Merry Festive Season

I didn't realise Quiet and Simple could be so much fun!!

These Christmas wishes are a little late but as we wake up on Boxing Day here in New Zealand, I'd like to send Season's Greetings to all my friends out there around the world. Cows always call to be milked on Christmas Day so we never stray too far from home but we had a fun family day here yesterday. The MOML's parents joined us for Christmas lunch and the table groaned with cold ham and salads, and as you can see from above, some sweet treats too (the waffles with ice cream were for breakfast!! You can blame my daughters for that!! Yum).

Special thanks to those of you who sent their best wishes for our family after my last post, most of you I have thanked personally and my apologies to any I may have missed. It was lovely to be in everyone's thoughts and Dad was touched that so many people cared. I spent 10 days down at my parent's place. By the time I came back up home, Dad was out of hospital and walking his berry house and orchard and shelling hazelnuts. He's not allowed outside by himself but that's still pretty good progress for a man who had brain surgery a week previously. He still has tumours that need treatment so the future is still uncertain but we enjoy and treasure each day as it comes.

My two daughters are in the red and blue, with myself,
Dad, my brother and his eldest daughter.

In spite of the circumstances it has been great to spend time with my family. My brother flew over from Nashville (I haven't seen him for a few years) and I've also caught up with my sister from the Bay of Plenty whom I haven't seen a lot of lately. And the flow of visits from my nieces and my own children all busy growing up and running their own lives has been fabulous too. I'll be up and down over the next few months as 'us 3 kids' take turns to stay with and support Mum and Dad.

We had a bit of a family gathering down at Mum's one night (it was arranged before Dad got sick. Instead of Dad being there, I was :-)) Young Marco had gone shopping in the $2 shop and selected presents for us all. Here he is wearing his 3-D glasses. My brother and I are showing off our special presents.


Finally I have finished Round 3 of our 'Stitching Round the Block'. We were all meant to spend 2 weeks doing our round and then pass it on, but the amount of work in each round plus all of our other commitments means that our group is WAY behind schedule!! Never mind, no-one seems too bothered by this - I think the final results will be gorgeous and well worth the effort. This is a bit of peek at what I have done on Nicky's. I just love her fabric choices.

 I've also added to my pile of hexie-flowers; I made and joined quite a few while visiting Dad in the hospital. Amazing how much you can get done in a 4 hour visit!! My nieces now call me the flower-aunty so I had to resort to threatening to give them hexie-flower-making kits for Christmas!! They were quite a conversation starter and, apparently, radiated an air of calmness!! The light in the photo below wasn't terribly good sorry but you get a bit of an idea with how it looks so far.

These are spread out on a king-sized bed so I'm quite
impressed with how many I've done.

Once again, season's greetings to you all, take time to enjoy your precious families and friends, and grab a moment's stitching if you can!!
best wishes,