chch Trademe shop, I've bought some presents for friends and family for their birthdays, and I bought myself this fantastic faery headdress made by PixieMoon.  It's very cool and I've been wearing it everyday since I got it!

Crocheting stuff has been busy as well.  Today in the mail I got some gorgeous NZ Wool from Skeinz which I'm going to use to make slippers for my mum to take to her sisters in the UK and USA when she visits in June. 

And I've just joined a CAL (Crochet Along) on Ravelry to make a square everyday for the month of May. So I should have a gorgeous throw/blanket for the winter months :-)  If you fancy having a go - check out the Hooked on Handmade blog, it has all the info on it

Earth Hour Tomorrow at 8.30pm - What will you do?

Earth Hour is this Saturday 26 March at 8:30pm,
Here are some suggestions of things to do in the dark that I picked up from work: 

1. Invite your friends over for a candlelit dinner.
2. Get those board games out and have some fun seeing how easily you can swap your scrabble counters in the dark!
3. Go for a walk. Lie down. Look up. In all of that which you'll then see, we only have the thing you're lying on to call home. Cherish it.
4. Do something "crafty" by candlelight: paint, mould, stick, knit, quilt, or paint.
5. Got kids? Get out the camping gear! Set up a tent and tell fantastical stories of a time when the earth had no artificial lights and strange things went more than just BUMP! in the dark… ....or plan a few harmless April Fool's Day pranks in advance.
6. Play a real game of hide & seek. Now there's a challenge - doing it in the dark!
7. Take a nap - it's been a hard day and no-one will notice.
8. Hey - since your lights are off, it would seem like the perfect time to change any old bulbs for a few new energy saving ones? Yes?
9. Eat all the ice-cream that's sitting in your freezer? If you've turned your appliances off as well as your lights, then it's going to melt anyway! (How good is that for an excuse?!)
10. Check out your local Earth Hour site at http://www.earthhour.org/Homepage.aspx and be inspired

Lazy & Busy?

Is it possible to be lazy and busy at the same time?

I think so.

I haven't done any blogging, updating shops or keeping up on-line properly for a couple of weeks. And yet the crochet hook has been as busy as it usually is :-)

Coupla things I've worked on lately...

In other news... I've gotten hold of some sock yarn which is pretty thin compared to what I usually use, so it's taken a bit of getting used too.  And the lovely ladies who run Devonport Market have said I can have a spot in April, which I'm quite excited about!

Also keep a look out for the ultimate Gothic Loo Roll Cover Doll which I'm making for the same Ravelry team I made George the Dalek for. Fab fun!

Arts & Mittens

The Auckland Arts Festival is on at the moment.  We took ourselves off to the big smoke for the weekend to sit in plastic ponchos in the rain and be entertained by the Vietnamese Water Puppets.  It was very magical.

And my crochet addiction has recently turned to fingerless mittens, there are so many ways to create them, frills, ribs, stripes and lacy. And that's just this week!

The fact that a lovely person bought a pair I gave to FeltAid just increased my commitment to make more!