Let's hear it for long weekends....

If only they weren't usually so wet! One of life's eternal questions. Why is it always so wet on weekends and the sun shines when you have to go back to the salt mines?

Jean returned from Brisbane where the weather sounded little better, bearing gifts of t-shirts, opal ear-rings and duty free Baileys.

Then he was off again to prune trees at our Nelson house in the pouring rain as their weather was equally bad. Fortunately it fined up enough for his visit to the Blenheim airshow on a boys day out with a friend.

One thing about wet weekends is that there is a perfect excuse to sit and read NZ Gardner and dream rather than actually getting out in the garden. To me gardening is just housework transferred outdoors.

So it was a weekend for crafts. One pair of socks finished, a second pair started,  one scrappy quilt top ready to border and a blue scrappy almost done. Not a good photo, but the idea is there.

Not much else to do but read, so how about this for a list:

Someone else's son - Sam Hayes. A bit of a twist on the usual crime story.  A reality TV host who interviews families she considers losers, or criminals, has her only son stabbed and goes on to try and find out the truth of his death. The truth turns out to hold yet another twist. A gritty depiction of bullying of two teens who don't fit in, the lack of communication in families, even those who appear to have everything,  and the violence surrounding even young children in some areas of the society depicted.

Treachery in Death - J.D. Robb. Another enjoyable read in this series. This time the focus is on corruption within the police department itself. Eve's sidekick, Peabody, is given a greater role in the case.

Daughters-in-law - Joanna Trollope.  A story of evolving family relationships as the mother of three sons finds her control slipping away as they each get married and form new relationships of their own.

29 - Adena Halpern. A lightweight story about a 75 year old who, on her birthday, wishes to be 29 again for a day.  When her wish comes true she finds her life is not as carefree as she thought it would be. Some fun arises as she interacts with her daughter and grand-daughter and they all learn more about each other.

To the Moon and Back - Jill Mansell. Totally indulgent, fluffy romance with well written if a bit stereotypical characters. The sort of book you can pick up and lose yourself in for a while, not a lot of action, but a pleasant read all the same.

So that was my pick-and-mix of reads for the weekend. They have been piling up on my bookshelf calling out to be read. That is the trouble with working in a library. So many interesting books cross the desk and demand your attention.

It's been so wet I've even been reduced to doing housework and baking. Now it's time to ice the chocolate slice and put a roast chicken on for dinner. A long work week doesn't usually leave me in the mood for such indulgence. For a change the smells in my kitchen are wonderful.

Cold, wet and miserable

Jean has just set out for Christchurch to catch a flight to Brisbane for four days for a work course. Recent temperatures in Brisbane have been around 26, so I'm sure they'll find time to go walking round the city in the sun. Meanwhile here this weekend has felt like the start of winter - cold, hosing rain and no sense walking round outside anywhere. I did suggest I could go too, especially as our wedding anniversary is on a day he is away, but instead I get to stay home and mind the store, so to speak. I seem to have lost the shopping gene lately, but my travel bug is getting stronger instead. Time for a trip away somewhere interesting. It was going to be Tokyo, but perhaps not!

Earthquakes rumble on where all our sons are living. Christchurch had another 5.3 last night which cut power to one son for an hour or so. Japan had another over 6 last week which our middle son said was time to go under a desk and then decide work was over for the day.

Here it is just revoltingly wet so I have the choice of housework or reading and craft. Hmm, decisions, decisions....

I have been working on my bag of fabric scraps which are slowly turning into this

I also have one sock knitted, so I can have one warm foot. Just starting another one with this lovely wool which makes its own stripes like so

Naturally I also have reading lined up and I am currently in crime mode. Just finished Linda Fairstein's latest, Silent Mercy. I usually enjoy this author, but found the religious history in this one a bit too much for me.
Next is Stuart McBride's gritty Shatter the Bones which so far has all the hallmarks of his usual dark crime tales. I think after that Vicki Myron's story of Dewey : the small town library cat who touched the world should be a light read. Who needs television these days?

Winter is in the air

This blogger has been missing in action as the time has flown by. Two weekends ago I dragged my growing pile of fabric scraps to the local high school for a quilting day. The weather outside wasn't wonderful but inside we were fortified by yummy, warm,  just-baked biscuits filled with chunks of chocolate.. There went the benefits of walking all week, but they were just too good to resist.
Last weekend we paid a visit to Nelson for the first time in a while, taking a drive past our house there, checking out some shops, keeping my library card alive in our local library, and having a good honest lunch in the local Stoke Bakery. None of the fancy overpriced food here and we enjoyed it.
As the reason for our visit was to catch up with friends visiting from Australia we had booked a motel out of town. The Tapawera Settle was about the only place available in the area we wanted, although locals later recommended the local hotel. Being a country area we were not expecting high standards, and the price was comparatively cheap, which was just as well. The campground itself was fine, and would probably be a nice place to stay if you had your own campervan.

This composite picture skews the size a bit and makes the room appear bigger. The double bed had my husband's feet hanging over the edge all night, the wardrobe was the 'handyman's dream' in the far corner, and cooking with the microwave or toaster oven would have been an interesting exercise in logistics considering the available bench space. Add on some noisy guests who had a yakfest close by until after midnight, and a helicopter parked nearby which started up and took off around 7 a.m. and it was a really restful night. I guess our tastes have gone upmarket these days and you get what you pay for. We thought we had met the best when we stayed at the Paraparaumu Motel (avoid unit 13 if you have to stay there at all) on our recent trip, but I think this is a tie! Oh well, add it to the rich tapestry of life's experiences!

My latest craft craze, aside from quilting, is knitting socks. Blame an American friend who sent me some sock wool which knits itself into patterns without any effort on your part. I should have nice toasty warm toes for the winter by the time I have finished.

The temperatures here have definitely dropped and, despite the sunny days, we can tell that winter is on its way. A great time for catching up on reading which I have done in the past few weeks. Georgia's Kitchen by Jenny Nelson is a chick lit / foodie cross, a light read for those who enjoy the details of cooking and restaurants; The Kills by Linda Fairstein' and Jonathan Kellerman's new book Mystery both provided a crime fix, although I felt the Kellerman was not the best he's written; a Stargate book, downloaded to my iPad, is my equivalent of Mills & Boon, enjoyable to me as I enjoy sci-fi, but not taking much effort to read.

My current book is Promises, Promises by Erica James which looks like more chick lit and I have just downloaded the latest Stephen Booth The Devil's Edge.  Waiting by my bed are Silent Mercy (Linda Fairstein), Shatter the Bones (Stuart Macbride), The Shelly Beach Writers' Group (June Loves) and Dewey : The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World (Vicki Myron).

My husband is off to Australia on a course shortly so, with these books, my quilt scraps, and a freezer full of leftovers I am all prepared to fly solo for a few days.